This vegan cheese ball is seriously delicious. It’s creamy, super cheesy and packed with flavor. Perfect as an appetizer!
This vegan cheese ball is so tasty and looks gorgeous too. It’s the perfect appetizer to serve at a dinner party or holiday get-together and it’s 100% approved by both vegans and non-vegans alike.
In fact if you want to make an example of how delicious vegan food can be to someone who is sceptical, you may want to consider leading with something like this.
It’s the kind of recipe that causes people to make a bit of a fuss. They’ll exclaim about how delicious it is while enthusiastically spreading another serving on a cracker and demanding that you give them the recipe right this minute! You may even become a bit of a legend. No really.
All this, and it’s so easy to make too. What’s not to love? And if you love putting together a good vegan cheese board then also check out our sliceable cashew cheese and our vegan cheddar cheese as well as our vegan camembert, vegan brie, vegan blue cheese and vegan pâté.
How To Make A Vegan Cheese Ball
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Place raw cashews into a bowl and pour over boiling hot water from the kettle. Leave them to soak for an hour.
- Drain the cashews and add to the blender along with lemon juice, coconut oil, miso paste, salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, crushed garlic and water and blend until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in fresh chopped basil and chives.
- Line a small bowl with plastic wrap and spoon the mixture into the bowl. Twist the plastic wrap to seal it, creating a ball shape.
- Place the bowl with your cheese ball into the freezer for 1 hour to set.
- While the cheese is setting, crush roasted and salted almonds and place them into a wide bowl.
- Add chopped chives and mix with the crushed almonds.
- After 1 hour remove the cheese ball from the freezer and gently remove the plastic wrap.
- Gently roll the cheese ball in the crushed almonds and chives, making sure the ball is evenly coated.
- Return the cheese ball to the small bowl that it set in and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until you’re ready to serve.
Recipe Tips
Soak the cashews: The reason you must soak the cashews for this recipe is because the cheese is very thick. We can’t add much water because we need a thick consistency so that it will set. Soaking the cashews makes it much easier to blend.
Fresh lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
Coconut oil: You can use either virgin coconut oil or refined coconut oil (odorless). Don’t substitute a different oil, it must either be coconut oil or, if you have an allergy or avoid oils, then omit it entirely.
White miso paste: If you don’t have miso paste on hand then you can substitute this for tomato paste, tahini or soy sauce. Soy sauce provides similar umami flavors to miso paste.
Nutritional Yeast: This adds to the cheesy flavor but if you’re allergic or can’t get hold of it, then simply leave it out.
Recipe Q&A
If you’re allergic to cashews then you could try this recipe with slivered or blanched almonds. Soak them first just the same way you would the cashews. The texture will be different but it would still be delicious.
Sure. If you prefer not to use oil you can omit it. The cheese may be slightly softer though.
This is amazing to serve as an appetizer with crackers, melba toast or breads. It’s also great with raw veggies or tortilla chips.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
This is a great recipe to make up ahead of time. Just make it and then keep it stored in the fridge for a day or two until you’re ready to serve.
Leftover cheese will keep in the fridge in a covered container for up to a week. It is also freezer friendly for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the fridge.
More Delicious Vegan Cheese
- Vegan Cream Cheese
- Vegan Mozzarella
- Vegan Feta
- Vegan Ricotta
- Vegan Queso
- Vegan Nacho Cheese
- Vegan Parmesan
- Vegan Cottage Cheese
Vegan Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 1 cup Raw Cashews (150g) Soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice Freshly Squeezed
- 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- ½ Tbsp White Miso Paste
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Paprika
- ⅛ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Clove Garlic Crushed
- 1 Tbsp Water
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Basil Chopped
- 2 Tbsp Fresh Chives Divided
- ¼ cup Crushed Roasted Salted Almonds
Instructions
- Place the raw cashews into a bowl and pour over boiling hot water from the kettle. Leave them to soak for an hour.
- Drain the cashews and add to the blender along with lemon juice, coconut oil, miso paste, salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, crushed garlic and water and blend until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in fresh chopped basil and 1 Tbsp of chopped chives.
- Line a small bowl with plastic wrap and spoon the mixture into the bowl. Twist the plastic wrap to seal it, creating a ball shape.
- Place the bowl with your cheese ball into the freezer for 1 hour to set.
- While the cheese is setting, crush roasted and salted almonds and place them into a wide bowl.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbsp chopped chives and mix in with the crushed almonds.
- After 1 hour remove the cheese ball from the freezer and gently remove the plastic wrap.
- Gently roll the cheese ball in the crushed almonds and chives, making sure the ball is evenly coated.
- Return the cheese ball to the small bowl that it set in and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until you’re ready to serve.
- Serve with crackers, breads, veggies or tortilla chips.
Notes
- Soak the cashews: The reason you must soak the cashews for this recipe is because the cheese is very thick. There isn’t much water added because a thick consistency is needed so that it will set. Soaking the cashews makes it much easier to blend.
- If you’re allergic to cashews then you could try this recipe with slivered or blanched almonds. Soak them first just the same way you would the cashews. The texture will be different but it would still be delicious.
- Coconut oil: You can use either virgin coconut oil or refined coconut oil (odorless). Don’t substitute a different oil, it must either be coconut oil or, if you have an allergy or avoid oils, then omit it entirely.
- White miso paste: If you don’t have miso paste on hand then you can substitute this for tomato paste or tahini or soy sauce.
- Nutritional Yeast: This adds to the cheesy flavor but if you’re allergic or can’t get hold of it, then simply leave it out.
- Make Ahead: This is a great recipe to make up ahead of time. Just make it and then keep it stored in the fridge for a day or two until you’re ready to serve.
- Storing and Freezing: Leftover cheese will keep in the fridge in a covered container for up to a week. It is also freezer friendly for up to 2 months. Thaw it in the fridge.
- Prep time: This is for hands on time only and doesn’t include time spent soaking the cashews (1 hour) and chilling in the freezer (1 hour) and fridge (30 minutes).
This was the centerpiece for my Christmas vegan charcuterie. Intense cheesy flavor, beautiful presentation. A big hit!!
Awesome! So happy to hear that Sue!
Really good recipe! So easy, very flavorful, and impressive looking. Will definitely make this again. *** I substituted scallions for the chives and it was delicious.
Thank you.
Awesome, thanks so much for the great review Maria!
Is it possible to sub out the coconut oil with something else? thanks!
You can leave it out. 🙂
I tried this in the blender and there just wasn’t enough liquid for it to blend. I was afraid of adding adding too much liquid, so I put it in the food processor. That worked perfectly.
Easy recipe to make. Very tasty and looked very festive. Definitely will make this again and again. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Awesome! Thanks for the great review Maraika!
I made this to take to my non-vegan family’s Thanksgiving. They loved it and could not believe it was made from cashews! It was devoured within no time at all. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for a great recipe!!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Jessica!