Don't do dairy? You'll love this easy vegan ricotta cheese. Just like regular ricotta, it's rich and creamy. Perfect for lasagna, stuffed shells, and more!
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Good vegan ricotta is the secret to a great vegan lasagna or stuffed shells. It should be rich, thick, and creamy—so delicious that you don’t miss the cheese. I’ve tried making it all sorts of ways over the years—with nuts like cashews and almonds…even sunflower seeds! But this tofu ricotta cheese is hands down my favorite.
This vegan ricotta cheese is easy to make in the food processor. The recipe calls for less than 10 ingredients and whizzes up in minutes! It has a savory, cheesy flavor and perfect creamy texture. Add it to your next plant-based pasta or homemade pizza. I think you’re going to love it!
How to Make Vegan Ricotta Cheese
This vegan ricotta recipe is easy to make! It starts with 9 simple ingredients:
Ingredients
- Extra-firm tofu – No need to press the tofu to make this recipe! The water inside it helps it blend into a creamy puree.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest – They add bright, tangy flavor.
- Extra-virgin olive oil – For richness.
- Nutritional yeast – You’ll find this plant-based ingredient in savory dishes like my vegan mac and cheese and vegan Alfredo sauce. It’s a great way to add cheesy flavor to vegan recipes, no dairy required!
- Garlic – For savory bite.
- Dried oregano and red pepper flakes – For Italian flare.
- And salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Got your ingredients? This recipe comes together in one easy step:
Place everything in a food processor, and pulse until smooth.
Yep, it’s that simple!
Can I use a blender?
I recommend using a food processor for this vegan cheese recipe. Pureeing it in a blender will require more liquid, resulting in a runnier, less creamy, texture.
How to Use Vegan Ricotta
There are so many ways to use this homemade vegan ricotta! Substitute it for regular ricotta in any savory recipe, such as my stuffed shells or baked ziti, or try one of these tasty serving suggestions:
- Make a vegan lasagna. Layer this vegan ricotta into my go-to veggie lasagna. Skip the cheese on top. Cover and bake the lasagna until heated through.
- Dot it on a pizza. Make this Margherita pizza without the cheese. When it comes out of the oven, dollop it with vegan ricotta and scatter it with fresh basil leaves.
- Upgrade vegan meatballs. Serve them over pasta with marinara sauce and a scoop of vegan ricotta.
- Spread it on a sandwich. Make an epic plant-based sandwich with grilled zucchini, grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers, basil pesto, and a slather of vegan ricotta.
- Serve it as a dip. Garnish it with lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and fresh parsley. Scoop it up with crackers or crostini for a delicious dairy-free appetizer!
How do you like to use vegan ricotta cheese? Let me know in the comments!
Storage
If you don’t use all the ricotta in one go, that’s ok! Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
More Vegan Basics
If you love this recipe, try one of these vegan basics next:
- Vegan Cheese
- Vegan Sour Cream
- Cashew Cream
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- How to Make Almond Milk
- How to Make Oat Milk
- Vegan Mayo
Looking for more plant-based cooking inspiration? Check out these 85 Best Vegan Recipes!
Vegan Ricotta Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- 14 ounces extra-firm tofu, drained
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a food processor, place the tofu, lemon juice, olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, garlic, salt, oregano, and red pepper flakes and pulse until creamy.
- Use in this vegetarian lasagna recipe or this stuffed shells recipe.
Made this to use in lasagna. It’s really good, but next time I think I will omit the lemon zest. It was a little too lemony for the lasagna. But overall we really enjoyed it!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I have made this twice in the past week after discovering this recipe – it’s really good! We use this as a sandwich spread and dip for crackers. I omit the lemon zest and reduce the salt to 3/4 tbsp. Really good with chives blitzed in (even better the next day).
Oops, that should read 3/4 tsp, not tbsp!
So glad you love the recipe, Lauren! Love the idea of adding chives.
If I were to use this for a whipped ricotta cake topping, would I still include the nutritional yeast?
Hi Chris, we intended this recipe as a savory ricotta substitute. I think you’d have to make a number of changes for it to work well on a cake. Instead, I’d make this vegan cream cheese frosting!
This was an absolute hit in my gluten free, vegan ziti! Can the leftover ricotta be frozen do you think?
Oops, I bought firm tofu instead of extra firm. Winded how that will turn out as I intended to use it for your lasagna recipe today! Eek lol
I make this to use in lasagna and on baked toast type things. It’s so good I end up licking the food processor after, and start brainstorming what other dishes I could add to it.
Ha, I’m so glad you loved it!
What is the best way to store this and for how long?
In the fridge, for about 3 to 5 days. If any liquid separates, give it a stir before you use it.
I’m so happy I came across this recipe! One question though- if I’m planning to use this as an ingredient in a sweet recipe (cannoli dip), would you recommend omitting things like the garlic, oregano, and red pepper?
Hi Barb, yes! In that case, I would omit the savory seasonings. You could still use the lemon and olive oil. I would reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon and add more to taste.
i’m allergic to tofu wat can i replace it with!
There’s a regular ricotta recipe with our lasagna: https://strong-nights.today/vegetarian-lasagna/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class=reply>
Big Mountain Soy-Free Tofu made with Fava beans. Not sure if it is extra-firm but I will make this recioe using it I love the plain. I did not care for the smoked but you might. Good luck!
Amazing.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Can I make this a day ahead of using it in my lasagna?
yep!
I made this for the first time this week for my daughter who was visiting for Thanksgiving. It was amazing in the lasagne rolls I made and much more economical than buying vegan ricotta. Thank you! <3
Hi Catherine, I’m so glad you loved it!
I used this in a vegan lasagna dish. When I tasted it alone, I worried it might be too lemony, but integrated with the other ingredients, it was perfect. Smooth, creamy, cheesy, delicious. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I’ve been using this recipe for about a year and it comes out every time. I like it on the lemony side, so I add extra. I’ve also used extra fresh herbs as a dip, and even that is perfect. Thank you.
I made this today. It turned out well. I can’t eat nutritional yeast, so I used 2 Tbs of mushroom powder and 1 Tbs miso paste. I also added 2 additional Tbs olive oil and skipped the lemon zest. I made it in my Vitamix and it turned out creamy. I plan to use it in lasagna tomorrow.
Hi Susan, those swaps sound delicious!
This was delicious! I made it exactly as stated and subbed for regular ricotta in a lasagna recipe.
Love this 🍋
Any experience on freezing leftovers?
This is absolutely amazing. I didn’t change anything in the recipe. Spot on. Thank you so much!
Our “go to” recipe for delicious ricotta!
It is taking quite a bit of pulsing to get it creamy. Like several minutes.
I finally put the food processor on purée and got the proper texture.
This my first time making this tofu ricotta cheese. It tasted good, but I hope they like it. I tried it and it was pretty good. I followed your recipe. 😉