One week to halloween and loads to do. Carve the pumpkins, Setup some decoration, think of costumes for chewie. I am not sure if Chewie will love wearing anything elaborate. Plus he never gets to meet the trick or treating visitors. They get scared of his barking. He is a super friendly dog. But someone coming to his home, ringing the bell, means he will bark at you until you address him name nicely and give him some love. No petting means no tail wags.
A super easy Cheddar Cheese ball today that you can shape into a pumpkin or any other shape you like or serve as is. Savory is the game on the blog for halloween. There are hardly any candy recipes on the blog for halloween, but there are tons of pumpkin things (cookies, muffins, cakes) to make.
This Cheese ball is Nut-free, yup no Cashews! See below to find out what is this cheese made of! Allergen friendly and fabulous! Make some and Pin this post.
More halloweeny options from the blog
- Falafel Witch fingers. No sugar!
- Adorable Ghost Pizzas
- Mummy Veggie Dogs
- Pumpkin chocolate chip Spider cookies
- Extra Sharp Cheddar Holiday Cheeseball by Somer – Make this cheese ball for nut based version. It is delicious!
More Pumpkin things
More Cheese things. See my Vegan Cheeses including Mozzarella, Pepper Jack, Green goddess Gouda, Nacho slices and more.
*To make a super easy vegan cheese ball, pulse vegan cream cheese and daiya cheese blocks like havarti in a processor. Add in herbs, chopped chile or nuts etc. Shape into ball, coat in herbs or toasted nuts/seeds, chill and serve.
Steps:
Blend all the ingredients for the cheese until smooth. Add too a skillet and cook until custard like. The chickpea flour thickens up allthe liquid in the recipe into a creamy mixture, that sets as it sits. So you get about a scant 3/4 cup cheese mixture from the recipe.
Drop into greased bowls. Even out the tops with greased hands.
Remove from bowls and place over each other. Press a bit to stick. Sprinkle breadcrumb, nooch, paprika mixture on the ball or finely chopped herbs. Serve.
Vegan Cheese Ball No Nuts Cheddar Cheese Ball
Ingredients
For the Cheese:
- 2 scant tablespoons chickpea flour garbanzo bean flour or 2 full Tbsp besan
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 to 3/4 tbsp prepared mustard
- 1/2 tbsp (0.5 tbsp) sliced pickled jalapeno
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/3 tsp (0.33 tsp) garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) turmeric for color
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) smoked paprika
- 1 to 1.5 tbsp lemon juice more for sharper/tangier
- 1 tbsp tahini 2 tbsp for more texture
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) water
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) or more salt
- a generous pinch of black pepper
Other add ins:
- red pepper flakes chopped roasted hatch or jalapeno chile, 1 to 2 tbsp daiya cheddar shreds or other vegan cheddar
- add rejuvelac or miso or sundried tomato for tangier flavor
To coat:
- 2 tbsp bread crumbs use tortilla chips to make gluten-free
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 to 1 tsp paprika or cayenne
Instructions
- In a blender blend all the ingredients under cheese until smooth. Blend well. Pour into a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the other add ins like pepper flakes or chili if you like. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir frequently. The mixture will get lumpy and then smooth out into a custard-ish consistency. You can taste the mixture carefully at this point and adjust salt/tang . So not add too much mustard, the mustard taste gets very strong as the cheese sits. Continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes or until the chickpea flour does not taste raw.
- Grease the containers you plan to use to store the mixture in. Pour mixture in the container/s. Use greased hands to press or even it out. Let it chill for an hour. I used 2 small bowls. *The chickpea flour thickens up allthe liquid in the recipe into a creamy mixture, that sets as it sits. So you get about a scant 3/4 cup cheese mixture from the recipe.
- To make the bread crumb coating: Pulse the bread crumbs, nutritional yeast and spices a few times. Place in a bowl.
- Remove the cheese from the container, place over each other to form a ball. Press slightly to stick. Roll in the bowl to coat or sprinkle the coating on the ball generously on all sides. Or press finely chopped herbs of choice all over. Place on a plate. Serve as is, or warm for a few seconds in the microwave and serve.
- *If it doesn't work out well, melt the cheese with non dairy milk in a skillet and use for mac and cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
Reading for the week.
Why is Dairy Cheese as addictive as drugs and hard to give up. Cheese happens to be addictive because of an ingredient called casein, a protein found in all milk products. During digestion, casein releases opiates called casomorphins, which play with the dopamine receptors and trigger that addictive element.
Read about the US Meat Industry’s wildly successful crusade to keep a hold on the American Diet. From the article “Rejecting the advice of their own expert panel, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced this month that the latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans will not include considerations of environmental sustainability. Had they decided otherwise, they likely would have recommended that people lower their intake of meat, the production of which is widely recognized as a major contributor to climate change.
Health advocates are still hoping that the final guidelines, to be unveiled later this year, will include a directive to eat less red and processed meats, based on nutrition and health concerns alone. But if history is any indication, that hope is likely to go unfulfilled.”
Bacon and Sausages as big a cancer threat at cigarettes.“Red meat will also be declared “probably carcinogenic to humans”, and will be ranked as only slightly less dangerous than preserved products”.
Airyfairycelt says
October 25, 2015 at 5:31 pmReally lovely, cheesy things are very popular.
Richa says
October 25, 2015 at 8:17 pmThanks!
Marlee says
October 26, 2015 at 1:14 amThis sounds delicious, but if I was going to make it I’d want a larger quantity to take to a party or share with family, etc. Have you tried this as a larger batch, or do you have a tasty cheese recipe to feed more people?
Richa says
October 26, 2015 at 10:50 amyou can double the recipe. You can also make a cheeseball with vegan cheese blocks like daiya + some vegan cream cheese. Process, add herbs, shape and done. Or use this cashew based recipe http://vedgedout.com/2013/11/15/kick-ace-extra-sharp-raw-vegan-holiday-cheddar-cheese-ball-virtual-vegan-potluck-edition/
Elishevah says
May 11, 2016 at 2:22 pmI was wondering about this also. I only see just over 1/4 cup of ingredients. Is this recipe for one really small cheese ball? or is there a type-o for ingredient amounts? Sounds delish, can’t wait to try it! 🙂
Richa says
May 11, 2016 at 3:44 pmYes it is a small cheese ball 2 to 2.5 inch diameter. The chickpea flour thickens up all the liquid, so the quantity is more of the liquid ingredients, a bit more than 1/2 cup.
Miss Polkadot says
October 26, 2015 at 2:14 amWhile I can’t say I’d ever had a traditional cheese ball your version looks amazing. Would it be very different if I left the mustard out (really don’t like the taste)?
Richa says
October 26, 2015 at 10:51 amyou can leave it out. Add more lemon juice. and if you can then some ground mustard,
Brittany Roche says
October 26, 2015 at 5:52 amI’ve been looking for a nut-free cheese ball recipe. It’s a recipe from my childhood that I’ve wanted to veganize for a while now, so this is awesome. Thanks, Richa!
Richa says
October 26, 2015 at 10:49 amAwesome!
CSO says
October 26, 2015 at 7:01 amHi. I’ve never made vegan cheese yet but I’ve noticed that other recipes use agar agar powder. Just wondering if that ingredient is needed to make vegan cheese.
Richa says
October 26, 2015 at 10:52 amIt depends on what kind of cheese. If you want to make a cheese block or shreddable cheese, then agar or pectin would be needed to firm it up. For a creamy cheese ball like this, you dont need agar. See all the vegan cheeses on the blog to get an idea http://veganricha.com/category/cheese
Janice says
October 26, 2015 at 5:39 pmOmg!!! Seriously! Cheese balls! This looks delicious and my baby bump is now craving it!!! Thank you for sharingn I have some awesome vegan recipes on my site too! Would love to share back and forth! Delicious! Thank you!
Richa says
October 26, 2015 at 6:26 pmThanks Janice
Mae says
October 26, 2015 at 11:46 pm*Gasp!* This is adorable!!! I’m making this on Halloween. Will send you pics if I can get some good ones. Thanks for sharing!!!
Caitlin says
October 27, 2015 at 9:46 ami can’t believe how easy this is! you are a genius.
S.B. says
October 30, 2015 at 9:04 pmWhat is the difference between ordinary yeast and nutritional yeast,I would like to make this recipe because it’s cheesy.
Richa says
October 30, 2015 at 10:31 pmregular yeast is active ie if you ad warm water to it, it will activate and start to froth. Nutritional yeast is inactive and is used to add cheesy flavor to non-dairy options.
Cakespy says
November 1, 2015 at 6:37 amOMG, this is so cute and clever!! I think it would be appropriate for thanksgiving, too.
Richa says
November 1, 2015 at 10:25 amtotally!
Valerie says
November 11, 2015 at 5:09 amThank you!! I’ve been searching for a nut free vegan cheese recipe! I can’t seem find chickpea flour that is guaranteed nut free (cross contamination)… can I just use any flour? Or what would you suggest?
Richa says
November 11, 2015 at 10:08 amother flours dont thicken up as well and will need something like agar or pectin to work. Bob’s red mill has certified gluten-free chickpea flour. or you can make your own flour from whole chickpeas if you have a high powered blender. Blend for a minute then wait for the blender to cool and blend again until the flour is a fine powder that is not too gritty.
Sonia says
November 14, 2015 at 9:24 pmThanks for this recipe! I love the ingredients, but am wondering if you think it would be good without the tahini?
Thanks again
Richa says
November 15, 2015 at 12:37 amthe texture will change slightly. maybe use another seed butter like sunflower seed or a nut butter?
Emily says
December 20, 2015 at 10:23 amMade this today and it was fantastic; finally, a vegan cheddar cheese recipe that actually tastes cheesy! I would put a little less mustard next time (you’re right, it gets strong!) and I’ll even try baking it after it cools. This will go great on crackers, served as an hors d’oeuvre. Thank you, Richa!
Richa says
December 20, 2015 at 12:19 pmAwesome!! so glad you loved it!!
Ashleigh says
December 25, 2015 at 3:03 pmI made this today. I used normal flour and tripled the recipe except used only a cup of water(instead of the full 1 1/2 cups for 3x) and it worked perfectly! I left out the jalapeno and added some dry 5 pepper spice as well as a couple of sun dried tomatoes. It tastes exactly like a smoky cheddar cheese you buy at the Pepperidge Farm stores.
Richa says
December 25, 2015 at 3:30 pmAwesome!!!
elisabeth says
January 5, 2016 at 2:37 pmHi!
Gonna make these, looks delich!
But I was wondering if I could freeze them?
Or do they have to be eaten right away?
thanks for a great page 🙂
Richa says
January 5, 2016 at 3:35 pmI have not tried freezing them. i did keep them refrigerated for upto 2 days without a problem.
elisabeth says
January 10, 2016 at 5:13 amIt was delicious, going to make more soon. Loved that is was so simple and fast. (some cheeses need a long resting time )
I went a bit strong on the mustard, so gonna be more careful next time.
Thank you!
Richa says
January 10, 2016 at 11:07 amawesome!!
Mary Sanders says
March 28, 2017 at 10:56 amThanks for the nut-free options–cuts down on the fats (I have a heart condition) and the expense.