With creamy fresh cheese, sweet roasted peppers and a fragrant herb dressing, this ricotta salad is perfect as a vegetarian lunch idea or side salad! Super easy to make, there's no need for any fancy kitchen equipment to make this fun colorful salad.
Love creamy ricotta? Do check out my pesto and ricotta pasta for another meal idea!
Much like my apple cucumber salad and my cucumber fennel salad, this ricotta salad recipe is just the thing for a summer lunch or as a side for family BBQs, picnics or Thanksgiving gatherings!
It's super easy to make this ricotta and roasted red pepper salad, with all simple steps and minimal 'hands on' prep time. Just a bit of roasting the peppers, making a tangy herb dressing and a bit of dicing of veggies! Then we have a colorful salad that's always a crowd-pleaser.
Do have a peek at my sweet potato beet salad, raw carrot salad, sweet potato and couscous salad and my low histamine salad for more lunch ideas!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
Vibrant and colorful! Packed with nutritious ingredients, we combine salad vegetables, herbs and creamy fresh cheese in this tasty salad.
Tomato free cheese salad. Often salads rely on tomatoes for flavor, which doesn't work for those with an intolerance or looking for low histamine diet recipes. This is a tomato-free salad with ricotta cheese, with roasted peppers giving us flavor instead.
Simple recipe steps. No complicated prep, just a bit of roasting of bell peppers, then we combine all the fresh ingredients.
🥗 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Ricotta cheese - we want to use plain, unflavored fresh cheese that typically comes in a tub.
- Bell peppers - I suggest to roast the peppers yourself for the best sweetness, and to use fresh produce. Different colored peppers are always more fun!
- Cucumber - I like to use English cucumber, but you can also use Persian cucumber for the salad.
- Arugula - these leafy greens give a nice peppery bite, but you can swap out for lamb's lettuce for a milder flavor.
📖 Swaps and variations
Use jarred roasted peppers. I do think roasting your own bell peppers gives a better flavor, but you can swap out for a jar of peppers if it works for you (likely not my low histamine readers).
Swap the herbs. You could also use fresh mint or dill for the dressing.
Use whipped ricotta. As a swap for plain ricotta cheese, you can also use dollops of my whipped ricotta dip.
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this ricotta cheese salad is very easy to do, with just a few simple steps. No need for any fancy kitchen equipment, you just need a baking sheet and some parchment paper.
All the recipe steps are in the card below, but these photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Prep the bell peppers
Slice the cheeks off red and yellow bell peppers and place on a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the dried thyme (image 1). Roast the peppers for 25-30 minutes.
Step 2: Peel the bell peppers
Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with a plate for about 10 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, peel the skins off the peppers and dice into small pieces (image 2).
Step 3: Make the herb dressing
Combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, torn fresh basil leaves and diced parsley, honey, salt and black pepper. Stir or whisk to make the dressing (image 3).
Step 4: Make the ricotta salad
Add the fresh greens and vegetables to a large mixing bowl. Toss to combine. Spoon onto your serving plate, and add spoonfuls of fresh ricotta. Drizzle over half the dressing, taste test, and add more to preference (image 4).
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Peel the roasted peppers. I know it takes a few minutes, but peeling the peppers gives them that soft and delicious taste and texture!
- Dice the vegetables into small pieces of roughly the same size.
- Adjust the amount of ricotta cheese and dressing used to taste preference. I suggest drizzling on half the dressing to begin with, then adding more if you like.
📋 Frequently asked questions
Yes, ricotta is considered a fresh cheese. Have a look at my guide to low histamine cheeses for more ideas for your lunch or side dishes!
Ricotta is a very mild cheese with a creamy taste and texture and a hint of sweetness. It's mild flavor lends itself to be being flavored with herbs or spices.
You can use a jar of roasted red peppers in a pinch, but they don't have quite the same flavor. They also aren't as fresh as roasting your own bell peppers.
🍽 How to serve ricotta salad
- Serve this salad as it is with a side of crusty bread or perhaps my chia flax crackers for a gluten free option as a tasty lunch.
- Bring to a potluck or picnic, alongside other salads such as my butternut beet salad or my cucumber beetroot salad!
- Pair with tasty main dishes such as my red pepper chicken, air fryer pesto chicken or my artichoke pesto pasta as a side dish.
🥄 Storage
You can keep this ricotta cheese salad in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two days. However, I suggest my low histamine readers make it fresh as leftovers don't tend to be the best idea.
It's not advised to freeze the salad as ricotta can go grainy, and the salad vegetables don't freeze too well.
🌿 More healthy salads
Choose from so many fun salad ideas including my mango and cucumber salad, lamb's lettuce salad and my bell pepper salsa, as well as these recent recipes:
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please so leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Ricotta Salad with Roasted Peppers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- ⅓ small English cucumber diced
- 1 cup arugula
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
For the basil dressing
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoon honey
- 2 tablespoon basil leaves torn
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley finely diced
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the bell peppers into large pieces and place on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the dried thyme. Roast the bell peppers for 25-30 minutes, until softened with a little browning. Remove from the oven and place in a covered bowl. Leave for 10 minutes, then peel the skins from the peppers. Dice into small pieces.
- Whisk the extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, basil, parsley, salt and black pepper (if using) together to make the dressing.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the bell peppers, arugula and English cucumber. Mix together. Spoon onto your serving plate and add small pieces of the ricotta cheese. Drizzle over the herb dressing to serve.
Notes
- Make sure to peel the bell peppers after roasting them! The skins don't have the best taste or texture.
- Dice the vegetables into pieces of roughly the same size.
- Adjust the amount of ricotta cheese used to preference.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- arugula isn't rated.
- apple cider vinegar, which scores 1.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
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