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Is ricotta cheese healthy to eat?

Ricotta cheese is a healthy food and belongs to the dairy food group which the Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend you eat every day as part of a balanced diet. 1

Last updated 30/04/2021

Ricotta cheese, like all types of cheese, is a great source of calcium and provides a range of other essential nutrients including vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B12, Vitamin K, iodine, phosphorus, selenium and zinc. Depending on your age and gender, adults should aim to eat between two-and-a-half and four serves from the dairy food group every day and ricotta cheese is a great choice to help you meet your requirements.

100g of ricotta cheese will provide:

  • 551 kilojoules
  • 2g carbohydrate
  • 10.1g protein
  • 8.7g fat
  • 230mg calcium

Ricotta cheese is also lower in fat and kilojoules, which makes it a good choice if you want to reduce the total fat and kilojoule (energy) intake of your diet.

Ricotta is an Italian word that means ‘recooked’ and is made from the whey portion leftover from other cheese making, which is reheated to bring the whey proteins together. Ricotta cheese has 10.1g of protein per 100g. Whey protein is easily absorbed and contains all the essential amino acids (protein building blocks) that our bodies need. All dairy proteins are high quality, however whey proteins have been studied in sports nutrition including the branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine and valine. Whey protein has a high content of leucine, which is known to assist muscle regeneration.2

 

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