Vegan Ricotta Cheese Blender Recipe

My cheese can kick your cheese’s butt!  That’s right!  Think your cheese has a lot of protein?  Think again!  My cheese is made with tofu and packs a powerful protein-packed punch!  And you know what it doesn’t have?  Cholesterol and tons of saturated fat like animal-based cheese does!  Yup, my cheese does tricks!

Okay, seriously this is the best thing ever and has rocked my nutritarian/vegan world!  It’s super-quick, after you drain and press your tofu you just dump all the ingredients in your blender and voila you’ve got Ricotta!  After cruising the web for recipes and inspiration, I modified this recipe from Minimalist Baker to make it more nutritarian-friendly by increasing the tofu, halving the oil and not adding salt.  This is a clean cheese people!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 19 oz. block organic tofu (I use Trader Joe’s brand in the pink wrapper), drained and pressed for 10 minutes
• 3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/3 cup vegan Parmesan cheese (get recipe here)
• fresh ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Press your block of tofu between two plates with paper towels on top and bottom.  I rested a few books on top of the plate to speed the process along.  After the tofu is nice and dry add all the ingredients to your blender.  PULSE the mixture and you’ll have to scrape the sides down so everything incorporates.  You want a nice texture (very much like real Ricotta), take a look at the picture at the top of this post.  Have a taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt (if you’re not on the nutritarian plan) and pepper for flavor, nutritional yeast for cheesiness, and lemon juice for brightness.

Want to know how you should use your new favorite Vegan Ricotta?

Check out this Easy Vegan Pita Pizza recipe!

Check out these yummy Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms!