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Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls

“This tastes just like real goat cheese!” That’s what my guests said when I served these fried goat cheese balls. All of them thought it was real cheese. So YES, it is possible to veganize (does this word even exist?) everything, even cheese! Did you check out my Vegan Aged Camembert, by the way?

Crispy on the outside and soft, melt-in-your-mouth on the inside. PURE deliciousness.

I won’t tell you you can make these in no time because it’s not the case. Making the cheese mixture takes about 3 days because it needs to ferment, giving it this wonderful flavor that is so similar to goat cheese.

Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls

I have a confession to make, I’m not a fan of store-bought vegan cheese. Except for a few brands, most of them are made with a million ingredients and almost always have “cheese flavor” in the list. That sounds fake and heavily processed to me.

The cheese here is made with only THREE ingredients: raw cashews, probiotics, and a pinch of salt. THAT’S IT.

Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls

This recipe is really easy to make. You just soak the cashews overnight and add them to your food processor with the probiotics and some water. Process it and let it ferment at room temperature for about one day. Place in the fridge for another day to let the mixture firm up a little bit, and you are ready to make balls!

If you don’t have probiotics, you can replace the water with some rejuvelac. The result will be approximately the same.

I advise you to fry them just before serving; they will be crispier, and the cheese inside will be very soft.

Serve these with a salad, some fresh cherry tomatoes, a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar and you have a super decadent and hearty appetizer. Dressed to impress kind-of salad.

Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls

Feel free to let me know if you try this recipe and if you like it!

Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls

Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls
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Recipe

Vegan Fried Goat Cheese Balls

4.73 from 18 votes
Author: Thomas Pagot
These 4-ingredient fried cheese balls are melty on the inside and crispy on the outside. Easy to make and incredibly tasty!
Servings 10 Balls
Calories 254 kcal

Ingredients
 

Goat Cheese

Fried Balls

  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • canola oil

Instructions
 

Goat Cheese

  • Soak the cashews in filtered water overnight.
  • Drain the cashews, rinse them and place in the bowl of your food processor.
  • Open the probiotic capsules and add the powder to the bowl.
  • Add 3 tbsp of water, salt and process for about 3-5 minutes, scraping down the sides from time to time,
  • The mixture should be smooth but really thick. If needed, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until smooth. Do not add too much water, you want to use as least as possible or you won't be able to form balls later.
  • Transfer the mixture to a clean container, cover and let sit at room temperature for about one day to let it ferment.
  • After one day, taste it to see if it's sharp enough for your taste and place in the fridge for another day. This step will make the cheese mixture firmer.

Fried Balls

  • Place the breadcrumbs in a large plate.
  • Prepare the cheese balls by taking about 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture with slightly wet hands, form balls. The cheese mixture will be softer at room temperature, I recommend you put it back in the fridge if it becomes too soft to make balls.
  • Roll each ball in the breadcrumbs, tapping off excess breadcrumbs. Place the cheese balls on a plate.
  • Heat about 3 inches of oil to 350°F in a deep pot. Set a large plate topped with some paper towels on the side.
  • Using a spoon, lower a few cheese balls into the oil. Work in small batches (3-4 at a time).
  • Remove from oil after about 1 minute, or until golden brown. Place the balls on the paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining cheese balls.
  • Serve warm with salad, rice, quinoa, etc.

Notes

Since these cheese balls are fried, nutritional information is just an estimate and can be inaccurate.
The longer you let the cheese mixture in the fridge, the sharper and stronger the taste.
You can keep the cheese mixture in your fridge for easily one week, it will firm up a little bit more and it will be even easier to make balls.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Cheese Ball | Calories: 254 kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.9 g | Protein: 4.9 g | Fat: 21.5 g | Fiber: 1.1 g | Sugar: 1.7 g
Course : Appetizer
Cuisine : French
Did you make this recipe? Tag @fullofplants on Instagram and hashtag it #fullofplants
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About the Author

Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.

Learn more ➜

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5 stars
These look amazing. I love cashew spread and these look perfect. Can’t wait to try them soon. A quick question , can probiotic or rejeunelac be skipped completely. Does it aid fermentation ? Thank you . Pinning it .

What about vinegar?

Wow! This looks great. I’m thinking this could be a good base for a vegan mozzarella-like the real kind they keep in water. Any thoughts on going about that?

Jenny,

Unless Thomas has a recipe in the works, I can direct you to two fabulous Mozz recipes that are nice and melty.

Hi Kourtnie could you send me the recipe for the mozzarella please.

I would love a mozzarella recipe as well!

i would be grateful for the mozz recipe as well. it’s one of my favourite cheeses and one of the few things I miss since going plant based… many thanks in advance!

Could you please give me the information or links for the mozzarella recipes? I would greatly appreciate it!

Hi Thomas! I LOVE making vegan cheese with probiotics! Thanks for this awesome recipe 🙂

Hello!
Thank you for the recipes that you share!
Did you feel a real difference in cheeses made with probiotics vs rejuvelac ? Which one tastes more like “cheese” ?

5 stars
Just discovered your blog (found the Camembert on Pinterest and now I’m tumbling down the rabbit hole)- oh my goodness I’m already hooked. These look wonderful! Plus they only take days, not weeks- suits my patience level better haha.

As a side note, my husband is quite allergic to nuts (including cashews) but I’ve had excellent success trading cashews for unsalted raw sunflower seeds. They need soaking, but I’ve generally been able to make a direct volume swap previously- just in case you or any of your readers want to experiment. As soon as I hunt down some probiotic I’ll be trying a batch of my own!

Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes.

5 stars
Holy moly this was good! I used about half of the batch to make the fried balls and I used panko because I didn’t have any breadcrumbs on hand and they turned out great. I used the other half of the batch and put it in the smoker for about a half hour and it turned out amazing. It got devoured in seconds by a group of non-vegans. Thanks for the recipe!

5 stars
I AM SO DAMN PUMPED TO TRY THESE

5 stars
Okay just made these.

Another perfect winning recipe.

You are a star – thank you!

This looks really good and I can’t wait to try ! I have acidophillus powder in a bottle, not in capsules. Do you happen to know how many mL or grams or oz does one capsule amount to ?

Hi Erika,

I measured 4 capsules and it equals about 1/2 a teaspoon full. Hope this helps you. My cashews are soaking. Going with this recipe first since it’s less involved than the camembert or blue.

Many thanks ! It is much appreciated ! Good luck with your recipe 🙂

Would baking work with these? Sometimes I pretend like frying foods is bad and look for alternatives to appease my conscience. My cashews are fermenting away as I type and I am excited to try these baked or fried.

I have also ordered the cultures for your Camembert and Bleu recipes and can’t wait to get those going. Thank you so much for these amazing recipes!

If you dont have an air fryer nows the time to splurge of you can. This is the best method for fried food and not feeling guilty about it. Amazon sells them. You could also check your local store maybe. But trying it this way youll never need to use oil again.

5 stars
ok, mixture in the fridge and feeling super excited. Also can not wait to do the blue cheese one as soon as I can get my hands on some penicillin. Your recipes are really fresh and exciting for a vegetarian transitioning to veganism. Thanks a lot.

Hi there! Do you think I could substitute the cashews for walnuts? It may give it a more “earthier” taste but still stays true to the tart flavor. Feedback or thoughts? I guess I could just give it a go and see what pans out. Thank you for this recipe. I am very excited to give it a try.

That looks amazing! One of my favorite vegetarian meals involves sweet potato noodles with fried sage topped with little gobs of goat cheese. Do you think the unfried cheese would make a good vegan substitute here? Or is the cooking integral to the taste?

5 stars
Thomas, I too love your excellent recipes. I am brand new to veganism but a lifelong serious home cook and I so appreciate the complexity of your thinking about food. There are many very good vegan recipes out there but so far the ones I am finding tend to involve a fairly straightforward combining of flavors. This can make for delicious dishes, no doubt, but I have missed a sense of richness, flavors developing over time. That is what I have found with your recipes. Thank you for that!

And now for my question! I have just made my first batch of goat cheese balls, following the recipe at exactly. The mixture matured at room temperature for 24 hours and then in the fridge for 4 days–it seemed to take that long for the flavor to develop. I made the balls last night and while tasty they were in texture and color more like falafel. In your photos, the interior looks creamy and pale. Any advice on how to get closer to the texture you seem to have achieved?

Thomas–I think you have nailed the problem–not quite a creamy enough to start with. Will get started on my next batch!

Thanks again, AY

2 stars
I really wanted to love this but it just tasted like cashews. I left it out for 2 days with probiotic but the flavour didn’t seem to change. What did I do wrong? Maybe the probiotic were too old?

Hello, excited to try These, thank you. Do you think I Could I use the liquid from fermented vegetables as long as the flavours were fairly plain (no garlic ect) ?

I mean as a replacement to the probiotics?

Thank you, can’t wait to try.

3 stars
Hi! I’m so excited to find your page, all your recipes look wonderful. Two questions: One, since I have probiotic powder – how much should I use in this recipe? Two, if I purchase the Roquefort bacteria for the Camembert cheese – are there any other recipes I can use that in? Thank you for the recipes and for being a super awesome vegan!!

This looks great! I have some Mesophilic culture that I used for your vegan camembert 9http://www.thecheesemaker.com/mesophilic-starter-series-md-88-89/). Can this be subbed in for the acidophilus?

Thanks!

Hi! Thanks for your recipes! I tried this recipe this weekend and ended up with light red spots on top of the cashew mixture after fermenting at room temperature. I’m wondering if you’d know what it might be and it’s salvageable. Thanks so much!

If I only have children’s probiotic capsules is the amount of 4 still the same? Also, if using sauerkraut juice or other fermented vegetable juice, what is the correct amount to add? Thanks a lot.

Hello Thomas,

Are you referring to 500million?

I’m considering buying the acidophilus and I can buy them in capsules, but they have 4 billion organisms per capsule. Can you advise how much I should use? Do you think I can use 1 capsule of 4 billion? And will this result in different taste profile?

PS. After waiting for 2 weeks, today I’m finally going to smoke the Hickory cheese. I’m smoking it in our BBQ Super excited! On the other side, I’m soaking the cashews to start making Camembert for the first time.
As soon as they’re picture worthy I will place them on your Instagram!

Hi Thomas, I like your recipes ! But I’m the type that likes to use rejuvelac versus probiotic capsules. Could you give directions how to do that. In some recipes you hardly use any fluids, so I guess that woud be difficult as a substitute.
Thanx, Monique

5 stars
This is an awesome recipe! The second time I wanted to avoid oil and wheat, so I coated the balls with crumbed macadamia nuts and herbs and cooked them in the oven. They came out delicious. Thank you, Thomas, for all your creative and inspiring experiments!

I’d love to make these. I’m wondering if either the finished product would freeze week and then be warmed up in the oven. Christmas is coming and it would be great to cook them ahead?

Hi Thomas and thank you for your delightful recipes! I am wondering in part 6 of making the goat cheese, do you cover it with something like cheese cloth or with a solid cover? Thanks!

Hello Thomas! I made this cheese, but used it to make my own ravioli and wow was it amazing! My boyfriend said it was restaurant quality. I made my dough, stuffed with the goat cheese as well as sauteed mushrooms and onions with some fresh herbs and then I froze the ravioli for a few days. When I cooked it tonight (straight from freezer), the cheese was so creamy inside and had a wonderful, sharp flavor. Your cheese freezes very well! Thanks for an awesome recipe.

5 stars
I love this recipe! Worked great. The result I got were yummy, but I think my kitchen was too cool as I didn’t get the tanginess I had hoped for and think the cashews just didn’t ferment enough. I’m going to try again today and see if I can keep it a little warmer so that it ferments more.

Thank you! I think you are absolutely right. It needed to ferment longer. I knew that when I stuck it in the fridge, but I was too excited to stop myself…lol. I have the ingredients coming for the butter and the Bleu cheese this week. I can’t wait to try that too!
I’m curious, have you ever fermented chickpeas and used them as the base for cheese?

5 stars
These are so good! I just fried up 3 and put them in a salad. I’m completely amazed. I was skeptical since vegan cheese is… well you know. Usually terrible. I wonder if freezing them before deep frying would work. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!

I am very excited to have found your site and look forward to trying this recipe and many more. While my cashews are soaking, I was wondering can you substitute rejuvilac in this and other of your cheese recipes? Are the probiotics capsules in the health food stores the same as what you mention in these recipes? How long is the maximum time for nuts to soak? By that I mean I started soaking the nuts Monday morning but, got called into work fornthe next 3 days, should I scrap it and start over? Should I mix the nuts and probiotic blend. Can that sit and wait to be finished any ampuntnof tome? You probably have answered these questions before, however, there is a lot of information to read through in the comments. I look forward to hearing from you or the community soon. Thank you so much for all your hard work on your site.
Renee

Update. I made the cheese for this recipe and it came out perfect. Tonight I am going to fry some up and will.let you know how it goes. Renée

Update. I made the cheese for this recipe and it came out perfect. Tonight I am going to fry some up and will.let you know how it goes.

5 stars
Your blog is so perfect!
I found it by searching a recipe of blue cheese.
I’ll try all of them!!!
I loved your way to teach and the format of the recipes.
Thank you so much for all the work and pacience.
Lots of vegan love!

Hi Thomas, can’t wait to try. Would it be possible to freeze the mix when it has the desire red taste or can you freeze the fried balls thanks