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The deliciously sweet, creamy ricotta curds are slightly off white in color with a taste and texture a bit reminiscent of cottage cheese or quark.
The great news is that messing up ricotta is just about impossible! It is one of the easiest and perhaps the best cheese you will ever attempt. The results are so delectable you will no doubt be making it over and over again.
I first learned to make ricotta along with a number of other cheeses 6 years ago when an expert cheesemaker from Wisconsin (where else?) who was planning a vacation in my area emailed me and asked if I would host a cheesemaking class in my home.
The class turned out to be extremely fun and informative and the techniques I learned I have continued to use to this day.
Homemade Ricotta – 3 Different Ways!
There are 3 different ways to make ricotta that I have discovered over the years in addition to the one approach I learned in that beginner cheesemaking class. All three approaches are overviewed in the video lesson below. In addition, the simplest method of the three is included as a written recipe.
Choose whichever method suits you best with whatever type of milk or whey you have on hand.
Homemade Ricotta Recipe
Recipe for the easiest of the three different methods for making homemade ricotta.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon raw milk slightly soured
- 1 stockpot
- 1 stainless steel colander
- 1 cheesecloth fine mesh
- 1 large rubber band
Instructions
Pour slightly sour raw milk into a large stockpot. If the raw milk is very sour or slightly clabbered, do not use as the ricotta will not turn out sweet.
Put stockpot on large burner and turn on to medium-high heat. Keep a close eye on the pot. Within 5-10 minutes, the milk will start to separate as shown in the photo. Remove pot from heat immediately. Overcooking will destroy the delicate texture of the ricotta.
Line a stainless steel colander with a fine mesh cheesecloth folded in half. Place the lined colander into another large pot and carefully pour in the warm, separated raw milk.
Let the whey drain from the ricotta cheese for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer you let the ricotta drain, the firmer it will be. Keep this in mind so that you achieve the desired consistency for whatever dish you plan to make with the ricotta.
Scrape out ricotta from the cheesecloth and use in a dish immediately such as lasagna or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last about a week refrigerated.
Recipe Notes
Cow or goat milk may be used to make this homemade ricotta recipe.
Homemade Ricotta Video Demonstration
More Homemade Cheese Recipes to Try
If learning to make cheese is exciting to you, check out my other cheesemaking posts here:
- Drowning in Whey? Make Gjetost Cheese. This post is a good one to read after learning to make ricotta as the leftover whey can be used to make gjetost if you chose to make ricotta from fresh milk.
- Cream Cheese and Liquid Whey. This video is incidentally one of the very first videos I ever filmed for this blog 2 years ago!
- Cheese Making: Common Problems and Solutions.
- Perfect Probiotic Cottage Cheese
- How to Make Yogurt Cheese.
- How to Make Quark
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Food Manufacturers Target Consumer Noses
Love this!! I’m so excited to make this someday.
Question: if I can’t get low temp pasteurized milk, what to do?
And is Hartzler’s (sp?) low temp? A friend uses that from a co-op and loves it. (can’t get raw milk here in Ohio *sad*).
Thanks!
Tamara
Tamara,
Hartzler and Snowville are both low-temp pasteurized and grass-fed. However, yes, you CAN get raw milk in Ohio. I am in central OH and have several sources I know of (and we have been getting raw milk for 2 years). Email me if you want to know where.
Hi,
Just read that we Ohioians can’t get raw milk. My family is part of a herd share and can legally get raw milk. Look into it. I think the web site I found my group on was rawmilk ohio or something like that. Good luck.
Bonnie
Who knew it would be so easy to make Ricotta! I’m SO glad to have found another use for slightly soured milk. Thanks so much!
awesome ~ sharing!
I was trying to do this the other day…big fail! I’ll have to watch that and figure out what I did wrong!
Thanks for posting this great, informative video, Sarah! Quick question, can I make ricotta from whey that has been in my fridge for approx. *4* months!? Or is that too old?
It will probably work. It won’t work to make gjetost cheese though as whey needs to be very fresh for that. Remember that you won’t get much ricotta from plain whey .. maybe just a few TBL per half gallon or so.
@Tricia I hope the video helps you figure things out so the next time it works for you 😉
Thanks so much for yet another great video.
One question… you said what you CAN”T do with the whey from the vinegar method but you didn’t say what you could do with it.
What are your suggestions? 🙂
Can I still make this if it is a little more then slightly soured? I am hoping you say YES! LOL
I would love to do this with my milk. 🙂
I still made this. I added some salt to it, and it tastes great! The children loved it! Thank you so much.
I also made some sour cream with the soured milk. YUM!
Well, I didn’t realize that whey would only give so much cheese. That was my problem. Next time I go to make it, I’ll do the last method you suggest. Thanks!
I don’t understand why the vinegar is a problem for the plants. The water in my area is alkaline and I use vinegar to adjust the Ph to be more acidic. In fact, farmers use acids in alkaline areas to do the same thing. So in that case, why would the vinegar in the whey be a problem?
Ricotta is WHEY cheese. The method you describe is CURD (CASEIN) cheese. Check out the traditional Italian methods (do a google search); too many people seem to confuse ricotta with this curdling process. I don’t get this. If you buy true ricotta, the main ingredient is (or should be) whey — not curd (casein). This looks good anyway; but it aint ricotta.
Please watch the video!
“No longer good for drinking?” in Russia we drink ‘Prostokvasha’ all the time! Its amazing, like drinking yoghurt! Just leave it at room temp until it becomes a little clumpy, and then transfer to fridge! Dip hot, toasted sourdough rye bread into it – heaven!
That said, thanks for the recipe, I’ve always wondered how to make good sweet ricotta 🙂
This s great Sarah. Wondering though, how is this ricotta cheese different from making cream cheese the same way. (cream cheese is not heated, just drained separated milk. Is that the only difference?)
Also, what can you do with ricotta cheese once it is done? is it eaten on crackers like cream cheese or do you use it to cook with it making dumplings, etc.?
This has to be one of my favorite videos yet! These videos are so valuable. Thank you for taking the time to share them with us!
Yay! Now I know what to do with FIVE gallons of milk that I accidentally let slightly sour!
What about cottage cheese? Can we make that at home?
What to do with ricotta? You mix it with whipping cream and chocolate and put in cannolis!
I just tried this. The consistency is more like mozzarrella than ricotta. Did I let it heat up too long?
Can you freeze this ricotta cheese? How long will it store in the fridge? Thanks!