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Home » Recipes » Vegetarian Recipes

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Published: Jul 20, 2013 · Modified: Oct 5, 2022 by Samantha Ferraro · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

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Learn to make homemade ricotta cheese made with just 4 ingredients.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese via LittleFerraroKitchen.com

The process is pretty easy really. All you need is milk and cream, acid and some time. Get the best whole milk you can find, you can taste the difference.

Then you bring it up to temp and get it nice and sweaty. After a few heightened degrees, acid is added it help form the curds. And speaking of curds, here's a vocabulary lesson for you!

Curds are the curdling cheese that starts to pull away from the whey, which is the liquid that's leftover.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself sneaking big spoonfuls. It's pretty addictive.

Also, another tip, thanks to Wonky Wonderful: As the curds are draining, do not..and I repeat..DO NOT press down on the curds to squeeze more liquid out. This will cause you to have a very dry cheese! Instead, just allow the liquid to naturally drip off and once you don't see any more liquid, then you should be goo to go. It took me a solid 2 hours.

Method:

1) In a large pot, combine milk, cream and salt. Place on low-medium heat and use a candy thermometer to bring the milk up to 190 degrees F.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese via LittleFerraroKitchen.com

2) Once it reaches temperature, turn off heat and add lemon juice. Stir it once and allow to sit for 5 minutes. At this point you should see the milk beginning to curdle.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese via LittleFerraroKitchen.com

3) Line a large mesh strainer we several layers of cheese cloth. Place the strainer on top of a very large pot and ladle the milk mixture into lined strainer. You will need a large pot to catch all of the liquid, there will be a lot.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese via LittleFerraroKitchen.com

4) Allow the mixture to drain for 2 hours. Do not squeeze the cheese, just allow the liquid to nationally drip off.

5) When done, scoop fresh ricotta into large or small mason jars and show off your work to your friends.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese via LittleFerraroKitchen.com

Recipes that use Ricotta

  • Homemade Pumpkin-Ricotta Ravioli with Brown Butter Walnut Sauce
  • Kanafe with Ricotta and Shredded Phyllo
  • Calzones Stuffed with Broccoli Rabe and Ricotta
  • Ricotta Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Samantha Ferraro

LittleFerraroKitchen.com

Learn to make homemade ricotta cheese made with just 4 ingredients.
5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 10 minutes mins
Strain 2 hours hrs
Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins
Course Appetizer
Cuisine British
Servings 10 servings
Calories 282 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 8 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 10 Tb fresh lemon juice strained (about 3-4 lemons)
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot, combine milk, cream and salt. Place on low-medium heat and use a candy thermometer to bring the milk up to 190 degrees F.
  • Once it reaches temperature, turn off heat and add lemon juice. Stir it once and allow to sit for 5 minutes. At this point you should see the milk beginning to curdle.
  • Line a large mesh strainer we several layers of cheese cloth. Place the strainer on top of a very large pot and ladle the milk mixture into lined strainer. You will need a large pot to catch all of the liquid, there will be a lot.
  • Allow the mixture to drain for 2 hours. Do not squeeze the cheese, just allow the liquid to nationally drip off.
  • When done, scoop fresh ricotta into large or small mason jars chill completely.

Notes

Yields 3-4 cups of ricotta.

Nutrition

Calories: 282kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 8gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 77mgSodium: 320mgPotassium: 354mgFiber: 0.04gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1017IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 273mgIron: 0.1mg
Did you make this recipe?Let us know by leaving a comment and 5 star rating!

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Comments

  1. Stu B. says

    July 28, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    5 stars
    I just did this using goats milk. Ended up with wonderful goat cheese.

    Reply
    • Samantha says

      July 30, 2013 at 10:47 am

      Hey Stu! Such a great idea using goat milk...that's next on my list! Thanks for the suggestion.

      Reply
  2. DessertForTwo says

    July 24, 2013 at 11:41 am

    5 stars
    I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I need to make it happen!

    Reply
    • Samantha says

      July 24, 2013 at 3:19 pm

      It is SOOO easy...seriously!! I tried to make mozzarella...that was a disaster! lol

      Reply
  3. Dinaz says

    July 20, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    5 stars
    Growing up in India, we used a lot of paneer in our cooking. After coming to the US I learnt to make my own paneer. Reading your blog I learnt paneer is the same as ricotta cheese!!!

    Reply
    • Samantha says

      July 24, 2013 at 3:22 pm

      Ah that is great to know! I didn't know ricotta and paneer are the same thing? Awesome!

      Reply
5 from 6 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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