Quick & Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese (2024)

Jun 14, 2017

4.97 from 192 votes

| 206 Comments

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You asked and I delivered. I recently posted a reader questionon my Facebook page "Whatrecipe/product/dish do you wish was vegan?" There were all sorts of requests, some of the requests I had already posted on the blog, some recipes are waiting for you in my cookbook(can't wait!), but there were some that I didn't have an answer for...yet. The dish that had the mostvotes was for vegan cottage cheese. Who knew!?

I had a Google around, and you guys were totally right. I didn't find any store-bought brands. There were a couple of recipes, but they eitherused too weird of ingredients, or seemed too complicated for such a simple food. So, I rolled up my sleeves... well I didn't, I was wearing a tank top... but I got to work either way and taste tested my way to my new Quick & Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese. Boom!

Pret-tay cool right? And it's totally healthy too!

So what is this madness made out of? Our fine friend tofu! I used a silken tofu for the liquid-y part, which I blended and seasoned just so. (I think I've gotten pretty good at recreating dairy flavoursif I do say so myself). Then I crumbled in firm tofu for the texture. My parents happened to be stopping by, so I was able to get them to taste test it for me, and they agreed, it is pretty dang close to traditional cottage cheese. Woot woot!

Did anyone else ever used to eat cottage cheese out of a cantaloupe, or was that just a me thing?

So here you go my friends, vegan cottage cheese. I'm always eager to make vegan cooking your favourite thing, so if you have any more recipe requests, drop them in the comments below.

To make Quick & Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese:Add the silken tofu to a blender along with the spices and mix until everything is completely smooth.

Now, this saucy partis slightly more on the creamy-yellow side of the white scale due to the nutritional yeast, but that hardly seems like a big deal to me when the flavour friends are are all there. It does whiten up when the firm tofu is added, but still isn't bright white.Just a heads up.

Now take the firm tofu and crumble it into the silken tofu mixture.

Stir to combine. See, I told you that was a quick & easy vegan cottage cheese recipe!

Enjoy as is or it should work almost anywhere you would use traditional cottage cheese.

4.97 from 192 votes

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Quick and Easy Vegan Cottage Cheese

Takes less than 10 minutes to make and only 6 ingredients for this healthy, dairy-free recipe.

Prep: 10 minutes mins
Total: 10 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings (recipe makes about 2 cups of cottage cheese)

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Ingredients

▢ 1 300g block soft or silken tofu (about 1 ⅓ cups), drained
▢ 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
▢ 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
▢ 1 teaspoon lemon juice
▢ ½ teaspoon salt
▢ ½ of a 420g block firm tofu (210g or about 1 ½ cups), crumbled

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Add the soft or silken tofu to a blender along with the nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and salt. Mix until everything is completely smooth, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
Pour the soft tofu mixture into a medium bowl. Crumble the firm tofu into the silken tofu mixture. Mix to combine.

Nutrition

Did You Make This Recipe?Tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Insta and let the world see just how amazing plant-based creations can be!

Author: Sam Turnbull
Cuisine: American
Course: Snack

Bon appetegan!

Sam.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

Toni says
February 17, 2024 at 6:35 am

Doesn't taste like cottage cheese but makes for a delicious spread. Leave out the firm tofu and add 1/4 teaspoon of garlic and onion powder. I put it on toast with a sliced tomato, black pepper, and balsamic glaze. Would also taste great for burgers, wraps, or any Mayo replacement.
Reply
- Jess @ IDTLC Support says
  February 26, 2024 at 10:26 pm
  Thanks for sharing!
  Reply
Tassja says
January 26, 2024 at 4:42 am
Hi, just wondering why you add the nutritional yeast? I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I do modify favourite recipes of old to make them healthier. I make a vegetable packed lasagne with cottage cheese & milk instead of bechamel. The sweet potato layers make it quite creamy so I don't miss out on the texture of bechamel. Do you think I'd still need the nutritional yeast if I substituted dairy cottage cheese for your tofu version? Thank you.
Reply
TD says
December 29, 2023 at 4:41 pm
I’ve always read that tofu needs to be cooked. Is it safe to eat this without the tofu being cooked?
Reply
- Jess @ IDTLC Support says
  January 03, 2024 at 10:15 pm
  Tofu actually isn't ever considered raw as it is already a cooked food! Yes, it's safe to eat right out of the package.
  Reply
Eileen Van Tassel says
May 24, 2023 at 1:06 pm

While this does not taste exactly like dairy cottage cheese on it's own, eaten with soups or stews or with other things, it is remarkable! I will be trying it on an old favorite, Cottage Cheese Loaf. I think it will work wonderfully. I did add about 1/2 tsp of lactic acid to the recipe, as I like my cottage cheese a little more tangy. Thank you Sam, I appreciate your recipes and have purchased your cookbook.
See Also
Blackened Balsamic Tuna Steaks - Easy, Quick, and Packed with Flavor!
Reply
- Jess @ IDTLC Support says
  May 24, 2023 at 9:47 pm
  Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
  Reply
- Eileen VanTassel says
  October 12, 2023 at 6:30 pm
  
  I have to add a note to this- I use two fullpacagesof tofu,and double the seasonings- it then makes2 pounds of delicious cottage cheese. And we use it all! I know it adds a little more flavoring than the original recipe, but I like a little more tang. This is a genius recipe- thank you so much Sam- looking forward to yu new book arriving soon
  Reply
  - Jess @ IDTLC Support says
    October 12, 2023 at 7:18 pm
    Thanks for sharing your tips!
- Lesley Hartwell says
  January 13, 2024 at 6:55 pm
  Would love to know how this worked in the cottage cheese loaf, that’s a favourite of ours as well
  Reply
  - Eileen VanTassel says
    January 13, 2024 at 11:00 pm
    
    Hi Lesley, I have not yet tried it, but will try to do it tomorrow or Monday and let you know.
  - Eileen says
    February 27, 2024 at 4:18 pm
    
    It worked great!, we will be having more of these in the near future!
- Tashsme says
  February 26, 2024 at 10:31 pm
  I'm wondering if you ever had a chance to try the cottage cheese loaf? That was a favorite of ours and I would love to make it again. Thanks!
  Reply
  - Eileen says
    February 27, 2024 at 4:22 pm
    
    Hi Tashsme,
    yes and it worked great, used flax eggs too. I ended up using a little more liquid as it seemed dry, and it was about perfect.
Ashley G says
May 12, 2023 at 4:06 pm
Pretty good on its own and excited to try in a recipe!
Reply
- Jess @ IDTLC Support says
  May 16, 2023 at 2:36 pm
  Thanks for sharing!
  Reply
Jordan says
May 04, 2023 at 10:07 pm
How long will this last in the fridge?
Reply
- Jess @ IDTLC Support says
  May 08, 2023 at 2:06 pm
  It should store well for 3-5 days.
  Reply
  - Izabela says
    June 04, 2023 at 9:57 am
    Is it ok to freeze it???
  - Jess @ IDTLC Support says
    June 12, 2023 at 1:00 pm
    Other readers have frozen it with success, but it may change the texture slightly.
Collette says
February 24, 2023 at 1:36 pm

The one thing I have missed since going vegan is large curd or dry curd cottage cheese. (hard to find these days). But not anymore! I missed it on crackers, on peaches and pineapple, and especially in retro lime Jello salad! (Do you have a recipe for that)?
This recipe is the best I have ever had! I love it!! ...waaay better than the mushy, slimy dairy cottage cheese. I made one small change. I used Super firm tofu that comes vacuum packed... (only because it was the only tofu I had on hand). Because it is so firm, I drop it on a small food processor (in chunks) and pulse it until it forms large curds. I like it a hundred times better than the dairy version!
Thank you Sam!
Reply
- Jess @ IDTLC Support says
  February 28, 2023 at 2:23 pm
  That sounds great, so we're so glad you enjoyed it! No retro lime jello salad recipe at this point. 🙂
  Reply
M says
February 02, 2023 at 11:24 pm
While this recipe has a similar consistency to cottage cheese, it does not really taste anything like it. It’s a good recipe if you eat cottage cheese with other things but not if you like snacking on it alone. No matter how much nutritional yeast I add or however many ways I adjust the portions I can’t really help but just taste flavored tofu.
Reply
- deb says
  February 19, 2023 at 12:20 pm
  
  I'm used to making cottage cheese with vegan yogurt and when I first made this recipe my thought was "there is not enough nutritional yeast in the world..." but I added a little more of everything and after 48 hours in the fridge it's not half bad.
  Reply
  - AM says
    December 07, 2023 at 2:45 pm
    I’d love to know how you make it with vegan yogurt so I have two methods of making it
Jaden Kohen says
January 15, 2023 at 1:52 am
Your recipe doesn't specify how well to drain the tofu, if at all.
Can you please clarify?
Reply
- Angela says
  September 02, 2023 at 11:13 pm
  I was wondering the same thing.
  With the silken tofu, does the liquid in the container go in the blender too?
  Or should it be thoroughly drained?
  Thanks
  Reply
  - Sam Turnbull says
    September 07, 2023 at 3:17 pm
    You can drain it, although in my experience there is usually very little water to drain anyways. Hope that helps!
Jan McIntyre says
November 07, 2022 at 8:49 am
Would this work in a vegetable lasagna recipe? I prefer cottage cheese to ricotta. Thanks
Reply
- Sam Turnbull says
  November 17, 2022 at 5:03 pm
  Yes, but it will not melt. Hope that helps!
  Reply

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