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!
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.
Hi Nora, would I be able to freeze this?
I haven’t tried freezing it but I’m sure you could without problems.
Easy and delicious! I’m making it again this year for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I ran out of pecans and substituted with walnuts which were tasty too. Highly recommend this amazing vegan cheese ball. The flavors are savory and addicting!
Hi Peggy. I appreciate you taking time to share your wonderful feedback and review! I’m so glad you loved the cheese ball, and yes…it IS addicting!
This was amazing. It was raved over by my non vegans, too! (I wrapped it in cellophane and it came out perfect.) Thank you, Nora!
Do you suggest using sweetened or unsweetened cranberries? I’m excited to make this. We make and love sooo many of your recipes.
I use sweetened dried cranberries. Thank you so much!
My family absolutely LOVED this for our Christmas Eve party! They literally gathered around the table waiting to get some more! I wanted to ask if parchment paper would suffice instead of Saran Wrap? I currently don’t have any and was thinking of different alternatives.
Yes, that would work! So glad everyone loved it!
Delish – everyone loved it. I recommend making it the day before. The flavors really mesh with the extra time. I’m currently eating the small amount that was leftover on a toasted bagel! YUM!
Hi Kari. Spreading on a toasted bagel sounds amazing! I’m glad the cheese ball was loved by all! Thank you for sharing your fantastic review and comments!
I’ve made this twice already! It’s INCREDIBLE!! Everyone in my family loves it.
Very great that you guys are loving the cheese ball! Gosh, I love it too! Thank you for sharing you fantastic review!
This was unbelievable!! We had a family charcuterie competition, and I won because of this recipe—SO GOOD and so easy!!
That’s so fun! Congrats! I’m thrilled everyone loved the cheese ball! Thank you for sharing your fun and wonderful review and comments! Happy holiday cooking!
This was a *huge* hit at Thanksgiving! I am the only person in my family who follows a whole food plant based diet and I really appreciated being able to make something that everyone loved. Plus it was so easy and looked so pretty on the table. Thank you!
I am so glad the cheese ball was a hit at your Thanksgiving gathering! This dish does add such festivity to a holiday table! Thank you for taking time share your wonderful review and comments!
Wow! The flavor with this cheeseball is incredible. I used tofutti cream cheese and it worked well. This recipe is a new holiday staple in our house. Thank you Nora!
I’m thrilled you loved the cheese ball, and that it’s a new holiday go-to in your home! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
Brought this to a friends for a Friendsgiving gathering. Was a huge hit even among the non vegans. Thank you Nora for another fantastic, delicious recipe! Super easy to make too!
You are so welcome! I’m so glad the cheese ball was a hit! Thank you so much for taking time to share your fantastic review and comments!
I made this for Christmas last year and it was a hit. Making it for Thanksgiving (and probably Christmas as well) this year. the flavor is just so so good! Thank you!
Hi Shelly. This truly is a wonderful holiday recipe! Thank you for sharing your fantastic review and comments! Happy holiday cooking!
I made this for New Year’s Eve. The cheese ball received high praise from my family.
Hi Nancy. I’m glad your family enjoyed the cheese ball! Thank you!
This was stellar–I used Kite Hill cream cheese as I think it has the best tang. I subbed walnuts for pecans and used some dried cherries I had on hand as well. Thanks for another great recipe!
I made this for a Thanksgiving charcuterie board…it is easy, beautiful, and delicious. I used one container of plain Tofutti cream cheese and one container of chives and herbs Tofutti cream cheese for extra flavor. I’m in love!
Thank you, I’m so glad you love it! I just made it, too. 🙂
Made it. Served it. It was as beautiful as the photos here. And lots of wows for both the visual and the taste. Requests for the recipe. Photos taken. Complaints there wouldn’t be room for dinner. Big hit.
Wow, sounds like it was a big hit! I’m so glad!
This was so easy to make and tasted amazing! I used Trader Joe’s brand cream cheese and it worked perfect. Can’t wait to make this in future Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
I’m glad it was simple and amazing!
This was delicious and a hit at our New Years party! My store only had one Mikonos left so I mixed it with another vegan option and it was yummy!
So easy, pretty and yummy! I’ve made it for 2 parties so far and plan on taking it to a third next week. It’s the perfect thing to bring with you to share during this crazy busy time of year that non vegans and vegans alike love.
I’m so glad you love it!
This came out so amazing. I used myokos, my favorites brand. I used their chive cream cheese and just added chives to the topping along with the nuts and dried cranberries. It was absolutely delicious.
Sounds delicious! Glad you liked it.
This is literally the most delicious dish I’ve ever eaten and it was super easy to make!
I made this to take to a holiday party tonight! Seriously delicious!! I used daiya brand cream cheese and it worked beautifully! Thanks again for another brilliant recipe!!
You’re welcome! Glad it was good!
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 !
Wow, that’s great! Thanks for the comment.
I did a test run for the holidays, and holy smokes, this is good! Can’t wait to wow my friends and family.
Glad you loved it!
Awesome! I used Kite Hill cream cheese, which I really like. The flavor and texture of this cheese ball was perfect. Thanks!!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you tried it out and liked it!
Is there really enough flavor in the cream cheese that it doesn’t need any additional spices, black pepper? Salt?
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.