Smoked Cream Cheese

If you’ve never tried Smoked Cream Cheese you don’t know what you’ve been missing. Try this simple recipe once and you’ll be hooked for life.

Looking for something fun and different to serve as an appetizer or snack? Smoked cream cheese is where it’s at! Prep work is almost non-existent and you only need to smoke it for about two hours. It’s seriously one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever make on your smoker.

And your guests will be blown away by how delicious it is. You can serve smoked cream cheese warm right off the smoker or make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

How To Make Smoked Cream Cheese

Start with an 8 ounce block of cream cheese. Philadelphia cream cheese is the gold standard but the store brand stuff works just fine.

Grab a sharp knife and score the top of the cream cheese in a crosshatch pattern. Go about ¼ inch deep on each cut.

You can skip this step if you want, but it really helps make a stunning presentation. Plus it allows the smoke and seasonings to penetrate deeper into the cheese.

Next grab two tablespoons of your favorite seasoning or barbecue rub. Sprinkle it evenly all over the top and be sure to get some on the sides as well.

What’s really fun when smoking cream cheese is that you can be creative and try all sorts of different seasonings. Some suggestions include:

• Barbecue rub
• Everything bagel seasoning
• Garlic and herb rub
• Cinnamon sugar or Cinnadust seasoning blend
• Mexican fajita seasoning
• Ranch seasoning
• Pumpkin spice - perfect for a Thanksgiving appetizer!

Some people like to coat the cheese with olive oil or mustard before applying the seasoning. Their thinking is that the liquid will serve as a binder and help keep the seasoning from falling off.

But in my experience, cream cheese is already pretty sticky and there’s really no need to use a binder. Just look at the pictures in this article and you can see there’s plenty of seasoning even though I didn’t use anything at all as a binder.

Pro tip – If you have trouble getting the block of cream cheese out of it’s foil packaging, pop it in the freezer for 5 or 10 minutes. It won’t freeze but it will harden up enough to make it easier to handle.

Set up your smoker or pellet grill for low heat. You want to keep the temperature around 200 F to 225 F. If you’re using a pellet grill you can just set the temperature and let it go. If you’re using charcoal you’ll have to carefully manage the temperature. In my Weber Smokey Mountain I use a charcoal chimney starter and fill it halfway with coals.

You can place the cream cheese on a baking sheet or rack covered in foil, or put the cheese right in a cast iron pan and place the whole pan in the smoker.

As for the wood, you can use pretty much any variety to smoke cream cheese. I’m partial to apple wood myself, but cherry, oak, hickory, or pecan will work just as well.

Let the cream cheese smoke for about 90 minutes. If you want some extra smokiness you can let it smoke up to 2 hours, and if you’re short on time an hour of smoke time will still get you some good flavor.

Remove it from the smoker and top with any additional flavors like marmalade or sliced jalapenos. I like to top it with some bacon jam or sweet chili sauce.

How To Serve Smoked Cream Cheese

Smoked cream cheese is a perfect appetizer for a party or get together with friends. It’s also a great option for brunch or a snack while you watch the big game. It’s super versatile and can be served with a number of different foods.

• Bagels – Many people like to spread cream cheese on their bagels. Smoke some cream cheese first to really kick things up a notch. Just try an everything bagel topped with cream cheese smoked with everything bagel seasoning…incredible!
• Crackers – Serve as an appetizer with a variety of crackers for dipping.
• Crudité – Cut up some raw cucumber, carrot, celery, broccoli, and red peppers and build little veggie platter so guests can dip in the smoked cream cheese.
• Tortilla Chips – Smoke cream cheese with Mexican seasoning and serve with tortilla chips.
• Pretzels and Chips – You can’t go wrong with the old standards!