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Have you ever made your own vegan cheese before? If not, you’ll be so surprised about how easy it is! This flavor-packed vegan tofu ricotta cheese recipe requires just 7 simple ingredients and a few minutes to make.
Vegan ricotta has so many applications and this can be used in place of ricotta cheese in almost any recipe. You can add it to pasta, pizza, a sandwich or even some desserts. We also have a baked ziti recipe that truly shines with this recipe.
This vegan ricotta recipe uses tofu as a base and with the addition of a few other simple ingredients, you have a plant-based cheese that tastes just like the “real” thing.
The best part is, it’s super simple to make and can be ready in just a few minutes. All you need is a food processor! If you don’t have one, you can even take the old fashioned route and use a fork to mash the tofu and just mix in the rest of the ingredients.
We promise after this, you’ll be a vegan cheese making pro! If you’re looking for more vegan cheese recipes to try out, we also have a baked almond cheese ball and a vegan mozzarella recipe, both of which are to die for!
What will you be making to add this ricotta to? Some of our favorite recipes to use this ricotta cheese with are:
- Vegan Baked Ziti with Ricotta Cheese (Easy + Oil-Free)
- Ricotta Stuffed Mushrooms
- Ravioli Lasagna
- Hearty Rice Cooker Pasta with Lentils
- 6-Ingredient Marinara Pasta
If you make this recipe, let us know what you think in the comments below! + If you post any photos on Instagram, make sure you tag us @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris so that we don’t miss it, we love seeing your photos!
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Easy Tofu Ricotta Cheese (7-Ingredients)
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 3 cups (About 8 servings)
Description
Have you ever made your own vegan cheese before? If not, you’ll be so surprised about how easy it is! This flavor-packed vegan tofu ricotta cheese recipe requires just 7 simple ingredients and a few minutes to make.
Ingredients
- 14 oz. firm tofu
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- Juice of 1/2 small lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tablespoon white miso paste*
- 1–2 teaspoons dried basil, oregano, parsley or Italian seasoning (optional)
- ½–1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Drain any excess liquid out from the tofu (but do not press). Break the tofu up into small pieces with your hands and add it to a food processor. Add all of the remaining ingredients and process until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides of the food processor as needed.
Notes
- If the ricotta is too thick, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of water as needed to reach desired consistency.
- Store the ricotta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Separation is natural as it sits, just give the ricotta a quick mix before using it.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can try making this ricotta cheese in the blender, though the results will differ. The blender may make it a bit too smooth, so you may need to pulse blend it. Another option is adding everything to a large bowl and mashing it together wither either a fork or a potato masher. This option will not break down the garlic as much as a food processor or a blender, so I would recommend mincing the garlic very finely.
- You can leave the miso out if you would like. In its place, I would add a tad bit more salt (to taste).
- If you would like to make this ricotta cheese for a sweet recipe, be sure to leave out the garlic and the herbs.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Cheese, Sides
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: Vegan, Italian
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
20/10!! So easy and so tasty! I definitely forgot the oil but it was still perfect. Love that it’s much more affordable than store-bought vegan ricotta.
Best one I’ve made. Thank you!
This is better than any ricotta I’ve ever purchased and it was super easy to make!
So far this is amazing can’t wait to try it in my recipe I am trying to copycat one of my favorite dishes from Strive foods in Atlanta ga. It’s the spaghetti squash casserole bake. Thank you for this recipe!
I love this recipe so much!!! I’ve made it numerous times for varying dishes, including the lasagna recipe on this site. Recently I began omitting the olive oil and using aquafaba instead, not as rich but I feel better about omitting the fat. Thank you for such a simple and yet flavorful recipe that I will be making for years to come!!!
This is an excellent, keeper recipe! I’ve made tomato ricotta toast and stuffed shells, that my non-vegan husband devoured. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Making stuffed shells for my husband’s birthday dinner using this excellent ricotta which I just found by doing a search. . Of course I had to taste it several times just to make sure it was really that delicious! Will be using this on a regular basis. Thank you so very much.
Excellent!! I don’t use oil, so omitted that and added about two cups of chopped kale (because it needed to be used up:). Turned out perfect. I was using ZenB lasagna noodles for the first time and this worked well with them. I used Aldi’s oil free marinara. Such a delicious, healthy meal. Thank you for the recipe!!
I genuinely can not count the number of times I have made this ricotta. It is SO SO SO good and full of protein from the tofu. It tastes exactly like real ricotta and is delicious in stuffed shells. Thank you a million times for this recipe.
Better than Ricotta by a mile. I made lasagna, zuc nood, chantrelles, marinara. Excellant and freezes well.
Just made this using medium firm tofu and it was creamy and delicious, perfect for my eggplant lasagna. Thanks for the great recipe!
Looks very tasty. Thank you for sharing.
Looks very tasty. Thank sweetsimplevegan for sharing.
So good! I made stuffed shells with this ricotta recipe! Thank you!
I love you. This changed my life. Miso is a must though!
Super easy and tasty!
Fantastic! So fast and easy. I mixed it with spinach and used it in lasagna.