Wasabi Ginger Cheese Ball with Tamari Glazed Mixed Nuts

This one is our showstopper-that-looks-harder-than-it-is. A cream-cheese base with wasabi and fresh ginger, rolled in crushed Organic Tamari Glazed Mixed Nuts. Make it the day before. Serve it with crackers and watch it become the thing everyone asks about.

Most appetizers ask you to be in the kitchen when your friends arrive. This one asks for ten minutes the day before, and then leaves you alone.

The cream cheese does the heavy lifting. Wasabi brings heat that shows up late instead of hitting you in the front of the mouth. Fresh ginger keeps it bright. And the tamari glazed nuts on the outside give you the crunch and the salt in the same bite — which is the whole reason a cheese ball works in the first place.

It also happens to look like you tried much harder than you did. We’re not going to be the ones to correct anybody.

Six things. That’s it.

• 16 oz cream cheese (2 blocks), softened at room temperature
• 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp wasabi paste
• 2 tsp tamari
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• Clif Family Organic Tamari Glazed Mixed Nuts, 1½ cups, crushed

Crackers, for serving.

Serves 10–12 · 10 minutes · chill overnight

1. Mix. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then stir in the ginger, wasabi, tamari and scallions. Taste — wasabi mellows overnight, so go a little hotter than feels right.
2. Chill. Wrap in plastic, twist into a ball, refrigerate overnight.
3. Crush the nuts. Zip-top bag, rolling pin, a few good whacks. Gravel, not dust.
4. Roll and serve. Coat the ball in the nuts right before serving — do it the night before and they go soft. Let it sit out 15 minutes so it spreads easily.
   
   

Want to gild it? A teaspoon of honey and the zest of a lime round out the heat.

• It keeps. Wrapped and un-coated, the ball holds in the fridge for 3 days. Roll it in the nuts the day you’re serving.
• Adjust the heat to your table. Two teaspoons of wasabi reads as pleasant warmth to most people. Go to three if your crowd likes it loud.
• Make it a log. Same recipe, different shape — easier to slice, easier to fit on a crowded board.
• Double it. It disappears faster than you think, and it takes no more time to make two.

Wasabi and ginger want a wine that’s bright and gets out of the way. Our 2025 Unoaked Chardonnay is the pick — no oak to fight the heat, enough acidity to reset your palate between bites. The 2025 Rosé of Grenache does the same job if you’re already pouring pink.