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If you love Mexican street corn and cold smoking cheese, then you’ve got to try this Mexican street corn cheeseball recipe! With a blend of smoked cheeses, grilled corn and jalapeños, and all of your favorite street corn ingredients, this smoked Mexican cheeseball recipe is sure to be a hit at your party!
The wife and I were perusing the grocery store aisles recently, trying to come up with ideas for smoked appetizers, when we had the idea to do a play on classic party appetizers – but kicked up a notch!
Summer time is here, and that means grilling season… and backyard barbecue parties! And since we often host large gatherings of friends and family, we’re always on the hunt for amazing appetizers.
And a cheeseball served with crackers has got to be one of the most classic party appetizers there is! But this smoked Mexican street corn cheeseball ain’t your Momma’s cheeseball recipe!
With cold smoked cheese, grilled corn and jalapeños, bacon, and Tajin seasoning, this Mexican cheeseball is loaded with flavor and just the right amount of spice. Serve it with corn chips or your favorite crackers for your next fiesta and watch your amigos keep coming back for more!
Ingredients Needed
Here are some notes about the ingredients for this awesome Mexican cheeseball:
- cheese – We used a blend of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and pepper jack cheese. You’ll need 8 ounce blocks of each cheese to cold smoke.
- Cotija cheese – If you’ve never used this, it’s kind of like a Mexican version of parmesan cheese. You can use the pre-grated kind or buy a block to grate yourself. This is a pretty standard ingredient in Mexican street corn.
- corn on the cob
- whole jalapeños – You can use 1 or 2 peppers, depending on your heat tolerance. We used one jalapeno, and our smoked cheeseball definitely wasn’t too spicy.
- bacon – Use your favorite type – thick cut, center cut, or even the value pack of odd shaped bacon pieces will work for this recipe. Just keep away from bacon that has maple or other sweet flavors.
- green onion
- chopped cilantro
- lime juice
- seasonings – We used two of our favorite Mexican seasonings – Tajin seasoning and the Elote Loco seasoning from PS Seasoning. If you can’t find the PS Seasoning, then you can substitute a different street corn seasoning or add in extra Tajin instead.
- crispy jalapeno salad toppers – You can usually find these in the produce or salad dressing sections of the grocery store.
How to Make a Mexican Cheeseball with Street Corn
Smoke the Cheese
Start by cold smoking the cheese for your cheeseball. We used a smoke tube and wood pellets for this step, which involves placing your blocks of cheese on the grill with the grill turned off.
This step adds awesome smoky flavor to your smoked cheeseball, but to save yourself a few hours, you can skip the cold smoking process and go straight to grating the cheese. Your Mexican cheeseball will be delicious either way!
We have an entire guide on cold smoking cheese here. The process is incredibly easy to do, and you only need a few inexpensive supplies.
After the cheese has smoked for about 1.5 – 2 hours, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cooled. This will make it easier to grate for the cheeseball mixture.
Grill the Corn, Jalapeños, and Bacon
While the smoked cheese is refrigerating, it’s time to prepare the other ingredients. Grill the corn on the cob and whole jalapeños (over an open flame if possible) to get some nice char.
*We set our pellet grill to 350°F for this step, but you can also cook the bacon, corn, and jalapenos in the oven if you prefer.
Then, move them to indirect heat on the grill to continue to cook and soften up a bit.
Place the bacon on a sheet tray and cook on the grill at about 350°F until crispy. When the bacon is done, transfer to paper towels to drain before finely chopping.
*NOTE – This recipe only calls for 6 slices of bacon, but we pretty much go ahead and make the whole pack anytime that we are cooking bacon. We refrigerate any extras to use for easy BLT sandwiches or to chop for salad toppings.
Make the Street Corn Cheeseball Mixture
Next, prep all of the grilled and cold smoked ingredients for the Mexican cheeseball mixture:
- Grate the blocks of smoked cheddar and pepper jack
- Cut the grilled corn kernels off the cob
- Seed and finely dice the grilled jalapeños
- Finely chop the crispy bacon
Add the remaining cheeseball ingredients to a large mixing bowl with the cream cheese, grated cheese, bacon, corn, and jalapeños. Mix together well. Your mixture should look something like this:
Form the mixture into a ball shape, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate about one hour.
Make the Mexican Cheeseball Topping and Serve
While the cheeseball is setting up in the refrigerator, make the crunchy topping.
Combine the finely chopped bacon, cilantro, grated Cotija cheese, crispy jalapeños, and street corn seasoning in a large bowl. Place the cheeseball in the bowl, and roll around in the mixture until the ball is completely coated.
And then your Mexican cheeseball is ready to serve!
We served this smoked appetizer with Ritz crackers and Fritos corn chips. I wouldn’t recommend tortilla chips because the consistency is definitely thicker like a regular cheeseball, and tortilla chips would break.
You could also serve the cheeseball with pork rinds or vegetable crudités for a lower carb option.
Recipe Tips
- Make ahead of time – The cheeseball can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, make the topping, roll the cheeseball in the topping, and serve.
- Extra smoke flavor – For extra smoky flavor, you may cold smoke the blocks of cheddar and pepper jack cheese up to one week in advance. Cold smoke for about 2 hours, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to grate for the cheeseball mixture.
- Street corn seasonings – If you can’t find the PS Elote Loco Seasoning that we used, then you may substitute Tajin seasoning or a different street corn seasoning.
Pinterest User? Do me a favor and PIN this recipe to your board for smoker appetizers. This is a GREAT way to support us:
If you loved this Mexican cheeseball idea, then be sure to check out some of our other favorite Mexican smoker recipes:
Smoked Mexican Whole Chicken – This Mexican chicken is injected with a fantastic marinade, and seasoned with a simple homemade Mexican blend. This is truly one of the best whole smoked chickens we have ever made!
Smoked Street Corn Dip – This street corn dip is another one of our favorite party appetizers! With grilled corn, bacon, jalapeños, cream cheese, and some other Mexican ingredients, this party dip always gets rave reviews!
And be sure to check out our favorite Mexican street corn on the griddle – perfect if you have a Blackstone or other flat top grill!
Smoked Street Corn Mexican Cheeseball
Ingredients
- 8 oz block sharp cheddar cheese
- 8 oz block pepper jack cheese
- 8 oz block cream cheese
- 1 corn on the cob
- 1-2 whole jalapenos
- 6 slices bacon, (3 slices will be for the topping)
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- juice of ½ lime
- 2 tablespoons Tajin seasoning
- 1 tablespoon PS Seasoning Elote Loco seasoning, (or you may substitute an extra tablespoon of Tajin)
For the Topping:
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
- ½ cup grated Cotija cheese
- ¼ cup crispy jalapeños, chopped, (found in the salad toppers/produce section)
- 1 tablespoon Tajin seasoning
- 1 tablespoon PS Seasoning Elote Loco seasoning, (or you may substitute an extra tablespoon of Tajin)
Instructions
- Prepare the cheeses for smoking. Place several ice cubes in the bottom of a sheet tray. Place the unwrapped blocks of cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and pepper jack cheese on a wire cooling rack. Set the cooling rack on top of the sheet tray with ice cubes.
- Cold smoke the cheeses. Fill a smoke tube about 80% full with wood pellets. Lay the smoke tube down flat on the grill. Light the pellets and allow to burn for about 5 minutes to make sure the pellets stay lit. Place the sheet tray with cheeses about 12-18" from the smoke tube on the grill grates. Close the lid of the grill. Cold smoke the cheese for about 1½ – 2 hours. When smoke time is done, remove the blocks of cheese, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until completely cooled. (Remove the cream cheese from the fridge about 1 hour before mixing in with other ingredients, so it has time to soften).
- Heat grill to 350℉. Preheat the grill to 350℉. You may remove the smoke tube at this time.
- Grill the corn, jalapeños, and bacon. While cheese is refrigerating, place the corn on the cob and whole jalapeños directly on the grill grates on the hottest area of the grill. (If your grill has an open flame, char the vegetables over that.) Grill until nicely charred and then move off the heat, but keep on the grill. Place the bacon strips on an aluminum foil lined sheet tray. Cook the bacon on the grill until done and crispy. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. When bacon is done cooking, remove corn and jalapeños from the grill as well, and allow to cool.
- Grate the smoked cheeses. When the smoked cheeses are completely cool, grate the blocks of cheddar and pepper jack into a large bowl.
- Make the Mexican cheeseball mixture. Cut the corn kernels off the cob. Seed and finely dice the jalapeños. Finely chop 3 slices of the cooked bacon (reserving the other 3 slices for the topping). Add the corn, jalapeños, and bacon to the bowl with the shredded cheese. Add the other cheeseball ingredients (not including the topping ingredients) – cream cheese, green onion, cilantro, mayo, sour cream, lime juice, and seasonings. Mix well until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Form into a ball and refrigerate. Form the mixture into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 hour.
- Make the topping and serve. When ready to serve, add the topping ingredients and the 3 remaining slices of chopped bacon to a large bowl. Mix well. Roll the cheeseball in the topping mixture so that it is evenly coated. Serve with crackers or corn chips.
Video
Notes
- The cheeseball can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and stored covered in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, make the topping, roll the cheeseball in the topping, and serve.
- For extra smoky flavor, you may cold smoke the blocks of cheddar and pepper jack cheese up to one week in advance. Cold smoke for about 2 hours, then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to grate for the cheeseball mixture.
- If you can’t find the Elote Loco PS Seasoning, then you may substitute Tajin seasoning or a different street corn seasoning.
