VEGAN ALMOND RICOTTA CHEESE

Name: VEGAN ALMOND RICOTTA CHEESE
Prep time: 48 h
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 48 h 20 min
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients: 2.5 cups Raw Organic Almonds or Blanched Slivered Almonds; 50ml Fresh squeezed lemon juice (a little more if you like it brighter tasting); 5 ml Sea Salt; 1L Cold Filtered Water for blending or slow juicing; Lemon Zest, if desired; 2 Sprung Fresh Thyme; Dash of Black Pepper; Dash of Sea Salt Flakes; Olive Oil

Aug 20, 2021 · 80 Comments

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Homemade Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese Recipe is quick and easy to make with three simple ingredients. This versatile dairy-free ricotta recipe has a light and fluffy, creamy texture. It is a delicious addition to pasta, pizza or a mascarpone replacement in desserts! It is so addictive you will want to make a double batch.

Dairy-free ricotta cheese is perfect for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to dairy milk, or simply want to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diet.

> In This Post: Everything You'll Need For Best Homemade Vegan Ricotta Cheese Recipe

Rediscover your love of creamy ricotta cheese with this low-calorie vegan ricotta alternative recipe. Unlike expensive store-bought dairy-free cheese, this homemade almond ricotta contains zero fillers, artificial ingredients, emulsifiers, stabilizers, or thickeners.

Check out this quick story summ ary of our recipe!

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> In This Post: Everything You'll Need For Best Homemade Vegan Ricotta Cheese Recipe
What Is Ricotta Cheese?
Easy Almond Ricotta Recipe
Ingredients and Substitutes
Instructions
Different Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese Flavours
What To Serve With Homemade Vegan Ricotta
> Recipe
VEGAN ALMOND RICOTTA CHEESE

What Is Ricotta Cheese?

You know you love this glorious cloud-like fluffy cheese. But what exactly is this soft and mild cheese?

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This famous traditional ricotta, often used in Italian cuisine in ravioli and crepes, is made from whey, a by-product of cheese making.

In Italian, the word "ricotta" literally means "recooked" or "refined." The cheese cooking process is where the protein and whey are separated. The solids (milk curds) are pressed to form cheese. The excess liquid is called whey.

Easy Almond Ricotta Recipe

There are two methods for making vegan ricotta cheese. Vegan ricotta recipes use dairy-free soy milk or nuts compared to regular ricotta cheese.

Dairy-free cheese is really each to make at home and is inexpensive. To make the best vegan ricotta, we use organic almonds or cashews.

Ingredients and Substitutes

To make the fluffiest almond nut cheese, we use three main ingredients.

Organic Raw Almonds - to make almond milk, choose raw organic almonds, slivered almonds, or a nut base concentrates like JOI.

If you prefer to have creamy white vegan cheese and do not want the hassle of removing almond skin by hand, opt for whole blanched almonds or blanched slivered almonds.

Fresh Lemon Juice - Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for that signature ricotta tangy tartness. Although you can use bottled lemon juice, bottled lemon juice tastes different.

Fresh Lemon Zest - Add zest fresh lemons to the ricotta cheese for extra freshness.

Sea Salt - Add salt for flavour and brightness.

Optional Ingredients:

Depending on how you use this fluffiest ricotta cheese, you can add some flavorful additions.

Chopped Fresh Herbs
Nutritional Yeast
Honey
Garlic Powder
Icing Sugar
Cinnamon

Instructions

Easy steps will help you nail that perfect vegan almond ricotta recipe!

How To Make Almond Milk

Compared to older, aged cheese like Parmesan, which is hard and dense, ricotta is a fresh cheese with a ton of moisture. The best thing is to start by making fresh almond milk. Homemade almond milk has few calories and is more nutrient dense!

If you use whole almonds, start by soaking the almonds overnight.

Remove the skin the next day if you prefer creamy white cheese. Rinse well.

Option for blanched Slivered almonds with the skins removed already.

You can make fresh almond milk in a slow masticating juicer like a Hurom or in a powerful blender like a Vitamix.

Strain the almond milk thru a nut milk bag to separate the almond meal (almond pulp) and the creamy almond milk. A nice cold cup of ultra-smooth nut milk is delicious!

Alternatively, in a high-speed blender, you can use JOI organic almond nut base concentrate to make your organic almond milk in 30 seconds.

Homemade almond milk typically calls for one part almond and three to four parts amount of water. This results in about 25% to 33% almonds compared to the grocery store version of just 2%. The amount of almond milk depends on how much almond pulp you include.

Quick and Easy Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese Recipe

Using Cheesecloth vs Nut Bag

Now that you are ready to make fresh nut milk, it's time to consider cheesecloth or nut bag!

Both are great options. You can use either.

Choosing the right nut milk bag or cheesecloth makes the almond milk production process much smoother. Compared to cheesecloth, reusable nut milk bags are usually made with more substantial fabric ex. nylon.

A nutbag is an excellent cheesecloth substitute.

If you are wondering how to clean cheesecloth, rinse with warm water and dish soap. You can soak it in baking soda or sterilize it with boiling water. Wring and hang dry.

How To Make Plantbase Ricotta Cheese

After making the almond milk, pour it in a saucepan over low-medium heat and bring it to a boil. Stir frequently.

Once the almond milk starts to boil, turn to low heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Turn the heat off and let it cool down for another 5 minutes.

As the almond milk starts to thicken, the whey also separates.

Add in lemon juice and gently stir in. Let almond milk curdle, thicken and coagulate. It may take up to 3 hours or more. Cover the saucepan with a lid.

How To Separate the Curd and the Whey

Once you see the whey separated, it is time to strain the nut milk thru a cheesecloth or nutbag.

Putting the cheesecloth over a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl on the bottom is a good idea to catch the whey liquid.

Pro Tip: Gently scoop with a ladle instead of pouring it all simultaneously. Directly pouring the coagulated milk will break the milk curdles and turn it into liquid.

Once most of the liquid has dripped, you can gently squeeze the cheesecloth bundle to help compact the curd.

Tie the bundle with a rubber band or clip. Insert a chopstick or elevate it in a small bowl (cover it with plastic wrap and let the whey drip overnight in the refrigerator.

The purpose of this is to separate the curds from the whey further. Doing this makes the cheese more firm.

Pro Tip: Some people like to ladle the curds directly into the ricotta moulds to let them drain. I prefer to wait to shape my ricotta cheese later.

Pro Tip: If you want it to be fermented cheese, culture it with rejuvelac. I usually don't do this.

The following day, the vegan alternative ricotta is ready!

Cheesecloth vs. Cheese Mould

Remove the ricotta cheese bundle from the small bowl. Discard the leftover whey (excess liquid) from the bowl.

Now that the dairy version of ricotta cheese is ready to be shaped and flavoured.

Using a ricotta cheese mould is unnecessary but makes the cheese look appealing and presentable with texture.

Different Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese Flavours

Now that the nut-base ricotta cheese is ready. It is time to add some flavour with fresh herbs, lemon zest or spices.

I like to add lemon zest, olive oil and fresh thyme.

You can make sweetened ricotta cheese, by adding icing sugar and cinnamon.nute or until smooth.

Fold it into the ricotta cheese and put it into an airtight container or shape it in a cheese mould to serve.

What Is Smooth Ricotta Cheese?

You can smooth out ricotta cheese by blending it in a high speed blender or food processor. The blend whips the ricotta and removes its crumbly texture to create an airy, light, smooth, creamy texture.

Here are my picks for the Best Food Processor for Salsa!

Quick and Easy Vegan Almond Ricotta Cheese Recipe that you can make at home. I wanted to make my own vegan cheeses as I start becoming more and more lactose intolerant and store bought ones were too expensive! I was determined to have incredibly soft cheeses that can melt on my tongue! #ALMONDRICOTTACHEESE #vegancheeserecipe #vegancheeserecipeEASY #vegancheeserecipeVIDEO #HOWTOMAKE #PLANTBASECHEESE #ALMONDCHEESE #INSTANOMSS

What To Serve With Homemade Vegan Ricotta

Enjoy it with your favourite crackers, sourdough bread or pasta!

The easy answer would be with your favorite crackers, sourdough bread or pasta. However, there are many ways to enjoy this easy vegan alternative cheese with Tik Tok Air Fryer Pasta Chips or by adding a dollop to fresh fruits.

I'd love to see how you went with my recipes! Leave a comment below or tag me on Instagram @INSTANOMSS #INSTANOMSS.

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