This vegan ricotta has the perfect ricotta taste and texture. It’s ultra cheesy, tangy and wonderful on pizza or spread on crackers.
I’m honestly blown away by this vegan ricotta.
We used slivered almonds to recreate the ricotta texture and it works SO well it’s unbelievable.
Ricotta cheese is supposed to be kind of grainy in texture. And slivered almonds create this texture perfectly!
This almond ricotta is super easy and you can spread it on crackers or scoop it on top of your vegan pizza or use it in a vegan lasagna.
And of course if you love making your own vegan cheeses then also check out our vegan cream cheese and vegan cottage cheese recipes. And if you want a nut-free vegan ricotta then check out our tofu ricotta.
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Slivered almonds – these need to be soaked in hot water for 1 hour. Blanched almonds will also work.
- Coconut cream – this should be canned, unsweetened coconut cream. This is found in the same section of the supermarket as coconut milk and is just a slightly richer, creamier version of coconut milk. If you can’t get hold of coconut cream, then canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk will also work.
- Nutritional yeast – this brings out the cheesy flavor. For anyone not familiar with nutritional yeast, note that it is not the same thing as active yeast that you use to make bread! Nutritional yeast is a flavoring and provides cheesy flavor. If you can’t get hold of it then you can omit it from the recipe but you will lose some of the cheesy flavor.
- White vinegar – this is regular white distilled vinegar. It really has the magic touch when it comes to flavoring for vegan cheese recipes. So I highly recommend you use it. Apple cider vinegar can be used in a pinch but it doesn’t work nearly as well in terms of flavor.
How To Make Vegan Ricotta Cheese
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add your slivered almonds to a bowl, pour boiling hot water from the kettle over the top and leave them to soak for 1 hour.
- Then drain them and add to your blender jug along with coconut cream, nutritional yeast, white vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt and garlic powder.
- Blend until you no longer have any chunks. It will still be grainy, but that is fine, that is what you want with ricotta.
- Transfer to a container and keep it stored in the fridge.
Recipe Tips
Soaking your slivered almonds is essential. We tried it without soaking the almonds and it still worked but it was much harder to blend and even when blended there were still pieces that had not blended properly. So you have to soak these first.
A blender creates a smooth texture that nevertheless still retains that lovely ricotta graininess, which is exactly what you want. We tried it in a food processor and simply could not get it smooth enough.
Blending smooths out the texture while still allowing for that slightly grainy ricotta texture because that texture comes from the slivered almonds and not from the processing method.
Recipe Q&A
The nutritional yeast contributes to the cheesy flavor but you can leave it out. You will lose some of that cheesiness but it will still work. You could experiment with other cheesy flavor additions as a replacement, such as a teaspoon of onion powder.
White vinegar works so well for this that if you can possibly use it you should. Apple cider vinegar will work in a pinch but white vinegar is the best here!
It will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Yes you can. It freezes very well. Thaw it in the fridge and then use as normal.
It’s wonderful spread on bread or crackers, but it also works wonderfully baked into dishes. We have used it in a vegan lasagna and baked it on a vegan pizza and it was divine both ways. It’s also wonderful in some vegan stuffed shells.
More Vegan Cheese Recipes
- Sliceable Cashew Cheese
- Vegan Cheddar Cheese
- Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Vegan Nacho Cheese
- Vegan Cheese Ball
- Vegan Feta
- Vegan Camembert
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Ricotta
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Slivered Almonds (195g) soaked in hot water for 1 hour
- ½ cup Canned Coconut Cream (120ml) Unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
- Add your slivered almonds to a bowl, pour boiling hot water from the kettle over the top and leave them to soak for 1 hour.
- Then drain them and add to your blender jug along with the coconut cream, nutritional yeast, white vinegar, lemon juice, sea salt and garlic powder.
- Blend until you no longer have any chunks. It will still be grainy, but that is fine, that is what you want with ricotta.
- Transfer to a container and keep it stored in the fridge for up to a week. It’s also freezer friendly if you want to freeze some.
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have canned coconut cream then full fat canned unsweetened coconut milk will also work.
- You can omit the nutritional yeast but you will lose some of the cheesy flavor.
- Distilled white vinegar works best for flavor though apple cider vinegar will work in a pinch.
- If you’re wanting to use this recipe in another recipe, then this makes approximately 1 and ⅔ cups of vegan ricotta.
- Prep time does not include the time to soak the slivered almonds.
- Keep it stored in the fridge for up to a week. It’s also freezer friendly.
- This recipe was first published in February 2019. It has been updated with extra tips but the recipe itself is unchanged.
How do you mix the coconut cream?
It is always divided in butter and water when you open the can.
How many calories is this “ricotta”?
I follow the 5:2 diet, and I use a couple of table spoon of real ricotta (I live in Italy) with some fruit, but I’d like to avoid using milk from animals.
Thank you!
Hi Francesca, if you have coconut cream that has already separated the cream from the water, you can just mix it up again with a spoon and then pour out the amount you need. It is not required for this recipe that you use the separated cream part of the can. The calorie and other nutritional information is in the recipe card. All the best! 🙂
Thank you, looking forward to taste it!
I wonder if raw peanut will work. Have a bag at home I need to find a way to use it up.
Hi Jackie, that won’t work, it would taste like peanut butter. Not a bad thing, but definitely not ricotta. 🙂
Can I use cashews instead of almonds?
Hi Xena, cashews will have a much smoother texture than almonds, so it’s a little more cream cheese and a little less ricotta. But you can definitely use them! 🙂
can I skip lemon juice or use lime juice instead?
Hi Jackie, lime juice is more sweet, so I don’t know if it would work well here. Lemon juice provides the tanginess that makes it taste more like cheese. 🙂
Texture is amazing. Goes perfectly with crackers!!
Why slivered almonds? Seems to me if you’re going to through them in the blender and grind them up anyway, does it really make a difference? I can get whole almonds way cheaper than slivered, that’s why I’m asking.
Slivered almonds are a little different because they don’t have their skins on. There is a way to make them yourself from whole almonds, but that would be a lot more work. You could try it with regular almonds as well, I’m not sure exactly what the differences would end up being.
Thanks Allison. I wasn’t sure if it was just the skins or if there was more to it. I boil them for two minutes, run them under cold water and then just squeeze them between thumb and forefinger and they’ll pop right out of skins.
Okay awesome! Let us know if it goes well! 🙂
Should I refridgerate the coconut cream overnight and use just the solid cream, or does it matter?
Hi Bob, you don’t need to do that with this recipe, you can just shake up the can and use it as is. All the best! 🙂
Oh, I am sorry…I’ ve read the recipe more attentively and now I see the information about the appropriate vinegar ?
No worries! Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Thanks a lot for this great recipe??But may I take apple vinegar instead of white vinegar?
I can’t imagine what’s the use of the garlic? Real dairy ones do not have it. In the future I intend to leave it out as I make large batches that can be used for sweet dishes too.
I do agree about garlic.
This recipe is dead on! The ricotta came out amazing! I used it for lasagna and got rave reviews!!
Awesome! Yes, it is wonderful in lasagna, we have done it like that too, thanks so much for the great review! 🙂
Tangy, cheesy and ever so good!
Absolutely! Thanks Anna! 🙂
I agree this looks so freaking good!! :). Buying slivered almonds tomorrow! Yay!!
Thanks Diana, hope it turns out great! 🙂
Is it just for crackers or have you used it in Italian dishes like stuff shells or manicotti? … this sound so freaking good!
We have used it in a lasagna and baked it on top of pizza – both turned out amazingly well! So yes you can definitely use it in cooked dishes.
Will the coconut cream make it taste like coconut
Not at all!