Vegan snowman cheese ball

He's made of tofu cheese and all piled up with caper eyes and a carrot nose. Ready for whatever December throws at him. (I'm betting it will be crackers.)

This tofu cheese has umami from white miso paste, tang from lemon juice, cheesiness from nutritional yeast flakes, and nuttiness from tahini.

It is the same base as my tofu ricotta recipe. It's easy to roll into balls and form into a snowman.

(For more snowman food ideas, check out this melted snowman soup.)

In this post:

Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.

For the cheese

Super firm tofu: Choose a 16-ounce package of super firm tofu that’s vacuum packed. It’s ideal, because it doesn’t need to be pressed first. Just crumble it straight into the food processor.

I usually buy it at Trader Joe's. It's one of my favorite vegan Trader Joe's products. You can also find Wildwood brand at natural grocery stores.

(If you only have access to water-packed tofu, check out the notes section of the recipe card for instructions on how to use it in this recipe.)

White miso paste: This fermented soybean paste adds salt and umami. Look for it in tubs near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

Nutritional yeast flakes: This inactive yeast adds cheesy flavor & umami. Look for it in natural grocery stores, online, or at Trader Joe’s.

Lemon juice: This adds tang. Freshly squeezed offers the best flavor.

Tahini: This sesame seed butter adds richness. Look for it near other nut butters or by Mediterranean ingredients in the grocery store. Soom and Seed + Mill are my favorite brands.

Salt: A little salt heightens the flavors & adds to the cheesiness of this spread.

For the garnishes

Capers: Look for these brined flower buds in jars near artichoke hearts or olives in the center aisles of the grocery store or online.

Veggies: Carrot & bell pepper. You don’t need much here – just small slivers for the snowman nose & mouth.

Pretzel sticks: These make up the arms of the snowman. Or you can replace with rosemary sprigs.

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

Put the following into a food processor:

• Super firm tofu
• White miso paste
• Nutritional yeast flakes
• Lemon juice
• Tahini
• Salt

Process at a low speed until smooth, stopping occasionally to stir & scrape down the sides.

Once it is evenly incorporated, use your hands to scoop out a handful of tofu cheese.

Roll it into a ball. Set it aside and make two more.

Make the first ball the largest for the base, a middle sized one for the center, and the smallest one for the head.

(The snowman can be whatever size you wish. For the purposes of this post, my snowman was about four inches tall in total.)

Stack the three balls on top of each other to make the snowman cheese ball. Place on a platter with crackers or crostini for serving.

Decorate it:

• Capers for eyes and buttons
• Sliced carrot for a nose
• Sliver of red bell pepper for a mouth
• Pretzel sticks or rosemary sprigs for arms

You can make this snowman your own by varying the vegan cheese or decorations.

• Instead of tofu cheese, make almond cheese balls.
• Add to the tofu cheese with flavorful ingredients like minced garlic, fresh or dried basil, granulated onion, or sun-dried tomatoes. (Keep in mind that some of those ingredients will affect the white color.)
• Instead of capers for eyes and buttons, use peppercorns, sliced olives, or blueberries.
• Instead of sliced carrot for a nose, use a tiny wedge of vegan cheddar block.
• Instead of a bell pepper for a mouth, use a slice of cherry tomato, sun-dried tomato, or several peppercorns.
• Add a thin long slice of cucumber or carrot for a scarf.

This mildly flavored cheese goes well with any number of charcuterie-style accoutrement.

It can be used with sweet or savory pairings.

Serve it with any of the following:

• Flavored crackers (Rosemary is especially nice)
• Toasted crostini
• Toasted bagels
• Pretzels
• Crudités
• Olives
• Pickles
• Pear or apple slices
• Berries
• Vegan deli slices
• Candied pecans

📖 Recipe

Vegan snowman cheese ball

Author: Cadry Nelson

5 from 3 votes

Turn an easy tofu cheese into an adorable snowman. Perfect for holiday parties! Serve with crackers. It's a mild flavored spread that also goes beautifully with a vegan charcuterie board.

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 13 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 people

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Vegan

Keyword: christmas food idea, holiday party food, holiday recipe

Ingredients

For tofu cheese

• ▢ 16 ounces super firm tofu in vacuum packaging
• ▢ 4 teaspoons white miso paste
• ▢ ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ▢ 2 Tablespoons tahini
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt

For the snowman

• ▢ 5 capers for eyes and buttons
• ▢ 1 tiny slice carrot for nose
• ▢ 1 sliver red bell pepper for mouth
• ▢ 2 pretzel sticks or rosemary sprigs, for arms

Instructions

To make the tofu cheese

• ▢
  Use your hands to crumble super firm tofu into food processor in chunks. Then add white miso paste, nutritional yeast flakes, lemon juice, tahini, and salt.
• ▢
  Process at a low speed until everything is evenly incorporated. Stop a couple times to scrape down the sides, so that all of the ingredients get mixed together. Keep blending until totally smooth. (With my food processor, I know it's ready once it forms into a ball inside of the machine.)

To make the snowman

• ▢
  Now it's time to form your snowman. Use your hands to scoop out a handful of tofu cheese. Roll it into a ball. Set it aside and make two more. I recommend varying the sizes, so that one is large, the second is medium, and the third is on the smaller side.

  Stack the three balls on top of each other to make the snowman. The snowman can be as small or large as you like.
• ▢
  Now decorate the snowman. Add capers for eyes and buttons, a sliced carrot for a nose, a sliver of red bell pepper for a mouth, and pretzel sticks or rosemary sprigs for arms.
• ▢
  Place the snowman on a serving platter or small wood serving board with crackers.

Notes

You can find vacuum packed super firm tofu at Trader Joe’s, or in natural grocery stores sold by Wildwood. 

If you only have water-packed tofu, you’ll need to press it first. You’ll likely need about a package and a half of the water-packed variety, because the water-packed kind comes in smaller packages. (Water packed tofu is generally 14 ounces in comparison to 16 ounces of super firm.) And some of the weight is water, which will be removed with draining and pressing. 

I don’t recommend silken tofu for this recipe. It’s soft and won’t give you the bulk you need for forming the snowman.

I kept this tofu cheese mildly flavored, so that it could be served with any number of flavored crackers, vegan meats, sliced vegetables, and pickled things. However, you can intensify the flavor if you’d prefer by adding minced garlic, fresh or dried basil, and/or granulated onion to the tofu mixture before processing. Keep in mind that fresh or dried basil will affect the color.

To keep the snowman gluten free and oil free, use gluten free & oil free pretzel sticks or rosemary sprigs for the arms. 

You will almost certainly have tofu cheese leftover. You can either make a bunch of snowmen, or use the tofu cheese elsewhere in a lasagna or as a spread on its own. If you decide to make several snowmen, you’ll need more decorations like capers & pretzel sticks.

Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in a covered container. It will last about 4 days.

If you’d prefer a soy-free option for this snowman, use my almond cheese balls recipe instead. Keep in mind that recipe needs to be refrigerated before forming into balls, and plan accordingly. (Just skip the part of that recipe where the balls are breaded and fried.)

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Nutrition

Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 3g | Sodium: 294mg | Potassium: 138mg | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 1mg