I can’t tell you how excited I am about this!! You see, my mom has made this incredible cheese ball every Christmas for years now and since I went dairy-free, it is probably one of the foods I miss the most. I finally made a dairy-free version after a couple of attempts and frankly, it’s so good, it brought a tear to my eye. (Also, this is also one of the most requested recipe and when invited to a shin-dig, I am instructed to not come without this cheese ball.)
UPDATE: After making this cheeseball so many times, I’ve tweaked the amount of some of the ingredients, so I figured it was time to update the recipe. I have found that I use about 10-oz of cream cheese, not 12. I also upped the pimento, green pepper and onion to about 4 Tbs each.
INGREDIENTS:
12-oz Tofutti* cream cheese
2 1/2 C Rice brand, or Daiya brand shredded cheese, cheddar flavor
2 Tbs pimento, chopped
2 Tbs green pepper, chopped
2 Tbs onion, chopped
2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1 C walnuts, chopped
*Kite Hill is also a great option. I think it tastes closest to real cream cheese, however, it’s softer than Tofutti, so the cheese ball won’t form a perfect ball–more like a mound. It’s about presentation, otherwise it still tastes amazing regardless of which “cream cheese” you go with.
DIRECTIONS:
Combine softened cream cheese and cheddar. Like to use my stand mixer for this. A food processor works too, but I recommend using the dough blade. Add remaining ingredients except walnuts and mix well. (I tend to add 1-2 more tablespoons of the pimento, green pepper and onion; it just depends on your own tastes.) Transfer to a bowl and chill for several hours or overnight. Shape into a ball and roll in nuts. Serve with crackers. (Club crackers and Ritz always taste the best with this cheese ball.)
NOTE: Keep in mind that Rice cheese does have traces of casein.
- 12-oz Tofutti cream cheese
- 2½ C Rice brand, or Daiya brand shredded cheese, cheddar flavor
- 2 Tbs pimento, chopped
- 2 Tbs green pepper, chopped
- 2 Tbs onion, chopped
- 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 C walnuts, chopped
- Combine softened cream cheese and cheddar. Like to use my stand mixer for this. A food processor works too, but I recommend using the dough blade.
- Add remaining ingredients except walnuts and mix well. (I tend to add 1-2 more tablespoons of the pimento, green pepper and onion; it just depends on your own tastes.)
- Transfer to a bowl and chill for several hours or overnight.
- Shape into a ball and roll in nuts.
- Serve with crackers. (Club crackers and Ritz always taste the best with this cheese ball.)
- NOTE: Keep in mind that Rice cheese does have traces of casein.
I do love cheeseballs!!!! I know for a chef I eat the strangest things….but cheese…….mmmmmm, and its vegan, what a great way to serve them something special!
Cheers
Dennis
Thanks, Dennis! When I became a vegan, I made it my mission to create a vegan-version of my mom’s cheeseball. The trick is not eating the whole thing by myself.
Okay, I am adding you to my Blogroll this second! You recipes are AMAZING! I think we have similar taste buds LOL! Where do you get vegan Worcestershire sauce?
Thanks! I’ll add you to my blogroll, too! I used The Wizard’s Worcestershire sauce, and I believe I got it at Whole Foods. There are other brands as well and I haven’t tried it, but there are recipes to make your own.
I will have to look into getting some and also trying a homemade one as well. Thanks 🙂
I would think that maybe Bragg’s Liquid Smoke would work in a pinch.
Hello! I am making this cheeseball now, as we speak. I’ll let you know how it goes. I used the new Daiya vegan cream cheese….it has that distinctive Daiya flavor, so hopefully it will turn out ok. I”ll let you know!
Great–I’d love to know what you think!
It turned out delicious! I really, really enjoyed it. I won’t use the daiya cream cheese next time, I’ll just use the follow your heart brand or the tofutti. That patented daiya-flavor was just a little too strong, but it was still a delicious recipe. Thanks! I’ll be mentioning this recipe with full credit to you on my blog!
So glad you liked it! I agree, Daiya isn’t the greatest for this recipe. I think Daiya tastes better melted. When I was first transitioning to a full fledged vegan, I made this with rice cheddar which I think tastes much better in this recipe, but the downside is that it contains caesin. 🙁 Over the years though, I’ve upped the other ingredients so that you taste more of those flavors and not so much the fake cheese. Thanks for letting me know and I’ve enjoyed your blog btw!
This looks really good, thank for sharing!