Pistachio and Pomegranate Vegan Cheese Ball.

Pistachio and Pomegranate Vegan Cheese Ball.

This Pistachio and Pomegranate Macadamia Nut Vegan Cheese Ball makes the perfect appetizer for your next holiday party. Serve with fruit and crackers for an impressive plant-based addition. Made with just 10 ingredients!

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time: 10

Resting Time: 4

Total Time: 4 10

Servings: people

Calories: 211kcal

Author: Sarah McMinn

Ingredients

2 cups Macadamia nuts, soaked for 1 hour
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. white miso paste
6 oz vegan cream cheese
¼ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
¾ cup shelled pistachios, divided
¼ cup pomegranate arils
2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Soak Macadamia nuts in distilled water for at least 4 hours. Alternatively, you can pour boiling water over the Macadamia nuts and let them sit for just 1 hour.
Drain and rinse soaked Macadamia nuts. Place them in a food processor along with garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, miso, cream cheese, and salt. With the motor running, slowly add coconut oil until completely incorporated. Blend for 10 minutes or until mixture is very smooth, scraping down the sides every 2-3 minutes.
Transfer nut cheese into a bowl. Add ¼ cup pistachios (roughly chopped), pomegranate arils, and fresh mint. Stir together with a wooden spoon.
Transfer the dough into a plastic bag or plastic wrap. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until the cheese is firm enough to mold.
In a food processor, process your remaining ½ cup pistachios to a fine crumb. Set aside. One the cheese has hardened slightly, remove it from the plastic wrap and shape the cheese into a ball or rectangle. Coat it in crushed pistachios.
Serve with fruit and crackers at your next holiday party.

Notes

Serving and Storing- Once your cheese is firm, you can shape it into a ball, cover in pistachios, and serve. Your vegan cheese can be served with fruit and crackers or as part of a holiday charcuterie board. Serve it as an appetizer with some Christmas Sangria at your next holiday party or before Christmas dinner. Store your cheese ball tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Recipe Tips

If you're short on time, you can speed things up by pouring boiling water of the nuts and letting them soak for just one hour.
A quality food processor is important. You want to get the cheese as creamy as possible and not all food processors can do that.

Variations - Feel free to swap out the Macadamia nuts for cashews

Nutrition