This vegan cheese ball is made with creamy cashew cheese flavored with maple syrup and Dijon mustard, rolled up and covered with a crunchy pecan crust.
I've wanted to do a vegan cheese ball (cheez ball?) post for a while. I thought it would be fun, as there's lots you can do with cashew cheese. I was also sure I could create something at least as tasty as any dairy cheese ball.
And well, I'm not going to lie, I just wanted to create a post with "cheese ball" in the title. I told my husband this and his response was "If I ate nothing but your cooking, you'd already have one of those in your life." The fact that he would even say such a thing confirms the statement's accuracy.
Anyhow, I when it comes to spreadable cashew cheeses, I've gotten to the point where I simply open up the refrigerator and scan the door shelves for flavor inspiration. Last time I did this I spotted maple syrup and Dijon mustard. Perfect for a holiday vegan cheese ball.
Maple and Dijon are plenty festive if you ask me. For the nut crust, which is a cheese ball essential, I went with pecans for their mild sweetness, which complimented my cheesy flavors perfectly.
Maple Dijon Vegan Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked in water 4-8 hours, rinsed and drained
- 3 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 ½ tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
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Place the cashews mustard, nutritioal yeast, coconut oil, maple syrup, and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
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Transfer the mixture to a sheet of plastic wrap. Gently wrap plastic around mixture and press it into a ball shape. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
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Gently peel away plastic wrap and transfer the ball to a plate. Press pecan pieces into the surface, reshaping gently as needed.
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Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with crackers, bread or veggies.
This cheese ball looks fabulous. Such great flavours. I'm hosting a wine and appetizer Christmas party this weekend and I'm definitely going to make this cheese ball to put out. Thanks for the awesome recipe! :)
What would you advise besides coconut oil? I am allergic and I hate the taste.
You could omit the oil - the texture just won't be quite as smooth. The other option is to sub a neutral flavored vegetable oil like grape seed, though the end product will be a bit softer, since the coconut oil helps it firm up a bit when chilled. If it's too soft to roll you could always just put it into a dish and serve it as a spreadable cheese. Enjoy!
Or maybe a shortening like Trex?
I've never worked with Trex, but I think most shortenings would work. :)
boy I am going to make this for Thanksgiving, what kind of crackers are you using?
Those are Trader Joe's Golden Rounds, which is pretty much their version of Ritz. :) I *think* Ritz are vegan too, so you could probably use them too. I hope you enjoy this!
So I made this last night in preparation for today, Thanksgiving. 1) I have never made a cheeseball and 2) I followed your instructions and ingredients exactly. Let me say that it is very difficult not to eat the entire thing already because the flavors go more amazing together than I imagined! And it’s vegan!! I think my guests will be pleasantly surprised. Happy holidays!
Yay!! I'm so glad you like it! I hope it was a hit! :)
Hi Alissa:) this sounds and looks amazing, def want to give it a try! is the yeast a must? i am allergic to it.
thx x
Hi Najomi! The yeast adds cheesy flavor, so if you leave it out you might need to include something else to make up for it. I'm not sure what would work though - maybe give it a taste test and if you think it would work try adding some garlic powder, onion powder, or even a squeeze of lemon juice. Please let me know how it works out if you give it a try!
I suspect pine nuts might make an alternative to nutritional yeast. Definitely much more expensive, and I wouldn’t know how much to use, but they do have a cheesy flavor.
Interesting! I'll have to give that a try! Thanks for the tip!
Hi Alissa. sorry for the late reply. i tried your recipe without the yeast and it was soo good! :) i didn’t add anything else. all my non-vegan friends demolished it and wanted to know what cheese it was LOL
That's awesome!! I'm so glad it was a hit!
you could try white miso paste for the cheesiness.....
OMG! This stuff is addictive!!! You hit it out of the park with this one Alissa! I can't imagine my non-vegan friends turning their nose up at this. :) Thanks once again!
Yay!! I'm glad you like it!! Thanks Kelly!
How far in advanced can this be made? Would 2-3 days be too early?
Thanks!
2 to 3 days should be fine if you store it in the fridge. If you want to keep it around longer I'd recommend freezing it. :)
Hi there! This looks amazing and I want to make it for Christmas! I am having a hard time finding whole grain Dijon. I can find regular Dijon and stone ground mustard, but not sure which to use...what brand and variety did you use? Thank you! :)
I think either would be fine, but I'd go for the regular Dijon - the flavor goes really nicely in this. Enjoy!!
Hello from the Netherlands. I made the cheese yesterday and it is delicious.
Genevieve
I'm glad you think so! Thanks Genevieve!
I want to make this today but don't have raw cashews- will roasted work?
Kate
I don't recommend using roasted - they have a much stronger flavor than raw and I'd be afraid your cheeseball would turn out tasting like nuts instead of cheese.
I made this recipe to take as a hostess gift when I first started plant based- and NO ONE knew it wasn't CHEESE .
Of course had to warn people about the Nuts in case of allergies.
This is my Go To contribution to dinner parties we attend.
Sooooooooooooooo good - thank you so much.
That's awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
This is the first recipe I've tried from your site, and it is delicious! I scaled the recipe to use only 1 C. of cashews (I am doing several different cheese balls) for Thanksgiving and added 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary to the cashews before blending. The flavor is amazing -- thank you!
Oh, rosemary sounds like a delicious addition! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Thanks so much Alicia!
This was really yummy. I was surprised how much I liked it. It is much better once it is room temperature rather than right out of the fridge
I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks Bridgette!
I made this, my first vegan cheese ball, yesterday and it was awesome! It was a big hit at the party I brought it to, everyone loved the dijon flavor. I don't think people would know it's vegan if you didn't tell them - and I never say that about vegan cheeses! I don't have a food processor but I did manage with a blender, I just soaked my cashews for 24 hours. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay! I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it! And good to know it works with a blender - I get questions about that from time to time.
Sometimes I pass on recipes that don't have a blender option, so I wanted to make sure nobody missed out on this just 'cause they don't have a food processor. I'm so glad I decided to try this one! 🙂
Very very tasty and very very easy!! Took this to a vegan club dinner party and it was a big hit!
Found the flavor improved even more as it aged. Do you think one can freeze this (before the pecans)?
I can see the possibilities here with different flavorings. Thanks!!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It freezes very well! I usually freeze mine with the pecans and all, but you can certainly add them after it thaws if you prefer.
I tried this recipe and I think I may have done something wrong. Is it possible to over process? I wanted the texture to be smooth so I processed the ingredients until I was satisfied with the texture. I followed the recipe exactly but the consistency is very soft. Is this normal? I made the mistake of rolling the cheese onto pecans which didn't coat the outside very well. I should have placed them on like the recipe states. I added smoked paprika to the top with pecans as well and put it back in the fridge. I hope it hardens up somewhat, otherwise I guess it will be a tasty soft dip that looks like a train wreck. LOL
Is it still soft after chilling? If so it sounds like you might have mismeasured something. Or did you substitute a different type of oil for the coconut? It needs to be coconut in order to firm up. Here's a video from my facebook page that will hopefully give you an idea of the consistency. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1861014630660940 I hope it works out!
I want to make this but I don't eat cashews! What do you think could be an appropriate substitute? Hulled almonds , sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds?? Thanks :)
Sunflower seeds might work if they're raw - I haven't experimented much with them, but readers tell me they work as a cashew sub. Macadamia nuts would also probably work if they're available. Enjoy!
Another keeper! Your recipes are RELIABLY yummy! Great NYE cheeseball!
Yay! Glad you like it! Happy New Year!
Do you use virgin or refined coconut oil? I'm thinking refined would be better to not leave a coconut flavour (unless it is meant to taste coconutty)
Thanks
I use virgin and it does taste a bit coconutty, but I don't mind it. You can use refined if you think the flavor it will bother you.
This was so delicious! My non-vegan friends were shocked at how good it was. I made it the day before Thanksgiving, and I ended up wrapping it twice - that is, I wrapped it in plastic wrap after I blended it, but it was still really soft and definitely not ball shaped. So after a couple of hours, I shaped it into a ball and put it into a bowl so it would hold the ball shape. That evening, I rolled it in pecans and wrapped it again. It held its shape perfectly.
So good -- made it for a Christmas Eve dinner appetizer. My non-vegan friend loved it, and I ate way too much of it. I don't do nutritional yeast, so I subbed a couple of tsp of garlic powder and a couple of tsp of onion powder. The leftovers were even better the next day, the dijon got more prominent.
Made this recipe as is. OMG it was delicious, everyone enjoyed. Wll make again! Thank you
This recipe is so good! It’s the first cheese ball I’ve made, and believe me it won’t be the last. My family loved the maple mustard combo - makes perfect sense but I wouldn’t have thought to put together in cheese - genius! :)