Homemade Ricotta Cheese (4-Ingredients How to Make)
Ricotta Cheese is easy enough to make in your own kitchen! It’s tangy, salty, creamy, and sweet. What more could you want?
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon whole milk NOT ultra-pasturized
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2-1 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Pour milk and cream into a heavy stockpot or Dutch oven. Add salt to the milk mixture.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pan.
- Heat until the temperature of the milk registers between 185°F and 195°F. At this temperature, the milk will be slightly foamy on the top, but not boiling.
- Add lemon juice to the milk mixture and stir. You should see the milk curdling almost immediately. Turn off the heat when the mixture starts to separate and leave it to sit for about 10-15 minutes.
- Line a strainer or sieve with several layers of cheesecloth for draining the ricotta.
- Use a slotted spoon to lift the cheese curds from the whey and transfer to the cheesecloth-lined strainer. Allow the ricotta to drain for as long as you wish - the longer it drains, the thicker it will be. You can drain it for just a few minutes for a creamy ricotta or up to 45 minutes for a thicker ricotta.
- Transfer ricotta to an airtight container and refrigerate or serve immediately.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Notes
Ultra-pasturized milk will not work for cheese-making. Most milk from the regular grocery store will work great - typically ultra-pastureized milk will have an expiration date that is months away.
Using heavy cream in the recipe is optional. It adds a nice extra creamy flavor to the ricotta. If you want to skip the cream, just use whole milk and follow the instructions the same way.
The amount of lemon juice can vary some. I like to squeeze the lemon through a strainer to make sure no seeds end up in the ricotta. Squeeze and stir the milk mixture. If it doesn’t separate, go ahead and squeeze in a bit more lemon juice. It should separate with the addition of 2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Use Eureka or Lisbon lemons for the proper acidity. Meyer lemons are too sweet for this recipe. Vinegar can also be used in lieu of the lemon juice - you will be able to taste the lemon or vinegar in the finished ricotta so keep that in mind.
Drizzle olive oil (I love a Meyer lemon infused olive oil with the ricotta) and/or honey over the ricotta. We sprinkled with fresh thyme and served with blackberries and crackers. Delicious!
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 244cal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 243mg | Sugar: 12g | Fiber: 0.02g | Calcium: 311mg | Iron: 0.04mg