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CASHEW ‘RICOTTA’ CHEESE

vegan cashew ricotta cheese in a bowl with wooden butter knife
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5 from 65 reviews

A fabulous replacement for traditional ricotta. Use it anywhere you would use ricotta. This will be a welcome addition to your plant-based lifestyle!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked
  • 1/2 cup water
  • juice of 1 large lemon or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • himalayan sea salt & cracked pepper, to taste

Instructions

Soak Cashews: First, it’s best to soak your cashews in water before starting. There are 2 ways to soak:

  1. Soak cashew in cool water for at least 2 hours in a bowl of water, covering the cashews about 2 – 3 inches of water as they will swell up.
  2. For a quick method of soaking, let cashews sit in hot water for 5 minutes.

Blend: Drain cashews and place all remaining ingredients into a blender or food processor, process until creamy stopping to scrape down the sides every few minutes. Taste for flavors adding any additional ingredients. Some like a salty ricotta so feel free to add as much salt as you want.

Chill: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for an hour or two, this will stiffen the mixture a bit. You can also prepare your dish straight away without refrigeration if needed. Refrigeration will thicken the mixture a bit. If it becomes too thick, add a tad of water and mix well.

Store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a 5 – 6 days. To keep longer, store in the freezer for up to 2 months in a freezer safe container. Let thaw in the refrigerator. Give a good stir before using.

Makes approx. 2 cups

Serves 8 – 1/4 cup per serving

Notes

You could do just as well without the nutritional yeast if you don’t have it. I only added a small amount, probably pretty unnoticeable. I will be trying more next time to play around with it a bit. If you do add it, it will add a bit more cheesy flavor and some good nutritional value.

If you have trouble with the mixture blending on it’s own try this because it’s too thick, add a little extra water.

Allergic to nuts or want to keep it lower in fat and calories, try this Tofu Ricotta.

Find it online: https://simple-veganista.com/cashew-ricotta-cheese/