My homemade Cheese Spread with Bacon and Pesto is a delicious, from-scratch appetizer that's perfect for your next New England holiday party or family game day. The cream cheese spread comes together fast, and can even be made ahead of time.
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A step up from plain ol' cheese and crackers, my Cheese Spread with Bacon and Pesto has so much savory flavor. There's garlic and basil from the bright green pesto, and smoky flavor from the bacon.
It's a delicious homemade cheese spread to serve with crisp crackers, pretzel sticks, or slices of baguette. Make this Cheese Spread to bring to the next work party or to share with family for holidays and game days.
Sometimes we even enjoy this cheese spread with crackers and a bowl of hot soup as a casual, tasty lunch.
In a nutshell... 🐿️
- What this is: A savory, homemade cheese spread that blends smoky bacon with cream cheese and bright pesto. It's perfect for New England get-togethers of all kinds, from holidays to office parties.
- You'll love this part: It's a speedy, make-ahead appetizer that takes the stress out of feeding guests, and it has a flavor everyone will really like.
- How it's made: Blend cream cheese, butter, and Parmesan cheese, then fold in pesto, bacon, and red pepper. Give the spread an hour to chill, then it's ready to serve.
Jump to:
The favorite guest at every party? Cheese.
It's Friday food day at the office, and you and your co-workers are bring in snacks and dishes to share. Or, it's a New England Christmas get-together—couples, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and a whole gaggle of children of various sizes crowd into a house to open presents, eat, drink, and be merry.
Perhaps it's Saturday night and friends are coming over to watch a movie at your place, and need some noshes at hand. Or it's your best friend from college's baby shower, and you're tasked with bringing an appetizer to share.
What all of these get-togethers, and so many more that I haven't named, have in common is very often—cheese! No matter how you slice it, or melt it into a dip, or serve it soft enough to spread on a cracker, it's just not a party without a little cheese.
When you want to change things up from your usual cheesy offerings, this cream cheese spread with bacon and pesto is one you should definitely try! It falls into the soft enough to spread category, so don't forget the crackers. ("Don't forget the crackers, Gromit!")
Make your game plan!
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Why you'll love this Cheese Spread with Bacon and Pesto
One thing to love about my Cheese Spread made with bacon, pesto, and Parmesan is that it's a speedy dish to assemble. Just mix everything together! The spread needs just an hour in the fridge to let the flavors meld; you can also make it hours or even a day in advance, and bring it out as your guests arrive.
Cook up some bacon ahead of time to chop finely for the cheese spread. My favorite way to cook bacon is in the oven—I use this guide from The Kitchn to oven-bake bacon. I find this method perfect, because I don't have to stand over the bacon at the stove; I'm free to get other stuff done. However, feel free to cook it up any way you want, or even buy precooked bacon if you want to save the time.
You can use your own, homemade pesto in this cheese spread or use a good-quality jarred pesto.
Set the bacon pesto cheese spread out with crackers, pita chips, pretzel rods, or even small slices of baguette. The basil and garlic in the pesto as well as the added Parmesan give this cheese spread a decidedly Italian flavor. And the bacon adds savory, salty flavor and a hint of smokiness.
🔪 How to make this Cheese Spread with Pesto and Bacon
Ingredients:
- Cream cheese: Soften two 8-ounce bricks of cream cheese for this cheese spread. Hint: slicing the cream cheese into cubes allows it to soften at room temperature more quickly.
- Parmesan cheese: For the best flavor and smoothest texture, grate your own Parmesan cheese. Look for wedges in the fancy cheese case at the store, most often near the deli area.
- Bacon: For the half-cup of cooked and crumbled bacon in the spread, you'll need to cook up about eight strips of regular-cut bacon. One of my favorite brands is New Hampshire's North Country Smokehouse; their bacon has the best, smokiest flavor!
- Pesto: You'll love how the basil and garlic flavors of pesto sauce taste with the cheese and bacon in this spread! You can use a good brand of jarred pesto (I use Rao's) or use your own homemade pesto.
- Butter: A small amount of softened helps to bring the spread together with a smooth texture. You can use either salted or unsalted butter.
- Red bell pepper: Diced red pepper adds a fresh crunch to the cheese spread, and its lightly sweet flavor pairs beautifully with the other ingredients.
- Salt: Taste the spread once everything is mixed together, and add a little more salt to taste if you think it needs it. The bacon, Parmesan, and pesto all contribute some salt so you may not need much if any extra.
- Crackers: Look for crackers sturdy enough to hold up to a spread of the cheese spread. I like stoneground wheat crackers and Triscuits. Pita chips are another good choice for this spread.
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Blend the cheeses and butter
Mix the cream cheese with the softened butter, and then the grated Parmesan using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Fold in the remaining ingredients
Add the diced bacon, bell pepper, and pesto to the bowl, and thoroughly mix them in. Add salt to taste. Spoon the mixture into a small serving bowl, then chill the cheese spread in the fridge for an hour to let the flavors meld.
Serve!
Serve the Cheese Spread with crackers, pita chips, sliced baguette, or pretzel sticks.
More cheese!
Curry Cheddar Spread
A mighty flavorful spread with olives and green onions. And so easy to make!
Cheese Spread FAQs
One way to soften cream cheese is to just leave it on the counter at room temperature for an hour or so, depending on how warm it is in your house. Slicing the cream cheese into cubes and separating them will help it soften more quickly. You can also microwave cubed cream cheese in very brief bursts—20 seconds or so, rotating the cheese cubes each time, just until they're soft.
Cream cheese is nothing more than that: a block or dish of white, mildly tangy cream cheese. Cream cheese spread, however, is a kind of flavorful, spreadable cheese that's made using cream cheese. It has other ingredients in it like diced vegetables, chopped meats, spices, and grated cheeses. The cream cheese in mixture makes it soft enough to spread.
Tips:
- This cream cheese spread for crackers gets a brief rest in the fridge to let the flavors meld. Be sure to figure in this time when you prepare the recipe.
- My Cheese Spread recipe is easy to make in advance, so that it's ready to serve when your party or gathering gets going!
The Cheese Spread recipe with Bacon and Pesto is below! Here are a few more cheesy appetizers to make for the party:
💬 Did you make and devour this recipe? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Cheese Spread with Bacon and Pesto
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Ingredients
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup cooked and crumbled bacon (from roughly 8 strips of regular-cut bacon)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (seeds and veins removed)
- ½ cup fresh or store-bought pesto sauce
- salt to taste
Instructions
Blend the cheeses:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, (or a large bowl to use with a hand mixer), beat together the 16 ounces cream cheese, softened and ¼ cup butter, softened until they're blended and smooth. Then, beat in the 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Finish the cheese spread:
- Use the mixer or a wooden spoon to fold the ½ cup cooked and crumbled bacon, 1 red bell pepper, diced, and ½ cup fresh or store-bought pesto sauce (see note below) into the cheese mixture, until it's even distributed throughout.
- (Stir the pesto first, before measuring it out, so that the ingredients are well mixed with the oil.)
- Taste the mixture; add a little salt to taste if it needs it.
- Transfer the cheese spread to a small serving bowl, and cover it tightly with plastic wrap.
- Place the bowl in the fridge to chill for 1 hour—this allows the flavors to meld in the cheese spread.
Serve:
- Remove the plastic wrap. Pull a fork through the top of the cheese spread to add a little texture, and remove crease marks from the plastic.
- Set the bowl on a serving platter and surround it with sturdy party crackers (like stoneground wheat crackers or Triscuits), or pita chips. Stick a small knife or cheese spreader tool into the spread so guests can help themselves.
Store:
- Any leftover cheese spread should be covered tightly and stored in the fridge for up to five days.
- Makes about 4 cups of cheese spread
Notes
- This cheese spread gets a brief rest in the fridge to let the flavors meld. Be sure to figure in this time when you prepare the recipe.
- My Cheese Spread recipe is easy to make in advance, so that it's ready to serve when your party or gathering gets going!
Nutrition
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