Goat Cheese Balls – Easy appetizer to make ahead

Who doesn’t love a great cheese appetizer? These goat cheese balls are full of flavor, can be made a few weeks ahead of time, they take less than 6 minutes to cook, and the best part, they’re fun to eat!!! We added cayenne pepper to the panko which gave them a little kick. It’s also fun to add some of your favorite fresh herbs or buy goat cheese that already has the herbs mixed into the cheese. YUM!

One of our favorite past times is to have a TV binge watching night or weekend!!! Plus, we love a good “Friday night martini night”. So, we’re always trying new snacks and love to share the favorites with our followers. These Goat Cheese Balls might be my favorite!!! Not only are they crunchy and creamy, as I mentioned, they are so easy to make and can be frozen in the freezer for a few weeks before air frying them. So they’re always on hand!

Air Fry, Bake or Fry in Oil

Once the goat cheese balls are formed and coated in panko they go into the freezer for at least 30 minutes. After that they can remain in the freezer until you’re ready to make them. The longest we have had them in the freezer is 3 weeks. I think they could stay longer but they are so good they keep calling my name. Best part is we usually make 2 to 3 each for a nice snack in the evening.

The goat cheese balls go great with Wine, a Martini, and even a Manhattan. I’m sure they will be wonderful with other cocktails. Since we watch how many calories we have every day sometimes we have them with a flavored water and, believe it or not, they actually pair well with that too.

How to make these easy Goat Cheese Balls

Pick your favorite goat cheese and form them into balls. We measure them in one tablespoon sizes. This makes it easy to figure out home much cheese you’re having because, let me tell you, these bad boys are so good it’s hard to stop eating them.

Breading the Cheese Balls

Next beat the egg until the yellow and white part are mixed together. Make sure to remove any egg shells before it gets caught on a video. Yes, we had one little shell fall in while we were videoing and several people saw it on Instagram. OPPS!!! The shell was removed!!! It’s so funny what gets noticed.

The next step, mix together in a shallow bowl the panko, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. If you don’t want it spicy leave out the cayenne pepper. Oregano is also really good with these goat cheese balls, depending on the flavor vibe you’re going for. Just add 1/2 teaspoon of oregano with the seasoning. This is where you can have fun and add your favorite spices.

Place the goat cheese balls in the eggs then in the panko. Gently press the goat cheese into the panko mixture. Place on a freezer safe plate and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. NOTE: If saving for a later date. After 30 minutes or so place the goat cheese balls in a freezer bag for storage. Place them back in the freezer in a spot where they won’t get crushed.

Ready to Serve!

After the goat cheese balls have been in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. They’re ready to air fry, bake or fry in oil. NOTE: We have not fried them in oil just because of the extra fat that is added….and frying is hard. The flavor is so great in the air fryer or oven we decided to avoid the hot oil and clean up.

Spray the Air Fryer basket with olive oil spray. Place the frozen goat cheese balls on the Air Fryer basket and lightly spray them with the olive oil spray. This helps the panko to brown and adds that crunch!

Air Fry at 375 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. The time all depends on the air fryer. They will be soft to touch when they are done. If baking them bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. NOTE: All air fryers are different so the time does vary. We have 3 different air fryers and found that the goat cheese balls did take longer in two of the air fryers. What we found is check them at 6 minutes and then cook at 3 minute intervals until they are done.

The final STEP is to ENJOY the Goat Cheese Balls!!!!!

TIP:

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