Simple and Delicious Beefy Ranch Cheese Ball

Cheese balls! You see them all over this time of year, and they are great for snacking at those big family get togethers. But I have to say until I combined a few different recipes, I hated them! I just couldn't understand the allure of cream cheese and nuts and other seemingly random ingredients. Then again, I am not a fan of cream cheese.

Then I created this cheese ball, and everyone seems to love it! Honestly, it has dried beef in it and I had a self proclaimed vegetarian eating it at our last get together!

Ingredients

2 8 oz packages of cream cheese (softened)
3.5-4 Cups cheddar cheese
1 package of Ranch dip mix
a jar of dried beef
chopped pecans (~ 2 cups)

Chop the dried beef into small pieces, I use a magic bullet to do this.

Now the easy part, throw everything except the pecans in your mixer with the paddle attachment. I have never tried to do this without a mixer, but I am sure it could be done while giving your arm a work out.

Mix. Then turn all of it out onto a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it. Now you can form it into a ball without your hands getting messy!

Place your chopped pecans and your pretty ball into a gallon ziploc and seal. Move the ball around gently pressing the pecan into the sides. Again the bag keeps your hands clean.

Now you have a lovely cheese ball to serve at your next get together, and let me tell you that as good as it is, it is still huge and serves a ton! We had around 30, and it lasted 2 days!