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It’s the season for cold eats, spreads, and picnic-sized snacks. And if you’re aiming for a small-budget bite-sized appetizer that’s sure to impress, these carrot nut balls are the perfect, versatile treats.
I had the pleasure of whipping some of these up with my friends from YaJagoff! for their Jeet Jet? segment. (Seriously, watch the video!) Not only did John and Rachael both agree that these are delicious, but they’re fast, easy enough for anyone to make, and incredibly cost-effective. These are a great go-to if you have unexpected company. They only take ten minutes to put together — if you have shelled pistachios. If not, you’ve got about fifteen minutes of shelling on your hands first. But twenty-five minutes start to finish isn’t bad.
For this recipe, I didn’t have to schlep down to the store for supplies. Every ingredient in these flavorful balls is something I generally keep in my fridge and pantry: cream cheese, carrots, celery, pistachios (my kids love them), paprika, salt, and pepper. That’s it. They’re so simple.
This vintage recipe was found in Bessie Gant’s cookbook, Bess’s Cookbook: 400 original recipes, which is the second edition of her collection of good eats. This extremely rare historic book can be found in the University of Pittsburgh’s Historic Book Collection. The book is now considered public domain.
When the University of Pittsburgh digitized this rare book, they were kind enough to reach out to me via email and let me know that it would be, from now on, easy to access this treasure written by one of Pittsburgh’s favorite mid-twentieth-century columnists.
Gant not only spread her culinary knowledge and joy throughout the pages of The Pittsburgh Courier, but she also cooked for celebrities in Los Angeles and traveled around the US learning from other chefs. She was ahead of her time, for sure, and would, I imagine, be a celebrity chef (like Martha Stewart or Bobby Flay) if she were alive today.
Anyway, let’s make some carrot nut balls! I didn’t deviate from the original recipe too much and created a fun snack board that also displays a side of crackers (these balls are amazing as a spread), a steamed artichoke with truffle aioli, and a side of Russian dill pickles. The original recipe calls for the following:
- 1 package Philadelphia cream cheese
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ¾ cup* chopped pistachios
- ¼ tsp salt
- Dash pepper
- Dash paprika
Chop the carrots and celery very fine. Mix with salt, pepper, paprika, and cream cheese. Mold into small balls and roll in chopped pistachios.
*Notice the asterisk? The original recipe was missing the measurement for chopped pistachios, so I guessed. I had pistachios in the shell on hand, so it took about 15 minutes for my son and I to break them apart.
Then I pulsed the nuts in my food processor for about one to two minutes. I wound up with a blend of pistachio dust as well as some bigger pieces. About ¾ cup was just enough for this recipe. Next time, I’ll process 2 cups of pistachios, so I can save the pistachio dust and any leftover pistachio pieces to make Dubai chocolate yogurt cups.
After chopping the pistachios in the food processor, I went ahead and chopped the carrots and then the celery in there as well. Each item took about one to two minutes to process. I measured out a half cup each of the carrots and the celery.
The original recipe also called for a much smaller package of cream cheese. I don’t know if a 3-oz package of cream exists anymore because I haven’t seen one at ALDI or Giant Eagle. Our standard today is 8 oz. I made this recipe with a full 8 ounces of cream cheese, and it turned out wonderfully.
As for my snack board, it’s giving green spring vibes, and I love it.
Here’s a printable copy of this recipe:
This article appears in May 7-13, 2025.
