Smoked Cream Cheese: Recipe and Smoking Tips

Smoked cream cheese is a soft cow’s milk cheese cooked over indirect heat using a pellet smoker or grill. Prepare smoked cream cheese dip as a sweet or savory dish, or use it as the base of a dish for an infusion of smoky flavor. Before smoking, home chefs often flavor the cream cheese with various ingredients like spices and herbs.

Due to its dairy content, cream cheese is a rich source of calcium, potassium, and vitamin A.

Smoked cream cheese can benefit from the addition of various seasonings and spices since it has a mild flavor profile. Try these variations on smoked cream cheese for your next gathering:

1. 1. Brown sugar cinnamon pecan: Coat a block of cream cheese with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and crushed pecans to make a dessert version of smoked cream cheese. Serve with sliced apples and crisps made with nuts and dried fruit.
2. 2. Everything bagel: Coat cream cheese in everything bagel seasoning and smoke. Serve the creamy smoked spread with bagels and smoked salmon for a savory brunch treat. Make your own everything bagel seasoning at home.
3. 3. Jalapeño poppers: Fill jalapeños with cream cheese and mix with shredded cheddar cheese and garlic powder. Then pop these on the smoker instead of frying them in oil. Serve this BBQ version of jalapeño poppers alongside tacos and enchiladas for a Mexican-inspired feast.
4. 4. Mediterranean: This flavorful dip recipe involves topping cream cheese with chopped herbs like thyme, dill, parsley, and rosemary, a generous drizzle of olive oil, freshly cracked pepper, and a pinch of sea salt. Serve this Mediterranean-inspired spread with pita chips, sliced baguette, or warm pita bread and fresh-cut veggies. Learn how to make homemade pita bread.
5. 5. Queso: Use smoked cheese as the base of a queso recipe to make smoky queso. Serve with tortilla chips or a veggie crudités platter.
6. 6. Red pepper jelly: Add a layer of red pepper jelly to the top of the cream cheese block before smoking to make a delicious spreadable cheese that pairs well with your favorite crackers and fruit.
   
7. 7. Smoked pig shots: Smoked pig shots are a popular appetizer consisting of a cream cheese mixture wrapped in bacon and then smoked. Mix cream cheese with your favorite BBQ rub, shredded cheddar, and thinly sliced green onions to ramp up the flavor. Wrap the mixture with individual slices of thick-cut bacon to form a “pig shot,” or rounds of bacon that you shape into the form of a shot glass. Smoke the meat in a cast-iron skillet and enjoy it as an appetizer or side dish at a barbecue.

Follow these tips when smoking cream cheese:

1. 1. Choose the right smoker. Decide what kind of smoker you’re going to use: Pellet grills or smokers are user-friendly but can be difficult to troubleshoot because of their high-tech nature. Charcoal smokers benefit from the addition of wood chunks to add extra flavor, though most of the smoke comes from charcoal. Learn about the different types of BBQ smokers.
2. 2. Select your wood. Choose the wood that works best for your smoker, which will always be a type of hardwood such as hickory or mesquite. Different types of smokers require different types of wood, so it is important to do your research. You’ll need wood chips for grill smoking, whereas wood chunks are best for kettle grills. Discover the best woods for smoking.
3. 3. Score the cream cheese. To impart a delicious smoky flavor, carve a cross-hatch into the block of cream cheese before smoking to increase the surface area the smoke penetrates.