Vegan ricotta cheese is so easy, light, creamy, and versatile. You can make it with 3 simple ingredients in less than one hour, and you can use it exactly like regular ricotta.
This is the best nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free ricotta. It has a creamy, soft texture and a neutral flavor that is perfect for making both sweet and savory dishes like ricotta pies, stuffed pasta, and much more.
What to expect
First things first, Ricotta is an Italian cheese made from dairy milk leftover from the making of other cheeses. Ricotta in Italian literally means "recooked".
The name makes sense because the leftover whey (a protein) is fermented allowing it to become more acidic, then heated a second time, almost to boiling temperature, so that the combination of acidity and high temperature changes the structure of the proteins in the whey (denaturation), transforming them in a fine curd.
The fine curd is then strained to separate it from the liquid, through a fine-mesh cloth, then pressed into a ricotta mold. The result is ricotta cheese, a white, light, and creamy cheese.
We've been making vegan ricotta for a few years now. Along with our melty vegan cheese, it's our favorite plant-based, dairy-free cheese because it's really easy to make, cheap, and goes well with everything.
In general, there are two main methods for making vegan ricotta: one with soy milk, and the other with blended nuts.
They are both delicious, however, we recommend you try the soy milk method, which yields ricotta that is very similar to authentic Italian ricotta, both in texture and flavor.
Like in real ricotta making, we use acidity (vinegar) and high temperature to curdle the protein in soy milk. This method is so easy and so effective!
So in this blog post, we will show you all the tips to make the best vegan ricotta with three ingredients: soy milk, salt, and vinegar.
If you want to learn how to make vegan ricotta with nuts, such as cashew nuts or almonds, then check out our variation section below.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Soy milk: we've tried over 30 different brands of soy milk and we were able to make ricotta cheese with all of them, even those that contain sugar, flavorings, and additives like calcium or gellan gum.
Our advice is if you need to make a savory dish or want to eat the ricotta on its own, choose unsweetened, unflavoured soy milk. If instead, you have to make a sweet dish, like a cake or a pie, then any soy milk is fine.
Other types of dairy-free milk that you find in supermarkets won't work, stick to soy milk. You might have some success with homemade almond milk, but we still don't recommend it, as it takes too much time, and we are all about easy recipes on this blog. - Vinegar: used to increase the acidity in the soy milk and make it curdle. You can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. Lemon juice works too, but you'll need a little more of it. We recommend using vinegar.
We have done many tests, the optimal amount of vinegar is 40 grams of vinegar for every 1 Liter of soy milk (or 2.5 tablespoon for ¼ of a gallon), while that of lemon is about 60 grams of lemon juice for every 1 Liter of soy milk (or 4 tablespoon for ¼ of a gallon). - Salt: it's a key ingredient and you cannot omit it. Salt makes this vegan ricotta incredibly delicious because it completely neutralizes the slightly acidic taste of the vinegar.
Add salt even if you want to use this ricotta for sweet preparations. You just need to add it to the soy milk before adding the vinegar.
Equipment
- Cloth for filtering liquids: you can use a white, clean, fine-mesh, cotton kitchen cloth like we often do, or a cheesecloth, which you can easily find online for a few bucks. Just make sure your clothes don't taste like detergent.
- Strainer: any strainer will do, it should be large enough to contain the whole amount of milk you are boiling.
- Stainless steel or enamel pot: it must be able to hold all the soy milk you want to curdle.
- Ricotta cheese mold: totally optional, it's just to give it the classic ricotta cheese shape and convince your more skeptical friends and relatives to eat it. You can find it online.
Instructions
Making vegan ricotta from store-bought soy milk is actually very easy and it only takes about 45 minutes with a bit of practice!
In a large pot bring the soy milk to a boil stirring continuously as the soy milk might stick to the bottom of the pot. Once the milk boils, turn the heat off immediately, then add the salt and the vinegar.
Stir with a spoon for 1 minute and you will see the milk begin to curdle. Now, set it aside and wait for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, place a strainer over a large bowl/pot, then cover it with a piece of clean, fine-mesh, cotton kitchen towel or with a cheesecloth. Make sure your cloth doesn't smell like detergent.
After 10 minutes, pour the curdled soy milk into the strainer.
Let excess liquid drain for a minute, then wrap the curdled milk in the cloth, put a weight on top - like a small bowl with water - and let it drain for 15 to 30 minutes.
Just remember that the more it drains, the drier the ricotta. I usually drain it for 30 minutes max.
Once the milk has been drained the ricotta is ready to be used for both sweet (such as cannoli or ricotta pies) and savory (such as pasta bakes, pizza with tomato sauce, ravioli with spinach, cannelloni) dishes.
If you like to eat it as it is, you can just transfer it to a bowl and mix in a pinch of salt, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some garlic powder, and chopped fresh herbs like basil, chives, or parsley.
For best visual results, use a ricotta cheese mold that you can purchase online. The ricotta will have the same shape as the one you find in cheese stores.
Put the ricotta in the mold, press it well, then flip the mold upside down onto a plate to get the ricotta out. It's so much fun to make it this way.
Serving suggestions
- Starter: The ricotta is perfect as an easy starter! Serve it with toasted bread or this no-knead focaccia bread. You can make the appetizer even more colorful by serving confit tomatoes and caramelized onions next to the ricotta.
- Dinner: It pairs perfectly with oven-baked veggies and pasta as it adds cheesy notes to an easy dinner. For example, we added a generous amount of ricotta to this artichoke pasta bake, and the result was cheesy and delicious.
- Dessert: Mix the vegan ricotta with chocolate chips, sugar, and orange zest - it is one of our favorite plant based desserts! This will give you an aromatic ricotta dessert cream, perfect for a vegan cannoli or a ricotta pie.
Tips
- Shake the milk package well. Soy tends to settle to the bottom of the package/bottle, and that part there is exactly what we need to make the ricotta.
- Boil the milk: the hotter the milk, the easier the ricotta will curdle. So bring it to a boil and try to add salt and vinegar shortly after.
- Don't let the milk burn: soy milk tends to stick to the bottom of the pot as you bring it to a boil, and it can burn, giving a bad, burnt taste to the ricotta. To prevent it from sticking, use a double-bottomed pot to heat it, and stir it often.
Which one is the best soy milk to make vegan ricotta?
Over time we've received a lot of questions from our readers, especially about what kind of soy milk to use to make the perfect vegan ricotta cheese.
So we rolled up our sleeves and decided to try making ricotta with all the types of soy milk we could find in the supermarkets in our area.
The result was amazing, and testing so many types of milk, over 30 different brands, gave us the opportunity to find guidelines to understand which soy milk is the best to make ricotta.
The good news is that most brands of soy milk on the market will work perfectly. There are so many these days that you can choose one based on your budget, your taste, and the recipe you need to make.
But according to our test results from a sample of 30 types and brands of soy milk I want to share with you some key takeaways.
Key Take-Aways From Our Tests
- All soy milk we tested worked well to make ricotta - we tried over 30 in total. It doesn't matter if there are sugar, vitamins, calcium, flavorings, or other additives. If you follow our recipe, you'll be able to make ricotta with most soy milks out there.
- Soy milk with a neutral taste, so without sugar and without flavoring, will produce vegan ricotta with a mild, neutral flavor that is more suitable for cooking both sweet and savory dishes.
- In general, the higher the percentage of soy written in the ingredients list of the milk, the higher the yield of ricotta that you can get from that milk (although this is not always the case). Try to get soy milk with at least 6.5% of soy listed in the ingredients.
- So, in conclusion, while all the soy milks we tested worked well to make ricotta cheese when it comes to eating the ricotta, in our opinion, milks without sugar and without flavors produce a better, more versatile ricotta cheese.
Questions
No. If you add salt to the hot soy milk as we explain in the directions you should not be able to taste the vinegar.
I have not been able to make vegan ricotta with any other type of store-bought plant milk. We have only been able to make vegan ricotta with store-bought soy milk. We tried rice, oat, coconut, and almond milk but none of them worked.
However, you could try making it with homemade almond milk. To do this, you need to blend 200g of peeled almonds with 1000g of water in a high-speed blender. Then you can try curdling it.
Curdling is an ancient technique used to make cheese and tofu. In this recipe, curdling happens when an acid (like lemon juice or vinegar) gets in touch with the proteins in the soy milk at a high temperature.
The change in PH will make the proteins in the milk clump together, resulting in delicious vegan preparations like ricotta and tofu.
Absolutely yes. The science is clear on this, although people still believe the opposite. I am not a doctor or nutritionist so to learn more check out these resources on nutritionfacts.org.
Variations
Curdling soy milk is by far our favorite way of making vegan ricotta, however, you could, if you wanted to, try nut-based or tofu-based ricotta. There are several kinds:
Cashew Ricotta Cheese
You'll need
- 1 cup (160 grams) of raw cashews
- ½ cup (120 grams) of water
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (10 grams) of nutritional yeast for a little cheesy flavor
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder or onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 handful of fresh herbs (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in water overnight or boil them in water for 15 minutes.
- Add all ingredients including drained cashews to a high-speed blender or food processor.
- Blend at high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cashew ricotta cheese is completely smooth.
- Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice. You can mix in some finely chopped fresh herbs if you like. Serve or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Almond Ricotta Cheese
Same ingredients as our cashew ricotta cheese, except that you will need to replace cashews with peeled almonds. The instructions to make almond ricotta are also the same as for cashew ricotta.
Vegan Tofu Ricotta Recipe
You'll need
- About 7 ounces (200 grams) of firm tofu or extra firm tofu
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (10 grams) of nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon of garlic powder or onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 handful of fresh herbs (optional)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a blender and blend at high speed for about 5 minutes, or until the tofu ricotta is completely smooth. You might need to add a dash of water if you like your ricotta a little thinner.
- Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice. You can mix in some finely chopped fresh herbs if you like. Serve or store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Similar Recipes
If you like this ricotta, you might also like our other cheesy recipes:
Storage
Store leftovers in the same cheese mold you made it with, or in a bowl, covered with a plate, in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you see that your vegan ricotta changes color slightly and it gets a bit off white, don't worry that's normal when it stays in the refrigerator for a few days.
Recipe
Vegan Ricotta Cheese
Equipment
- Clean kitchen cloth cotton, with fine-mesh (or cheesecloth)
- Strainer
- Cheese mold totally optional
Ingredients
- 4¼ cups soy milk I recommend one without sugar to have a ricotta with neutral taste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, or 4 tablespoons of lemon juice
Instructions
- Put the soy milk into a large pot and bring it to a boil while stirring. Turn the heat off as soon as the milk boils, then add the salt and vinegar.
- Stir with a spoon for 1 minute, then set aside for 10 minutes. During this time you should be able to see the soy milk curdle.
- In the meantime, place a strainer onto a large bowl or pot. Cover the strainer with a clean kitchen cloth, made of cotton and with a fine mesh (or a cheesecloth).Tip: make sure the cloth doesn't smell like detergent.
- After 10 minutes, pour the curdled soy milk into the strainer.
- Now wrap the curdled milk in the cloth, put a weight on top (like a bowl filled with water) and let it drain for about 15 to 30 minutes. Note that the longer it drains, the drier the vegan ricotta. I drain mine for 30 minutes.
- After draining, the ricotta is ready to be used for both sweet (such as cannoli or pies) and savory (such as lasagna, ravioli with spinach, cannelloni, stuffed shells) dishes.
Serving Suggestions
- If you like to eat the ricotta as is, as a spread add a pinch of salt, chopped fresh herbs, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and other spices of your liking.
- For best visual results, use a ricotta cheese mold that you can purchase online. The ricotta will have the same shape as the one you find in cheese stores.Put the ricotta in the mold, press it well, then flip the mold upside down onto a plate to get the ricotta out.
Video Recipe
Notes
Nutritional Values
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Lisa
Since I can no longer eat dairy and had several containers in the freezer of home made sauce and did not want to just keep eating pasta. I went in search of non dairy ricotta. Your recipe was the first thing to pop up. I then saw the string cheese recipe as well. I made spinach lasagna with both of them. It was really good. My daughter was eating it and forgot that it was made with the cheeses I made. Next I think I will try the focaccia.
Nico
Hi Lisa, thanks so much for taking the time to comment here! And that lasagna sounds glorious, I need to try that! Best thing is that your family liked it, that makes us very happy!
Have a good one, and take care. Cheers, Nico
Marion
Can this be made with a different kind of non dairy milk? I can't have soy or oat milk.
Nico
Hi Marion, thanks for your question. We've tried with oat, almond, pea, cashew, and coconut milk - they did not work, unfortunately. The only milk that curdles is soy milk, I am sorry to say. Hope that helps. Cheers, Nico
Blake
Would other plant based milks work like oat milk?
Nico
Hi Blake, oat milk doesn't work well in the ricotta as it doesn't curdle. Hope that helps, cheers!
Nikki S
Hi, can you please tell me what brand of Soy milk that you use? I used Silk Unsweet Organic. Super easy recipe. texture is on point. I'm just waiting for it to be done so I can use it to make stuffed shells.
Nico
Hi Nikki, great, happy it turned out well! We usually use local brands here in Italy. A good international brand is Alpro. We tested over 50 brands of soy milk over the last few months and what's important to make a good vegan ricotta is the content of soy in the milk. You can read the % amount of soy in the ingredient list. From our testing anything above 7% works well 🙂
Chantelle
Hi Nico! I am so happy I found this recipe, your website and your YouTube Channel! Your recipes are so easy and delicious. I have allergies to dairy and nuts, and I could never find a dairy-free cheese that was for me. After finding your recipe, I make this ricotta cheese recipe all the time, as well as many of your other delicious recipes.
Can you please make a recipe for firm soy cheese and soy yoghurt? The supermarkets here in Australia don't have cheese or yoghurt with soy... I would love it if you could make a recipe for these please as I am ok with soy products with my allergies.
I'm sure these recipes would be as popular as your ricotta recipe!
Thank you for inspiring me, Nico. You are amazing, keep shining!
Nico
Ciao Chantelle, thank you very much for your kind words - you have no idea how much it means to me 🙂
I have made a note to put your requests on my testing “schedule”- thanks for the ideas!
And thank you, once again for your support, Chantelle. Cheers, Nico
Irene
Hi, if one wants to make more than 200-250 g of ricotta, can the recipe then just be doubled for example? Would it still take the same amount of time to drain? Or is it better to make the recipe then twice?
Nico
Hi Irene, good question! I would definitely recommend to make the recipe twice, it yields more “ricotta” in the end. Cheers, Nico
Steve A.
Hi, sorry if this is a stupid question, but the notes say, "¼ gallon (1 Litre) of soy milk yields about 7 to 9 oz (200 - to 250 grams) of vegan ricotta cheese" and the ingredients list says, "Servings 6 7oz to 9 oz | 200g - 250g". Does 1 litre of soy milk make 6 x 7-9 oz. servings or just 7-9 oz.? Thanks!
Nico
Ciao Steve, that’s not a stupid question at all, I should make it clearer! So, 1l of soy milk yields 7-9oz that is 2-250 grams in total (depending on the amount of soy in your beverage). I hope this helps, let me know!
Best, Nico
Yana
I just tried it! It's incredible. It doesn't taste like soy milk or vinegar at all. The texture is on point and it actually tastes very similar to traditional ricotta (at least if i remember it right haha)
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Nico
Yana, I’m very happy you like it - and that you find it a suitable replacement for ricotta. Thanks so much for sharing ❤️
Kate
But.. this is literally just homemade tofu? It's made the exact same way- boil soy milk, add ingredient to separate the curds from the milk, strain/press to desired firmness. Not that I'm against tofu as a replacement, mind you. I just don't get purpose of the rebranding going on here.
dinah
I was thinking this myself. I make tofu. Apple Cider Vinegar is used as the coagulant to separate the curds then strained and pressed...ta da....tofu.
Mike
Have you tried drying this ricotta out in the oven so it can become hard for grating? Wondering if it will work. I am trying it now, only one day so far, but it seems rubbery. I am not sure if it will get hard enough, but i will try a few more days.
Nico
Hi Mike, i tried twice at low temp for like a couple of hours at a time but it didn't get firm enough for grating. It was kind of rubbery, as you said, but the flavour was good. It's something I'd love to figure out though. Maybe it needs to be drained for longer. Let me know if you manage to get it to a grating consistency 👍
Terre
Hi Nico,
Is there a way to sign up to get updates when you post new recipes?
I’m inspired by everything you have on your website. Thank you!
Terre
Nico
Hi Terre, thanks soooo much. At the moment the best way to get all our new recipes is either through Instagram or YouTube. You can search for @italiaplantbased.
We are also thinking about doing a newsletter soon, but it might take a few more months before we are able to set it up 🙂
Jaz
Fabulous and simple! What sorts of things can I do with the leftover liquid?
Nico
Hi Jaz, happy you liked it. You can use the leftover liquid for bread or pizza making, just like if it were water. For example, you can try it with our no-knead focaccia 🙂
Aj
What kind of vinegar do you use?
TIA
Nico
Hi Aj, thanks for commenting. In our ingredients and substitutions section, we write that you can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar. Lemon juice works too, but you'll need a little more of it. I hope that helps. Cheers, Nico
Mary
Thanks for sharing this! I made my first batch and it was super easy. I did not know if you were aware of the experimental vegan baking work of Moira Wright. She also curdles soy milk and creates amazing desserts with the curds and the whey. She has a page and group on Facebook called Aquafabulous Baking the Soy Whey. You should check her out.
Nico
Hi Mary! It's great to hear you made your first batch 🙂 Thanks for sharing Moira's page, I didn't know here, so I'll make sure to follow her page 🙂 Thank you so much!
Glenn
Hi Nico,
I'm an Italian-American (well, half, on my mother's side but that's the size that counts!) who misses the dishes of my youth. Now I can enjoy them again! One question: I have citric acid in my cupboard from the days when I used to make NON-vegan. Will that work for this recipe?
Nico
Hi Glenn, thanks so much for your message! So happy you can enjoy those dishes again 🥳🙏 Yeah, I think citric acid would work for curdling the protein in the soy milk. But I don't know exactly how much it's needed. You probably have more experience than I do with it 🙂
Danielle
Thank you for bringing ricotta back into my vegan life!! The recipe worked beautifully.
Nico
Hi Danielle, thanks so much for your message! So happy to hear you like the ricotta 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Tamara Crucey
Do you think it would work with macadamia nut milk? 🧐
Nico
Hi Tamara, if you make the macadamia nut milk at home with a lot of macadamia (like 200g of nuts per 1L of water) then it might work. But with commercial nut milks it's probably not going to work. Usually the nut content in the commercial milks is not enough for the milk to curdle 🙂
Ira
I just made this, it is delicious, and the texture is amazing ! Thank you so much for this wonderful, wonderful recipe!
Nico
Yey! Thank you soooo much for your message Ira. We are so happy to hear you like the texture. Thanks again ❤️🙏
Theresaq
So delicious! I opted for the lemon because I don't like vinegar. It was a bit lemony, but I liked that for savory use (I plan to use it to top pasta and zucchini sauteed in olive oil and garlic). I will try it using vinegar though, just to see the difference. The texture was wonderful!
Nico
Thank you so much Theresa. We are happy you liked it 🙂 Yeah, it's delicious on top of pasta or pizza ❤️
Lostlisa00
My daughter is dairy, wheat, peanut, almond, coconut, soy reactive. Has anyone tried it with oat or rice milk?
Nico
Hi Melissa, I don't think it will work with oat or rice milk, they lack the protein of the soy that turns into ricotta. If you'd like to make a cheese with oat or rice milk I recommend our recipe for vegan stracchino. It's an Italian cheese spread that it's in between a mozzarella and a cream cheese. Here's the link: https://theplantbasedschool.com/vegan-stracchino/
Alex
I was wondering, how come the final calories aren't the same as the calories in the milk before the process??
Nico
Hi Alex, the calories of the ricotta are different because we strip the milk from almost all the water, and from parts of fat and protein. Btw, it's very difficult to estimate calories for this specific recipe, so they are just an estimation 🙂
Andrea
Will this recipe work with unsweetened almond milk as well?
Nico
Ciao Andrea, it is very unlikely that it will work with unsweetened almond milk. So I wouldn't recommend it. I never managed to do it with almond milk.
Nusa
Hi,
Thank you for the recipe😍. Could you please share the link and tips for buying the mold?
Nico
Hi Nusa, sure, I have these metal cannoli molds from Amazon. They last forever: https://www.amazon.com/Cannoli-Stainless-Baking-Pastry-Croissant/dp/B08MX8MBN6/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2SNB9KVEJJRN9&keywords=cannoli+mold&qid=1651642712&sprefix=cannoli+mold%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-5
Benjamin
Amazing! I've already tried a lot of different cheese alternatives, but I didn't expect this recipe to be this good. The taste and the texture are just perfect.
Thanks for sharing.
Nico
Thanks so much Benjamin, I am so happy you like the taste and texture of this ricotta 🙂