This festive Vegan Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball is so easy to make and is the perfect holiday appetizer! Bonus: Can be made ahead of time! Only 4 ingredients.
Get ready to wow your guests with this delicious Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball! No one would guess it’s completely vegan, and the best thing for you is it’s really easy to make with just 4 ingredients.
It’s the perfect snack or appetizer for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any other festive get-together. It’s naturally gluten free as long as you serve it with gluten free crackers, and it can be made a few days ahead of time!
If you are new to the whole dairy free thing you might be missing cheese, and I am here to help you out! You might also be interested in making some nacho cheese, queso, mozzarella or parmesan, all vegan. When I went vegan a decade ago, cheese was the thing I missed the most! But now I don’t miss it at all.
Easy Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball
Making this cheese ball couldn’t be easier! (See recipe card below for full amounts and instructions)
- Mix vegan cream cheese with chives, then add cranberries and pecans.
- Line a bowl with a clean tea towel, scoop the cheese into the middle of the towel.
- Gather the corners of the towel, and gently twist the top. (Or use plastic saran wrap)
- Refrigerate for at least an hour, then roll in cranberry-pecan-chive mixture.
Make ahead option
Besides the fact that this cheese ball tastes amazing, another benefit is you can make it ahead of time, freeing you up the day of the holiday/party/get-together to focus on other things.
Make the cheeseball up to 3 days ahead of time. You can either refrigerate the ball of cheese before coating in the cranberry-pecan mixture, or coat it and refrigerate it, covered in plastic wrap until ready to serve.
Want more vegan appetizers?
- My other Vegan Cheese Ball recipe
- The Best and Easiest Vegan Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Vegan Buffalo Chicken Dip
- 5 Ingredient Vegan Queso Dip
Vegan Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball
Ingredients
- 16 ounces vegan cream cheese (2 containers, I used Miyokos brand)*
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons chopped chives or green onions
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries, divided
- 1 1/2 cups toasted chopped pecans, divided
Instructions
- If you have raw pecans, toast them in the oven: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the chopped pecans on a baking sheet and and bake for about 7 minutes, until fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Add the vegan cream cheese and 1/4 cup chives/green onions (save 2 tablespoons for coating the ball) to a large bowl. With a hand mixer, beat them together until combined.
- Mix in 1 cup of the cranberries and 1 cup of the toasted pecans, leaving 1/2 cup of each for coating the outside of the ball.
- Place a clean tea towel in a small-medium sized bowl. Using a spatula, scoop all of the cheese into the bowl. Gather the corners of the towel and gently twist the top. You could also simply wrap it in plastic saran wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or up to 3 days.
- When ready to serve, combine the rest of the cranberries, pecans and chives/green onions on a flat surface such as a cutting board. Unwrap the cheese ball and roll it gently in the mixture to coat.
- Serve with crackers, pita chips or vegetables and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- I used Miyokos brand of vegan cream cheese for this recipe, but another brand would work fine such as Trader Joe's, Tofutti, Kite Hill and more. You could also use my Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese. 1 recipe will be enough.
- Store the cheese ball in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Claudine
wonderful and unusual recipe ! i served it to my family two days ago, and my granddaughter asked for the recipe for her New Year’s party with her friends. Quite a compliment indeed !
Nora
Wow, that’s great! Thanks for the comment.
Alison
I did a test run for the holidays, and holy smokes, this is good! Can’t wait to wow my friends and family.
Nora
Glad you loved it!
Parie
Awesome! I used Kite Hill cream cheese, which I really like. The flavor and texture of this cheese ball was perfect. Thanks!!
Nora
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you tried it out and liked it!
Phoenix
Is there really enough flavor in the cream cheese that it doesn’t need any additional spices, black pepper? Salt?
Nora
Yes, it’s really flavorful! It’s full of flavor from the cream cheese, chives, cranberries and pecans. That said, feel free to add additional spices if you want, but they are not necessary.