Vegan Ricotta Cheese made with slivered almonds, vinegar, yogurt, water and salt. So easy and tastes so authentic and like True Food Kitchen’s ricotta cheese! It is creamy, smooth, rich, thick and heavenly.
Does the fact that ricotta cheese is made with dairy stop me from creating the most amazing, authentic vegan ricotta? Nope. It’s fantastic and so real that I was giddy with how delicious it turned out, all without any oil either. I sneakily asked a close reader to taste test it yesterday to see if she thought it was just as good as we did. She said “spot on” and loved it. Vegan almond ricotta for the win.
We love the almond ricotta cheese at the restaurant, True Food Kitchen, so that was the inspiration here. And, I’m happy to report, that it tastes even better. It has more flavor. I knew I had a winner.
The great thing about this Vegan Ricotta Cheese is that it has no nutritional yeast.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
For this Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese you will only need 5 ingredients total, including the salt/water: (exact measurements and details on the recipe card below)
- raw, slivered almonds
- plain coconut or soy yogurt (or whatever you like as long as it is not sweetened/flavored)
- white vinegar (key to the best cheesy flavor, as evidence in my Best Vegan Queso and my Cream Cheese Alfredo)
- salt
- water
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN RICOTTA CHEESE
Tip: You will need a food processor for this, a blender will not work, not even a vitamix because of the small amount of water used. Trying to use a blender will yield gritty ricotta and trying to add more water to compensate will yield a really bland taste, so a processor is a must here.
Step 1: Add the almonds to a large bowl and cover completely with boiling water. You must use boiling water here. Soak for a minimum of 6-8 hours or simply overnight.
Step 2: Add the soaked almonds to a food processor along with the yogurt, water,white vinegar and salt. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
This is how the texture should look. Smooth and creamy with a classic ricotta texture, but not gritty.
The combo of the vinegar and yogurt give it the perfect subtle ricotta cheese flavor. I love ricotta because it is a subtle cheese flavor, unlike mozzarella or other cheeses, yet the amazing creamy, thick texture makes it such a delicious addition to so many dishes.
WAYS TO USE VEGAN RICOTTA CHEESE
- Now, one amazing way is to use this vegan ricotta on pizza, of course!
- My favorite way to use it is in these Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells with Spinach.
- Spread the cheese on toast and add green onions for a delicious breakfast.
- Add dollops of the ricotta over pasta for a delicious cheesy touch!
HOW TO USE VEGAN RICOTTA ON PIZZA
Before baking…add desired toppings or any veggies you like. I usually don’t like too many toppings, olives and basil or spinach. I wanted basil but when I went to Kroger, they had NO basil, can you believe that? Weird. So, I used spinach instead. Still yummy. I always use my favorite 5 minute pizza sauce.
BAKED and delicious.
The first bite into that delicious smooth and creamy ricotta had both my daughter and I so happy! I mean, look at that texture.
MORE VEGAN CHEESE RECIPES TO TRY
- Best Vegan Queso
- Vegan Pimento Cheese
- 5 Ingredient Strawberry Cream Cheese
- Blueberry Cream Cheese
- Smoky Black Pepper Cream Cheese
- Baked Smoky Cashew Cheese
- Baked Herbed Cashew Cheese
- Easy Vegan Mexican Cheese Sauce
- Nut-free Fat-free Vegan Cheese Sauce
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If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Ricotta Cheese
Ingredients
- You will absolutely need a food processor to make this cheese, a blender will not work.
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) slivered almonds (not whole!)
- 5 tablespoons (75g) HOT water
- 2 teaspoons (10g) white vinegar
- 4 tablespoons (60g) unsweetened plain dairy-free yogurt (I like the So Delicious plain coconut yogurt, as well as the Kite Hill almond plain yogurt, both are SO good.)
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
NOTE
- If you absolutely cannot find a plain, unsweetened yogurt anywhere you live, you can try a vegan sour cream. OR sub for full-fat coconut milk, starting with 2 tablespoons and adjusting only if needed.
Instructions
- You will need a food processor for this, a blender will not work, not even a vitamix because of the small amount of water used. Trying to use a blender will yield gritty ricotta and trying to add more water to compensate will yield a really bland taste, so a processor is a must here.
- Add the almonds to a large bowl and cover completely with boiling water. You must use boiling water here. Soak for a minimum of 6-8 hours or simply overnight. You MUST soak them this long and do not try to rush this step or do a quick 30 minute boil. Since so little liquid is used to blend up the almonds, the soaking is required. This is what will yield a richer, flavorful ricotta, as opposed to having to add a bunch of water to get it soft during blending.
- After soaking the almonds, drain and rinse them and add them to a food processor.
- Process the almonds into small pieces, but not fully. Add the 5 tablespoons hot water, vinegar, yogurt, salt and process until it resembles ricotta and scraping the sides several times, as needed. It will seem too dry at first, but keep processing until it is smooth and no longer crunchy bits of almond remain. Please understand that food processors can greatly vary in both size and power, so yours may take several minutes to get smooth. You just simply need to be patient. Do NOT stop processing until it's smooth. The recipe works perfectly to get smooth if you do this. I literally let mine go a few minutes without stopping and it gets creamy and fluffy and perfect. Once it reaches the smooth texture, taste and if you desire more tang, add more yogurt or salt. If using the coconut milk, it will not taste as tangy or cheesy so you may want to add a tiny bit more vinegar if needed. The ricotta should be subtle but have a nice mild tangy cheesy flavor.
- To use this on pizza, just add it with your other toppings before baking. If you want it to stay thick and round, just use rounded spoonfuls. If you want it more flat or spread out, that works too, just press it down a bit before baking. It bakes lovely.
Apologizing for giving us the gift of rich, tangy, nooch-free cheese…pssssssh!! SO not necessary. As long as you send me a slice of pizza that is. Not only nutritional yeast free but no cashews too, which is hard to find in the cheesy vegan world. But why not almonds? I have to admit I’ve only ever had ricotta in lasagna (which I’m sure this would make for a killer vegan version of!), but it was always my favorite part. I love the super tangy less cheesy cheeses too, and that texture just looks incredible. It it weird that I kinda want to use this as a dip ha? So so easy and giving me another avenue to explore my new found love of vegan yogurt woohoo 🙂 P.S. Is this beautifully thin toasty pizza crust homemade too?
Haha, I know right! This pizza was so epic and we couldn’t get enough of it! Oh yes, would be soo amazing in lasagna, will definitely be trying that as well! Oh I totally was dipping crackers into this as well, honestly, it’s very hard to stop eating it, lol. Oh no, this is a store-bought crust, haha, I didn’t have time to do a homemade one since I wanted to rush to get it posted. It wasn’t that good but it worked in a pinch.
Wow, that’s genius, using vinegar as the ‘cheese’ component. I’m going to try this. Thanks!
Thank you India! It’s been my choice for cheesiness for awhile now. Last year when I was testing 2 cheese recipes for my cookbook, I used white vinegar instead of apple cider and couldn’t believe the difference, so I’ve been using it ever since. Check out my Cream Cheese Alfredo recipe and Best Vegan Queso on the blog that both use vinegar as well 🙂
Thanks Brandi! By the way, great job in the “Eating You Alive” film! I was glad that they showed the audience some familiar and delicious comfort foods, such as your alfredo sauce.
Thank you so much Cyd! It was such an honor to be in the movie!
This looks amazing!! I’m totally going to make it! Thanks for making things without nutritional yeast, I can’t have that either.
This looks really good! Does it brown at all in the oven?
Thank you Sandi! Typically, ricotta cheese does not brown like mozzarella for example Even dairy ricotta doesn’t. I’ve never had ricotta on pizza that has browned, but it firms up a bit on the top and gets nice and warm and creamy underneath, which is perfect! It’s not the same as other cheeses.
Guess what??? Great success and loved by the guys too! This Ricotta is fabulous and truly does taste like the dairy version. I can’t wait to make all kinds of great things with it. I have to be honest I put it on bagels to try..heehee..pic on IG #thevegan8 tag. ???
Yay!! SO thrilled you loved it!
Any other suggestions for its use?! Never was big into cheese before I went dairy free.. now I have no knowledge of what to put it with!
Yes, lasagna, on soups, bagles, really anything! Ricotta is traditionally used on lasagna, pizza or stuffed shells. I have my stuffed shells recipe coming soon too! I’ve also had some on hashbrowns…it honestly taste good on anything.
Cheese looks great — what did you use for the crust?
Love the ease of this recipe.
Delicious!
Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! Thanks so much!
I saw you on “Eating You Alive” and, as a newer vegan, was thrilled to find easy delicious recipes to try. I think it is important to have those 10 or so “go to” recipes you absolutely love. Giving up meat and dairy seemed to pretty much erase my list. Your interesting substitutions have certainly given me hope to remake that list!
Is there another nut other than almonds that will work with this recipe? We have allergies.
Hi Nancy, I have only tested this with almonds since that is the main ingredient, so I can’t say what/if another nut would work for this particular recipe. My guess would be cashews but I don’t know how the amounts would work with what I already have listed and cashews are a much sweeter note, so it would change the flavor. I know there are cashew and tofu ricottas online though.
Do you think I could substitute lemon juice for the vinegar?
Hi Julie, can you not do vinegar? I use the white vinegar because it gives the best authentic cheesy taste. You can try lemon juice if you want, but it will be less cheesy tasting and I’m guessing the same amount. I’ve only tested with vinegar though.
Ohhh I’m so excited to try this! I LOVE Ricotta cheese! Growing up in the NY metro area surrounded by Italians, I lived on it when I was younger. We’ve tried some of the store bought and to me, it always has a fake flavor. I’m going to give this a try this week!
Has anyone tried to make the ricotta cheese with lemon juice instead of vinegar? If so how much lemon juice?
Hi Deborah! Not that I know of. Vinegar yields a much truer cheese taste than lemon juice which is why I used it.
Sounds absolutely fabulous! Thank you so much!
Hubby and I thought this was delicious! I used whole almonds because that is what I had. I soaked them in cold water overnight, peeled them, then covered them with boiling water for 4 hours. Then I made the ricotta and put it in the fridge overnight. The next day it was even fluffier.
We have a pizza oven and now with this ricotta, we won’t miss the mozzarella 😉
Thank you Brandi!
Definitely 5 star! Unbelievably good!
Yay Lori! Thank you so much! So glad you loved it!!
Thank you so very much Lori!
Wowza! You just saved me $18 a week, Brandi! I have been purchasing two 7oz containers of almond ricotta cheese at nine dollars apiece every week to make veggie lasagna and now I can make my own!! It is so incredibly fresh tasting and really easy to make. Of course I was in a major hurry so instead of waiting for slivered almonds I just chopped up some whole almonds I had in the closet. It worked except there were still a little pieces after processing for a long time, so I stuck it in my good old Vitamix for a few mins more and, VOILA, creamy dreamy ricotta cheese! I am sitting down to some of it right now on top of my pizza made with your sauce, of course, and I cannot wait to use it for my veggie lasagna this weekend! Thank you! PS- I have a countdown on my calendar until I receive my shipment of your new cookbook on October 16… 188 days and counting! ?
Yay Colleen! Thank you so much for such a fab review! So happy that it was such a hit! Thank you so much for your support, I can’t wait either!
I have allergies too all nuts. Do you think seeds might work?
Hi Anita, this recipe is written specifically based off using almonds because of their neutral flavor. I do not believe seeds would work well because sunflower and pumpkin (for example) are both really strong in flavor. You are always of course welcome to experiment, but I don’t think it would taste good. There are tofu ricotta recipes out there that might be better for you since you are allergic to nuts.
This looks really good. I am going to try this recipe.
Whoa!!!! I know what we’re putting on our pizzas next time! This looks incredible and I’m kinda blown away by how such a short ingredient list produced this delicious looking ricotta! Your trick with white vinegar really is genius…we made your ranch dressing again the other night (for like the 20th time!) and I swear that vinegar really does make it the best. It’s been SO long since I’ve had ricotta and in the past I’ve always made it with cashews so I’m super anxious to try your version! Yum!! Hope you have a great weekend, my friend! xo
This was fantastic. I could not figure out how all the ingredients would amount to ricotta-like cheese but it was the closest thing to real that I’ve tried. It’s only missing that creamy background you’d get from dairy, and also it tastes great baked/cooked but not so much raw (not a complaint, just an observation). I stirred in a big handful of chopped fresh basil and used it in a lasagna along with vegan tempeh Italian sausage and Miyoko’s mozzarella…delicious! I had some leftover ricotta which stored well for several days, and used it to make a small pan of stuffed eggplant rolls. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Regina! So glad you loved it! I actually couldn’t stop eating it from the food processor, Haha, but yes ricotta is meant to be eaten inside baked pasta dishes typically! The coconut yogurt is high in fat so it gave that perfect creaminess but different yogurts yield different tastes/texture. Thank you again!
This was a fail for me, twice. Not sure how others are having success. I soaked the almonds for 2 days (since the first time was a fail, I thought I’d give a longer soak a try) and still had to run the mixture through the blender AFTER the food processor. It was too gritty, even though I ran it through the food processor for at least 5 minutes. Flavor was also very bland, had to tweak it quite a bit. Love most of your recipes but this one just didn’t hit the mark for me.
Hi Shelly, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t have success. Because as you pointed out, all others have had amazing success. The recipe works perfectly which I why I shared it. May I ask what type of almonds you used?? Did you use ones with skins and did you use the yogurt, salt and vinegar and weigh the ingredients? Something is missing here because I’ve made it 5 times and it’s not gritty or bland at all. Ricotta isn’t a bold taste though, but it’s not bland, but more subtle than mozzarella and other cheeses. Hope I can help figure out what went wrong there!
My almonds were skinless, blanched and slivered. I followed your recipe closely which is rare for me since I usually successfully wing it. I have a good quality Breville food processor too. I started using the large bowl and wasn’t getting a smooth enough texture so I switched to the small bowl. Still no luck and the vitamix was the winner. So strange!
Yeah I don’t know what to tell you because I’ve had 4 more rave reviews come in on the vegan stuffed shells last night who made the ricotta and they all loved it. It gets smooth very easily for me and everybody else. Did you double the recipe? I know I tried doubling it and it was way too many almonds and wouldn’t get smooth so the amount listed was necessary.
I had the same problem with my food processor so I ended up using my Vitamix. A few pulses and the texture was perfect.
My food processor (KitchenAid) was also not able to blend up the mixture properly. Had to put it in my Blentec which did a better job. Tastes great!
Yes,I have a cuisinart processor! It’s more powerful than my kitchen aid. Glad you enjoyed it!
YAY!!! Another winner from Brandi!!! Seriously your recipes are incredible. This was super easy to whip up (after the almonds soaked overnight) and it has that real ricotta texture & TASTE! No one knew it wasn’t a dairy version.
Thank you Brandi for ALL your hard work and dedication in bringing us these GREAT recipes!! ?
Awww, thank you so much Penny for this amazing review and feedback! I’m so happy to hear how much you loved this cheese and recipes in general, your comment was so sweet!
I want to make this over the weekend but can’t find plain dairy-free yogurt anywhere. Have you tried it with the vegan sour cream or the coconut milk? I have coconut milk here and have seen sour cream in the stores but was worried it wouldn’t be the same.
Hi Linda, I would definitely try the vegan sour cream and I think that should work much better than the coconut milk. It is tangy, a bit more than yogurt but similar. I think it would work!
Brandi, your recipes are always good and always dependable. But THIS time you have outdone yourself!
It’s amazing to me how much this looks like ricotta! And it tastes great, too.
Last night I made cannelloni with spinach, spices and your ricotta If my family hadn’t known better they would have sworn they were eating an old favorite with dairy ricotta. I doubled your recipe and it was absolutely perfect.
I salute you, my ricotta queen.
Oh Sue, you have made my day! Thank you so much for the glowing review! I’m so very happy to hear how much you loved the ricotta cheese! Thank you Sue!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I tried True Food Kitchen’s Butternut Squash Pizza a couple months ago and was obsessed with their almond ricotta. I emailed them asking for the recipe but they wouldn’t give it up. Your recipe is amazing and I just used it to recreate that pizza from True Food Kitchen….it was delicious! Can’t wait to try this ricotta in other recipes!
Woohoo! So glad it lived up to the True Food Kitchen’s Pizza, yay! Thank you AnnMarie for the wonderful review!
I LOVED this recipe and it was super tasty. Even my meat eater friends loved it! Thanks so much for the tasty recipes you share all the time!!
That is awesome Tara, love hearing that it was a hit all around! Thank you for the feedback!
OMG you’ve done it again! This ricotta is fabulous! I’ve just made it for my manicotti tonight. I was going to cook the jumbo shells, but can’t find any locally that I know are GMO free. I love your recipes, Brandi! Thanks for having your page 🙂
*side note – I highly recommend for anybody making this to follow her instructions exactly. I started off with 2 Tbl of yogurt and finished off with about 3 for my liking.
So sorry…meant to give it 5 stars!!
Oh my! I’m waiting for my lasagna to come out of the oven. I tasted the ricotta and it is spot on! Thank you so much for developing such a great and wonderful cheese! Love following your recipes and I can’t wait to try the stuffed shells. Yummy!!
This recipe is a game-changer for my plant based lasagna. I love your recipes!
Could I use cashews or other nuts in place of the almonds in this recipe?
Thanks!
It turned out great! I made lasagna today with spinach and mushrooms, and it was delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I made the vegan ricotta cheese for the stuffed shells this weekend. This by far was the very best recipe I have made since going wfpb in 2012. We have had them for 3 meals with 2 family members and everyone just loved the flavor. The flavor of the ricotta is deep, savory and very well suited for the shells. The pizza sauce was excellent as well. This was truly a big winner. Many thanks for your hard work in developing delicious recipes.
Wow, that is the best feedback ever, thank you so much for letting me know Judy!
LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!! I’ve made it so many times, it’s defin become a family favorite ? One thing I wanted to know, if we wanted to make the cheese and fridgerate it for the following day (i.e. if I make the cheeese tonight but don’t make the meal until tomorrow night) how does the ricotta hold up? Is it okay to refrigerate it for the following night or does it need to be made and used the same night?
Can’t wait for your cookbook!
So happy to hear that Courtney!! Oh yes, it holds up perfectly in the fridge so you can definitely make it in advance 🙂
I just made this tonight, really great tasting. I used my Ninja food processor but it did not yield the ricotta consistency so I transferred it to a blender. I was afraid it would not come out as you indicated in the recipe but I simply pulsed it and it worked well. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
Awesome, so glad you loved the recipe! Thank you for making it!
I made this today for friends for the first time and am so glad it worked out really well! I have a small little Oscar food processor so it was pretty full but I was able to to the whole recipe in it. I have to give credit to you for the very good directions–without your notes and exolanations on what might happen or how it would seem, I probably would have under-processed it and found it grittty and not good. I kept going until I got the fluffy texture and smoothness I was looking for. I was really impressed with it!!! My friends who I invited for lunch also really enjoyed it and were surprised that it was made from almonds (non-vegan) and that I MADE it myself (vegan friend who thought I bought it). WIN!!
This is such a keeper!! Thank you. Genius!
Wow this looks AMAZING! All I could think of was a veggie calzone made with this in it! YUM
I made this today and used it to make a roasted vegetable pizza….AMAZING…thank you!
I guess I need some suggestions! While the flavor of this ricotta is great I just can’t seem to make it smooth, like ricotta. It always has small pieces of almond to chew on. I have soaked the slivered almonds for over eight hours, and the second time even microwaved them in the soaking water at the end to make them more soft. I run my food processor for 20 plus minutes and it still won’t get smooth! I am using the Ninja Professional system which has a food processing attachment and am wondering if that’s the issue. Anyone have suggestions?
Hi Raquel! That’s very odd, I’m giessing it’s your food processor. I make it all the time and it’s always smooth. What size is your food processor?
That’s looks amazing! I can’t believe that I haven’t made the Pimento Cheese again.
Thank you Johanna!
I just made this ricotta and tried it on pizza…and it is amazing! So delicious! I ended up using 4 T. of the So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk yogurt and it was perfect…a subtle tangy flavor, and so, so good. Can’t wait to try this in lasagna! Thank you!
Yay, so thrilled you loved it so much Allyson! Yes, I always use the 4 T as well! Thank you for the lovely review!
Hi Brandi. Just wanted to tell you that since first making this, it has become the most repeated recipe in my kitchen . Thank you so so much for giving us back our beloved Italian food.
What a great recipe ! I used your Ricotta and Pizza sauce recipes in a whole grain lasagne with spinach and zucchini… Fantastic flavor and texture.
Yay, so glad you loved it Roger! That sounds really delicious!! I’ve been meaning to try it in a lasagna since several readers are having success!
Everything I hoped it would be! I used the full 4 tbsp of yogurt, I think it really needed it. I used it for a vegan white pizza, which is one of my all time favorite comfort foods and it was DELICIOUS. So glad to have it back in my life! I can’t wait to use it for stuffed shells next, thank you so much!!
So awesome to hear that Emma! Yes, I always use the 4 T as well!