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I am sharing a recipe for my absolute favorite appetizer – pistachio-cherry goat cheese balls . This is the perfect dish for any gathering, from a fancy cocktail party to a casual get-together. The sweet and salty combination is irresistible, and trust me when I say that your guests will be asking for the recipe. While it is hard to call this a recipe – it is so easy – it certainly is a fast and delicious appetizer to pull together as a last minute offering for your guests. If you keep a couple of logs of goat cheese on hand, you can pull together a lot of fast and fun appetizers like my goat cheese, pistachios & hot raspberry preserves or my herbed goat cheese, mushroom and apple brushetta. All make great offerings with cocktails.

These goat cheese balls are perfect on a cheese board, or as a pass around hors d’oeuvres. They can be made ahead and kept in the fridge until it is time to serve.

Why make pistachio-cherry goat cheese balls?

They only require four ingredients.
There is no cooking involved.
You can make them in advance.
They are perfect served at room temperature so can sit out on a buffet for long periods of time.
These are fast and easy to make and work as a great last minute appetizer.

Pro Tips for making goat cheese balls

Use a small food processor to chop the nuts. It will save a ton of time and chop the nuts evenly.
Don’t use the food processor to chop your fruit. Dried fruit is sticky when chopped and it will stick to the blades making it difficult to remove from the processor…and clean up becomes a chore. Just use a sharp chef’s knife.
Pull off about one inch of rosemary leaves from each sprig so that it easily inserts into the goat cheese ball (save those leaves for other uses)
Make in advance, cover with plastic wrap and keep in fridge until ready to serve.
Serve the goat cheese balls at room temperature. It makes eating and spreading the cheese easier.

NOTE: This recipe easily doubles and triples. Just increase ingredients accordingly.

Ingredient substitutions for my goat cheese balls

If you don’t have pistachios or dried cherries, don’t worry, there are plenty of other options that work just as well. For the nuts, you can substitute pecans, almonds, or even cashews. And for the dried fruit, you can try cranberries, apricots, or figs. And yes, raisins work too! Just make sure to chop them up finely so that they stick to the cheese balls.

How to make Pistachio Cherry Goat Cheese Balls

Put your pistachos and cherries on a cutting board and chop them finely. You can also use a small food processor to chop the nuts.

Place the chopped nuts and cherries on a large plate.

Cut your 4 ounce cheese log into four one-ounce piece and roll into small balls and place on the plate with the nuts and fruit.

Press the goat cheese balls into the mixture gently pressing to make sure the balls are completely covered with nuts and cherries.

Spear each ball with a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Place on a platter and serve with crackers.

How to store pistachio and cherry goat cheese balls

I pretty much have all these ingredients on hand most of the time so this is great to pull together in minutes for surprise guests or for impromptu get togethers. However, if you want to make this goat cheese balls recipe ahead of time, here is how to store them.

To store the goat cheese balls, you will need to follow a few simple steps:

Prepare all the goat cheese balls as per the recipe except for inserting the rosemary “toothpick”.
Transfer the cheese balls to an airtight container. You can layer them between sheets of wax paper or parchment paper to prevent sticking.
Place the container in the refrigerator and store for up to 3 days.
When you are ready to serve the goat cheese balls, take them out of the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes to allow them to come to room temperature.
Arrange the goat cheese balls on a platter and insert the rosemary stems .

If you need to store the cheese balls for longer than 3 days, you can freeze them instead. To freeze the cheese balls, follow these steps:

Place the cheese balls in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until firm.
Once the cheese balls are frozen, transfer them to an airtight container or a freezer bag. Be sure to label the container with the date so that you know when they were frozen.
Freeze the cheese balls for up to 1 month.
When you are ready to serve the cheese balls, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Once thawed, let the cheese balls sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes and insert the rosemary stems before serving.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a rating and comment below. I’d love to hear from you. Other easy cheese course ideas include:

Savory Cambozola Cheesecake with Honey

Baked Brie with Cinnamon Pears

Fried Baby Brie Bites with Tart Cherry Jam

Whipped Feta with Cucumbers

Baked Brie with Walnuts, Brown Sugar, Honey & Momofuku

Serve one or more of these and you’ll never have a boring cheese course or cheese board again.