Decorate a holiday-themed Cranberry Pistachio Goat Cheese Log for the festive season! With just 5 simple ingredients and 5 minutes of your time, this honeyed cheese log with orange zest is perfect for a charcuterie board or as a cheese appetizer for your dinner party.
I absolutely love this recipe for entertaining. It's simple 5 ingredient recipe using festive holiday ingredients that works for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. The chewy tart dried cranberries with the crunch nutty pistachios are livened up with a bit of fresh orange zest and sweet honey.
It's just the perfect mixture to pair with tangy goat cheese! It can take center stage on a holiday-themed charcuterie board or it can be served on it's own as an appetizer at your dinner party with crostinis and crackers.
For a summery cheese appetizer, give these Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Burrata a try.
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
This recipe couldn't be any easier.
- There's no cooking at all but it makes a crowd-pleasing, colorful appetizer.
- The simple prep can be rough chopping everything together or using a food processor. It takes 5 minutes max.
- It's the perfect, impressive item to bring to a Friendsgiving potluck with some crackers if you're not trying to be in charge of something crucial like the mac and cheese.
Ingredients - Notes and Substitutions
- Goat Cheese Log - Depending on the amount of guests you're serving, you can use either a 4 or 8-ounce goat cheese log. If you're using a 4-ounce log, be sure to cut the recipe in half.
- Pistachios - Use raw, unsalted chopped pistachio slivers for the bright green color.
- Dried Cranberries - Don't use fresh cranberries! Substitute with other dried fruit, like cherries.
- Orange Zest - A bit of orange zest adds a bit of tang and freshness to this cheese log.
- Honey - A bit of honey sweetens up this otherwise tangy log and also helps stick the ingredients to the log. Substitute with maple syrup.
If you'd like to add a bit of spices to this goat cheese log, then cinnamon or nutmeg would be great additions, too!
How to Decorate a Goat Cheese Log
Step 1
Finely chop the pistachios and cranberries with a chef's knife. This is better if you prefer to keep the ingredients "chunky" to maintain the color for presentation. Add the honey and orange zest. Mix everything together really well.
Step 2
Once you have the mixture ready, transfer it into a platter or bowl that'll fit the length of the goat cheese log. Place the log on top of the dried cranberry mixture. Begin rolling and pressing the mixture into the surface of the cheese.
Be sure to press the mixture into the ends as well! Drizzle it with a bit of extra honey and it's ready to serve.
Top Tip
This recipe is already super simple but there's a way to make this even easier: a food processor.
Toss the pistachios, dried cranberries, the zest from about half an orange, and honey into a food processor and run it until you get a coarse mixture that sticks together. The ingredients are better incorporated this way and makes it easier if you're working with whole pistachios.
Serving Suggestions
Once you've rolled the goat cheese, place the log on a serving tray. Decorate it with crostinis, cheese knives, fresh herbs like rosemary, and fresh or sugared cranberries for guests to snack on.
It would also look great on a holiday-themed charcuterie board with items like fanned apples and other snacks like popcorn or pretzels. The cranberries and pistachios make this cheese appetizer super festive and appropriate for a Thanksgiving and Christmas party.
Serve the goat cheese at room temperature. This makes it easier to dig in to and spread on your favorite carbs like crackers or crostinis.
Storage Instructions
Goat Cheese Logs are great make ahead party appetizers. You can assemble it up to a day beforehand and then store it in the refrigerator a day or two beforehand since the orange zest keeps it fresh.
To store the goat cheese log, wrap it in several tight layers of cling wrap. Take it out of the refrigerator up to 15 minutes before you're ready to serve it so that it comes to room temperature.
Drizzle it with an extra bit of honey to give it a refresh.
More Holiday Recipes to try
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Cranberry Pistachio Goat Cheese Log
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 oz goat cheese log
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoon pistachios, chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- crostinis, for serving
Instructions
- Using a chef's knife, chop the dried cranberries and unsalted pistachio into smaller pieces. Zest about half a large orange.
- In a large bowl, mix together the chopped pistachios, cranberries, orange zest, and honey until well combined.
- With clean hands, press the cranberry pistachio mixture all around the goat cheese log to fully coat it.
- Serve the goat cheese in a decorative platter with crostinis and cheese knives.
KG says
Such a party hit! So simple to make and everyone loved it. Orange zest was such a plus! 10/10 thank you for this recipe!!
Shweta Garg says
I’m glad it was a hit!