Spicy Vegan Pimento Cheese Ball
Try this Spicy Vegan Pimento Cheese Ball recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Spicy Vegan Pimento Cheese Ball recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 cups (240 g) raw cashews
- 2 garlic cloves minced (1 tbsp or 6 g)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder plus more to taste
- 1 lemon, zested + juiced (~3 tbsp or 45 ml juice)
- 3-4 tbsp (9-12 g) nutritional yeast (to taste)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 4 oz. (113 g) vegan cream cheese* (i like trader joe
- 1 4- oz. (113 g) jar pimento peppers drained
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- optional: 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup (25 g) chopped raw walnuts or pecans
- 1 tbsp (3 g) nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- pinch cayenne pepper
- healthy pinch sea salt
- Carbohydrate 0.2251835 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.04736525 g
- Fiber 0.112545003318787 g
- Protein 0.053785 g
- Saturated Fat 0.00825545 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (0g)
- Sodium 0.75525 mg
- Sugar 0.112638496681213 g
- Trans Fat 0.00661325 g
- Calories 1 calories
Step-by-step
- Place cashews in a bowl and cover with cool water. Soak overnight or for at least 6 hours. If you can't get to them right away, drain, place back in bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. They will keep refrigerated for up to 2 days. Although not ideal for this recipe, you can also quick soak the cashews by covering with boiling hot water and soaking for 1 hour, then draining and proceeding with recipe as instructed.
- Once soaked, drain cashews thoroughly and add to your food processor (or a blender - though it's a little tougher to blend as there's not that much liquid added).
- Add minced garlic, garlic powder, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and olive oil. Blend until very creamy and smooth, scraping down sides as needed. Then add vegan cream cheese, pimento peppers, smoked paprika and cayenne (optional). Blend once more until creamy and smooth.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more lemon zest for tartness, nutritional yeast for cheesiness, garlic for zing, salt for saltiness, paprika for smokiness, or cayenne for heat. I added a bit more nutritional yeast, salt, cayenne and paprika. You want this to be super flavorful, so don't be shy!
- Place a fine mesh strainer (or colander) over a medium mixing bowl, and lay down two layers of cheesecloth (or a clean, fine, absorbent towel).
- Use a spatula to scoop all of the cheese over the cheesecloth, then gather the corners and twist the top gently to form the cheese into a "disc." Secure with a rubber band.
- Place in refrigerator to set for at least 6 hours, preferably 12-24, or until semi-firm to the touch. There likely won't be any liquid in the bowl, but the cheesecloth absorbs excess moisture and the cheese hardens in the refrigerator.
- To serve, unwrap from cheesecloth and gently invert onto a serving platter. Reform with hands or cheesecloth as needed.
- To make coating (optional), mix together nuts and spices and use hands to gently roll the ball around until coated. It is fragile, so handle gently.
- Enjoy immediately with crackers, vegetables or tortilla chips. I prefer this cheese with crackers or chips because it pairs better with carbs than vegetables in my opinion!
- Cheese will hold its form for 1-2 hours out of the refrigerator, but best when chilled. Leftovers keep well covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Swapping raw cashews for macadamia nuts alters the final emulsion entirely, yielding a softer spread that refuses to hold a spherical shape in the refrigerator. Traditional dairy cheeses rely on casein networks for structural integrity, whereas plant-based spreads depend on the precise hydration and pureeing of soaked nuts combined with commercial vegan cream cheese.
Mastering the Cashew Base and Drainage
Achieving a smooth texture requires patience during the blending phase. A standard food processor handles this thick mixture better than an upright blender because the low liquid volume stalls high-speed blades unless constantly scraped down. Soaking the cashews in cool water for at least six hours softens the cell walls, ensuring the blades shear the nut solids into a velvety paste rather than leaving a gritty mouthfeel. Quick-soaking in boiling water for one hour serves as a reliable workaround when planning ahead fails. Drainage is equally critical. Suspending the blended mixture in a cheesecloth-lined strainer overnight extracts residual moisture, allowing the fats from the cashews and vegan cream cheese to firm up properly.
- Gritty texture usually stems from insufficient soaking time or a blender lacking the horsepower to pulverize whole cashew halves.
- Failure to hold shape indicates the cheesecloth drainage step was skipped or shortened; moisture must escape for the fats to reset.
- Rancid oil flavors mean the raw nuts sat at room temperature too long before processing; always smell nuts for staleness beforehand.
