Easy Homemade Whole Milk Cheese
Once upon a time I dreamed of building a farm-to-table pizza restaurant. I loved the idea of everything (or as much as possible) being grown or produced on the farm and then served nightly in a cozy little restaurant lit with candles and alive with laughter. I’ve moved past that dream, but while pursuing it I did learn a few tricks: including how to make homemade whole milk cheese. I think a lot of people like the idea of making their own cheese but have never tried because it seems complicated. I’m here to tell you – this recipe is anything but complicated. In fact, there’s a good chance you have all the ingredients on hand right this minute…let me know how you do! Enjoy!
What You Need To Make Homemade Whole Milk Cheese:
- 1 gallon whole milk (not ultrapasturized)
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fine salt
Other Items You’ll Need:
- a colander
- cheese cloth
How to make Homemade Whole Milk Cheese:
Pour milk into a large, heavy bottomed pot and heat at medium high until it reaches a boil. Stir constantly to keep milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and slowly stir in vinegar. The milk should immediately separate into curds and whey. If not, add more vinegar one Tablespoon at a time until the separation occurs.
Pour mixture into a colander lined with a double layer of cheese cloth. Rinse with cool water and then sprinkle with salt.
Tie up the cheese cloth and press excess liquid out with your hands. Let the cheese sit for 1-2 hours (you can place a heavy object like a book on top of it if you want to remove even more whey), then it is ready to serve. Enjoy!
Pro Tip: This is a very mild cheese that works well in in casseroles or mixed into recipes. To liven up the flavor you can mix in fresh herbs, pepper, spices, extra salt, or even fresh fruit. This is super easy to make so just have fun and make it your own. Enjoy!
Easy Homemade Whole Milk Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole milk not ultrapasturized
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons fine salt
Other Items You'll Need:
- a colander
- cheese cloth
Instructions
- Pour milk into a large, heavy bottomed pot and heat at medium high until it reaches a boil. Stir constantly to keep milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and slowly stir in vinegar. The milk should immediately separate into curds and whey. If not, add more vinegar one Tablespoon at a time until the separation occurs.
- Pour mixture into a colander lined with a double layer of cheese cloth. Rinse with cool water and then sprinkle with salt.
- Tie up the cheese cloth and press excess liquid out with your hands. Let the cheese sit for 1-2 hours (you can place a heavy object like a book on top of it if you want to remove even more whey), then it is ready to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Easy instructions, even for me. I used lemon juice, not vinegar. I let it sit out overnight and in the morning, I added chopped mango, black olives, salt, garlic, onion powder, oregano and refrigerated it for 24 hours. It works as a spread with bagels and crackers. My mom made this when I was a kid. In Spanish it goes by the name “requeson” and the formula is the same. Recommended!
Can you use just regular whole milk
I had a liter of fresh milk and mixed it with a cup of full cream milk powder. I microwaved it for 10 minutes, not quite boiling. Then I stirred through 50 mls of vinegar. Strained and rinsed etc. So simple and very nice.
@Wombat, the above recipe yielded 285g cheese.
do you rinse the actual cheese with cold water while its in the clothes or
while the cheese is wrapped in the cloth
Use it in liu of rigotta, add cream cheese, egg, confectioners sugar and your taste bud spices to stuff anything…tastes great
My mother would age it over several days after shaping and releasing from a cheese mold. She would salt it as she turned it periodically. It would solidify enough to be grated.
My efforts have failed. Outside gets rock hard. Inside mildews.
I would appreciate any help!!!!
Thank you
Anything homemade sounds good.
I have 2 gallons of 2% milk. Would this work for this recipe?
Can u freeze this cheese?
Hi Mary, This recipe looks so easy that I am going to try it. When would be a good time to add fresh herbs? Thank you.
@LB, I tried this recipe with 1/2 a gallon of milk. I added sweet pepper, onion and celery. It was a wow. thanks
You can use lemon or lime juice instead of vinegar. Or you can use junket Tablets! The milk only needs to be warm & amounts are not critical . I leave mine to drip, over night. If you have no colander, and / or no cheese cloth, tie a knot in all four corners of an old thinning tea towel. Tip one kitchen chair up side down and put it on another chair. Slip the tied corners of the cloth over the four up pointing legs. Put a spare bowl or pan under the resulting dip in the cloth. Pour in your curds and whey – and away you go!!
This was super easy but what is the purpose of rinsing with cool water? I forgot this step like an idiot and I’m wondering if it’s going to ruin the cheese.
It won’t ruin the cheese
Hi Mary, I have a question, can I use lemon juice in place of vinegar? Im on a doctors special diet right now and I would love to try to make my own cheese, but am not sure lemon will work. Can you please help me w/ this? Mary P.
Lemon juice will work
I made this today. I had leftover organic whole milk that I knew I would not use. I added fresh herbs from my garden…rosemary, lemon thyme and chives. I also added freshly grated black pepper and lemon zest. It is fabulous and I will make it again switching up the flavors.
Seriously? This is just paneer! Why not call it what it is?
Just because it has one name doesn’t make it the only name. This recipe has had many different names and terms over the thousands of years and in the hundreds of societies it’s been used in, not just paneer.
Not a nice comment. On your website, you can call it what you want to.
@PG, Paneer is cheese. They called this cheese. They DID call it what it is lmao.