Spicy Vegan Pimento Cheese Ball

This is my first time making something vegan from scratch, and this recipe interested me because I wanted to make something vegan for my vegan co-workers for work, for any upcoming potlucks, so I made a tester for myself and my husband to try. The smell of it, especially the nutritional yeast, was off-putting at first. I had trouble finding jarred spicy peppers so had to leave those out and subbed in some peppers I had dehydrated myself, and left off the coating as it was a tester recipe. But it came together very nicely in the food processor, making a very smooth paste. It dried and shaped nicely in the fridge, and made a nice sized ball.

The flavour was lovely, though I still find the smell not for me. I think the next time I make it I will add more lemon, and garlic for more zip, and hopefully I can find the jarred peppers by then, because I am definitely making this again!

Great recipe! I made this for a Thanksgiving appetizer and it was beautiful to look at and delicious! No one could believe it is vegan. I will definitely make this again. Also, I had no cheesecloth but used a cotton napkin to wrap the cheese. This worked just fine and the cheese firmed up nicely overnight.

This was my first time making vegan cheese and I was super impressed! I halved the recipe and it still yielded a very generous amount. I followed the recipe exactly and ended up with a cheeseball that reminded me of the ones my grandma used to serve at family gatherings. Love it!

I hoped that this would be like non-vegan pimiento cheese but it seemed more like garlicky smoked-paprika hummus both in taste and in texture. I would not make it again.

Since I didn’t have pimento peppers, I just used 4 oz of roasted red peppers–worked fine! I left mine to chill overnight and I think it yielded the best results. It was less fragile than I thought and even though I had to work with it a bit to make it look nice, it was relatively easy to deal with. My non-vegan family members thought it tasted great! Thanks again Dana :)

Turned out great! It made a VERY generously-sized cheese ball, too.

I soaked the cashews overnight, then and left the cheese ball in the fridge overnight too. I think this method worked perfectly: the cashews blended easily and the ball firmed up beautifully. I left out the pimentos (couldn’t find them in my local stores) and I skipped the coating as well; instead I spooned Trader Joe’s mango-ginger chutney on top.

It was absolutely delicious and the texture was uncannily similar to cheese spread! Very simple to make, too. This is definitely going to become of my go-to party appetizer recipes.

I made this recipe last week for guests and they loved it. They tolerated all my iterations working with Agar Agar and none of us were ever satisfied with the results. I figured I would try one last time to make a cheese. My beloved carnivores devoured the cheese ball! I served it with assorted crackers and it was gone in 15 minutes. Thank you, Dana, for another great recipe.

This is an incredibly delicious recipe. I didn’t have pimentos so I diced a red pepper as a substitute. I served it at a cocktail party tonight and everyone loved it! The recipe yielded enough to make 2 balls so I froze one. Tomorrow I am making spinach lasagna with your ricotta …it’s a house favorite. Thank you Dana!

I made this for a party and it was a hit! Most of the people attending were non-vegan cheese lovers, but this was the only thing that got finished. I didn’t leave it in the fridge long enough to solidify, so served it as a dip instead of a ball. So good I can’t wait to make it again!

Just made this recipe for a Friendsgiving appetizer and it was a HUGE success. We had 12 people, both vegans and non-vegans and everyone loved it! The consistency and texture were great – just like a soft cheese. The taste was fabulous – even the non-vegans were obsessed. One even said they wouldn’t have known it wasn’t cheese! I followed the recipe exactly and, having never made anything like this before, I didn’t run into any problems. It makes a pretty large cheese ball, so it’s great for parties! 10 out of 10 would recommend to a friend.

This is so easy to make and is yummy. While the cashews soaked overnight, I measured the other ingredients and the next day it took less than 5 minutes to finish. The most difficult aspect was dealing with the cheese cloth. I added extra garlic, salt, and smoked paprika. I used ‘Follow your Heart’ cream cheese which unfortunately is not tangy – (next time I’ll use Kite Hill, which tastes the same as dairy based cream cheese). The last item I added to the did processor was ‘Follow Your Heart’ parmesan shreds which upped the cheese taste immensely. I’m looking forward to the next time I make this because I’m going to add jalapeno powder, and to mimic the tanginess of cheese without the added calories, I’m going to add Apple cider vinegar. This is such a versatile recipe and can actually be a dip if you don’t want to wait to dig in. Thank you for this delicious recipe.

My daughter made this for Thanksgiving but it would be wonderful for any gathering. I am still amazed at how good this is and how easy too. I just started soaking my cashews and am so excited to make it myself. They sell the cheesecloth at the grocers where the kitchen tools are sold, generally. Minimalist Baker, you are the Best!!

I made this as an appy for dinner with some non-vegan friends. It turned out great and everyone loved it! I froze the leftovers and it thawed out perfectly for a snack a couple weeks later.

If you’re thinking about making this recipe, DO IT! It was easy, and so, so tasty. I halved the recipe and it still gave me a substantial sized cheese ball–enough for 4 people to nosh on in a sitting, or one person to hoard…err, enjoy over a few days. I used Daiya Chive cream cheese and upped the Smoked paprika and cayenne quotient a bit to suit my preference.
My theory is that the further away one gets from eating dairy/real cheese, the more vegan cheese actually tastes like the real thing. Regardless, this cheese ball is delicious! I will definitely be making it again. Thanks for this recipe!

This is fantastic! Thank you for working hard to put together such yummy things!!

Made this over the weekend and it was delicious! I didn’t have time to strain it and form into a ball, so we just served it as a dip and that was great, too. Thanks :)

Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a giant hit in my carnivorous dairy-loving family. By some miracle I was able to smuggle some leftovers home. Today I turned it into a vegan pimento grilled cheese sandwich. Life changing! Thank goodness I had limited leftovers or I would have continued eating until I could eat no more. Thanks for the wonderful and delicious recipes!

Oops, forgot to rate it!

This cheese ball was amazing! I omitted the oil and it still came out perfect. I served it with pumpkin spice triscuits. It’s beautiful for the holidays or any occasion. Love, love, love!

Y’all. This was absolutely delicious. I made this for Thanksgiving using a few additions from my grandmother’s recipe (+ 1 can rotel tomatoes and a few dashes of vegan Worcestershire), which did made it a bit too watery to form into a ball. Nevertheless, it was tasty enough to fool us Southern pimento cheese experts and was gone before the seiturkey went in the oven. I may just make this recipe again tomorrow.

Yum! I made this to take to my family’s for Thanksgiving. Of course I had to sample it before hand! It is so good on crackers. I had to hold back so I didn’t eat too much. I grew up eating a port wine cheese spread that came in a jar and later a little plastic container from the grocery store…it reminds me of that! Thanks for all the holiday recipes!