Can i freeze ricotta?

[WDWAurora]

Long story short, I sent DH to the store with the list for Christmas and Christmas Eve. Eve was lasagna. He tells me they only had small tubs of ricotta. He wasn't sure of the ounces. I asked if it was like yogurt and he said it was similar. I'm thinking 4oz. He bought 4. When I went to the store, I grabbed 2 12oz to go with the 16oz I though he had bought. Turned out his were 12oz, leaving me with a LOT of ricotta. I made 2 more small pans of lasagna for the freezer, but I just couldn't use 2 of the tubs. Can I freeze them?

 

[lizabu]

I'm almost positive you can.

 

[butterflygirl812]

Absolutely

 

[LJSquishy]

Yes, you can!

 

[kirbyx5]

yes I freeze mine all the time!

 

[StregaNona]

Yes, I have frozen ricotta cheese for later use.

Besides lasagna, I also use ricotta cheese in these cookies:

RICOTTA CHEESE COOKIES

Preparation: 30 minutes plus cooking
Bake: 15 minutes per batch

2 cups sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, (2 sticks), softened
1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
red & green sugar crystals

Preheat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar & margarine or butter until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes. At medium speed, beat in ricotta, vanilla & eggs until well combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, baking powder & salt; beat until dough forms. Drop dough by level tablespoons, about 2 inches apart, onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake about 15 minutes or until cookies are very lightly golden (cookies will be soft). With pancake turner, remove cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

When cookies are cool, prepare icing. In small bowl, stir confectioner’s sugar & milk until smooth. With small metal spatula or knife, spread icing on cookies; sprinkle with red or green sugar crystals. Set cookies aside to allow icing to dry completely, about 1 hour. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

 

[pocomom]

oh, I make homemade calzones with it too, big hit at my house! and yep you can freeze it!

 

[crisi]

It also makes fantastic cheesecake

 

[sherry7]

The texture changes a bit, but you can definitely freeze it for a few months. Our local Italian grocery has homemade ricotta. When it goes in sale, I stock up and put it in the freezer.

 

[pixiewings71]

You can use it for enchiladas too! This sounds gross but they are so good!! Mix equal parts of cottage and ricotta cheeses together to make really good cheese enchiladas.

 

[Sagginit]

yes you can, i have but i used for baking.

i also have a recipe in one of my GF cookbooks for chocolate ricotta muffins, which is what i usually do with what i have leftover after making lasagna. the texture may change a bit when you freeze it (like with eggs). if this happens i plan on using it in a recipe with other wet ingredients (like milk) and give it all a whirl through the blended when defrosted to get a better texture.

 

[Stefecatzz]

I've made this Linguine recipe w/ricotta, green beans & cherry tomatos & both times it was a hit!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/whole-wheat-linguine-with-green-beans-ricotta-and-lemon-recipe/index.html

 

[LockShockBarrel]

That texture change really only matters if you're using it in a non cooked recipe. I would also only freeze it if it's sealed.

 

[Sadie22]

This was timely. A local store which doubles coupons had a half-price sale, and I bought as many tubs of ricotta as I had coupons, thinking I would make lasagna or shells, but I haven't had time. I was wondering if I should freeze the ricotta, and it's good to know it won't make a difference for the purpose for which I will be using the ricotta.

 

[StregaNona]

I've made this Linguine recipe w/ricotta, green beans & cherry tomatos & both times it was a hit!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/whole-wheat-linguine-with-green-beans-ricotta-and-lemon-recipe/index.html

That recipe sounds interesting. I might try a variation (based on what vegetables I have on hand) tomorrow night. Thank you.

 

[Stefecatzz]

That recipe sounds interesting. I might try a variation (based on what vegetables I have on hand) tomorrow night. Thank you.

You're welcome!