I was visiting my parents the other day and my mom asked if I could make a vegan ricotta recipe to go with dinner.
"Sure!" I said. I have a cashew or a macadamia nut ricotta recipe already on the blog. But alas, the nut situation in mom's cupboard was a little grim. My vegan cooking brain started assessing the situation and I found a block of tofu, and told her I can make ricotta with that. Go vegan cooking brain!
"Great, how long will that take?" She asked.
I drummed my head and said "er.....11 minutes."
"Oh, hahaha, ok, well I can wait for that then." said mom.
When will she learn that my laziness in the kitchen means I want to get in and outta there as quickly as possible? My foodie mom not-so-secretly wishes I would take my blog from fuss-free vegan to fussy vegan. Not gonna happen, mom, not gonna happen. I'm a proud lazy cook!
Back to my Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta. This is an easy peasy lemon sneezy kinda recipe. Just the way I like 'em! I'm constantly blown away by the wonders of tofu. If you are afraid this is gonna be all weird and whatnot, never fear! When my parents tasted it, their eyebrows shot up in shock at it's perfect ricotta deliciousness. Creamy, mild, garlic, onion, and lemon zing. YES!
So now I have THREE ricotta recipes on my blog. I think it's fair to say I like vegan ricottas! See, isn't vegan cooking so much cooler? Instead of one boring store-bought product you can customize to your own taste preferences and ingredients. I believe the score is vegan: 18,392 to non-vegan: 0. (I'm not biased at all).
Use this Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta anywhere you would use traditional ricotta. Serve as a snack with crackers, dollop onto pasta with tomato sauce, layer into lasagna, the possibilities are endless!
To make Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta: Sauté up the onion and garlic until the onions have turned translucent and begin to brown.
Break the tofu into four pieces, and add it to a food processor or blender. Add in the onions and garlic, and all of the remaining seasonings. Blend until smooth and creamy stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
Quick Vegan Tofu Ricotta
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 block (350g) extra-firm tofu, drained
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add in the onion and garlic and sauté until the onions turn translucent and begin to brown.
- Break the tofu into four pieces and add it to a food processor (recommended) or blender. Add the sauté onions and garlic, along with all of the remaining seasonings. Blend until smooth and creamy stopping to scrape the sides as needed. If your ricotta is too thick, add 1 - 2 tablespoons of water as needed to reach desired consistency.
Nutrition
Bon appetegan!
Sam.
If you enjoyed this recipe you might also like:
dawn says
i have all ingredients on hand except extra firm tofu. would firm tofu work?
Mia says
Great recipe!
Bex says
Love this recipe and make it often. Quick and easy, perfect in spinach and ricotta cannelloni.
Dana says
This blew my mind. So much better than regular ricotta! I would eat this as a dip or spread as well.
Sam Turnbull says
Amazing! I do eat it as a spread actually 🙂
Sasha says
Thank you Sam for all the recepie inspiration as unfortunately I am surrounded by family that don't share my views.
I wanted to ask what can I use as a sub for nutritional yeast. It doesn't agree with me and it seems to be in many vegan recepies?
Jen says
Amazing! I made it and put it in a lasagna. My husband said that it was my best lasagna yet. This would taste great in ravioli!
Susan Parran says
Added two tsps of rice cane syrup because ricotta has sweet undertones. Turned out great!
Ri says
This is so good. I made a white pizza with it along with garlic and sundried tomatoes. Do you know how long leftovers will last in the fridge? Also, can you freeze this? Thanks for a great recipe.
Lindsay says
I have been looking for a good nut-free vegan ricotta recipe because my husband is allergic to tree nuts. I made this last night for a vegan lasagna and it turned out great! I didn't have any miso paste, so I subbed in some veggie broth and extra salt (I think next time I would use soy sauce if I needed a miso sub to really get that salty flavour), and I am really looking forward to trying it again with the miso paste. The texture was absolutely perfect and it mingled so well with the tomato sauce. Will definitely be making this again soon!
Tilly says
This was my first ever tofu ricotta and it was SO creamy and delicious in stuffed shells! I had a head of broccoli that needed to be used up so I blanched it, cut off only the florets, and tossed them into the food processor with everything else. I decided to add a little bit extra miso, nooch, and salt to compensate for adding the broccoli (I ended up using 1 1/2 Tbsp miso, 3 Tbsp nooch, and 3/4 tsp salt) and it was absolutely perfect - thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Sam Turnbull says
You're most welcome, Tilly!
Casey says
Can I make this the day before I plan on using it? Does it keep in the fridge for a day?
Sam Turnbull says
Absolutely! It will keep fresh for up to 3 days in the fridge 🙂
Maureen says
Haven’t made it yet but I am self isolating and don’t have miso paste. Do you think a teaspoon of soy sauce and two teaspoons of tahini will have a similar result? I read that both soy sauce and tahini are “next best” when subbing miso paste so if I combined the two? Thank you so much!
Sam Turnbull says
I haven't tried it myself, but it sounds like it would add nice flavour 🙂
Joolz says
Thank you for sharing this great recipe - addition of miso is clever and made such a difference to my ‘usual’ vegan ricotta. My sweet miso might be worth a try with a date or two for a sweet ricotta. Thanks for the inspiration. Great recipe.
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you love it, Joolz 🙂
Stacy says
I like it and think it will do fine in my baked ziti, but I think my miso was so old it has developed a much stronger flavor of like, gorganzola, so that is the main flavor in my finished product. I guess a lighter, sweeter ricotta for canolli probably needs to be made with cashews.
Joni says
Really disappointed with this, nothing like ricotta at all. Hoping for the ziti turns out edible
Sam Turnbull says
Sorry you didn't enjoy it!
Leslie Elkan says
Sam, I made that tofu ricotta and used it in a lasagne with brown rice noodles, chopped spinach, walnuts and marinara and we loved it!!! Everyone wants that tofu ricotta recipe. Maybe the previous poster ate it plain and it’s better in a dish?
Sam Turnbull says
Aww thrilled you enjoyed it, Leslie 🙂
Gayla Gongwer says
Just used this in vegan zucchini lasagna. I roasted the garlic and added fresh basil.
It. Was. Amazing.
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed!
Theresa Helligar says
Hi, I was just wondering if any leftover ricotta can be frozen for future use? I had some left and didn't know how long it would last in frdge but wasn't sure if freezing was an option. Thanks.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Theresa, tofu changes in texture once frozen, but since this tofu is already all blended up I think freezing it would likely work fine. Hope that helps!
Garrett says
I never leave reviews on recipes, normally just out of laziness, but this was mind-blowing. I wanted to replace the ricotta in my lasagna with tofu just to get a bit more lean protein in there, but this turned out to not only be healthier, but actually taste better too! The tofu ricotta on its own is quite flavorful, unlike dairy ricotta, which seems to exist more for the purpose of texture. Great job; thanks!
Sam Turnbull says
That's so awesome, Garrett!! Thrilled you loved it so much, and thank you very much for the review 🙂
Inês says
Hello Sam! Thank you for sharing this recipe! Is it possible to make this tofu ricotta without the miso and nutritional yeast? Will it work as filling for spinach-ricotta cannellonis?
Thank you 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Inês, yes you can omit the miso, but keep in mind that the miso is what adds and aged umami taste so the ricotta flavour will be a little lacking. This will work perfectly for cannelloni 🙂
Kimberly says
You've done it again Sam! This ricotta tastes better than the real thing. So far I've made a vegan ricotta, on toast with sliced tomato and now I'm making stuffed spaghetti squash to serve to my husband who is definitely not vegan but is on a low carb diet. I know he'll love it. It's so flavorful! The sauteed onions add so much more flavor than plain tofu ricotta recipes. The BEST!
Kimberly says
Oh lasagna, Forgot to put that in!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Yay!!! So thrilled you loved it so much Kimberly 🙂
Jessica Dunkley says
I bought firm tofu instead of extra firm will this still work?
Sam Turnbull says
Yes it should work fine it might just be a little softer.
sindy says
Can this be used in cake? I found a sweet peach cake recipe that calls for ricotta cheese and I'm trying to find an appropriate substitute and make it vegan. Not certain of the flavor profiles here and if this would work the same as regular ricotta!
Sam Turnbull says
I haven't tried it myself but I don't think this would be the best substitution. It's very savoury and it won't melt like traditional ricotta would. I would recommend finding a vegan recipe for the peach cake. Best of luck!
stefanie says
Absolutely easy, fast and delicious! My new ricotto go-to! My husband who is a self-touted tofu hater, absolutely loved it, even just by tasting a spoonful... that speaks volumes 🙂 I added 2 long red chilis during the sautee phase to give a bit of a kick and it was awesome! Added it to a zucchini sheet lasagna along with the sauce and it was amazing and the perfect texture. Thank you so much for this!
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoyed it, stefanie 🙂
Patricia says
This has nothing to do with
Sam 's ricotta (which my crew loves)...how do you make zucchini lasagna?! I am forever trying to lower our carbs and love zucchini. How do you keep it from turning to mush? Currently on quarantine and have 4 zucchini!
Monica says
Sam, this tofu ricotta is AMAZING. I have made it a few times now and even my moody, judgmental, "I don't want to eat tofu/vegan" teen liked it! I made veggie lasagna and she said it tasted like the "real lasagna". Of course, I'm like IT IS REAL lasagna! *eye roll* 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Bahahaah! Love it! Thrilled you are enjoying it so much, Monica 🙂
Robyn Scott says
I am very sad to say that I found this just horrible - the umami flavors from the yeast and miso were WAY too overpowering, And there was about 4X too much lemon. I am a certified plant-based chef and am always looking to add recipes, but this one was a huge disappointment, Had to toss a whole lasagna because no one found it edible. I should have known better. Ricotta is clean and simple tasting, and this is much too complex to be a reasonable substitute. Even worse when mixed with tomato sauce - ugh! It is not ANYTHING resembling ricotta except in texture. Sad b/c I really wanted to love it. I am glad others enjoyed it. It has a unique interesting flavor but it ain't ricotta!
Sam Turnbull says
Sorry you didn't enjoy it, Robyn. 🙁
SloaneyD says
Way to handle that nasty comment with class ♀️- big props to you for sharing your recipes on a freely accessible platform for us all to enjoy. Thank you!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha, thank you, and you're most welcome! It's my pleasure. 🙂
Amber says
Sam, I think this ricotta is the bomb, especially I the cannelloni which was the first recipe I tried from your blog and have since made it over and over and is my go to meal when I have Omni company. I plan to make shells with it for an upcoming potluck filled with omnis too. ❤
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! That's awesome! Thrilled you enjoy it so much, Amber 🙂
Geneva Ayte says
If you are a "certified plant-based chef", then having read the ingredients you should have been able to more or less predict the flavor and could have adjusted in advance instead of preparing and then disposing of an entire lasagna. I think you need to get a refund from whomever certified you.
Rod says
Very gracious reply to a distasteful comment. A simple, "wasn't my cup of tea" type of comment would have sufficed...
Gina says
Actually her comment was very helpful to me because I came to the comments to find out if the miso paste was necessary as I thought it would give the ricotta a weird flavor and apparently I was right. I am not an expert on umami flavor but I’m pretty sure ricotta cheese does not have that. I think this recipe would work in certain recipes but not the one I’m intending it for. Thank you for posting!
Michael says
Robyn Scott, If you're a certified chef, and you knew it was 4x too much lemon why would you use that much? More than that, why would you make a big lasagna without trying it first to see how it tastes? I would think you would taste it when it was being made to see if you wanted to put it in. I've never known ANY chef who didn't sample all ingredients, especially those made from scratch, before adding them to something bigger. Don't blame Sam for your mistakes.
Meg says
OMG! This is delicious. I used it in a vegan lasagna and no one knew they were not eating cheese. Thank you! You have a new fan 🙂
Sam Turnbull says
Hahahaha! Love it! 🙂
Sam says
Love this! I am very new to Vegan cooking but I am trying to cook meals that I can make for everyone (my daughter is Vegan, son and husband are not). This was fantastic in a veggie lasagna! Much better flavor than the pan I made for my son and husband with ricotta!
Sam Turnbull says
Haha wonderful!! So happy you enjoyed it. I'm all about making recipes that everyone will enjoy, vegan or not, so I hope you continue to find many more recipes to enjoy on my site or in my book 🙂
China says
This was so delicious!!!!! Thank you!!!!
Sam Turnbull says
You're welcome 🙂
Lovely says
How long does this keep in fridge? I made this today and it's yummy!!!!
Kim Aubin says
Soooo delicioous! The texture is PERFECT! Love it! I was preparing it to eat with pasta - but I am now thinking to eat it on bread for breakfast. One thing, my tofu block was almost 400 g. Excellent alternative. Thank you!
Kim Aubin says
Also, I put half lemon juice, I felt that it was a bit too much.
Sam Turnbull says
Thrilled you love it so much, Kim! 😀
Anissa says
Which one of the recipes resembles real ricotta the most? Taste and texture.
Sam Turnbull says
They are both pretty equal, but I would say the cashew is a little richer. 🙂
Deana says
Will make again, but with modification. I felt the lemon flavor overpowered it (and I like lemon) as I wanted to use in lasagna and don't want it tasting like lemon. Perfect texture though! Thank you so much for sharing this!
Sam Turnbull says
For sure, adjust to taste. Enjoy!
Srivani says
This was so Sam-Easy! (New word, "sam-easy", meaning: easy, simple, delicious, specific to idtlc) And so delicious. I did use a butternut squash (because, well, no pumpkin) and added about 1 TBSP more curry since we LOVE curry dishes. Also added about a half can of chickpeas that were just sitting in the fridge yelling at me to use them (added after I used the hand-blender). The 9 month old boy LOVED this too. Thanks Sam!
Srivani says
Oops... this is under the wrong recipe! Should be for the Pumpkin Cashew Curry. Anyway you can delete this Sam?
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! Why would I delete such a lovely comment? Wrong recipe or not, I love the concept of Sam-Easy!! 🙂
Karry says
Omg. I just made this to put in to my lasagna and its sooooo good. I added italian seasoning as well and omg. It would be great as a bagel spread as well. I love it. Thanks so much
Dora says
how much does it weight a block of tofu?
Sam Turnbull says
Great question! Mine was 350g, and I updated it in the recipe too 🙂
Srivani says
I totally knew where this recipe was going before reading your mom's comment! I make a variation of this frequently (cannelloni or lasagna roll-ups), so I was quite excited to see what you had in store. Anyway, the ricotta is super simple and very tasty (signature Sam for sure). My daughter was licking the bowl after I made the cannellonis (so kid-friendly!).
Sam Turnbull says
Hahaha! Love that! Love how you have become a mind reader as well 😉
Courtney says
What size block of tofu do you use?
Sam Turnbull says
Mine was 350g 🙂
Lindsay says
Add one to two tablespoons of ?.
Sam Turnbull says
So sorry about that! Fixed. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water....maybe one day I will be able to hire an editor! haha
Bethery says
oh yeah, now you're talkin'. Sometimes ricotta recipes look the same as sour cream recipes. I'm gonna try this one.
Sam Turnbull says
Haha! I hope you like it. I have a vegan sour cream recipe in my cookbook, but it's very different that this recipe 🙂
Bethery says
Can't wait for the book.
Sam Turnbull says
Woohoo!!
Gina Caracci says
Sounds great! Are there any substitutes for the miso paste? Looking forward to making lasagna now!!
Sam Turnbull says
Miso paste gives an umami flavour to the cheese, there are no really good substitutions so I recommend picking some up. It keep for a looong time! Enjoy! 🙂
Kristen says
Should I also press the tofu, or just drain the water from the package?
Sam Turnbull says
No need to press, just drain excess water. 🙂
Kristen says
Thanks, Sam!
Carolyn says
And then I made cannelloni with a simple tomato sauce. Yum, excellent and just as good as my favourite restaurant version. Lemony but clean tasting and fast eating. Thank you Sammie. (that's what I call her)
Sam Turnbull says
Mom! Shhhhhh.... you're giving away the surprise of Sunday's post! Haha.