You asked and I delivered. I recently posted a reader question on my Facebook page "What recipe/product/dish do you wish was vegan?" There were all sorts of requests, some of the requests I had already posted on the blog, some recipes are waiting for you in my cookbook (can't wait!), but there were some that I didn't have an answer for...yet. The dish that had the most votes was for vegan cottage cheese. Who knew!?
I had a Google around, and you guys were totally right. I didn't find any store-bought brands. There were a couple of recipes, but they either used too weird of ingredients, or seemed too complicated for such a simple food. So, I rolled up my sleeves... well I didn't, I was wearing a tank top... but I got to work either way and taste tested my way to my new Quick & Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese. Boom!
Pret-tay cool right? And it's totally healthy too!
So what is this madness made out of? Our fine friend tofu! I used a silken tofu for the liquid-y part, which I blended and seasoned just so. (I think I've gotten pretty good at recreating dairy flavours if I do say so myself). Then I crumbled in firm tofu for the texture. My parents happened to be stopping by, so I was able to get them to taste test it for me, and they agreed, it is pretty dang close to traditional cottage cheese. Woot woot!
Did anyone else ever used to eat cottage cheese out of a cantaloupe, or was that just a me thing?
So here you go my friends, vegan cottage cheese. I'm always eager to make vegan cooking your favourite thing, so if you have any more recipe requests, drop them in the comments below.
To make Quick & Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese: Add the silken tofu to a blender along with the spices and mix until everything is completely smooth.
Now, this saucy part is slightly more on the creamy-yellow side of the white scale due to the nutritional yeast, but that hardly seems like a big deal to me when the flavour friends are are all there. It does whiten up when the firm tofu is added, but still isn't bright white. Just a heads up.
Now take the firm tofu and crumble it into the silken tofu mixture.
Stir to combine. See, I told you that was a quick & easy vegan cottage cheese recipe!
Enjoy as is or it should work almost anywhere you would use traditional cottage cheese.
Quick & Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 300g block soft or silken tofu (about 1 ⅓ cups)
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ of a 420g block firm tofu (210g or about 1 ½ cups), crumbled
Instructions
- Add the soft or silken tofu to a blender along with the nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and salt. Mix until everything is completely smooth, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
- Pour the soft tofu mixture into a medium bowl. Crumble the firm tofu into the silken tofu mixture. Mix to combine.
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
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Patricia says
I had forgotten how much I really liked cottage cheese. This is a great vegan way to enjoy it. Thank you
Sam Turnbull says
You're so welcome!
Carolyn M. says
Sam, your amazing recipes ALWAYS floor me. They are always right-on! Thank you for your talent and your generous nature of SHARING your jaw-dropping recipes. I already have your "Fuss Free Vegan" recipe book.. CANNOT WAIT for the next golden-egg from you! 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Aww thank you so much Carolyn!! My second cookbook Fast Easy Cheap Vegan is also available if you're interested. So happy you're enjoying my recipes! 🙂
Stephanie says
I love this recipe! Is it exactly cottage cheese? No, but it’s close enough for someone who found giving up cottage cheese to be one of the hardest things to cut out when I began my vegan journey several years ago.
Someone (in an earlier comment) said cottage cheese isn’t supposed to be tangy. Hmmmm I’ve aways found a bit of ‘tang’ in whatever brand I used to buy. Because I love the tang so much I actually added just a bit of citric acid to this recipe to really give it the taste I was craving.
Once again, thank you for another amazing recipe!!!!! I tell people about you all the time!
Nancy says
I tried the cottage cheese and had no luck. My base was too runny and I think my silken tofu that was the shelf stable kind might have been too old. So sad. But I’ll try again!
David says
Very good for how quick and simple it is. Had it with pineapple.
Lucy says
Did you freeze this? How did it thaw? I know silken tofu takes on a chicken-like consistency when frozen. Curious how this did?
Elicia J Nolan says
My need for cottage cheese is for a family recipe of lazy pierogi. Which is a dumpling. I generally use large curd cottage cheese and strain it through cheese cloth for 48 hours so its almost crumbly. If i use half the silken and all the firm it should kinda resemble that? Would you agree?
Gi says
The problem I’m having with this recipe & all of the vegan ricotta cheese recipes that I see everywhere is that vegans try so hard to get them to be tangy. Cottage & ricotta cheeses are not tangy! Neither cheese has much flavor at all but if anything, ricotta is actually sweet. I tried to veganize my family’s lasagna recipe & it tasted strange because all the vegan ricotta cheeses I could find were tangy (& dairy ricotta is not.) I am looking for a cottage or ricotta cheese that tastes more like the real thing.
Gina says
I meant to post “ricotta and cottage cheese recipes’ and somehow messed that up. Sorry!
Morgan says
Tofutti makes a ricotta that is pretty decent.
Darlene says
Great recipe. I do have a challenge for you........A Vegan Chicken that is Gluten Free!!!!
will says
this taste exactly like the real thing i’m so shocked!! so amazing!
ABC says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was wondering if anyone has tried freezing this and if it turned out okay upon defrosting? Will likely be trying this myself and post back with the results
Lucy says
Did you freeze this? How did it thaw? I know silken tofu takes on a chicken-like consistency when frozen. Curious how this did?
Maureen E Stewart-Hodges says
I just made this and oh my gosh it's sooo good! Wow! Thank you so much for sharing!
Jane G says
The texture was better with the full block of Firm as another mentioned, but I couldn't get past the too strong taste of the nutritional yeast :(. It didn't have the right 'tang' I remember cottage cheese having. I did add a container of Cocojune cultured coconut (not milk, not yogurt), and it helped achieve more of the cultured taste, tang.
Shannon says
I absolutely used to LOVE cottage cheese. I made this when I went vegan a few years ago, and for whatever reason haven't made it since until a few days ago. It didn't last long, so I'm making more again! I use a full block of firm tofu since I find it a little too liquidy without. I also added a little bit of a local coconut kefir brand for that tang, and it's PERFECT. So quick and easy.
Tastes even better by the next day! Something I'll definitely have on hand going forward!
Debbie says
I too eat cantaloupe with cottage cheese but I also add cayenne. That is my favourite way to eat cantaloupe. Thanks for the vegan recipe as I have not had cottage cheese for 8 months due to avoiding dairy.
Molly says
I have a vegetarian casserole recipe that would otherwise be vegan but it calls for cottage cheese. Can I use this in place of traditional cottage cheese?
Mary says
I love this easy recipe since I like cottage cheese and was looking for a dairy free one. Thanks for providing for us. I did a few minor changes. First I doubled the nutritional yeast, I happen to like nutritional yeast and it made the “cheese” taste like the other stuff. I also was having problems crumbling the firm tofu. Then I discovered that if I rubbed the hunks of tofu between my hands I got the texture I was looking for, be careful not to rub the hunks to tiny pieces.Mary
Laura says
Can't eat soy as it affects thyroid. So here's another challenge: dairy-free and soy-free cottage cheese. Thank you.
Parie says
I am loving this with chopped fresh peaches and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup. It is so good! I do use firm tofu in place of the silken (since I don't usually have that on hand) along with a little non-dairy milk to achieve the desired consistency. I'm really happy I tried this! Thanks for the fun recipe!
Giorgia Di Marcello says
Hi Sam
I did it yesterday evening for lunch time of today
How about using home made soy yogurt instead of silken tofu?
Sara says
This doesn't taste anything like cottage cheese.
Regina says
No it doesn’t! And I like tofu and I love most “cheeses” or cheese like stuff with nutritional yeast. Bummed this was so gross. Dang it!!
Lindsay says
I had my doubts about this recipe and I was right. The texture is pretty spot on but the taste is too hard to get past. At first you get the flavors of cottage cheese but the after taste is just raw tofu flavor. I hate throwing food out so I'm going to cook it into my tofu scramble for breakfast in the morning.