This vegan ricotta is made with tofu, lemon juice, and garlic. It's a creamy, fluffy, versatile plant-based cheese for your favorite Italian recipes. Whether it's lasagna, stuffed shells, or manicotti, you can easily make all your favorites vegan!
Have you noticed a trend around here lately? I'm obsessed with all things comfort food. From slow cooker stews, to amazing vegan pasta recipes, and even lasagna roll ups, cozy food is my jam. One of my newest obsessions: recipes that use fresh ricotta. You know, things like lasagna, stuffed shells, stuffed mushrooms. Basically, anything that's stuffed with a cheesy filling, I'm here for it.
So, I decided I needed to finally create a post sharing my homemade vegan ricotta recipe. This ricotta is quick to make, can be used 1:1 in nearly every recipe AND it's high protein because it's made with tofu.
Why Make Vegan Ricotta with Tofu?
- Quick and easy: Just blend everything together. That's it!
- Creamy and versatile: Perfect for lasagna, stuffed shells, dips, or spreading on toast.
- Mild flavor: Tofu takes on seasonings beautifully, making it a great base for both savory and slightly sweet dishes.
- Great texture: The tofu crumbles like traditional ricotta but stays creamy enough to blend smoothly.
- Budget friendly: More affordable than store-bought vegan cheese alternatives.
What You'll Need
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make vegan ricotta. Here's a quick look. Don't forget to scroll down to the recipe card for a printable list.
- Tofu: You can use super firm or extra firm. If you use anymore less firm than those, you'll want to reduce the amount of milk you use as those have more water (i.e. more liquid)
- Nutritional yeast: To give our tofu that “cheesy” flavor we're adding nutritional yeast. Taste it when it's done and free to go with even more if you want an even cheesier flavor.
- Non-dairy milk: You'll want a little liquid to get it smooth – any type will work, just make sure it's unsweetened.
- Lemon juice: Lemon (and acid in general) brightens up the flavor of a recipe and gives the ricotta that “zing” or “tang” that you get from traditional ricotta.
- Olive oil: Adding a little fat helps with the texture – you can leave this out, but I think since it's just a tablespoon, go for it 😉
- Spices: Salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano.
How to Make Vegan Ricotta
This recipe couldn't be simpler to make. You will need a food processor, but you essentially just dump your ingredients in, whizz it up and you have your tofu ricotta. No straining, no draining, no waiting 24hrs. It's ready to use instantly!
How to Store Tofu Ricotta
One of the other great things about this recipe is you can make it ahead if you want to meal prep a bit. This will keep in the fridge for 4 – 5 days, just keep it in a sealed container. I recommend transferring the vegan ricotta into a container that fits the amount as close as possible (so not much air), to keep it as fresh as possible.
Can You Buy Vegan Ricotta Cheese?
If you're really not feeling like making your own ricotta, you can buy it at the store as well. The only brand I've seen (and liked) is Kite Hill. Their vegan ricotta is made from an almond base, so if you're allergic to nuts, it's not for you. It is delicious though!
But my guess is you wouldn't have landed on this page if you weren't interested in making your own ricotta. And once you do, you'll realize you won't ever need to buy store-bought again! This is so simple, so versatile, and super delicious.
Recipes that Use Vegan Ricotta Cheese
Vegan Ricotta
Ingredients
- 1 block extra firm tofu
- 1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk of choice (make sure it's unsweetened)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon dried Parsley
Instructions
- Place the tofu on a paper towel-lined plate. With another paper towel or clean dish towel, press the tofu to remove some of the water.
- Crumble the tofu into a food processor and pulse together until crumbly. Add the remaining ricotta ingredients (minus the spinach) and pulse until mostly smooth.
- Use the ricotta as you would traditional dairy ricotta. Or store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 – 4 days.
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Nutrition
it’s great. I know that people get pummeled when they add how they have changed something, but mine definitely needed a bit more almond milk to mimic a ricotta texture accurately. I’m always afraid of lemon because I kinda hate adding lemon juice to a recipe where it may seem atypical, however in this case it truly balances the flavor so well.
I made this to use in a gluten free dairy free lasagne and it wa just perfect. I did reduce the nutritional yeast to 1/4 cup and didn’t add parsley flakes (didn’t have any on hand) but otherwise made it as written. I will definitely make this again.
I was highly skeptical that I would like vegan cheese, much less homemade vegan cheese with so few ingredients. Now, I would not say this is perfect as a “cheese” to be consumed on its own as a snack, but it 100% fits the bill for recipes like Lasagna or ravioli. Honestly I am shocked! And I daresay that I could serve this to friends, and if I didn’t tell them they would be mine the wiser. THANK YOU!!! I nearly had a meltdown when the doctor recommended a dairy free diet. I feel so grateful.
Great recipe. This may be a personal preference, but I felt like the garlic and nooch were really strong. Nooch tends to have a ‘bready’ taste to me, which did not work well with the application I used it for. Next time, I’m going to try omitting the nooch and add in a tbs at a time. I don’t feel like ricotta tastes very umami compared to other cheeses and therefore doesn’t need this much nooch.
This is a great minimal recipe with great taste. Making the focaccia as well to make a sandwich with fried eggplant and sauce.
Easy to make & tastes great
This is my go to for vegan ricotta. I greatly reduce the nutritional yeast on account of the very strong flavor, though, and only use no more than 2 tbsp of it.
Amazing! Could eat this with a spoon. I’m transitioning to a more plant based diet and was so so impressed with how this came out. I commented earlier regarding freezing but honestly I don’t think the tofu ricotta will last long enough to need to freeze it! Thank you times ten!!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!! You can freeze your ricotta if need be but it can also be used in most pasta recipes, stirred into soup for extra creaminess or even eaten as a dip!
Hi! I am making this recipe but only need a dollop or two for my composed dinner tonight. Can I freeze the tofu ricotta once prepared so that I don’t have to throw the rest out if I don’t finish in a few days?
HI. Thanks a lot for the recipe but I get lost with the measurements. A cup, to how many grams correspond? Thanks a lot!
https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cup-to-gram-conversions/ This link is helpful for that! Depends on the item 🙂