Cool lime and peppery sriracha combine in this spicy cheese ball recipe to create a perfect party appetizer or snack. Bonus: it’s vegan!
Lately, I’ve been on the search for an easy, fast vegan cheese. A lot of recipes I’ve seen lately involve making a culture from sprouts grains (which takes days) or using gums, thickeners, and a myriad of ingredients that all involve a special trip to the grocery store, which really, I’m usually just not in the mood for. Cheese balls usually conjure up images of Chiristmas parties and office potlucks, but I found that this spicy cheese ball recipe just reminded me that vegan cheese can be, a) really delicious, and b) super easy, the perfect combination.
I took the sriracha/lime flavor combination from a favorite popcorn seasoning recipe, which seems odd, I know, but it totally works. The spicy kick from the hot sauce and mellow flavor of the lime combine to make a perfect cheesy snack or spread. I squeezed this version out with a nut milk bag, just to give it a bit more firmness, but you can leave it as more of a soft spread mixture or add more liquid to give the cheese more of a cream cheese texture as well. I just made this over the weekend and it’s almost gone, and my fiancé is a fan too, which is really saying something, since he is far from vegan.
How to make a vegan cheese ball
If you’re familiar with regular homemade cheese balls, then you likely have a rough idea of how they’re usually made. Normally, you take cream cheese and a few other cheeses and mix-ins of your choice, form them into a ball, and pop it into the fridge to harden. Easy, right? Well, making a homemade vegan cheese ball isn’t that different!
To make this spicy cheese ball, you’ll first need to soak some cashews for 4 to 6 hours, or overnight. Soaking the cashews makes them easier to blend and gives this vegan cheese ball a more authentic texture. I’ve seen some recipes suggest soaking the cashews in boiling hot water to speed up the soak time, but I think taking the time to soak the nuts for a few hours is better.
Once the cashews have finished soaking, all you have to do is add all the cheese ball ingredients into a high powered blender and blend everything together. If things aren’t blending well, add in water a tablespoon at a time to help things along. After you’ve reached your desired consistency, scrape out the blender and squeeze the cheese ball ingredients in a nut milk bag or cheesecloth until firm. Then, roll the spicy cheese ball in some toasted walnuts and refrigerate!
The key ingredients in this homemade cheese ball recipe are the nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, and lemon juice. These ingredients work together to give this vegan cheese ball a lovely cheesy flavor—it’s kind of crazy how realistic this cheese ball tastes!
How to serve this spicy cheese ball
Like I mentioned before, this isn’t your average holiday cheese ball! You can whip up this spicy vegan cheese ball any time of year. It’s incredibly versatile and can be served with everything from crackers to tortilla chips to pretzels. You could even use it as a dip for celery and carrots, as a sandwich spread, smear it on savory bagels, or eat it on its own. It’s lovely paired with wine, preferably a sweet one. This spicy cheese ball will last for a week or so in the fridge and is the perfect size for two people to split.
More vegan appetizers on Heart of a Baker:
- White Bean Dip with Garlic Rubbed Toasts
- Vegan Goat Cheese Pesto Dip
- Vegan French Onion Dip
- Smoked Paprika and Cheddar Vegan Cheese Ball
- Vegan Pretzel Dogs with Cranberry Ketchup
Spicy Cheese Ball with Sriracha and Lime
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cool lime and peppery sriracha combine in this spicy cheese ball recipe to create a perfect party appetizer or snack. Bonus: it’s vegan!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cashews (soaked for 4–6 hours)
- 3 tablespoons sriracha or hot sauce
- Juice and zest of half a lime
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of garlic powder
- Pinch of onion powder
- 1/2 cup walnuts (350 F for 10 minutes, toasted)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine all ingredients on low until combined. Turn up food processor to high, adding water as needed to continue to keep mixture moving. Scrape down sides of food processor bowl as needed. Keep processing cheese mixture until smooth. When cheese is smooth, transfer to a nut milk bag or cheesecloth and squeeze until firm.
- Roll cheese into a ball shape and roll in toasted walnuts. Wrap cheese ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2-3 hours. Serve with crackers and pretzels.
Keywords: spicy cheese ball, vegan cheese ball
Amanda says
I’m gonna try this. I’ve been burned by quick (sigh, and slow) nut cheeses, and I don’t know why it’s *so* difficult, and I’ve almost given up and am just patiently waiting for my town’s Whole Foods to open this winter so I can spend $$$ on Kite Hill, but this looks good enough for me to try again. Brava on a beautiful cross-section photograph, if nothing else. Looks irresistible.
The Frosted Vegan says
Thank you! I know what you mean, the quick ones aren’t usually very quick!
Phi @ The Sweetphi Blog says
This looks awesome girl! And I love your new header image 🙂
Lisa (@lisalivingwell) says
Love your new header, Abby!
YUM! This recipe looks great. I definitely need to get in the kitchen and make this. It would be great to bring to holiday parties and then tell the guests after that it’s vegan cheese. 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
That’s my favorite, when people don’t know, love it and then find out it’s vegan! : )
Tom says
This looks delicious. I’ve been seeing sriracha as a major ingredient in a lot of excellent vegan recipes. Can you tell me please if the cashews you use are raw or toasted? Thanks!
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Tom! These are raw cashews!
Mary [email protected] says
I just found your site and this recipe looks delicious! I looove sriracha anything and am always looking for an easy vegan cheese recipe.
The Frosted Vegan says
It seems like the easy ones are the best ones, right?! : )
thenomadicvegan says
Ooh, that looks just gorgeous! Cheeseballs do totally remind me of Christmas parties, but that’s not a bad thing is it? Actually, they remind me of my grandmother; she always splurged on a port wine cheeseball around Christmas time. Oooh, I wonder if I could make a vegan version of that?!
The Frosted Vegan says
I completely agree! One of my next projects is actually re-creating my grandmother’s cheeseball : )
Wendy @ The Nomadic Vegan says
No way! I will definitely keep an eye out for that!
Aimee B. says
Tried making the cheeseball this morning, but mine is more like a spread. :/ I followed the instructions to a t. The only thing I didn’t do was add the extra water as the mixture was moving fine in my food processor. Will this firm up? I tried a little bit in the cheesecloth, but it squished right through, so I just scraped it all into a bowl. Should I have not added the 1/4 c. of water in the beginning? The directions say to add all the ingredients, so that’s what I did. I’m thinking that the water in the recipe may not be needed at all. Anyway, I definitely want to try this again because the flavor is outstanding!! Any tips would be appreciated. Happy Holidays! 🙂
Aimee B. says
Wanted to let you know that my failed first attempt still ended up in a delicious creation. I decided to make a casserole of hashbrowns and tofu scramble, topped it with the cheezy goodness, and baked it for about 15-20 minutes. My family devoured it. 🙂
I also want to let you know that I went ahead and made another cheeseball because I had my heart set on one. I omitted the water completely this time and it turned out PERFECT! It is already half gone and we can’t wait to try your other variations. Most definitely a keeper! It went together super quick once the cashews were soaked, and it’s sooooooo good! I used about half the amount of sriracha because our family can’t do spicy. Thank you for such a brilliant recipe! <3
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Aimee! Im so sorry the recipe didnt turn out the first time, but glad it ended up working out 🙂 I will modify the recipe on your recommendation, since it may be different for everyone. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it and happy holidays!
Aimee B. says
I plan on making another for New Year’s Eve. The other one is all gone, lol! I’ve recommended your recipe to many friends who plan on trying it soon. Happy Holidays to you, too! 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
Hooray!! Thank you for recommending, it makes me so happy that you liked it!
John says
HI…made this tonight..very tasty but not is very much like a spread..I did not add any water at all..tried the nut milk bag ..but it just squished through..so I put it in the fridge ..still pasty and will be hard to make into a ball
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi John! I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for you! Sometimes it depends on what type of blender or food processor you have, so that may have had an affect on the texture.
Shanasy says
Thx so much for this quick recipe! It looks delicious and I love that you made it so quick to prepare. I have shared this link on my FB site “Super Quick Plant-Based Recipes” https://www.facebook.com/SuperQuickPBRecipes/ I think my gang will love this recipe AND your lovely site here!
Dawn Strong says
Could I use toasted pecans instead of walnuts?
Heart of a Baker says
Yes!
Dawn says
Made this for Christmas Eve but like others commented it was too soft to form into a ball so ended up being more like a spread. After refrigerating overnight it was firmer so might be best to refrigerate overnight then form a ball and roll in the walnuts.Also, I didn’t have siracha so used some chipotle sauce instead which was brown in color and turned the cheese brown. Best to use a hot sauce that’s not brown in color.
Chris says
Do you have any ideas for a walnut alternartive? I’m unfortunately allergic to walnuts and pecans
Thanks!
Melanie says
Hello from germany! This recipe is beyond delicious… I tried a few different ones over the past week. This one made it to the top of the list …. unfollowed for a long time ;-). It´s really outstandingly yummy. In germany we have this almost black bread called pumpernickel. You can buy it already cut in little round shapes. I spread this cheese on it and topped it with the walnuts to take to a christmas party where fingerfood was required. What can I say: it was gone after 20 minutes (and I had lots!). So happy that I now have a great in-between-snack for the upcoming holidays. Merry xmas
Heart of a Baker says
That sounds AMAZING!I’m so happy to hear that you loved it!
Pat says
3 “tablespoons” of siracha? Is that correct? It just seems a tad beyond fiery and something that only 1 1/2 cups of cashews would have a hard time mellowing out.