• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
The Healthy Home Economist

The Healthy Home Economist

embrace your right to a lifetime of health

Get Plus
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Archives
  • Log in
  • Get Plus
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Get Plus
  • Log in
  • Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • Archives
  • My Books
  • Shopping List
  • Recipes
  • Healthy Living
  • Natural Remedies
  • Green Living
  • Videos
  • Natural Remedies
  • Health
  • Green Living
  • Recipes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Recipes / Appetizer Recipes / Side Recipes / Fermented Side Recipes / How to Make Cream Cheese from Pasteurized Milk

How to Make Cream Cheese from Pasteurized Milk

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Jump to Recipe

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Use Cream Top Milk if Possible
  • How to Make Cream Cheese from Pasteurized Milk+−
    • Ingredients
    • Instructions

How to make cream cheese from pasteurized milk (when farm fresh is unavailable) that far surpasses store bought commercial brands in nutrition and digestibility.

DIY pasteurized cream cheese in a bowl with rosemary

Fresh cream cheese made from unpasteurized milk is absolutely the best and healthiest way to make this traditional food.

You don’t need any starter culture to make cream cheese this way. The natural probiotics in the milk itself serve as the inoculant.

If you live in an area with draconian food regulations that preclude access to unpasteurized milk straight from the farm, however, then you can make it yourself by culturing pasteurized milk instead.

This option is still far better than anything you can buy at the store. It is free from additives and gum stabilizers that can trigger intestinal inflammation in sensitive individuals.

In addition, it contains enzymes and probiotics that commercial cream cheese … even if organic … does not.

Use Cream Top Milk if Possible

If you must use processed milk for making cream cheese, then it is worth the effort to try and source low temp pasteurized, non-homogenized milk.

While cream top milk is not as healthy as raw, it is still the best when it comes to processed dairy.

Homogenization is a violent factory process that forcibly micronizes the fat globules in whole cow milk. This keeps them suspended evenly throughout the liquid portion of the milk.

Non-homogenized milk is “cream top”, which means the fat forms a layer at the top of the container. This requires the milk to be shaken up to naturally disperse the cream before pouring.

If you can’t find cream top milk, then use the best quality pasteurized milk you can find.

Note that ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk frequently fails to properly ferment due to the excessive processing, so avoid this type of milk if at all possible.

DIY pasteurized cream cheese in a bowl with rosemary
5 from 4 votes
Print

How to Make Cream Cheese from Pasteurized Milk

How to make cream cheese from pasteurized milk when fresh is unavailable that far surpasses store bought commercial brands in nutrition and digestibility.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Fermentation 12 hours
Total Time 12 hours 20 minutes
Servings 64
Calories 50 kcal
Author Sarah Pope

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts whole milk or cream for extra thick results
  • 1 packet cream cheese starter
  • 1/2 – 1 tsp sea salt if you intend to freeze your cheese

Instructions

  1. Over low heat, slowly heat the milk in a medium sized pot to 86 °F/ 30 °C. This will take about 20 minutes. Do not heat the milk faster than this.

  2. Remove pot from heat and add cream cheese starter. Mix thoroughly for 15 seconds only. Use an up-and-down motion rather than a stirring motion.

  3. Cover the pot with a lid and leave in a warm spot in the kitchen for 12 hours at 72-77°F. Do not set on top of the refrigerator.

  4. After the cream cheese has set for 12 hours, place a colander in a bowl and line the colander with a tight-weave dishtowel or double layer of cheesecloth.

  5. Carefully spoon in the cream cheese into the middle of the cloth, gather up the corners and tie the ends together.

  6. Hang the cloth filled with cream cheese over a bowl to drain the liquid whey for a few hours.

  7. Once drained, carefully spoon the finished cream cheese from the bag into a container, seal and refrigerate for up to a week. The cream cheese remains fresh best in glass.

  8. If you intend to freeze some of the cream cheese, add sea salt at a rate of 1 tsp per half pound. This will help preserve the texture by tightly packing the cream cheese curds.

Nutrition Facts
How to Make Cream Cheese from Pasteurized Milk
Amount Per Serving (1 Tbl)
Calories 50 Calories from Fat 45
% Daily Value*
Fat 5g8%
Saturated Fat 3.2g16%
Monounsaturated Fat 1.5g
Cholesterol 16mg5%
Sodium 43mg2%
Potassium 17mg0%
Protein 1g2%
Vitamin A 300IU6%
Calcium 12mg1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
FacebookPinEmailPrint
Category: DIY, Fermented Side Recipes
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

You May Also Like

onion poultice

How to Make and Use an Onion Poultice for Congested Coughs

ancient grains mixed in burlap bag for baking

Ancient Grain Flour Blend for Baking

Homemade Flaxseed Hair Gel Recipe (+ VIDEO) 1

Homemade Flaxseed Hair Gel (+ VIDEO)

DIY insect repellent spray bottle in greenery

How to Make Bug Repellent Spray (that really works!)

bottles of anti-dandruff shampoo at the pharmacy

How to Eliminate Dandruff Without Toxic Shampoos!

elderberry vinegar in a bottle on a wooden counter

Homemade Elderberry Vinegar

Going to the Doctor a Little Too Often?

Get a free chapter of my book Traditional Remedies for Modern Families + my newsletter and learn how to put Nature’s best remedies to work for you today!

We send no more than one email per week. You will never be spammed or your email sold, ever.
Loading

Reader Interactions

Comments (3)

  1. Catherine Lawrence

    Sep 30, 2023 at 9:42 pm

    5 stars
    These recipes are awesome, I hope to make cream cheese very soon. Thanks for the lesson.

    Reply
  2. Danielle

    Jan 7, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    5 stars
    I was just making everything bagels, and this recipe popped up! Love your sentiments in your article about the draconian food laws, you should be able to buy nutritious raw milk wherever you are! We Love raw milk and it has been a tremendous health benefit for our family, helped heal our guts! Never had milk so good, and I can’t imagine how good this cream cheese would be from this recipe! Thank you for this, going to implement it!

    Reply
  3. ceecee

    Dec 23, 2021 at 1:15 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you for this, I really appreciate it.
    (We do not even have this cream top milk in CA., have not seen it. Not the best food here.)

    Reply
5 from 4 votes

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Sidebar

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

The Healthy Home Economist

Since 2002, Sarah has been a Health and Nutrition Educator dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. Read More

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Check Out My Books

Mother Nature’s Medicine Cabinet

5 Secrets to a Strong Immune System

Loading

Contact the Healthy Home Economist. The information on this website has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease. By accessing or using this website, you agree to abide by the Terms of Service, Full Disclaimer, Privacy Policy, Affiliate Disclosure, and Comment Policy.

Copyright © 2009–2025 · The Healthy Home Economist · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.