I love a good cheese ball around the holidays! And this Garlic Herb Cheese Ball, made using vegan ingredients, garlic, lemon and fragrant dried herbs is one worthy of a holiday party or simple anytime snacking.
Holiday Appetizer
Super easy to make, this recipe for my vegan Garlic Herb Cheese Ball comes together in about a half hour and requires no baking, just a quick blend to whip things to fluffy, cheesy perfection – and a bit of chill time.
Stack some crackers or veggie sticks on your serving plate and enjoy the cheese ball fun. This cheese ball goes perfectly with fancy “cheese platter” type ingredients like:
Cheese Platter Ingredients to Try:
- fancy olives
- dried fruit
- apple slices
- aged cashew cheese
- crackers
- marcona almonds
- grapes
- whole satsumas, leaves and stems in tact
- pretzels
- salted mixed nuts
- sourdough or crostini
How to Roll a Cheese Ball:
It’s actually a pretty easy process! First, make sure your cheese ball mixture is well chilled. I actually pop mine in the freezer for ten minutes or so to really firm things up. If you are finding that your mixture is just too wet, you can always try folding in more cheese shreds or even another pinch of the dried herbs. but really, it should be good to go after chilling. Then you oil-coat your hands and roll into a ball. The final step is to roll the ball in your chopped nuts. Chill again to set and serve!
How good is this cheese ball?
Well, let’s just say that I had one bite and then an hour later I was coming back for more and basically devoured half this ball and some of my fave rye crisps and veggie sticks for lunch. Cheese ball for lunch? Sure!
Garlic Herb Cheese Ball Flavors..
The creamy cheese flavor has a mild accent of salty Parmesan. Then the delicate Italian herbs come through in every bite, and a richness from the EVOO. And then all that dense creaminess is brightened up by the addition of lemon juice and pepper.
So yeah….. to answer that question: SO GOOD!
Party approved. TV binge-watching night approved. Anytime approved.
Which vegan cream cheese to use?
I just happen to have Tofutti on hand, so that is the brand I used. I also chose this brand because I know how thick and firm the texture is – which is helpful when making a cheeseball. For eating plain, such as on bagels, I love Kite Hill’s cream cheese. But Kite Hill tends to be a bit softer, so that brand still needs to be tested for this recipe.
I also like Tofutti because it always seems to be the cheapest brand on the shelf. Helpful if you are making multiple cheese balls this holiday season!!
What about the herbs?
I like using dried herbs because they soak up any excess liquid in the cheese, making it an easier mold into a ball. If you want to fold in a few pinches of fresh basil or parsley, finely chopped, go for it! But the dried herbs, I found, do the trick just fine.
My dried herbs were a mix of: oregano, basil, thyme and savory. Summer savory, or santoreggia, is my favorite lesser known italian herb. I found it at Eataly and absolutely love it!
Garlic Herb Cheese Ball
Ingredients
Cheese Ball:
- 8 oz cream cheese, vegan
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 Tbsp Parmesan shreds, vegan
- 1 Tbsp mixed dried italian herbs, unsalted
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp garlic granules
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Coating:
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts, or pecans
For hands:
- 1-2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Add all the cheese ball ingredients to a small mixing bowl.
- Beat the ingredients together until smooth and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and spoon the cheese together to form a sort of very flat ball. Just to get the mixture tight and together.
- Place the bowl of whipped cheese in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Finely chop your walnuts or pecans.
- Remove cheese from the freezer. Pour EVOO on your hands and coat your palms in the oil. Then using your hands, scoop the chilled cheese from the bowl and roll it gently into a ball shape. Roll the cheese ball in the chopped walnuts, coating all sides.
- Place the ball gently on your serving plate and place it back in the freezer. Allow to chill for five minutes.
- Serve the cheese ball with crackers, crostini or veggie sticks. Best when eaten within an hour of removing from the fridge.
Notes
nutrition estimate | per serving
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Want more cheese spread ideas? This similar recipe uses cashews in the mix.
So if you are like me, and thought garlic granules and garlic powder were the same thing – they are NOT. If you are using garlic powder, cut in half. Two teaspoons of garlic powder was way too much! 🙂
Kathy, Thank you so much for this recipe!! It was so nice not to have to soak and blend cashews (like I normally do) to make a vegan cheese ball. I don’t have beaters so I just used a fork to mix everything together. And I didn’t have vegan parmesan so I substituted with nutritional yeast (and added more salt to make up for it). I used the tofutti as it was 1/3 the price of Kite Hill. It was so simple and turned out great! Worried I might eat it all!!