Cheese Balls are an easy-to-prepare, tasty snack made with potatoes and cheese. Making cheese balls can be a challenge as they often break in the oil, but this fail-proof recipe will give you the perfect cheese ball every time.

This vegetarian recipe uses mashed potatoes mixed with grated cheese to make a ball that is then dropped in oil and deep fried. The result is a deliciously crisp and golden ball with a cheesy interior.

Ingredients for Cheese Ball Recipe

1. Secret Ingredient! This cheese ball recipe is different as it has a secret ingredient – GRAM FLOUR. Now Gram Flour or Besan (as we call it in India) is flour made from husked & split bengal gram (chana dal). This flour not only helps the cheese ball stick together while frying, it also has added health benefits as it is high in protein and fiber and is naturally gluten-free. In the recipe, you can even use chickpea flour (made from white chickpeas).
2. No all-purpose flour: The recipe does not use all-purpose flour but only gram flour. Besan or Chickpea flour is not traditionally used in a cheese ball recipe, so this recipe was one of a kind when I posted it. Since sharing it, I have had a lot of positive feedback and I am happy to report that tasty, satisfying homemade cheese balls are being made in kitchens everywhere!
3. Potatoes: Use potatoes with a high starch content. Russet and Yukon potatoes are a good option.
4. Cheese: The recipe works very well with either cheddar cheese or processed cheese.

Why this Cheese Ball Recipe Works

There are many different ways of preparing cheese balls and I had tried several before coming upon this fail-proof recipe. I found that when I tried the traditional method of making these, half of the cheese balls came out perfect and half of them broke in the oil.

I figured out that with the traditional ingredients, the oil had to be the perfect temperature the entire time for all the balls to fry successfully. This is difficult to do and so I wanted to find a better solution.

Then, one day while making cheese stuffed fritters (bread pakora), I mixed some grated cheese with the leftover gram flour (besan) batter and made pan-fried fritters.

To my surprise, these fritters made with gram flour tasted damn good and much better than the traditional cheese balls I had made with all-purpose flour.

So I tried making cheese balls with mashed potatoes and gram flour (besan) instead of all-purpose flour. The result was crisp cheese balls with a cheesy interior.

And the best part was that all balls fried perfectly from start to finish. I new I had found a cheese ball recipe that would allow anyone to make these delicious snacks without struggling.

Tips for Cheese Balls

1. Binding: Both gram flour and potatoes work together as binding agents. Before frying cheese balls, first test with a tiny cheese ball in hot oil. If it breaks, then you have to add 1 to 2 tablespoons chickpea flour or gram flour (besan) to the mixture and do the test again.
2. Frying Temperatures: While frying the oil has to be hot, otherwise, the cheese balls may break. The temperature of the oil should be from 177 to 190 degrees celsius (351 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit).
3. Type of Cheese: For the type of cheese, you can use either cheddar cheese or processed cheese. I am not sure about mozzarella cheese as I have not tried making cheese balls with it.
4. Spicing: As a kid friendly snack, I have kept the spices minimal. As it suits you and your family’s taste buds, you can increase the spices. You can also add spices and herbs like chili peppers (green chilies) or red chili powder to make these cheese balls spicy.
5. Quantity & Scaling: The recipe makes 9 to 10 small cheese ball and can be easily double or tripled.

Serving Suggestions

Cheese balls can be served as a party snack or appetizer. They also make a great snack or lunch for kids. Serve them with tomato ketchup, or coriander chutney or mint chutney.

How to make Cheese Balls

1. Boil 3 small potatoes (100 grams) in a steamer or pressure cooker or an electric cooker. You can even steam the potatoes in an Instant Pot for 7 to 8 minutes. Boil the potatoes until they are completely cooked.

2. When the potatoes become warm, peel them and mash very well in a mixing bowl. There should be no moisture while peeling, chopping and mashing the potatoes. Allow the potatoes to come at room temperature before you add the remaining ingredients.

3. Grate 60 grams cheese and set aside. 60 grams equals about ½ cup tightly packed grated cheese. You can use either cheddar cheese or processed cheese. If using amul processed cheese cubes, then use 3 cubes.

Making Cheese Ball Mixture

4. To the mashed potatoes, add ¼ teaspoon crushed black pepper or ⅓ teaspoon black pepper powder, a pinch of garam masala (optional) and 1.5 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) or parsley leaves.

5. Add 3.5 to 4 tablespoons gram flour (besan) or chickpea flour. I highly recommend using gram flour or chickpea flour, however if you do not have it you can also add 3 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour or corn starch or arrowroot flour.

6. Mix very well.

7. Then add the grated cheese and two pinches of black salt. Add salt accordingly as cheese already has salt in it. You can add rock salt or regular salt instead of black salt.

8. Mix the cheese with the rest of the potato mixture very well. Check the taste and add more salt or crushed black pepper if required.

Making Cheese Balls

9. Make small balls from the mixture and make one tiny ball to test while frying.

10. Heat oil for deep frying in a kadai (wok) or pan.

11. When the oil becomes hot, add the tiny cheese ball. The temperature of oil can be from 177 to 190 degrees Celsius (351 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit). The oil has to be hot, otherwise, the cheese balls may break.

12. In a minute, the tiny cheese ball will begin to get golden. If the tiny cheese ball does not break, then you can begin to fry the other balls. If it breaks, then you have to add 1 to 2 tbsp chickpea flour or gram flour (besan) to the mixture again. Keep the same temperature while frying by increasing or decreasing the flame.

13. Add the remaining balls taking care of the volume and space of the pan or kadai. Do not overcrowd. Since I used a small kadai, I added four cheese balls at a time.

14. With a slotted spoon, turn balls over when they become golden.

15. Fry them turning a couple of times, until they are evenly golden all over and crisp.

16. Remove and place them on kitchen paper towels.

Serve Cheese Balls hot with tomato ketchup or mint coriander chutney or mint chutney.

This recipe post from the archives has been republished and updated on 20 May 2020.