How to Make Cottage Cheese at Home: the easy recipe to enjoy cottage cheese

Cottage cheese is a tasty, healthy food that's packed with all sorts of vitamins and nutrients including bone-strengthening calcium, B vitamins, selenium, and protein. It's low-carb and low-fat, making it a great option if you're looking for a delicious, protein-rich food to add to your diet. The problem? Many store-bought commercial cottage cheeses are loaded with preservatives and other ingredients.

The good news is that it's super easy to make cottage cheese at home, and all you need is three ingredients! Once you make homemade cottage cheese, you'll never go back to the store-bought stuff. Here's everything you need to know about making cottage cheese at home.

Cottage Cheese Ingredients

Whole milk is the best choice for making cottage cheese. You don't need raw, unpasteurized milk to make cottage cheese. Just don't use UHT or long-life milk.

You'll also need white vinegar and salt.

How to Make Cottage Cheese

To make this phenomenal-tasting healthy homemade cottage cheese, start by slowly and gently heating your milk in a large saucepan. Make sure to keep stirring it, so the milk doesn't burn. Once it reaches 190F, take the pot off the heat and mix in the vinegar. Cover the pot with a lid and leave it for half an hour.

Put two pieces of cheesecloth in your colander then put the colander over a bowl to catch any drips. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the milk solids from the pot into the colander. Leave the curds to drain for about half an hour. Once half an hour has passed, wrap the cheesecloth around the solids to form a ball of cheese.

Tighten it, then run it under cold water while kneading the cheese until it cools. Turn the cheese out into a bowl. Bread up the cheese ball with a fork and sprinkle in the salt. Cover the cottage cheese and pop it in the fridge for an hour. After an hour, it's ready to use!

Tips for Making Homemade Cottage Cheese

Use an instant-read thermometer to know when the milk has reached 190F.

You can use lemon juice or apple cider vinegar instead of white vinegar, but these two ingredients might give your cottage cheese a distinctive flavor. If you don't mind, go for it!

Watching your salt content? Leave the salt out. Salt adds flavor, but it's not necessary for making cottage cheese.

While whole milk is best for cottage cheese, you can use skim or non-fat milk instead. Sheep milk and goat milk also work well.

Soy milk is your best bet if you want to make dairy-free vegan cottage cheese.

Jazz up your homemade cottage cheese by adding fresh chopped herbs. If you prefer sweet cottage cheese, add berries, fresh chopped fruit, or a dash of sugar, honey, agave nectar, or syrup.

How to Store Cottage Cheese

Keep your homemade cottage cheese in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy it within 5 days.

Instructions

Gradually heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stir constantly so it doesn't burn. Heat the milk to 190F.

Take the pot off the heat and pour in the vinegar.

Whisk.

Cover with a lid and leave for 30 minutes.

Arrange some cheesecloth in a colander. Set the colander over a bowl. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the milk solids from the pot into the colander. Leave for 30 minutes to drain.

Wrap the cheesecloth around the solids to form a ball of cheese. Tighten it, then run it under cold water while kneading the cheese until it cools.

Transfer the cheese to a bowl, and mash it up with a fork to form smaller curds. Add salt, then place it in the fridge for at least one hour before eating.

Notes

If you want to make creamier cottage cheese, add three tablespoons of heavy cream after adding the salt.