10-Minute Tofu Ricotta (With No Nutritional Yeast)

Our savoury tofu ricotta recipe transforms a brick of tofu into a rich and creamy vegan cheese. Layer it in a lasagna, stuff it into pasta shells, spread it on toast, or dollop it on pasta—the ways to use it are endless!

Who says making vegan cheese from scratch has to be hard work? Not me!

If you’re on the hunt for a simple, delicious, and totally fuss-free vegan cheese, our Vegan Tofu Ricotta is about to become your new go-to. After eight years of vegan food blogging (and a whole lot of recipe testing), we knew we had to get this one just right before sharing it with you.

When I first started experimenting with plant-based cheeses, I was honestly surprised by how few accessible, high-quality recipes were out there—especially ones that didn’t require a long list of hard-to-find ingredients. So, I set out to change that. This version is creamy, savoury, spreadable, and comes together in minutes. It’s everything we love in a dairy-free cheese—simple, satisfying, and totally craveable.

While we adore serving our shareable vegan whipped ricotta dip to friends and family around the holidays, this all-purpose vegan ricotta recipe is a little more scaled back and a great dinnertime staple. The freshly blended batch keeps for up to a week in the fridge, too, so you can always have some on hand.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Rich, creamy, and ultra-cheesy – it doesn’t take much to turn tofu into something spectacular but this tofu ricotta recipe is proof! You’ll love its tangy and cheesy flavors. 
• Naturally nut-free – many vegan ricotta cheese recipes on the internet are made with blended cashews or almonds. We wanted to skip the nuts and use only budget-friendly, easily accessible ingredients, like tofu, garlic, and lemon juice.

Why I leave out this common ingredient

We made this tofu ricotta recipe without nutritional yeast because we liked the flavour as-is. But if a stronger flavour and some extra umami are what you’re looking for, you can blend in up to 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast with the rest of the ingredients.

That said, nutritional yeast isn’t always easily available (or easy on the wallet for that matter)! Trust me, we use nutritional yeast all the time – like in my all time favourite one-pot mac and cheese recipe. And yes, I will happily pay the price for that any day. But given that nutritional yeast isn’t always accessible for everyone, I’m happy we could finally come up with a simple vegan cheese spread that’s loved by everyone who tries it.

Food processor vs. blender

If you don’t own a food processor, pulse the ingredients in a small blender until the ricotta is almost smooth. Scrape down the sides as much as needed to incorporate everything.

Got leftovers?

This savoury tofu ricotta cheese can be used in almost any recipe that calls for real ricotta. We find that it pairs best with pasta recipes and other comforting Italian-inspired dishes. But there’s plenty of ways to use this that you wouldn’t normally think (can you tell I’m a bit of a cheese enthusiast by this point)?

Print