*This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support.
Homemade spinach ricotta ravioli with lemon, sage, and olive oil! A tasty vegetarian dinner recipe for the whole family! With a recipe option for vegan spinach ricotta ravioli!
Table of Contents
Those spinach ricotta ravioli are some of the best homemade ravioli you can imagine. The filling is made with spinach, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, lemon zest, and lemon juice. A creamy, fresh, and delicious ravioli filling that comes with a heaping portion of iron.
Spinach is the main actor here – a healthy vegetable and an excellent source of iron, fiber, and vitamins. Adding some ricotta makes the spinach ravioli filling much creamier. Parmesan adds additional flavor and saltiness, whereas lemon zest and juice adds freshness.
I love to drizzle spinach ricotta ravioli with in olive oil roasted sage – it makes for the perfect finish! No ravioli sauce is necessary.
You can serve spinach ricotta ravioli for dinner or lunch. No side dish is needed. Depending on how much you choose to eat, I recommend serving 6-12 ravioli per person.
Homemade ravioli even make an appealing appetizer – only serve 3 per person!
Making homemade ravioli is time-consuming but worth every minute. The flavors you get out of this Italian pasta dish are just incredible.
I recommend preparing this recipe with homemade pasta dough – just like a real Italian! 😉 You can go with a classic egg pasta dough or an eggless vegan pasta dough (you will find both versions in the linked recipe).
There are different ways to fill and fold ravioli. I will show you a super easy one! Make sure to watch the step-by-step images in the instruction section. I highly recommend using a ravioli cutter wheel to cut ravioli. This inexpensive tool is going to make them look prettier in an instant!
Feel free to use a ravioli maker if you have one at home. Although you do not need a ravioli maker, it is super easy and fun to make ravioli using your hands and a ravioli cutter wheel.
Vegan Spinach Ricotta Ravioli
Super easy and simple to make vegan spinach ricotta ravioli. Substitute regular ricotta cheese with vegan ricotta cheese. It’s widely available in grocery stores, or you can even make your own following this vegan cashew ricotta cheese recipe!
Cashew ricotta is not a silky as regular ricotta, but this will not affect the creaminess much. Have a look at the following picture to get a sense of both ricotta types!
Filling Ingredients
- Spinach→ Go for frozen spinach! Must be thawed and chopped. Make sure to squeeze out excess water by hand – you do not want to deal with a watery ravioli filling!
- Ricotta Cheese → Adds creaminess to those ravioli! Can be substituted with vegan ricotta cheese!
- Lemon → Zest and juice for an intense and fresh citrus flavor!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
This visual step-by-step instruction will help you along the way – definitely recommended if you’re a cooking beginner!
- Follow this recipe to prepare homemade pasta dough or use a store-bought one.
- Thaw spinach, squeeze out all excess liquid by hand, and finely chop.
- Add ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, and nutmeg in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Stir in chopped spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Fill Ravioli
- Place the thin pasta sheets on a floured surface and cut into approx. 10-inch (25cm) pieces, much easier to handle the dough this way instead.
- Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the spinach ricotta ravioli filling at even intervals (two fingers apart from each other) on the upper half of the dough.
- Fold the other half of the dough over the filling, gently pressing down around the mounds of filling and pushing out any air.
- Cut into ravioli using a ravioli cutter wheel or sharp knife. → Cut away any excess dough. You can reuse all dough trimmings! Simply knead them together, rest for 10 minutes, then run through the pasta roller again.
- Repeat until no filling is left. → If there is pasta dough left, use it to make homemade noodles!
Cook Ravioli
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook ravioli for 2-3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat with olive oil and chopped sage. Cook for 3 minutes. → Medium heat is enough. Otherwise, you will burn the sage!
- Drizzle cooked ravioli with sage & olive oil, freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt, and parmesan cheese (optional).
Storage & Freezing Instructions
I highly recommend only cooking as many ravioli as you are going to eat. Ravioli are best when freshly cooked. Freezing ravioli is the best way to preserve them. However, sometimes it’s inevitable to have leftovers, so store cooked ravioli in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave.
Store uncooked ravioli on a floured baking tray wrapped covered with plastic wrap for a maximum of one day.
Freeze uncooked ravioli on a single layer in the freezer. Transfer to a freezer bag once frozen. Place frozen ravioli (do not thaw them first) in a pot of boiling salt water and cook for 4 minutes.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Butternut Squash Ravioli
- Baked Feta Pasta with Spinach
- Spinach Feta Quiche
- Spinach Apple Salad with Cranberry & Walnut
If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a star rating ★ below.
Please follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or sign up for my free newsletter to never miss the newest recipes. I would be thrilled to welcome you to my community & thank you so much for your support! 💕
📖 Recipe
Spinach Ricotta Ravioli
Click on the stars to leave a vote!
Ingredients
- 1 portion homemade pasta dough or store-bought pasta dough
Spinach Ricotta Filling
- 9 oz (250 g) frozen spinach thawed
- 1 cup (250 g) ricotta cheese or vegan ricotta (Note 1)
- ½ cup (50 g) parmesan cheese or vegan cheese (Note 1)
- 1 lemon, only grated zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- salt and pepper
Sage Olive Oil
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 4 leaves fresh sage finely chopped
Instructions
- Follow this recipe to prepare homemade pasta dough or use a store-bought one. → You can go with a classic egg pasta dough or an eggless vegan pasta dough (you will find both versions in the linked recipe).
- Thaw spinach, squeeze out all excess liquid by hand, and finely chop.
- Add ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, and nutmeg in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Stir in chopped spinach and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Fill Ravioli → See step-by-step images in the blog post above
- Place the thin pasta sheets on a floured surface and cut into approx. 10-inch (25cm) pieces, much easier to handle the dough this way instead.
- Spoon heaped teaspoons of filling at even intervals (two fingers apart from each other) on the upper half of the dough. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling, gently pressing down around the mounds of filling and pushing out any air.
- Cut into ravioli using a ravioli cutter wheel or knife. → Cut away any excess dough. You can reuse all dough trimmings! Simply knead them together, rest for 10 minutes, then run through the pasta roller again.
- Repeat until no filling is left. → If there is pasta dough left, use it to make homemade noodles!
Cook Ravioli
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook ravioli for 2-3 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon.
- Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat with olive oil and chopped sage. Cook for 3 minutes. → Medium heat is enough. Otherwise, you will burn the sage!
- Drizzle cooked ravioli with sage & olive oil, freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt, and parmesan cheese (optional).
Notes
- Vegan Spinach Ricotta Ravioli: It’s super simple to make a vegan version of this recipe. Use vegan ricotta (store-bought or follow this cashew ricotta cheese recipe) and a vegan cheese alternative. You can even skip the parmesan in the recipe and only use vegan ricotta, tastes delicious too!
- Store uncooked ravioli on a floured baking tray wrapped covered with plastic wrap for a maximum of one day.
- Freeze uncooked ravioli on a single layer in the freezer. Transfer to a freezer bag once frozen. Place frozen ravioli (do not thaw them first) in a pot of boiling salt water and cook for 4 minutes.
