Quick and Easy Whipped Ricotta: A Genius Recipe for Cheese Boards, Toast & Dips
Editor’s Note: We are big fans of Sarah Gim and love her wildly popular Instagram feed, The Delicious . Her colorful and fresh fruit and vegetable spreads are inspiring and so too is this must-have recipe for whipped ricotta.
If you have watched tiktok for even a minute in the last few months, or been on any social media really, you've seen at least one person tossing — literally tossing, this is tiktok after all — chunks of feta into a food processor, "whipping" it, serving it with toast, and collecting thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of likes on the post.
Whipped feta, as the kids say, went viral.
I'm not sure how or why foods go viral, but let's do it, and with ricotta this time. Whipped Ricotta will be the new trend sweeping the planet!
Whipped ricotta and crudite board photo credit Sarah Gim
Whipped Ricotta works as a dip or spread on a crudités platter, or as the soft fresh cheese on a larger cheeseboard. When spread on toast or crostini, it can be enjoyed as is, but can also be topped with any number of seasonal fruits or vegetables. In the summer, chopped fresh tomatoes that have been lightly marinated in olive oil with fresh herbs and garlic make a savory starter or snack. In the cooler months, topping Whipped Ricotta on toast with roasted citrus and a drizzle of honey could serve as dessert.
We start with ricotta, and while I always recommend that you buy the highest quality you can, there are certain situations like this when something affordable works because we are adding ingredients and changing the texture. A high-quality favorite in this house is the whole milk Basket Ricotta from Bellwether Farms, which we featured in Ricotta 101 but I have made Whipped Ricotta with ricotta that is less than half the price. If you really want to go all-in, you can make your own ricotta at home first. This is not a true ricotta, which is an entire discussion for another day, but close enough that it still works for Whipped Ricotta!
Recipes have suggested that whipping ricotta and its supporting ingredients by hand works, and if you truly have no small kitchen appliances, go with the option you have. However, somewhat crumbly, somewhat textured ricotta, especially some of the affordable offerings in grocery stores, can definitely benefit from a food processor. Even a stand or hand mixer will work; anything that will break down the ricotta and incorporate a little bit of air to create a smooth, fluffy Whipped Ricotta.
Depending on the texture of the starting ricotta, you will need to add a few tablespoons of milk, cream, or yogurt to thin out the consistency of the final product into something spreadable, maybe more to make it dip-able.
Whipped ricotta photo credit Sarah Gin
Whipped Ricotta has the mild flavor of fresh milk, so it can serve as neutral base for your flavor imagination. Aside from the very important addition of salt, any spices, fresh or dried herbs work well as an addition to ricotta. It can also take on flavors we generally associate with sweetness like honey, mint, and vanilla. I've used a Honey Vanilla Whipped Ricotta as a sweet dip for cut fruit at the end of a meal.
My eternal go-to, however, is Whipped Ricotta in its pure form with only salt, and incorporate any other flavor in the final step as the garnish like a swirl of Sichuan chili crisp to a bowl of Whipped Ricotta as a dip, or chopped fresh herbs over Whipped Ricotta on crostini or toasts. The Whipped Ricotta shown here is drizzled with very fragrant olive oil, served as a dip for accompanying crudités and spread for crackers and baguette slices.
Whipped Ricotta photo credit Sarah Gim
Whipped Ricotta Recipe
makes about 1 1/4 cups
1 cup whole milk ricotta
2 Tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon salt
Garnishes: olive oil, sea salt flakes, cracked black pepper, and lemon zest
Directions
Combine the ricotta, 2 tablespoons of whole milk or heavy cream, and salt in a food processor. Run the food processor on low to medium speed until the ricotta is smooth and about the consistency of frosting. You may need to add more milk or cream one tablespoon at a time to reach the right consistency.
Place the whipped ricotta in a small bowl, drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil, sprinkle with flaky sea salt and black pepper, and serve with crudités and toasted or grilled bread.
Whipped ricotta will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three days.