Smoked Cream Cheese
This smoked cream cheese is an easy, crowd-pleasing appetizer to make when you're running your smoker! Serve it up with crackers or kettle chips.
Equipment
- smoker I use a pellet smoker
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese one standard block
- 2 tablespoon BBQ dry rub use your favorite, or see the recipe below
- olive oil
- spray oil
BBQ Dry Rub (makes ½ cup):
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon kosher salt do NOT sub table salt 1-1, see notes
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon onion powder
- ½ tablespoon smoked paprika or regular paprika
- ½ tablespoon chili powder add more for extra spice
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker to 200 F (Or any temp between 180 F and 250 F if you have a different desired temp for something else you're smoking. The cream cheese is fine to smoke at any temp in that range.)
- Mix together your dry rub if you're making it now. Do not sub table salt for the kosher salt 1-1 or the result will be too salty, please see the notes.
- Line a small baking sheet with foil and grease the foil with spray oil. Drizzle the block of cream cheese with a little olive oil, fully coating the outer surface.
- Then, dust with the dry rub, covering all sides of the block. (You will NOT need the full half cup of rub, save leftovers for another use. Applying too much rub may make the final result too salty)
- Place the coated block on the prepared baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to score the top of the block with a cross-hatch pattern, as pictured.
- Smoke for 1 to 2 hours (I usually do 2 for more smokiness and the best texture, but you can pull it out after an hour if desired). Serve with a cheese knife and crackers (as a spread) or with plain kettle chips (as a dip).
Notes
Kosher salt has large chunks (like what you'd see on a soft pretzel), it cannot be subbed 1-1 with table salt. If you must use table salt, use half of the quantity.
This is a perfect app to throw in the smoker as you wait for your main dish to smoke. It will come out great at a range of smoke temps, so it's easy to do without adjusting your set temperature.
This same rub is great on chicken and pork shoulder, check out my Smoked Chicken Breast and Smoked Pulled Pork recipes!
Nutrition
Serving: 1 ozCalories: 120kcal
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