Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese made with slivered almonds, vinegar, yogurt, water and salt. So easy and tastes so authentic and like True Food Kitchen’s ricotta cheese! It is creamy, smooth, rich, thick and heavenly.
VEGAN ALMOND RICOTTA CHEESE
Does the fact that ricotta cheese is made with dairy stop me from creating the most amazing, authentic vegan ricotta? Nope. It’s fantastic and so real that I was giddy with how delicious it turned out, all without any oil either. I sneakily asked a close reader to taste test it yesterday to see if she thought it was just as good as we did. She said “spot on” and loved it. Vegan almond ricotta for the win.
We love the vegan almond ricotta cheese at the restaurant, True Food Kitchen, so that was the inspiration here. And, I’m happy to report, that it tastes even better. It has more flavor. I knew I had a winner.
The great thing about this Vegan Ricotta Cheese is that it has no nutritional yeast.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
For this Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese you will only need 5 ingredients total, including the salt/water: (exact measurements and details on the recipe card below)
- raw, slivered almonds
- plain coconut or soy yogurt (or whatever you like as long as it is not sweetened/flavored)
- white vinegar (key to the best cheesy flavor, as evidence in my Best Vegan Queso and my Cream Cheese Alfredo)
- salt
- water
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN RICOTTA CHEESE
Tip: You will need a food processor for this, a blender will not work, not even a vitamix because of the small amount of water used. Trying to use a blender will yield gritty ricotta and trying to add more water to compensate will yield a really bland taste, so a processor is a must here.
Step 1: Add the almonds to a large bowl and cover completely with boiling water. You must use boiling water here. Soak for a minimum of 6-8 hours or simply overnight.
Step 2: Add the soaked almonds to a food processor along with the yogurt, water,white vinegar and salt. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
This is how the texture should look. Smooth and creamy with a classic ricotta texture, but not gritty.
The combo of the vinegar and yogurt give it the perfect subtle ricotta cheese flavor. I love ricotta because it is a subtle cheese flavor, unlike mozzarella or other cheeses, yet the amazing creamy, thick texture makes it such a delicious addition to so many dishes.
WAYS TO USE VEGAN RICOTTA CHEESE
- Now, one amazing way is to use this vegan ricotta on pizza, of course!
- My favorite way to use it is in these Vegan Stuffed Ricotta Shells with Spinach.
- Spread the cheese on toast and add green onions for a delicious breakfast.
- Add dollops of the ricotta over pasta for a delicious cheesy touch!
HOW TO USE VEGAN RICOTTA ON PIZZA
Before baking…add desired toppings or any veggies you like. I usually don’t like too many toppings, olives and basil or spinach. I wanted basil but when I went to Kroger, they had NO basil, can you believe that? Weird. So, I used spinach instead. Still yummy. I always use my favorite 5 minute pizza sauce.
BAKED and delicious.
The first bite into that delicious smooth and creamy ricotta had both my daughter and I so happy! I mean, look at that texture.
MORE VEGAN CHEESE RECIPES TO TRY
- Vegan Pimento Cheese
- Smoky Black Pepper Cream Cheese
- Baked Smoky Cashew Cheese
- Baked Herbed Cashew Cheese
- Easy Vegan Mexican Cheese Sauce
- Nut-free Fat-free Vegan Cheese Sauce
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Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese
Ingredients
- You will absolutely need a food processor to make this cheese, a blender will not work.
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) SKINLESS slivered almonds (not whole!)
- 5 tablespoons (75g) HOT water
- 2 teaspoons (10g) white vinegar
- 6 tablespoons (90g) unsweetened plain dairy-free yogurt (I like the So Delicious plain coconut yogurt, as well as the Kite Hill almond plain yogurt, both are SO good.)
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- optional for extra tang: 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
NOTE
- If you absolutely cannot find a plain, unsweetened yogurt anywhere you live, you can try a vegan sour cream. OR sub for full-fat coconut milk, starting with 2 tablespoons and adjusting only if needed.
- I use this food processor
Instructions
- You will need a food processor for this, a blender will not work, not even a vitamix because of the small amount of water used. Trying to use a blender will yield gritty ricotta and trying to add more water to compensate will yield a really bland taste, so a processor is a must here.
- Add the almonds to a large bowl and cover completely with boiling water. You must use boiling water here. Soak for a minimum of 6-8 hours or simply overnight. You MUST soak them this long and do not try to rush this step by doing a quick 30 minute boil. Since so little liquid is used to blend up the almonds, the long soak is required. This is what will yield a richer, flavorful ricotta, as opposed to having to add a bunch of water to get it soft during blending.
- After soaking the almonds, drain and rinse them and add them to a food processor.
- Process the almonds into small pieces, but not fully. Add the 5 tablespoons hot water, vinegar, yogurt, salt and process until it resembles ricotta and scraping the sides several times, as needed. It will seem too dry at first, but keep processing until it is smooth and no longer crunchy bits of almond remain. Please understand that food processors can greatly vary in both size and power, so yours may take several minutes to get smooth. You just simply need to be patient. Do NOT stop processing until it's smooth. The recipe works perfectly to get smooth if you do this. I literally let mine go a few minutes without stopping and it gets creamy and fluffy and perfect. Once it reaches the smooth texture, taste and if you desire more tang, add more yogurt or salt. If using the coconut milk, it will not taste as tangy or cheesy so you may want to add a tiny bit more vinegar if needed. The ricotta should be subtle but have a nice mild tangy cheesy flavor.
- To use this on pizza, just add it with your other toppings before baking. If you want it to stay thick and round, just use rounded spoonfuls. If you want it more flat or spread out, that works too, just press it down a bit before baking. It bakes lovely.
This is fantastic!! I have been using this for lasagna and my non vegan family members can’t even tell. How many days is this good in the fridge and can I freeze this?