Homemade Vegan Ricotta

The vegan cheese you wish you could buy at the store

Jul 20, 2025

∙ Paid

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For me, the holy grail of vegan recipes is one that follows a traditional method but with plant-based ingredients.

There’s something strangely satisfying about knowing that the alternative is sometimes just as simple as the original, and this recipe is a perfect example of that. It’s a soft plant-based cheese recipe that follows pretty much the exact method used to make ricotta, except with almond milk instead of cows milk. The texture is so ridiculously creamy, kind of like nothing you’ve ever managed to find in a supermarket, and you’ll literally just be using four ingredients to make it. The flavour is gently tangy but without the overwhelming saltiness of feta, so it can be used in both sweet or savoury recipes - kind of somewhere between ricotta and mascarpone!

I first wrote this recipe for my cook book “Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan” but kind of forgot how much I love making it. Until a few weeks ago, when I hosted a vegan cheese workshop as part of my vegan vacation to Switzerland with The Getaway Co. I served the finished batch with some black pepper crackers and honestly shocked myself with how delicious this stuff was. Our guests went nuts for it too (specifically almond nuts).

To break the process down, we’re essentially going to make a homemade almond milk, force it to split or curdle then strain out the curds and remove as much water as we can to create a silky, smooth, creamy cheese. This sounds more complicated than it actually is, so please don’t be discouraged. You will need a few extra kitchen bits to get a great result, but I’ve made a list of equipment at the top of the recipe, along with links for places to buy them.

Here’s some stuff you can do with this vegan ricotta:

Spread on fresh sourdough and top with sliced tomato, olive oil and black pepper
Use to make spinach and ricotta stuffed cannelloni
Dollop spoonfuls on top of a homemade pizza after baking and drizzle with basil oil
Whip with lemon zest and some powdered sugar then spread on scones
Spread on toast and top with balsamic roasted cherries
Stir into hot pasta with a spoonful of harissa for a simple, creamy, spicy sauce

It basically unlocks every recipe you’d use regular ricotta for, so the world is your vegan oyster!

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OK, here’s a quick weekly update for you.

Weekly Update

Here’s some stuff that happened this week!

Vegan Party Cake!

I spotted these beautiful pink party cakes last week on Substack and thought how amazing they’d be for my nieces. They were having an end of school summer party on Wednesday, so I decided to have a go at veganising them.

I made a strawberry sponge layer, some strawberry jam, lemon buttercream, lemon sponge, topped with a strawberry glaze with buttercream flowers. I got too scared to slice it, so kept it as a full party cake instead. It’s out of season for elderflowers (those little white flowers Sophie used on her cake) so I decided to pipe mine on with more of the vegan buttercream.

It was super sweet, kind of like a princess cake (ideal for kids) and I think would maybe be better with whipped cream rather than buttercream. Obvs I wrote the recipe down, but I think it needs a few tweaks before I can share it, so hang tight for this one. It’ll be in a newsletter very soon!

It’s Officially Panzanella Season

Tomato season here in the UK is in full swing, which means panzanella season is too. I never share recipes for stuff like this, because I assume you all probably have your favourite salad recipes under control, but maybe that’s a mistake? Tell me if you’d like this recipe in the comments.

It’s essentially just stale sourdough torn into chunks, tossed in olive oil and salt then baked until crispy. Meanwhile you sprinkle some tomatoes with more salt and place them in a colander over a bowl, so their juices drip out. You whisk int their juices some balsamic, EVOO, garlic and dijon mustard, then toss everything together with some fresh basil and shallots. It’s easily my favourite salad on earth (because bread, duh).

Look at this Hash Brown Bun

Our local bakery and coffee shop here in Manchester called Pollen just updated their menu to include more vegan options, one of which is this vegan hash brown bun. It’s in a beautifully light vegan brioche bun and is served with a big slice of heirloom tomato and some sort of roasted garlic mayo. It was incredible and it’s a huge issue that this is like a minute from my house.

Dog Tax

This week my sister’s dog Archie is getting some of the spotlight. We dog-sat him for a day this week. Look at those curls. He’s such a good boy and was honestly the dog that made me and Husband decide we wanted to adopt Ripley. GOOD BOY ARCHIE!