Vegan “Cheese” Ball
My goal was to make a vegan “cheese” ball that contained no hydrogenated oils or isolated soy protein. After many months of experimentation, it’s finally done! The blended almonds, tofu and pine nuts create a velvety texture and taste that closely resembles that of real cream cheese. It was hard to get a mix of ingredients that would form a ball but also taste good. What amazed me was that it actually wound up tasting better than the real thing! GO TO RECIPE >
Hi,
My name is Josh Latham, I’m the creator of My Vegan Cookbook dot com.
My goal with My Vegan Cookbook dot com is to have a
collection of recipes that are isolated soy free, whole foods heavy,
100% vegan, free of hydrogenated oils and most importantly, taste
amazing. 
SusanV said,
December 19, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
This looks amazing! As soon as I have time, I’m going to give this a try. Thanks for doing all the testing and posting the recipe!
Vegocentric said,
December 28, 2007 @ 8:49 am
From the sample I made before rolling the ball, I think this will be a big hit at tonight’s party. Here’s my blog entry about it.
Jackie said,
January 2, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Josh:
Way big hit at the New Year’s Eve party I took it to. And, you know what? Ken and I were the only vegan’s there, but everyone loved it. Great job with the recipe. I had a little issue with not getting enough of the water out of the toful, I think, but it was so good and went together really well. Plus, somehow it got smashed a little with my cooler lid
so it was more square than round when I finally got to serve it, so I called it a vegan cheese square! 
All’s well that ends well and this certainly did.
I’m going to do it again soon.
Mrs. Doodlepunk said,
January 3, 2008 @ 7:02 am
This looks SO good! Do you think frozen and thawed tofu would work in this recipe?
Josh said,
January 3, 2008 @ 9:34 am
Mrs. Doodlepunk, frozen and thawed tofu would not work. It would cause the tofu to become grainy and it would not have a smooth texture. I wouldn’t attempt it.
Josh said,
January 3, 2008 @ 9:38 am
Jackie, glad to hear everyone loved the cheez ball! What crackers did you serve with it?
Jackie said,
January 4, 2008 @ 8:00 am
I used Barbara’s Right Lite Rounds. (Kind of like a really clean ritz cracker) Also Barbara’s Saltines. I also served celery and carrots with it and that was delicious! One thing I did was to spread some cheese ball on a celery lenth, put a few raisins down it and that was so delicious!
Our New Year’s Eve Contributions at From Jackie Vetter’s Kitchen said,
January 5, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
[…] a few things to take along. Savory Pumpkin Bread with Roasted Red Pepper hummus (recipe below), the Vegan Cheese Ball from My Vegan Cookbook and Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake from Fat Free Vegan. I wish we had taken […]
sammy said,
January 5, 2008 @ 9:50 pm
I made the Cheez ball using whole almonds that I blanched and peeled myself. I just want to let others know that the cheez wasn’t completely smooth after blending it in 2 different food processors. It may have been because I started with whole almonds instead of slivered almonds. I did not try it in my vitamix blender which likely would have smoothed it better. It tasted great anyway and I will definitely make it again. I would like to try it with more seasonings, like garlic and herbs. Thanks so much for the recipe, Josh. I have made many recipes that don’t come out well, so it’s such a gift that you have tested and re-tested your recipes. I’m looking forward to more!
Josh said,
January 5, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
Sammy, We used the kind of almonds that are called “chef ready”, they are blanched and slivered. I’ve tried blanching and peeling my own almonds and they never really worked. They never seemed to get tender. I hope you try the recipe with the chef ready slivered and blanched almonds, I specifically used Fishers, and report back. I’m sure you will have better results.
sammy said,
January 6, 2008 @ 8:28 pm
Josh, where did you buy that brand? I have Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods nearby, as well as supermarkets.
Josh said,
January 6, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
Sammy, I would think any grocery store would have them. Blue Diamond is another good brand. I got mine at Krogers.
Gina said,
January 31, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
Just made this but used half the salt and upped the onion powder. Didn’t even make the ball, we just ate it straight on crackers or off a fork. This was INCREDIBLY delicious. Thanks!
(But the slivered almonds were SO expensive!)
My Vegan Cookbook said,
February 1, 2008 @ 9:09 pm
Gina, This recipe can be expensive, it’s sort of a special occasion recipe. You could have rolled it into a log, which is a little faster I guess. tehe
Skinartia said,
December 10, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
I just made this last night after oggling this recipe for months. Wow! Totally amazing. I let two (non-vegan) co-workers try it out today and they liked it too so I passed on the recipe.
I used Vegetable Thins multi-grain crackers. Tres bien! It made for a very nice lunch. This is something I’m going to make again soon.
marilynjonas said,
December 31, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Your “cheese” ball was the a perfect appetizer for our vegan Christmas meal. It was very simple to make. held its shape, and everyone (even the grandparents) loved it. Can’t wait to try some of the variations.
Karl said,
October 6, 2009 @ 9:37 am
I want to try this, but don’t have a food processor. I might go buy one though.
Annie said,
October 11, 2009 @ 2:56 pm
I used rosemary instead of chives, and it came out amaaaaazing. When I tell my friends I’m making a cheeze ball (which is rare because the nuts are expensive), they come running with knives and crackers in hand!
Karl said,
October 23, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
So I finally got that food processor and I made this tonight! It’s cooling in the fridge overnight, but from what I tasted it’s really good! When I strained it, some of the tofu fell into the drain. Didn’t seem like a whole lot, just a few little pieces, but it was hard to measure how much of that mashed tofu in the strainer I had left. I added a little bit more then, so I am hoping that it turns out fine. Tastes good either way.
MIichelle said,
November 25, 2009 @ 4:25 pm
Can this recipe be made without a food processor. I do not have one either.
My Vegan Cookbook said,
November 27, 2009 @ 9:11 am
I don’t see any other way to do this without a food processor, unless maybe a mortar and pestle. I could only imagine the work that would be.