Goodbye Ricotta: 13 Surprising Cheeses That Will Change Your Lasagna Forever

From lasagna to cannolis, pancakes to cheesecake, ricotta cheese is a beloved item in a variety of cuisines (although its roots are in Italy). It has a smooth, thick texture and creamy, mild flavor, making it a perfect addition to many sweet and savory dishes. When it comes to lasagna, ricotta cheese is the glue that sandwiches all those delicious layers of noodles, meat sauce, and tomatoes together. However, despite its popularity, sometimes you just don't want to use ricotta in your lasagna recipes. Maybe it doesn't fit into your budget or diet, or perhaps you simply couldn't find any in stock at the grocery store. Or maybe you want to try something different.

Whatever the case, we have 13 cheeses that are ready to step up to the plate (literally) when it comes to lasagna preparation. From common cheeses you'll find in any supermarket to more international options — as well as cheeses you can make at home — this list has an array of ricotta substitutes truly worth melting over.

The viral TikTok star — cottage cheese — is here to add protein while lowering calories and fat intake the next time you whip up lasagna. Cottage cheese is an excellent substitute for ricotta in most recipes. Plus, if you have any left over, you can use it in other recipes, like a cottage cheese flatbread or as a base for a fruity yogurt-style parfait.

It's important to note that cottage cheese is tangier than ricotta, and so for lasagna recipes, you'll want to include other cheeses to balance that flavor. Italian staples like mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano are good additions to keep your lasagna from becoming too tangy and potentially off-putting.

To use cottage cheese in place of lasagna, you'll want to add the cottage cheese to a blender or food processor and pulse until the curds are a bit smaller in size. This allows for a better blending and melding within the rest of the dish. The result is a creamy, dreamy pasta.

Buttery and rich, this Italian cheese skews slightly sweeter than ricotta. It also happens to be on the pricier side, so you'll want to use this cheese either alongside another in your lasagna or only when you're trying to make a recipe for guests you really want to impress.

For those unfamiliar with mascarpone, this fresh cow's milk cheese has a texture similar to cream cheese, even if the taste is anything but. To avoid transforming your lasagna into a dessert, you'll want to properly season your mascarpone with salt and herbs to get the desired flavor. Additionally, this cheese can skew a bit too thick. There's an easy fix for that, however. Simply whisk it with a bit of cream to thin it out enough until it's easily spreadable or pourable on your noodles. Mascarpone cheese may be an unconventional choice for lasagna, but with its rich, buttery flavor and texture, it's sure to create an indulgent dish.

While not traditionally considered a cheese, since cashew cheese (or "cheeze," depending on the brand and legalities involved) eschews dairy, it's nonetheless an excellent substitute for ricotta, especially if you're looking to cut back your dairy intake due to an intolerance or as part of a switch to a plant-based diet. 

Although you can certainly make your own cashew cheese through a lengthy process that involves soaking your cashews overnight, blending them with water or plant-based milk, and seasoning to taste, most grocery stores offer ready-made varieties for your convenience. (This would be our preference, too.) While this vegan cheese is usually available in both flavored and unflavored options, we suggest sticking with the plain stuff and seasoning it to taste, so as to prevent your lasagna from becoming too salty or getting overwhelmed by the cashew cheese's seasoning. So long as you enjoy the taste of cashews, this nutty ricotta substitute can bring a welcome earthiness to the acidic tomatoes in lasagna. It would also work well in a white lasagna recipe.

Okay, while not technically a cheese, béchamel sauce is made with dairy products like butter and milk, thus qualifying this ricotta cheese substitute as cheese-adjacent. In fact, in many traditional lasagna recipes, it's béchamel sauce — not ricotta — that gives the dish its inherent creaminess.

Béchamel sauce combines flour, butter, and milk to make a roux which is thickened and seasoned with some salt, pepper, and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. The flavor is subtler than ricotta and provides a velvety texture for the lasagna while keeping the pasta dish's layers together. As one of the mother sauces of French cuisine (along with Hollandaise, tomato, Espagnole, and velouté), it's a basic sauce that's a good one to have in your culinary skills arsenal, whether you make regular use of it in lasagna or not.

Another benefit to using béchamel sauce instead of ricotta in your lasagna is that you can make it vegan. Use a plant-based butter and milk and follow the same instructions you would a dairy-based béchamel.

That's right, the schmear you're spreading on your morning bagel also works well in lasagna. In addition to getting baked into cookies, frosting cakes, filling Danishes, and upgrading boxed mac and cheese, cream cheese also works as a substitute for ricotta in lasagna. While more dense than ricotta, it still provides a similar smooth, creamy texture.

To incorporate cream cheese into lasagna, you don't want to dollop it the way you would ricotta straight from the tub. Instead, try blending it with a bit of milk or cream to thin it out and season it accordingly. Stick with the plain varieties and opt for the brick format rather than the tub, which can have a looser texture and be more difficult to work with. The best way to balance the inherent tang of cream cheese in a lasagna recipe is to add other classic Italian cheeses to it. Blend it with parmesan and mozzarella, as well as herbs and spices to get the best flavor and texture for the beloved baked pasta.

Quark (sometimes spelled "quarg") cheese is a soft cheese that may not be as familiar as some of the others on this list. Made from fresh cow's milk, it has a flavor and texture that resembles a blend of cream cheese, mascarpone, and ricotta, or a thick yogurt. In terms of its composition and classification, it can often be considered similar to yogurt or fresh cheeses like cottage cheese. It is mild, slightly tangy, and creamy, and frequently used in Eastern European cuisines, particularly in Baltic, Germanic, and Slavic countries. Quark may also be called "farmer's cheese" or "Amish cheese."

Like cottage cheese, quark is lower in fat and calories and has a higher amount of protein, making it a healthy substitute in a lasagna recipe. While lasagna usually has a reputation for being an indulgent dish, thanks to all the carbohydrates, meat, and cheese, using quark rather than ricotta can give your lasagna recipe an additional healthy, satisfying bump without sacrificing any flavor.

Fior de latte is literally translated as "flower of milk," which should give you some idea of what this fresh cheese is like. Made from cow's milk, it has a mild, milky flavor and a soft texture, similar to buffalo mozzarella. In fact, fior di latte is mozzarella, but exclusively a cow's milk mozzarella and one that has slightly less water content than traditional mozz. Fior di latte is also less salty and a younger cheese, as it's not allowed to mature for the same length of time. Fior di latte can be found floating in tubs in containers along with whey.

When it comes to lasagna, fior di latte can be an excellent replacement for ricotta. Replace the ricotta in your lasagna recipe with slices or chopped up pieces of fresh fior di latte. The subtle, creamy flavor of this cheese is a great dupe for ricotta, and it doesn't offer the same chewy, elastic mouthfeel of a regular mozzarella. This stuff melts beautifully and works well in a traditional Neapolitan-style lasagna, which doesn't actually use ricotta.

Looking to bring some spice to your lasagna? For those who can handle the heat, queso fresco would be an excellent choice in a lasagna that blends Mexican and Italian cuisine. No, this isn't that radioactive orange cheese pumped out of gas station dispensers and called queso, nor is it the jarred stuff made with green chiles and jalapeños. Queso fresco is a Mexican-style cheese that's mild, tangy, and crumbly. It can be sprinkled between the layers of lasagna noodles, much in the way you would use ricotta.

An important note about queso fresco is that this cheese can be a bit saltier in flavor, meaning you'll want to adjust your seasoning so that your taste buds aren't walloped with a bunch of salt. It can also be slightly drier than ricotta, so you may need to add a bit of water until it becomes an appropriately workable, more moist texture. Much like ricotta, this cheese doesn't really melt, but does offer a rich, creamy, fresh flavor.

Translated as "white cheese," this French cheese is, well, literally that. Fromage blanc is a fresh cheese made from cow's milk that has a soft, spreadable texture, milky flavor, and just a bit of tang. It smells somewhat like yogurt and looks quite similar to a thick Greek yogurt or sour cream. While this cheese is usually served as part of a dessert, it would still be an excellent substitute for ricotta in lasagna recipes.

Are you blending French and Italian cuisines when you use this cheese in as beloved a dish as Italian lasagna? Sure. But who doesn't want to expand their culinary horizons? While this cheese may be more difficult to find in your regular grocery store, it's still worth snapping up if you come across it. Try using it as you would ricotta and spread it evenly across your lasagna noodles. And, if you have some left over, you can always pair it with jams on a delicious internationally inspired cheese board.

You've probably heard of buttermilk, if you've needed it for recipes like buttermilk biscuits or as an ingredient in fried chicken breading — but buttermilk cheese? It was new to us, too. As it turns out, though, this deceptively humble cheese can be a workhorse in the kitchen and only comes from one ingredient: cultured buttermilk.

Creamy, slightly tangy, and a little crumbly, this heretofore unknown (to us) cheese might be the perfect substitute for ricotta in your next lasagna recipe.You can even make this cheese yourself by baking the milk to separate the curds from the whey and draining it through a cheesecloth. (You can also use buttermilk to make your own crème fraîche, should the desire arise.) Feel free to season your buttermilk cheese with salt, freshly cracked pepper, and dried herbs to get the flavor you desire. If you're really into the DIY spirit of cooking, opting for buttermilk cheese may just be the answer you've been looking for.

If you prefer lasagna to have a stronger, more assertive flavor, why not try goat cheese in place of ricotta in your next recipe? Like ricotta, fresh goat cheese can be smooth and creamy. It also offers more of a noticeable tang. To help balance this, you'll want to mix goat cheese with other cheeses, like mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano. This will give your lasagna a fuller flavor that won't skew too sour.

Unlike ricotta, goat cheese can also be more crumbly. To get it to a workable texture that can be spread evenly across noodles (rather than sprinkled), you can mix it with some heavy cream until it has a nice, luscious texture. If you're looking to be more health-conscious when it comes to prepping lasagna, goat cheese can also be a good choice. Goat cheese has a decent amount of protein and may be easier for those who are sensitive to lactose to digest.

The cheese that has a mouthful of a French name has a mouthfeel you might be more familiar with. Neufchȃtel is a raw, unripened cow's milk cheese that has a spreadable texture. It's also often sold in a very Instagram-friendly heart-shaped block, so it's pretty distinct if you come across it in a store. Neufchȃtel is compared to the more common cream cheese, as both are soft, spreadable, and have a slight tanginess. Because of their similarities, using the two interchangeably in uncooked formats is a simple one-to-one swap.

However, when it comes to cooked applications, using Neufchȃtel can get a little tricky. Due to the moisture content of this cheese, it can be prone to separating when heated. That might make for a not-so-aesthetic dish, even if it still tastes delicious. Fortunately for us, though, we would sandwich this cheese in between layers of lasagna noodles, meat sauce, and/or veggies, so its appearance shouldn't be a big issue. If you were planning to use cream cheese in your lasagna and accidentally found yourself with some Neufchȃtel instead, it's certainly still worth a try.

So you're still gung-ho on using ricotta cheese in your lasagna recipe, but you (or whomever you're cooking for) happens to be vegan. They're also allergic to nuts, so cashew cheese is out. What are you to do? It's vegan ricotta cheese to the rescue! Unlike almost all of the other cheese substitute options on this list, this one, naturally, contains zero dairy. Instead, vegan ricotta cheese is made with a combination of extra-firm tofu, nutritional yeast, and seasonings.

Using extra-firm tofu may seem like a strange choice, especially with silken tofu right there, but the crumbliness and moisture locked into an extra-firm tofu block allows for a more seamless duplication of dairy-rich ricotta. Nutritional yeast has a uniquely cheesy flavor that allows it to be added to pasta and popcorn, and helps bump up the taste of the tofu. Seasoning your vegan ricotta with lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano helps bring the rest of this "cheese" together. (If you're worried about making your own plant-based ricotta, brands like Tofutti and Kite Hill offer their own ready-made versions.)