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Home By Meal Snacks

Vegan Ricotta Cheese

★★★★★ 6 Reviews Recipe Print
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By: Erin6/28/18

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

easy vegan ricotta cheese

An easy recipe for learning how to make vegan ricotta cheese. This recipe has no cashews, is completely nut free, and is easily the best vegan ricotta recipe! We like to add it to lasagna, stuffed shells, put it on pizza, the list goes on!

Easily the best vegan ricotta cheese recipe in the world. Bold statement but it is the dang truth! Seriously, I can literally feed an entire crowd with this plant based, healthy tofu based ricotta cheese, and not one single meat eater or dare I say, Italian, in the room would flinch to think it wasn’t actually ricotta cheese.

Yep…tofu! That’s the secret ingredient here, but it works so well as a vegan ricotta cheese because the texture is literally the exact same as ricotta when you give it a pulse in your food processor. Then when you add other plant based vegan ingredients like nutritional yeast, shallot, garlic, fresh basil, it really takes the flavor to the next level.

This recipe is completely nut free, so no cashews or almonds here, and it’s loaded with healthy and wholesome ingredients that will literally make you want to find any way to eat it. It would also go great topped on my Pasta With Creamy Vegan Walnut-Tomato Sauce too!

It seriously goes well on everything, like seriously everything. We put it on our pizza, make stuffed shells out of it, add it to lasagna… the list goes on.

And it could not be easier to make.

Seriously, all you need to do is press your tofu, then blend it all up in a food processor. That is it. It’s ready in less than 15 minutes flat.

Ingredients in vegan ricotta cheese:

  • firm tofu
  • lemon
  • nutritional yeast
  • shallot
  • garlic
  • basil
  • olive oil
  • salt, pepper, oregano

The ingredients are flexible and can be swapped if you want to put your own twist on it!

Common swaps and adjustments:

If you want it to have a more basil taste, go ahead and add more basil. Same with garlic, salt and pepper. Adjust to your liking.

Only have an onion instead of a shallot? No problem – just use about half a small onion

If you don’t have nutritional yeast, you can leave it out but it won’t be as cheesy.

How to make vegan ricotta cheese

The best part about it, is that it is a simple recipe and takes little to no time to make. Plus it yields a good amount, so you get to eat it for a long time!

Start by pressing your tofu, once you’ve pressed it for about ten minutes (I stick mine in between two plates and place a cast iron skillet on top!), crumble into blocks and place in food processor.

Pulse until you have fine crumbles.

Add in your shallot, basil, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano, and blend until well combined, scraping down sides as needed.

Add in olive as it’s blending, until it reaches the consistency you like. For the above photo, I used about 2 tablespoons.

That’s it! So simple to make. You can serve it cold or warm!

If you make this recipe, be sure to comment below and let me know how it was! Also tag @erinliveswhole on Instagram and use the hashtag #erinliveswhole so I can see it and feature you!

If you liked this recipe, you’ll want to try these!

  • Vegan Chocolate Frosting
  • How to Cook Spaghetti Squash
  • Healthy BBQ Sauce
tofu ricotta in bowl
★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews

Vegan Ricotta Cheese

Learn how to make Vegan Ricotta Cheese that is so creamy, flavorful, and made with a special ingredient!

Prep: 10Cook: 5Total: 15 minutes
Yield 2 cups 1x
Print Pin it Rate

Ingredients

  • One block firm tofu, pressed + dried for 10 minutes.
  • 1 small lemon, juiced – about 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil or 2 tsp dried basil
  • 2 cloves garlic or 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 small shallot
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tbsp – 1/4 cup olive oil depending on desired consistency.

Instructions

  1. Press tofu either in a tofu press or by sandwiching between two paper towels and putting a stack of heavy books or pot on top. Let stand for 10 minutes.
  2. Crumble up tofu into blocks into food processor and blend until small crumbles.
  3. Add in lemon juice, yeast, basil, garlic, shallot, salt, pepper, oregano and blend again.
  4. Scrape sides down and then blend again.
  5. Slowly add in olive oil while blending until reach desired consistency.
  6. Serve over pasta, chilled as a dip, or on toast!
  7. Store in fridge for up to one week.
Author: Erin Lives WholeCategory: vegan, dairy-free, gluten free
tofu ricotta in bowl

Did you make this?

Leave a comment below and tag @erinliveswhole on social media!

erinliveswhole

There may be affiliate links in this post! By purchasing a product I recommend, I may receive a small compensation. However, I only recommend products I absolutely love and use myself. Thank you for supporting Erin Lives Whole, it helps keep this blog afloat 🙂

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Have a question? Use the form below to submit your question or comment. I love seeing what you made!

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

  1. Amber says

    Posted on 2/13 at 4:18 am

    This turned out good! You can definitely tell it’s not cheese, but it’s otherwise very tasty.

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 2/14 at 9:53 am

      Hi Amber, so glad you liked it!!

      Reply
  2. Annie says

    Posted on 9/1 at 7:54 pm

    I love this recipe! It’s so flavorful and versatile; I love to eat it on wraps and sandwiches or as a dip with veggies & crackers. It’s also meat-eating fiance approved!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 9/4 at 12:40 am

      Hi Annie, thank you so much and they all sound delicious!!

      Reply
  3. Dawne says

    Posted on 8/19 at 10:46 am

    Made this for vegan lasagna last night and OH MY GOODNESS was it good!! Added a 10oz package of thawed spinach ~ I could have eaten this plain. Thank you for sharing!! This recipe will be used quite frequently at our house!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 8/19 at 1:48 pm

      Hi Dawne, I am so happy you enjoyed it and ah lasagna sounds so good!!

      Reply
  4. Karen says

    Posted on 7/7 at 1:23 pm

    I’ve made this recipe dozens of times! I love it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 8/2 at 11:21 pm

      Hi Karen, I am so happy you love the cheese!! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Megan says

    Posted on 6/18 at 2:39 pm

    How many ounces of tofu is one block, approximately??

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 8/4 at 8:11 pm

      Hi Megan, 14 ounces!

      Reply
  6. Morgan says

    Posted on 5/28 at 4:18 pm

    Amazing! I brought over to my parents house for them to try and didn’t tell anyone it was vegan and made with tofu.
    They had no idea! It was great telling them after. 😉
    I’m making it for the second time tonight!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 8/4 at 8:52 pm

      Hi Morgan! Ah looks like you converted them to tofu lovers now! So happy everyone enjoyed it!

      Reply
  7. Erin Smith says

    Posted on 4/15 at 7:25 pm

    Great news it made enough for my lasagna recipe and then some! How do you think it would freeze?

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 8/5 at 8:13 pm

      Hi Erin, that sounds delicious! Love lasagna. It should freeze well and just thaw before using. Let me know how it goes! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Kacey says

    Posted on 4/9 at 11:09 pm

    Just made the most amazing vegan lasagna using this recipe. Followed the recipe exactly and wow, so good!

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 8/5 at 9:43 pm

      Hi Kacey! I am so happy you enjoyed it!!

      Reply
  9. Victoria says

    Posted on 1/20 at 6:41 pm

    Hi! I am so excited to try this recipe! I just have a quick question.

    If I don’t have a shallot, can you replace the shallot with an onion? If so- what would be the ratio? Since I know onions have a stronger taste I think.

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 1/20 at 7:02 pm

      Totally can!! I would do 1/4 of a small onion and you should be good 🙂

      Reply
  10. Mindy says

    Posted on 1/8 at 9:52 pm

    This stuff is off the chain

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Erin says

      Posted on 1/9 at 11:50 am

      Comments like these are why I love doing this 🙂

      Reply

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I’m Erin. Creator of Erin Lives Whole, a food blog with delicious and easy healthy recipes that will leave you feeling good. We’ve got everything from wholesome baked goods to comforting savory dishes. I can’t wait to see what you whip up! Read More...

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