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Homemade ricotta in a green dish next to lemons.

Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese

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Have you ever wanted to try making cheese? You can make your own delicious whole milk ricotta cheese in your own kitchen with 3 ingredients! This creamy ricotta is great in desserts and savory recipes as well.

  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 3 cups 1x

Ingredients

Scale

1 gallon of Raw Whole Milk (Unpasteurized milk)

2/3 cup of Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice (or 2/3 cup of white vinegar)

1 1/2 tsp of Salt

Instructions

  1. Start by juicing the lemons. Depending on how much juice is in each lemon, you’ll need 3 to 4 large lemons to get 2/3 of a cup. Set the juice aside while you heat the milk.
  2. To heat your milk, pour the gallon of raw milk into a large stock pot. Turn the heat on to medium high. Be sure not to rush the heating process. This should take 20 to 30 minutes. 
  3. While it heats, stir it frequently with a wooden spoon. This helps prevent the milk from scorching.
  4. Once your thermometer registers between 185 and 195 degrees fahrenheit, your milk is ready for the lemon juice. 
  5. Add the 2/3 cup of lemon juice and remove the pot from the heat. Stir with the wooden spoon. You’ll see curds begin to form! Curds forming after adding lemon juice.
  6. Let the milk sit for about ten minutes. Stir again, and you should see even more curds.
  7. While the milk sits, get your large bowl and place your colander or strainer inside it and place two layers of cheesecloth inside the colander, making sure the two layers of cheesecloth line the inside.Colander lined with cheesecloth.
  8. Place your bowl and strainer setup in the sink (I find that the bowl being inside the sink so its lower makes it easier to drain).
  9. Pour the milk into the cheesecloth lined strainer until the pot is empty. Because the strainer is sitting inside the bowl, the whey won’t drain from the curds until you lift the colander up a bit to let the liquid drain out. You can also drain the whey by lifting up the edges of the cheesecloth to form a bag and hold it up over the colander to let the whey drain, and squeeze the cheesecloth to force the whey out if you like.Curds and whey in the cheesecloth.Cheesecloth full of curds.  
  10. You won’t need to drain the ricotta for very long, just long enough for most of the whey to drain out which shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. If you find the texture is more dry and crumbly than you want, you can stir some whey back in a spoonful at a time until you have the consistency you want (heavy cream may also be used to add creaminess. See “additional tips” in notes section for this method).Adding whey to ricotta to add creaminess.
  11. Once your ricotta is drained to your liking, add the 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and stir well. Adding the salt after draining ensures that you are not draining it off when you strain the curds.Ricotta after draining.
  12. Your ricotta is ready to use! If you are not using it immediately, store in the refrigerator (see notes for storage tips). 

Notes

Don’t forget to use raw whole milk. Pasteurized milk won’t work here. I know it does not work because I tested it so you don’t have to! 

Does using raw milk mean your ricotta won’t be pasteurized? No, because during the cheesemaking process, you are heating the milk hot enough to kill bacteria.

Plain white vinegar can be used for the acid in place of lemon juice. They both work equally well. I have tried both and prefer lemon juice. Don’t try to use anything like apple cider vinegar or other fancy infused vinegars, it will make for a very strange ricotta.

If you’re using lemon juice be careful to get all the seeds out of your lemon juice before using, or you’ll be picking them out of your cheese!

This recipe will yield 3 to 4 cups of ricotta. If you don’t want to make that much, you can easily cut this recipe in half.

 

Troubleshooting And Tips For Homemade Ricotta

curds did not form- This could be for a few reasons. Not using raw milk, not using enough acid for the amount of milk, or the milk may not have been hot enough.

ricotta is rubbery or has an unpleasant grainy texture- your ricotta having a very grainy texture or being really rubbery happens when the milk is heated too quickly. Don’t rush the heating process! Ricotta made by heating the milk too fast is still edible, but the grainy and rubbery texture is unpleasant for sure.

When making ricotta, these are the issues I have most commonly run across. If you try this recipe and have a problem not listed here, be sure to email me and I will be happy to help!

Additional Tips For Making Whole Milk Ricotta

draining the ricotta- the longer you let it drain, the drier it becomes.

making your ricotta creamier- stirring some whey back into the ricotta after draining will help add creaminess. Or, for an even creamier texture, stir in about one Tablespoon of heavy whipping cream for every one cup of ricotta after your ricotta is drained. Using the heavy cream is a lifesaver if you forgot to save some extra whey!

what to do with the leftover whey- you can use this for more than just adding liquid back into the ricotta! Use it to make smoothies or brine chicken.

how do I know my ricotta was successful? Once you see curds forming, and your ricotta is not rubbery or overly grainy in texture, give yourself a high five!

be sure to use a thermometer- you can use either the type used for making candy or for deep frying. I have found more success using a thermometer than not using one.

Storage And Serving Tips

This cheese will keep for up to one week in the refrigerator in a container with a tight fitting lid.

I advise storing some of the whey with your cheese in case you want a creamier texture (or simply stir in some heavy cream as previously mentioned). If you need your ricotta on the dry side you can always drain whey off later.

Homemade whole milk ricotta can be used in any recipe or application that you would use store bought ricotta. Try it in desserts or on top of gnocchi! There are more ideas in the blog post worth checking out as well.

  • Author: Amy at The Copper Table
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Category: Cooking From Scratch
  • Cuisine: Italian

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1/4 cup
  • Calories: 13
  • Sugar: 0.5 g
  • Sodium: 445.1 mg
  • Fat: 0.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 1.4 g
  • Protein: 0.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 23.3 mg

Find it online: https://thecoppertable.com/whole-milk-ricotta-cheese/