Name: 5 Minute Cashew Ricotta
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 cups raw cashews; ½ cup filtered water; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar; 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast; kosher salt (or sea salt, to taste)

Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

Homemade cashew ricotta is so similar to traditional ricotta that it’s the perfect dairy free substitute for all your favorite childhood Italian dishes and more.

Looking for more vegan cheese recipes? Try my almond ricotta, dairy free mozzarella cheese, or green chile cashew queso.

What You’ll Love About This Recipe

Great substitute – When going dairy-free, one of the hardest things for people to give up is cheese. This creamy cashew ricotta is a great alternative to regular ricotta, especially in dishes like my dairy free lasagna with butternut squash noodles, pasta dishes, on pizza, or anywhere you’d use real ricotta.
Quick and easy – This recipe comes together quickly and is easy to make since everything goes in the blender.
Simple ingredients – Traditional ricotta is creamy, salty, savory, tangy, and ever so slightly sweet. So, when making a dairy free ricotta alternative, you want to use ingredients that are going to emulate those similar qualities, and it requires very few.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this dairy-free cheese recipe:

Raw cashews – the main ingredient in this batch of plant-based ricotta. It has a great, neutral flavored base that yields a creamy result when blended that is also ever so slightly sweet.
Filtered water – to give it the right consistency.
Fresh lemon juice – gives the cheese that tangy flavor.
White wine vinegar – the combination of this with lemon juice gives it a more complex tangy flavor.
Nutritional yeast – adds a hint of umami, cheesy flavor.
Kosher salt – flavor and saltiness.

How to Make Cashew Ricotta Cheese: Step By Step

Here are some quick visual instructions. The full instructions and ingredient list will be in the printable recipe card below!

Blend. Place cashews, fresh water, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, nutritional yeast, and kosher salt in a high-speed blender. Blend, scraping down the sides as needed and using the tamper to put the ingredients into the blade.
Adjust flavors. Taste and add more salt or vinegar/lemon juice for more tang.

Helpful Tips

Use either a high-powered blender with a tamper or a food processor. Although you want a small amount of texture in vegan cashew ricotta cheese, you’ll need to scrape down the sides and blend of pulse regardless of which machine you use.
Use raw cashews only. Roasted cashew nuts will impart a very different flavor.
Don’t soak cashews in hot water. They absorb too much moisture and it’s harder to get the right consistency for this recipe.

Quick Tip: Ricotta isn’t completely smooth so to achieve that similar texture with cashew ricotta, the key is to get the correct ratio of liquids to solids. Too much liquid will result in a cashew cream sauce, which is also tasty, but not what the intention is here.

Storage

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.

Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations

Please remember that recipes are just a starting point.

How can you make this cashew ricotta recipe using what you already have? Here are some ideas…

No white wine vinegar? – you can also use apple cider vinegar.
Use non-dairy milk – in place of the water to make it extra creamy.
Add-ins – garlic powder or onion powder to make it more savory, lemon zest, fresh herbs or fresh basil depending on its intended use, red pepper flakes for a bit of spice, black pepper, etc.

How to Use

Cashew ricotta is a homemade staple when you’re dairy free. This versatile condiment is great as a condiment for breakfast toast or ricotta toast with roasted grapes, or for main dishes like pizza, pasta such as vegan stuffed shells (use in place of almond ricotta in the recipe), dairy free lasagna with butternut squash noodles (plant based option included), or anywhere you’d use real ricotta.

More Vegan Cheese Recipes

I hope you love this Cashew Ricotta! If you make this recipe, please leave a comment & a star rating below. Thank you!