Ever wondered what to do with leftover ricotta cheese? Here are 27 delicious ideas! From desserts to mains to sides, these recipes will make you want to have leftover ricotta cheese all the time.
Last week when I shared my recipe for Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake, I realized I’m always searching for ways to use up leftover ingredients from other recipes.
So thought I’d do a series of round-ups myself! Starting with these recipes that help you decide what to do with leftover ricotta cheese.
What to do with leftover ricotta cheese? Bake something fruity
Ricotta cheese is more widely known for savoury dishes but it also shines in baked goods. It makes cakes, bars and cookies soft, most and just delightful!
Lemon and ricotta is a popular combination, like my pound cake and these Lemon Ricotta Muffins.
But lemon is not the only fruit you can pair it with. It also goes well with plums (just look at this beautiful Plum Tart with Ricotta Cheese and Greek Yogurt from Happy Foods Tube)…
…and blueberries (check out my super easy-to-make Fresh Blueberry Ricotta Bars).
This Strawberry Ricotta Cake is pretty fantastic too!
Strawberry Ricotta Cake
Want something really fruity and amazing? Make this Grapefruit Roasted Pears with Ricotta and Pistachios from Mommy’s Home Cooking.
Or bake something chocolatey
If you’re not in the mood for fruit, ricotta is friends with chocolate too! Try this chocolatey Chocolate Ricotta Muffins.
If you really want to go for it, Cake Whiz made these Ricotta Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies that’s just to-die for.
(Up next – don’t feel like dessert? Make savoury ricotta dishes!)
Adele says
I bookmarked this a long time ago since I always have ricotta leftover but since then I never had any ha! Now I do and I don’t know what to make first. Maybe I will bake some muffins and scones this weekend.
Leslee says
I am so happy I found your blog. I have a lots of ricotta cheese that I don’t know what to do with! This is definitly a great list. Thank you!
Ruthie Davis says
This is excellent and so useful. We consume ricotta cheese on a regular basis.
Eileen Kelly says
I had to pin this because I always have leftover ricotta. It ends up getting thrown out and one of my goals is to stop wasting food and better use. These are fantastic ideas.
Jolina says
I hate throwing out extra ingredients too. Not a very practical way to go about things. Hope you find something in here you like!
Sasha says
This is a really cool idea! Love ideas that reduce waste 🙂
Claire says
I love this! Ricotta is one of those things I don’t use often, and when I do, I always seem to have some leftover that I don’t know what to do with.
Anvita says
This is a lovely collection of recipes. I often use ricotta cheese , too bad I barely have any left overs.
Aarika says
I love this post! There are so many incredible ways to use ricotta. The plum tart is calling my name! =)
Dominique says
So many great ideas here! Thanks for posting…. ricotta is the best!
Krysten says
I always buy ricotta for one recipe and then have nothing to do with it afterwards. This is a great list of recipes!
Denisse says
SUCH great ideas! Seems like I can never go through an entire container of ricotta so I’ll definitely have to try out some of these recipes
Tiffany VanSickle says
I don’t know that i’ve ever used a recipe that didn’t call for the whole tub, but now I am inspired to try some of these! They look so good!
Maggie Unzueta says
I need to buy ricotta just to have the leftovers. 🙂 Thanks for the recipes.
Jolina says
LOL I think that’s a great idea 🙂
JoAn says
Um, can I try all of these please?! LOL. I love anything with ricotta in it. Those pears are on my weekend list!
Jolina says
It’s all so overwhelming isn’t it?? So many delicious recipes! I say let’s try them all! 🙂
Jenny says
I love this round up! I often make ricotta at home for something specific, and there is extra. Now I have lots of recipes to try 🙂
Jolina says
Nice! I need to learn to make homemade ricotta 🙂 Hope you find recipe inspiration here Jenny!
Bonnie says
These are great ideas, I hate wasting stuff like that!
Jolina says
Thanks! And me too, they are not exactly cheap! So we try to use every last bit of it 🙂
Natanja says
What a beautiful collection!
I’ve never tried ricotta in sweet recipes but now I’m motivated to do so 🙂
Jolina says
Hi Natanja! So very happy to hear from you my friend 🙂 And you know me and my sweet tooth haha. Ricotta is lovely with baked goods. Hope you get to try it one day soon!
Pamela says
Really rather special recipes – gotta try that plum tart!
Cait Weingartner says
Thanks for sharing these great ideas. All these years I’ve been just eating the leftover ricotta with a spoon!
Now I’ll actually use it to make something delicious.
Jolina says
LOL I’ve done that (still do!). And it is a perfectly acceptable way to using leftover ricotta IMO 🙂
shannon says
I never would have thought to use the leftovers for baking!
Jolina says
I love ricotta as a baking ingredient. Makes for delightful baked goods! Hope you get to try it someday soon Shannon!
Karyl says
I always hate buying an ingredient I don’t normally use just for one recipe, because I never know what to do with the rest. These are some great tips of what to do with leftover ricotta cheese. I’ll have to give a few of these a try.
Jolina says
Me too. I hate wasting food! We’ve gotten creative and I hope this helps inspire you to create amazing ricotta dishes! 🙂
Kimberly says
There are so many tasty looking recipes on this list. I think the pasta group is probably my favorite. You can never go wrong with warm, cheesy, gooey pasta. They all sound fabulous!
Jolina says
I knew you’d like the pasta round-up Kimberly 🙂 And I agree, so many incredible choices! Where to start, right?? 🙂 (a.k.a. happy problem)
Betty Davies says
A great roundup! I always seem to have left over ricotta cheese in my fridge so will definitely be popping back here for some inspiration!
Jolina says
Thanks Betty! Hope you find a recipe you like 🙂
Julia says
So many delicious ideas! That Grapefruit roasted pears with ricotta and pistachios sounds so interesting. Thanks for including me!
Jolina says
My pleasure! Your plum tart looks fantastic 🙂
Umberta says
I wanna try these ricotta cookies!
Mini says
Great recipes and awesome photography. Really the photos look so nice.
Ursula says
Fresh blueberry ricotta bars for me please. I think I remember my family loved blueberry ricotta bars first time I made it.
Jolina says
Absolutely! I’m delighted to hear you and your family liked it. Hope you get to try the other recipes in the roundup!
Vicki says
Love these ideas! I hate when I have extra ricotta left over and nothing to do with it! Thank you for giving me some ideas!
Jolina says
Thanks Vicki! I hate that too, for any ingredient. Food waste is horrible. Hope you find inspiration here 🙂
Jeanine says
Wow so many options! I will have to give a lot of these a try! So good, especially the savoury dishes. Oh my tummy!
Jessica says
Those are great ideas! I always have leftover ricotta!
Divya says
I had no idea you could make all these treats with ricotta! I never want to buy ricotta because it comes in such a big tub, but I LOVE these ideas!
Jolina says
That tub’s massive isn’t it? HAHA! So it’s not just me then lol. Thanks Divya!
CourtneyLynne says
Ooo so much yumminess!!! ricotta cheese is definitely one thing o never know what to do with besides lasagna so I will have to keep these recipes in mind
Annemarie LeBlanc says
Everything looks so good! I wish I could grab one of those goodies off of my computer screen. I’d probably try to make the Lemon Ricotta Muffins and Grapefruit Roasted Pears with Ricotta and Pistachios. They look absolutely divine!
Ada says
Wow all those cakes looks fantastic! Now I wanna go to shop and get some cheese to bake this cakes !! 🙂 especially this is my favourite cheese 🙂 thank you for sharing those!
Neely Moldovan says
My husband loes Ricotta! He puts it on everything. He would love this!
Jolina says
Nice! Hope you guys find a recipe here you like 🙂
Elle says
Excellent round-up! Those Grapefruit Roasted Pears with Ricotta and Pistachios look to die for!
Jenny says
WOW… yum yum yum! I’m all over this. Thanks for sharing this tip, I’m going to have to try some of these myself, especially the Grapefruit Roasted Pears with Ricotta and Pistachios!!!
Jolina says
Oh yeah those Grapefruit Roasted Pears look especially delicious! And grapefruits are in season so yay 🙂
carlos says
Excellent post and perfect for me because I have asked this question before in (Google). I will save this post for the next time I have the same question. Thanks
Jolina says
Hi Carlos! Hahaha yeah me too, Google is my friend 🙂 Thanks for saving! Hope it inspires you next time you have extra ricotta laying around 🙂
lisa says
Oh my yumminess I’m drooling over here! Who knew there was so much deliciousness to be made with leftover ricotta!
Jolina says
I know! A whole world of ricotta opened up 🙂 And I’m already a huge fan so I’m a happy camper. Hope you find a recipe you like Lisa! I’d love to hear about how it goes.
Chastity says
I have to make the chocolate ricotta muffins! And I think I have all the ingredients to make today:)
Jolina says
Nice! I’m excited for you 🙂 Hope you guys like it! I would love to hear how it goes.
maria Long says
OMg I have half a container leftover right now. Thanks for the great tips. we make cannolis sometimes.
Jolina says
Awesome! Hope you find a recipe you can make and love 🙂 Cannolis sound wonderful!
Sarah says
This is fabulous!!! I never use up the whole container with one recipe!
Jolina says
Right? I almost never have the exact ratio of ingredient to recipe haha. Thanks Sarah! Hope you find something in here you like!
Dawn says
Or you could always drizzle some honey on there and dip and spoon in and way to go, lol 😀 Seriously, though, all these recipes sounds fabulous! I love ricotta in baking; it certainly adds a lovely moist factor, ya know? That grapefruit roasted pear looks deadly….and so does those blueberry ricotta bars. Totally getting hungry now!! Happy Monday, Jolina!
Jolina says
Oh yeah, we’ve totally done that too! It’s hard to stop haha. And I agree it is such a great ingredient in baking. I’d put it on everything I bake if I could. Thanks Dawn! Hope you’re having a lovely week!