These Ricotta Cheese Peda are creamy, rich, and perfectly sweet with a soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture. Flavored with saffron and cardamom, they have all those lovely traditional Indian mithai flavors but are surprisingly easy to make at home.
Instead of starting with milk and cooking it for a long time to make khoya or mawa, this easy Ricotta Peda recipe uses ricotta cheese and milk powder. You only need 7 simple pantry ingredients, and everything comes together on the stovetop. Make these beautiful Kesar Pedas for Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, Holi, Janmashtami, or whenever you want an easy homemade Indian sweet.
About Ricotta Cheese Peda
Peda is a popular Indian milk-based sweet traditionally made by slowly cooking milk or khoya (mawa) with sugar until thick, then flavoring and shaping the mixture into small rounds. Depending on the variety, peda can be flavored with cardamom, saffron, nuts, or other aromatic ingredients.
This Ricotta Cheese Peda is my quicker take on traditional peda. Ricotta provides the creamy milk base, while milk powder adds richness and helps create that soft, fudgy texture. Saffron gives the peda its beautiful golden color and delicate flavor, while cardamom adds the familiar warmth I love in Indian sweets.
If you would like to make peda using the traditional milk-reduction method, try my Milk Peda recipe. But when you want something quicker, this ricotta version is a wonderful alternative.
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Quick Alternative to Traditional Peda: No need to spend a long time reducing milk or preparing khoya before you start.
- Only 7 Ingredients: Ricotta cheese, milk powder, ghee, sugar, milk, saffron, and cardamom are all you need.
- Soft and Creamy: Ricotta cheese creates rich, tender pedas with a lovely melt-in-the-mouth texture.
- Easy Stovetop Recipe: Everything is cooked in one pan, and you don't need any special equipment.
- Perfect for Celebrations: These Kesar Pedas are wonderful for Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, family celebrations, and festive gifting.
- Easy to Customize: Leave out the saffron for white peda, adjust the sweetness to your preference, or garnish them with your favorite nuts.
Why Use Ricotta Cheese For Peda?
Ricotta cheese works particularly well as a convenient alternative to khoya or mawa because it already has a soft, milky texture. As it cooks, the excess moisture gradually evaporates, leaving a thicker, richer milk mixture that makes an excellent base for peda.
Adding milk powder further enhances the milky flavor and helps the mixture reach a soft, fudgy consistency. Together, they make these pedas creamy and tender without requiring you to make khoya from scratch.
I often make this recipe with my Homemade Ricotta Cheese, but good quality store-bought ricotta also works. Because ricotta's moisture content can vary, the cooking time may differ slightly each time. Rather than relying only on the clock, watch the mixture's consistency to know when it is ready to shape.
Ingredients and Notes
You need only a handful of ingredients to make these easy Ricotta Cheese Pedas.
- Ricotta Cheese: You will need 400g of ricotta cheese. Different brands can contain different amounts of moisture, so the cooking time may vary slightly.
- Milk Powder: Milk powder adds richness, enhances the milky flavor, and helps give the Peda its soft, fudgy texture. I use low-fat milk powder, but you can also use full-fat milk powder.
- Ghee: A small amount of ghee adds richness and helps create a smooth peda mixture. It is also useful for lightly greasing your palms while shaping the pedas.
- Sugar: I use 10 tablespoons of granulated sugar for moderately sweet peda. Adjust the amount to your preference. Keep in mind that adding considerably more sugar can also affect the consistency and cooking time.
- Milk: You only need 2 tablespoons of milk to bloom the saffron. Warming the milk before adding the saffron helps release its color and aroma.
- Saffron: A few strands of saffron give these Kesar Pedas their beautiful golden hue and delicate floral flavor. For plain or white peda, simply leave it out.
- Ground Cardamom: Adds a warm, aromatic flavor that pairs beautifully with saffron and the creamy milk base. Freshly ground cardamom will give you the best flavor.
How To Make Ricotta Cheese Peda
Preparation
- Soak the saffron strands in two tbsps of warm milk in a small bowl.
- Set it aside.
Cooking Ricotta Cheese
- Take ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan, preferably a non-stick pan.
- Instead of ghee, you can also use unsalted butter.
- Heat the ghee on medium-low heat.
- Add ricotta cheese.
- I have used homemade ricotta cheese. If you use store-bought cheese, the texture may be a little different.
- Mix well to combine, and cook the mixture on low heat.
- Stir the mixture frequently to prevent the ricotta cheese from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Soon, ricotta cheese will release moisture, and the mixture will become thinner and very moist.
- Continue cooking and stirring until most of the moisture evaporates from the ricotta cheese.
- At this point, the cheese will become like a thick and creamy dough ball.
- It will take about 8-10 minutes. If using store-bought ricotta cheese, it may take longer.
Making Ricotta Cheese Peda Mixture
- Now add sugar, milk powder, and saffron-soaked milk.
- Mix well to combine, and continue cooking.
- Make sure to stir the mixture more frequently.
- Once everything is well combined, taste the mixture and add more sugar if needed.
- Continue cooking until the mixture thickens into a large mass. It will take about 8-10 minutes.
- To check the right consistency of the mixture, take a small portion and make a ball.
- It is done if it is smooth, forms a ball, and does not stick to your palm.
- If it sticks to your palm and does not form a ball, continue cooking it further.
- Once you get the mixture to the right consistency, add cardamom powder.
- Mix well and turn off the heat.
Rolling The Peda
- Transfer the Peda mixture onto the plate and spread.
- Do not let it cool completely. Scoop it with a spoon and roll it into a ball when it's still warm but cool enough to handle.
- Shape and decorate the Peda as you desire.
- For the smooth edges, grease your palm with ghee and then roll the mixture into Peda.
- If the sides of the Peda have cracks, that is perfectly fine. The Ricotta Cheese Peda will still be tender and melt in the mouth.
- To decorate Milk Peda, you can use a candy mold, a cookie-shaped disc, or simply a fork.
Serving and Storing Suggestions
- Peda is a popular Indian sweet, and we can serve it for any festival or celebration. We can make it for Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, and many other festivals.
- Make Peda for a family celebration or make it for Prasad to offer to God on auspicious occasions.
- We can keep Peda in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. But if you live in hot weather, do not keep Peda at room temperature; instead, refrigerate them.
- Place the container in the fridge and take it out a little ahead of time before serving. Peda will stay in the refrigerator for 8-10 days.
Variations
- For white Peda, leave out the saffron strands.
- Do not add cardamom powder if you want plain Peda without any flavor.
- For nuts in your Peda, add chopped nuts of choice at the end of cooking.
Helpful Tips
Ricotta Cheese: I made the Peda with homemade ricotta cheese, but store-bought ricotta cheese is perfectly fine. If you use store-bought ricotta cheese, the cooking time may vary slightly from what is mentioned in the recipe.
Cooking Pan: If possible, use a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan. Stir the mixture often to prevent the ricotta cheese from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Do Not Overcook: Do not overcook the mixture; otherwise, it will become dry, and rolling the Peda will be difficult.
Shaping: While making a ball from the Peda mixture, grease your palm with ghee to make the Peda smooth and easy to roll.
Decorating: To decorate the Milk Peda, use candy molds or a cookie-shaped disc. I used a cookie-shaped disc by pressing it lightly on the Peda.
More Indian Sweets
Ricotta Cheese Peda / Kesar Peda with Ricotta Cheese
Video
Ingredients
- 400g ricotta cheese
- 1 cup milk powder
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 10 tablespoon sugar or to taste
- 2 tablespoon milk
- Few saffron strands
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
Instructions
Preparation
- In a small bowl, soak the saffron strands in two tbsps of warm milk. Set it aside.
Cooking Ricotta Cheese
- Take ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan, preferably a non-stick pan, and heat ghee on medium-low heat.
- Add ricotta cheese. I have used homemade ricotta cheese, but you can use the store-bought ricotta cheese.
- Mix well to combine, and cook the mixture on low heat. Stir the mixture frequently to prevent the ricotta cheese from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Soon, ricotta cheese will release moisture, and the mixture will become thinner and very moist.
- Continue cooking and stirring until most moisture evaporates from the ricotta cheese. At this point, the cheese will become like a thick and creamy dough ball.
- It will take about 8-10 minutes. If using store-bought ricotta cheese, it may take longer.
Making Ricotta Cheese Peda Mixture
- Now add sugar, milk powder, and saffron-soaked milk.
- Mix well to combine, and continue cooking.
- Make sure to stir the mixture more frequently.
- Once everything is well combined, taste the mixture and add more sugar if needed.
- Continue cooking until the mixture becomes thick and becomes like a big mass, about 8-10 minutes.
- To check the right consistency of the mixture, take a small portion and make a ball.
- If it is smooth, forms a ball, and does not stick to your palm, it is done.
- If it sticks to your palm and does not form a ball, continue cooking it further.
- Once you get the mixture to the right consistency, add cardamom powder.
- Mix well and turn off the heat.
Rolling The Peda
- Transfer the Peda mixture onto the plate and spread.
- Do not let it cool completely. When it's still warm but cool enough to handle, scoop it with a spoon and roll it into a ball.
- Shape and decorate the Peda as you desire.
- For the smooth edges, grease your palm with ghee and then roll the mixture into Peda.
- If there are some cracks on the sides of the Peda, that is perfectly fine. Ricotta Cheese Peda will still be tender and melt in the mouth.
- You can use a candy mold, a cookie shape disc, or simply a fork to decorate Milk Peda.
Serving and Storing Suggestions
- Milk Peda is a popular Indian sweet, and we can serve it for any festival or celebration. We can make it for Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, and many other festivals.
- Make Peda for a family celebration or make it for Prasad to offer to God on auspicious occasions.
- We can keep Peda in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature. But if you live in hot weather, do not keep Peda at room temperature, but refrigerate them.
- Place the container in the fridge and take it out a little ahead of time before serving. Peda will stay in the refrigerator for 8-10 days.
Variations
- For white Peda, leave out the saffron strands.
- If you want plain Peda without any flavor, do not add cardamom powder.
- For nuts in your Peda, add chopped nuts of choice at the end of cooking.
Notes
- Ricotta Cheese: I made the Peda with homemade ricotta cheese, but store-bought ricotta cheese is perfectly fine. If you use store-bought ricotta cheese, the cooking time may vary slightly from what is mentioned in the recipe.
- Cooking Pan: Use a heavy-bottomed and a non-stick pan or pot if possible. Also, make sure to stir the mixture often to prevent ricotta cheese from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Do Not Overcook: Do not overcook the mixture; otherwise, it will become dry, and rolling the Peda will be difficult.
- Shaping: While making a ball from the Peda mixture, grease your palm with ghee to make the Peda smooth and easy to roll.
- Decorating: To decorate the Milk Peda, use candy molds or a cookie-shaped disc. I used a cookie-shaped disc by pressing it lightly on the Peda.
Vrunda says
I made this peda using Ricotta cheese from Trader Joe's. I'm not sure what went wrong, but mine had crumbly texture instead of smooth like yours. Though it tasted really good. What do you suggest to get texture like yours?
Jigna says
Hi Vrunda! Thank you for trying the recipe and sharing your experience! I’m glad to hear the pedas tasted good.
For a smoother texture, I recommend using extra smooth ricotta cheese, as it blends more easily and gives that soft peda consistency.
If you can’t find extra smooth ricotta, you can simply blend the ricotta with an immersion blender for a few seconds before cooking. This helps break down the granuals and makes the cheese much smoother, which results in a softer, smoother peda texture. I hope this helps, and I’d love to hear how it turns out next time!