The best vegan ricotta with an authentic ricotta taste and texture and made with just four simple ingredients. It's light, fluffy, mild, creamy and milky and can be enjoyed as it is or used as a non-dairy substitute for ricotta cheese in any recipe.
Prep Time10mins
Cook Time10mins
Cooling & overnight draining time14hrs
Total Time14hrs20mins
Course: Appetizer, Cheese
Cuisine: vegan
Servings: 4servings of ¼ cup (makes about 1 cup in total)
168 grams / 1½cupsalmond flour, it MUST be almond flour not almond meal
750 mls / 25 fl oz / 3 cups + 2 tablespoonswater
1tablespoonwhite or cane sugar
1½teaspoonsfine salt
60 mls / ¼cupapple cider vinegar
Instructions
To a blender add the almond flour, water, sugar and salt. Blend for at last a minute until white, completely smooth and milk-like.
Place a sieve over a large saucepan. Line the sieve with cheesecloth, nut milk bag or very clean lint free dish towel, and strain the milk from the blender through it and into the pan. Give it a good squeeze to get the last of it out. Discard/compost the pulp or see the FAQ's for ways to use it in another recipe.
Heat the blended milk in the pan over medium heat until just starting to boil. Wait until you see some vigorous boiling bubbles form then turn off the heat right away.
Immediately add the vinegar to the hot milk and stir. Cover with a lid and leave at room temperature until completely cool. This will take several hours. You can easily leave it up to 6 to 7 hours if you need to go out. Don't be tempted to put it in the fridge to hurry it up. It needs to stay at room temperature.
Once it is completely cool, set a sieve over a mixing bowl and line it with some fresh cheesecloth (or a very clean non fluffy dish towel). Carefully pour the curdled milk mixture into the cheesecloth, then bundle it up tightly at the top and tie with string or an elastic band.
A lot of clear liquid will come out quite quickly. Pour it down the sink before putting the whole thing (bowl, sieve, and cheese sitting inside it) in the fridge overnight to drain. Don't be tempted to squeeze it to hurry it up because you will affect the texture of the ricotta. Just let gravity do its thing.
In the morning it's ready. You can open the cheesecloth and use the ricotta immediately or you can transfer the ricotta curds to a cheese mold or ricotta basket to get a more traditional ricotta shape. You can also leave it for a few more days in the cheesecloth over the sieve and bowl to become drier and firmer if you want to.
If using a ricotta basket or cheese mold, simply spoon the ricotta curds into it and press down to compact it gently. Fold up a few pieces of kitchen paper or a clean cloth and lay it on a plate, then sit the basket of ricotta on top. Cover with an upturned bowl and put in the fridge for a couple of hours (or longer) before carefully turning out of the basket to reveal your perfect little ricotta.
Use in any way you would regular ricotta.
Video
Notes
Success Tips
The recipe makes about 1 cup of ricotta so multiply it accordingly if you are using in a recipe.
Step by step photos are included in my post above the recipe.
It's best to start making this recipe in the morning. It doesn't take much hands-on time but it does need to sit out at room temperature for several hours.
You must use almond flour and not almond meal. Almond flour is made from blanched skinless almonds and is super fine and pale creamy yellow in appearance. It's found in almost all grocery stores and it will be clearly labelled on the bag that it is made from blanched almonds. I buy mine in bulk from Costco but Bob's Red Mill is a popular brand of almond flour carried in most stores in North America. In the UK you can buy almond flour from Holland and Barrett.
There cannot be any substitutions with this recipe if you want it to be successful.
Blend the almond flour, water, sugar and salt absolutely thoroughly for at least 1 minute.
Don't skip the sugar. It won't curdle properly without it
Make sure you make your ricotta at least the day before you need it. It needs to drain through the cheesecloth overnight.
For a firmer vegan almond ricotta, simply leave the ricotta draining in the cheesecloth for a few days longer, but keep an eye on it and catch it at the texture you want. You don't want it to dry out too much.
Storage - Store this dairy-free ricotta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.Freezing - Vegan ricotta can be frozen but the texture will change a bit because of its high moisture content. Defrost it overnight in the fridge then give it a good stir before using. Once defrosted it's best used as part of a recipe like in a lasagna or stuffed shells, rather than using it as is.