I love making all sorts of creamy pasta, like my Cauliflower Pasta, Vegan Creamy Mushroom Pasta, or Hidden Veg Pasta Sauce. But to achieve a real creamy texture, you have to use vegan ricotta. And making vegan ricotta is much easier than you think! This recipe uses just a few basic ingredients and can be turned into ricotta in just about 5 minutes with a blender!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Slivered Almonds – It means thin pieces of blanched almonds with no almonds skin and golden-white color. They don’t contain the almond skin, and they are small, so you can easily blend them into a creamy, cheesy texture without pre-soaking. Do not use whole almonds with or without skin. They are too hard to break into a creamy cheese without soaking them or sliced almonds with skin if you want to use sliced almonds, make sure they are blanched. You will also need to watch out for the blending time! They turn really fast into a creamy paste, and you will lose some grainy texture. Water – tap filtered water, no need to use hot water. Unsweetened Almond Milk – I found that the best vegan ricotta is made from a combination of water and unsweetened almond milk. The touch of almond milk adds the light sweet taste that mimics the classic ricotta cheese even more! Lemon Juice – You can use fresh or bottled lemon juice. Lime juice can also be used. Nutritional Yeast – For a light cheesy flavor, but you can omit this ingredient as ricotta is mild in flavor, and you don’t expect a strong cheese flavor. Nutritional Yeast is a vegan-friendly ingredient.
How To Make Vegan Ricotta
There are many ways to make vegan ricotta recipes, including nut-free tofu ricotta cheese or cashew ricotta cheese. Here I am sharing an almond ricotta cheese recipe that tastes like the real thing. I highly recommend using a high-speed blender rather than a food processor to make vegan cheese from nuts. In fact, nuts are strong and hard to break and turn into a creamy texture. As a result, the tall and narrow jug of a blender is much more powerful, keeping the nuts close to the blade all the time, turning them into cheese in less than 3 minutes. A food processor has a wide bowl and a less powerful blade. It makes it very difficult to get the creamy, fluffy ricotta texture you see here using a food processor. This is not a complicated recipe, but you must be patient and repeat the same steps a few times to achieve the right ricotta texture.
Flavoring Options
You can play with this dairy-free ricotta recipe and create a range of different flavors by adding some of the ingredients below to the end product.
Fresh Chopped Herbs – Add up to 1/3 cup of basil, cilantro, or dill. Fresh Chopped Garlic – 1 or 2 garlic cloves finely crushed. Nutritional Yeast – The original recipe uses some, but you can enhance the cheesy flavor of this ricotta by adding 1-2 extra teaspoons. Nutritional yeast is a great source of plant-based iron. Pepper – Add 1 teaspoon of crushed pepper or chili flakes to make it spicy.
Serving Suggestions
This vegan almond milk ricotta recipe is the best gluten-free, vegan alternative to ricotta! It has all the texture and flavor you expect from ricotta, including the light nutty, sweet flavor specific to classic ricotta. It’s fresh, thick, creamy vegan ricotta cheese with a mild cheese taste and light nutty flavor. You can eat this raw almond ricotta recipe as:
A spread similar to cream cheese spread it onto toasted bread. A vegan appetizer to dip raw vegetables, crackers, or pita triangles.
The best is to serve the ricotta in a wide bowl with a drizzle of fresh olive oil, ground pepper, and fresh chopped basil. You can also use this recipe as a vegan substitute for ricotta cheese in any plant-based recipe, including:
Vegan Lasagna Stuffed Pasta Shells – this is the perfect recipe for stuffed shells! Simply spread the cold ricotta in the pasta shell and bake the shells in tomato sauce. Vegan roll up
Storage
You can store this ricotta in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Also, this recipe freezes very well in a Ziploc silicone bag. Thaw the ricotta in the fridge the day before and use it in any vegan recipe as a vegan replacement for ricotta like in vegan lasagna.
More Vegan Appetizer Recipes
If you love vegan dips or appetizers, I listed some of my other recipes to try:
