Recipe Friday: Fabulous Chicken Ball

Recently I have taken my chicken ball to a couple of events and have had many folks ask for the recipe.  I have to say that it is such an easy recipe that I almost ashamed to admit that it  but here it is.

Chicken Cheese Ball

1 large can of white meat chicken (I guess you could use cooked chicken but why bother?)

1 package of cream cheese, softened

1 package of ranch dressing mixture.

Mix everything together and form into a ball.
Chill for several hours then serve.

There are ENDLESS variations of this recipe.  My sister likes more meat in hers so she uses two large cans of chicken and 2 cream cheese packages but still only uses one ranch dressing. Her chicken ball is a little less spicy and has more meat.  My Uncle Brother liked his chicken ball with more of a kick so  he always added some cajun mix.   You can also make it with Hormel smoked ham.  The wonderful Rhonda Nelson makes this and it is always great! 

You can roll the shaped ball in nuts like pecans and I have  seen it with cheddar cheese pressed into it.  I still think that was done by a hostess who forgot to buy nuts but I like it best with just the green flakes from the ranch mix giving it some color.  I think the nuts and such just get in my way and keep me from the chickeny goodness. Of course, you can also shape it like other things such as footballs and logs.  Recently I had the ham version of this at a party and it was just served in a bowl as a dip.  It is truly a hostesses best friend!

What to serve it with is often a question for discussion. I originally had it served with crackers.  I still serve it with crackers sometimes but I like it better with corn chips--the big ones that you can really scoop food up with.  I also heard some recent speculation that it would be good served with those bowl-like tortilla chips.

With the holiday season coming up we all need easy recipes that we can make with things in our pantries.  What is your favorite easy party food to make?