Tis the season for holiday parties and entertaining! You probably have more than one invite in your inbox related to work, friends, and family or extracurricular activities. Why not make it easy on yourself and create these recipes using Kettle Brand Chips that I have prepared for you?!

Last weekend we had a few friends over to swap gifts, so I decided to make it as festive as possible in our small bungalow home with table decor and holiday appetizers that anyone can put together.

These recipes all come together easily and won’t break the bank this holiday season:

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork Mini Nachos with New York Cheddar Kettle Brand Chips

Stuffed Jalapeños with Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips

Spicy Ranch Cheese Ball with Jalapeño Kettle Brand Chips

I also had a lot of fun putting the holiday decorations together. For festive holiday lighting, simply fill a Ball Jar 3/4 of the way with water. Add about 10 cranberries and place a tea light in the middle. Light the tea light and you’ll illuminate the beautiful cranberries!

Now, onto the recipes.

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork Mini Nachos – whew, that’s a mouthful! But talk about an easy recipe that is practically “set it and forget it.” Your guests will fill up with the pork and enjoy customizing their own nachos. Pulled pork can feed quite the crowd and really stretch your dollar. No need to slather the pulled pork in barbecue sauce – beer creates all of the flavor you will need for this delicious recipe.

Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork Mini Nachos

Ingredients:

22 oz bottle of beer (I used Quaff On Brewing Company’s Busted Knuckle Imperial Red Ale)
1 7-8 lb bone-in pork shoulder
New York Cheddar Kettle Brand Chips
Nacho toppings – sliced green onions, crumbled blue cheese, black olives, shredded cheddar cheese

Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker and pour the beer on top. Cook on low for 8 hours. Drain all but 1/2 cup of the beer after it has cooked. Remove the bone and shred the meat. Once all of the meat is shredded, pour the reserved beer on top of the pork to keep it moist and flavorful.

Place the nacho toppings on a plate or in small bowls so your guests can create their own mini nachos to their liking. If your guests don’t want to assemble each mini nacho individually, let them place a handful of New York Cheddar Kettle Brand Chips on their plate and assemble a larger portion of “mini nachos.” The meat is so tasty, I don’t blame them for wanting more!

No need to find a separate container for the pulled pork. Just put it back in the slow cooker and use ribbon and poinsettia flowers to make it festive!

Stuffed jalapeños are fun holiday appetizers that bring color and pop to your party. Cream cheese and Gorgonzola mellow out the heat from the jalapeños and the Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips provide a beautiful color contrast as well as a salty and sweet twist.

Stuffed Jalapeños with Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips

Ingredients:

10 jalapeños
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup Gorgonzola
2 cups Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips, crushed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.

Put on some gloves (trust me, you’ll need them) and slice your jalapeños in half. Remove all of the seeds and any white membrane.

In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese and gorgonzola cheese together. I find this works best in a stand mixer but you can also use a fork to break up the gorgonzola chunks.

Use a small spoon and begin to scoop the cream cheese mixture into the jalapeños, about 1 1/2 tablespoons each depending on the size of your peppers.

In a small bowl, measure out the Maple Bacon Kettle Brand Chips are crush them with your hands or a food processor. Top each of the stuffed jalapenos with about two tablespoons of the crushed chips or until each pepper is covered. Bake for twenty minutes until peppers are cooked and the chips have lightly browned. Serve immediately.

Cheese balls are a classic staple for any holiday party but they certainly don’t have to be boring. As someone who has nut allergies, I wanted to make a cheese ball that wasn’t crusted in slivered almonds or crushed nuts. Kettle Brand Chips to the rescue! Their jalapeño chips created a spicy crust for a classic ranch cheese ball that will be sure to please.

Spicy Ranch Cheese Ball with Jalapeño Kettle Brand Chips

Ingredients:

Two 8-oz packages of cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 tbsp chopped green onions
1 package of ranch dip mix
1 cup Jalapeño Kettle Brand Chips, crushed
1 tsp dried parsley

In a stand mixer or medium sized bowl, mix the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, chopped green onions and ranch dip mix together until combined. Grab a large square of plastic wrap and place the cheese mixture on the plastic. Grab all sides of the plastic and bring them together above the cheese, then wrap all of the cheese in plastic and begin to shape the cheese into a ball (this keeps your hands from getting messy and the cheese ball will become a ball easier). Place the cheese ball in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to firm up.

In a small bowl, crush the Jalapeño Kettle Brand Chips either by hand or food processor. Unwrap the cheese ball and place it in the bowl. Move the cheese ball around on all sides, gently pressing it into the chips. Do this until the whole cheese ball is crusted. Lightly dust the cheese ball with the dried parsley to add a little color and serve. We enjoyed this with Kettle Brand Sea Salt Chips.