Name: Keto Salmon and Cream Cheese Ball Bites
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 green onions; 6 oz cream cheese, softened; 6 oz canned salmon (or cooked fresh salmon); 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional); zest of 1/2 lemon; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 2-3 tablespoons Everything Bagel Spice (See Note about making your own)

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These keto salmon and cream cheese ball bites make for an easy and fun appetizer. The classic flavors of smoked salmon and cream cheese are coated in everything bagel spice! In just 10 minutes you can make this keto snack or appetizer to serve at your next party.

You might also like these keto smoked salmon and cream cheese spread.

blue plate with keto cheese balls covered in everything spice with a toothpick — This post contains affiliate links. For more information visit our policies page.

My family loves smoked salmon. My husband makes a smoked salmon on his smoker that my son just loves on an everything bagel with cream cheese. I got to thinking that I could make my smoked salmon creamy cheese spread and roll it up in everything bagel spice for a yummy keto snack or appetizer.

So that is how I came up with these easy keto salmon and cream cheese ball bites. It’s almost like eating lox and cream cheese on an everything bagel but without the carbs. It’s a flavor combination that just goes well together and it’s super easy to make. So you can make them in 10 minutes for a party or just eat them as a snack.

Mini Cheese Ball Bites Or A Big Cheese Ball

Initially I wanted to make these cute cheese ball bites but once I got half way through I realized it would be just as good as one large cheese ball. I always forget to make cheese balls and yet everyone seems to love them at parties.

So you can roll these into little bite sized balls or into one bigger ball. Either way it’s really easy and tasty.

Ingredients I Used

You are going to love how simple this recipe is. I used only 6 items: cream cheese, liquid smoke, canned salmon, lemon juice and zest, green onions and my own everything bagel spice. Other than the liquid smoke, you can get everything at Aldi!

NOTE: I made my own everything bagel spice because I find the bottled a bit too salty for the mini cheese ball bites. It was fine for the big cheese ball though. If you are using the bottled spice, you can cut some of the saltiness with crushed walnuts, pecans or by adding additional sesame seeds.

Salmon & cream cheese ball bites ingredients: liquid smoke, everything bagel spice, green onions, cream cheese and canned salmon all from Aldi — You can buy everything to make these at Aldi except the liquid smoke.

Making Your Own Everything Bagel Spice

While you can buy a bottle of everything bagel spice, I find that they are a bit salty. You can easily make your own and cut the salt in half but the traditional combination is a equally parts:

sea salt (use half as much to make it less salty for this recipe)
dried minced onion
dried minced garlic
sesame seeds (white, black or both)
poppy seeds

How To Make Keto Cheese Ball Bites

First thing you want to do is use soften cream cheese. Let it sit out on the counter for 20 minutes.

Now add the green onions to a food processor first to chop it all up. Then you can add all the other ingredients (except everything spice) and process well. When you add the canned salmon though make sure you drain it first and if it has bones and skin (try not to buy this if you can because it’s a pain) take it all out.

green plate with cream cheese ball bites, fresh lemons a colorful tea towel — You can roll these into mini salmon & cream cheese ball bites pictured here or into one big ball in the next picture.

Pour the everything bagel spice into a small ramekin. Take a tablespoon of the mixture and form into small balls. If the mixture is too mushy you can refrigerate for 1 hour to make it harden. Take the balls and roll them in the spices and place on a plate. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

And If You Are Making A Salmon And Cream Cheese Ball

If you are making this into a ball, just form all of the mixture into a ball. Place the everything spice in a regular sized bowl that would fit the cream cheese ball and roll it around in the spices. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

a salmon & cream cheese ball rolled in everything bagel spice on a blue plate with celery sticks and keto crackers — And this is what it looks like when made into a large cream cheese ball.

Keto Foods To Serve With The Cheese Ball

Mary’s Gone Crackers: I really love Mary’s Gone Crackers with cream cheese appetizers. I always keep a box of the savory herb flavor.
Cut Vegetables: You can also use cut vegetables like celery, peppers, cucumbers, etc.
Other Keto Crackers & Chips: There’s a large selection of Netrition low carb / keto products that I am discovering that would work too. I really like these keto pita chips by Dixie.

a hand holding a Mary's Gone Crackers cracker with the salmon and cream cheese spread and celery sticks

Recipe Notes And Tips

You can make this cream cheese ball into one big one or mini cheese ball bites.
If making the mini bites, you might want to make your own everything bagel spice and cut down on the salt. The bottled spice is a bit salty.
If you want to make the mini bites and use the bottle spice, you can cut the salt a bit by adding more sesame or poppy seeds. Or you can use some crushed walnuts or pecans to cut the saltiness.
The bottle spice is fine if you are making 1 big cheese ball.
Keto foods to serve this with are cut vegetables (celery, peppers, cucumbers), Mary’s Gone Crackers, keto pita chips, keto pita chips, etc.
You can use canned salmon with liquid smoke, cold smoked salmon (lox), or try my hubby’s brined smoked salmon.
If you don’t like the smoke taste, you can eliminate the liquid smoke.
If the mixture is too soft to handle, just refrigerate for 20 minutes to harden it. It will be sticky regardless but once they are rolled in the spice they will form better.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.

a hand holding a toothpick with a keto salmon and cream cheese ball covered in everything bagel spice

These salmon and cream cheese balls are really fun and tasty. If you too like salmon and cream cheese on an everything bagel you will really like these keto snacks. So until next time here is the nutritional information 1 small ball:

48 cals / 3.1g fat / 0.5g carbs / 0.1g fiber / 2.6g protein = 0.4g net carbs