Fried almond cheese balls are an irresistible appetizer for a dinner party or holiday get-together.

They’re crispy on the outside, beautifully light & creamy on the inside. Enjoy them with marinara for dipping.

Nothing says decadent quite like fried cheese.

It’s downright addictive with a crisp breadcrumb coating and soft interior.

Unlike mozzarella sticks, which are gooey inside, fried almond cheese balls are velvety & smooth on the tongue.

Dunk them into warmed marinara for an appetizer that feels like a relative of arancini.

This recipe is a riff off of one of my favorite dishes, vegan feta cheese.

In the original feta recipe, the almond mixture is poured out of a blender and baked into a thick & crumbly cheese.

This time around, the blender mixture cools in the refrigerator until it condenses.

Then it’s rolled into balls, coated in seasoned breadcrumbs, and fried.

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Blanched almonds are key

For the optimum texture and bright white filling, blanched almonds are a must for this recipe.

You can find them in grocery stores with other nuts. I usually buy mine at Natural Grocers.

Or you can hand-skin them yourself using any raw almonds. It’s not hard to do but takes a little bit of time on task.

Get all of the directions in this post on how to blanch almonds.

Olive brine adds tang

For added cheesiness and tang, I use olive brine in almond cheese.

Most often, I use the brine from jars of Castelvetrano olives.

Castelvetrano olives are mild & buttery in flavor, and the brine is light in color.

However, any olive brine will work.

If you don’t have olives around, you can use the brine from pepperoncini peppers (not hot peppers) or sauerkraut juice.

Any of these options work equally well.

Here’s how to make this recipe at a glance. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.

Put the following into a high-speed blender:

Blend until smooth.

Put the lid on the blender. Move it to the refrigerator, so that the almond mixture can cool & thicken.

You can refrigerate it for as few as three hours or up to four or five days.

When you are ready to fry the cheese balls, make a breading station.

Put the following on a plate:

Use a Tablespoon to measure out almond cheese from the blender.

Roll it into a ball with your hands.

Roll the ball in seasoned breadcrumbs.

Keep going until all of the balls are coated.

Fry in a non-stick skillet with oil.

As they brown, rotate the cheese balls, so that they are evenly fried all over.

Once they are totally browned, move them to a towel lined plate to drain.

You can make this appetizer your own by varying the ingredients, cheese shape, and size.

Instead of olive brine, use the juice from a jar of sauerkraut or pepperoncini peppers.
Vary the shape of the cheese ball. Roll it into a larger ball, form it into a pyramid shape, or smash it into a patty.
To make the appetizer gluten-free, use gluten-free breadcrumbs.
Instead of using dried oregano, dried basil, and granulated garlic, buy seasoned breadcrumbs or use an Italian seasoning mix.
For a holiday appetizer, leave the breadcrumbs off & form it into a snowman cheese ball