Whipped Tofu Ricotta
Updated July 23, 2025
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1(14-ounce/400-gram) block extra-firm tofu
- 4 to 6tablespoons/20 to 30 grams nutritional yeast
- 2garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2tablespoons white miso paste
- ¾teaspoon onion powder
- 1 to 1½teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1½tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1medium lemon, zested
- 2 to 3tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
170 calories; 10 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 11 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 353 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Drain the tofu and dab away the excess water with a clean dish towel.
- Step 2
Crumble the tofu into a food processor. Add 4 tablespoons of the nutritional yeast, the garlic, miso, onion powder, 1 teaspoon of the salt, a generous amount of pepper, the olive oil, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Blend until creamy and smooth.
- Step 3
Taste for salt, acidity and cheesiness. As needed, add the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 to 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast. The ricotta will stay good in the fridge for up to 1 week. (It can also be frozen for up to 2 months; defrost in the fridge before using.)
Private Notes
Comments
It's long past time the NYT hired a vegan recipe developer and you picked the right one in Nisha Voran. I love this recipe, easy and tasty.
So many tofu "ricottas" add nutritional yeast which is cheesy, not milk fresh like ricotta and misses the mark by a lot. In my pre-vegan days, I used to make fresh ricotta. Ditch the nutritional yeast and instead put in soaked cashews, almonds, or macademia nuts. Lemon and miso are great. Also a little olive oil for richness.
Nisha is a star when it comes to adding flavor and taste to --- well, to anything! This is just another example of her always-delicious recipes.
I made this as written and used it with the NYT Loaded Focaccia recipe (cherry tomatoes, basil, parm, honey, arugula, toasted walnuts, lemon zest). It was yummy - the tofu ricotta added the necessary moisture and held all the topping in place. I did find the nutritional yeast to be a little overbearing. I used the minimum amount of NY and lemon juice. Next time I would go bigger with the miso and try half as much yeast (or abandon the vegan aspect and add anchovies). It definitely doesn’t have a ricotta flavor (which is fine - ricotta on its own is typically pretty wet and bland). Someone mentioned using cashews instead for a lighter flavor to mimic ricotta. There is another NYT recipe for whipped tofu with cashews and broccoli that I’ve also made. The cashew tofu spread was also delicious, but has a much heavier richer profile reminiscent of nut butter. Both are great versatile and flavorful additions to my tofu cannon. The lesson here is: you can whip tofu with whatever base flavors to make flavorful spreads that aren’t cheese.
I watch her YouTube videos and love them even though I'm not vegan. Great tips!
THANK YOU!!! This is great for us vegans. Simple question, though -- how would you adapt this for a sweet cheesecake?