That photo is almost certainly the classic cream cheese + pepper jelly appetizer. It really can be made with just 3 ingredients: cream cheese, red/hot pepper jelly, and crackers for serving. It’s a popular sweet-and-spicy combination, especially as an easy party appetizer.
🌶️ 3-Ingredient Pepper Jelly Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 block (8 oz / 225 g) cream cheese
- About ½ cup red or hot pepper jelly
- Crackers for serving
👩🍳 How to make it
- Put the cream cheese block on a serving plate.
- Let it soften slightly at room temperature.
- Spoon the pepper jelly generously over the top.
- Arrange crackers around it.
- Scoop the creamy cheese and sweet-spicy jelly onto the crackers and enjoy.
That’s genuinely all there is to the basic version. Recipes from Southern Living and other cooking sources describe essentially this same three-ingredient preparation.
🔥 Want the baked version?
There’s also a 3-ingredient baked version using refrigerated crescent dough, cream cheese and hot pepper jelly. Pillsbury’s version makes 24 bite-size appetizers and takes about 30 minutes total.
Tip: If you want the dish in your photo, use a brick of full-fat cream cheese and a chunky red pepper jelly. The contrast between the tangy, creamy cheese and glossy sweet heat is what makes it so addictive.
