Homemade Ricotta Cheese Recipe | The Prairie Homestead (2024)

I love simple recipes that make me feel like a rockstar…

And homemade ricotta cheese definitely fits the bill.

Ricotta is one of the easiest cheeses to make, but it can transform a ho-hum recipe into something special–plus I always feel a extra fancy when I use it.

Oh, and making lasagna with homemade mozzarella AND homemade ricotta cheese? It takes the dish to a whole new level folks… If you are serving it to dinner guests–they’ll go away impressed–promise. (Especially if you pair with it a hot loaf of homemade French bread. On second thought, scratch that. You don’t want to overwhelm them with awesomeness…)

**I love New England Cheese making Supply Co. for all of my cheese making needs. They’re truly just a great company with great products, and I love supporting their small business whenever I can. They’ve also offered my readers 10% off and order with the code HOMESTEAD for a limited time.**

True-blue, authentic ricotta cheese simply comes from heating up whey–the word ricotta actually means “recooked.” If you’ve read my blog for a while, you are probably already intimately familiar with whey and how to use it. However, if you’re new, but sure to check out my list of 16 Things to do With Wheyand my knock-your-socks-off Vintage Lemon Whey Pie recipe.

Ricotta made just from whey tends to have a low yield… So if you prefer a recipe with a slightly larger end result, try a ricotta cheese recipe that starts off with whole milk. (I’ve included that below as well!)

There seems to be approximately a million-and-one different ways to make ricotta, so if you’ve made it before, it’s likely that your method is different than mine. But I’m going to venture to say, that as long as you end up with those amazing little fluffy white clouds of ricotta goodness, there really is no “wrong” way to make ricotta.

So on to the recipes!

(this post contains affiliate links)

Ricotta Cheese Recipe #1 (using whey)

You will need:

• Fresh whey*, leftover from making cheese (try to use it the same day)
• Butter muslin (like thisor this one is great too) OR a tea towel OR myfrugal cheesecloth alternativeOR afine mesh reusable coffee filter

*This can be done with any amount of whey, but keep in mind the yield is quite small, so I don’t recommend doing it unless you have around 1-2 gallons of fresh whey at your disposal.

Instructions:

Place the whey in a large stockpot, and place it the stove over medium-high heat.

Bring it to around 190-195 degrees–or until you see fluffy looking “clouds” separating from the yellow whey when you stir the mixture. (I use a regular old ladle, but I gotta get one of these niceslotted ones for scooping curds. And this is a great thermometer if you’re in need of one.)

Avoid boiling if you can–it tends to give it a bit of a funny taste–plus it boils over easy, and cleaning sticky, cooked-on whey off your stovetop is a nightmare.

Once you see that the fluffy white ricotta cheese clouds have separated from the yellowish whey, remove it from the heat and pour it through your fabric or strainer to drain.

Allow the teeny ricotta curds to drain until all the whey has dripped out (I usually leave it for about an hour–you can go longer if you wish)

Sometimes I tie my cheesecloth/fabric into a “bag” and let it hang from a cabinet knob–other times I just line a colander with the cheesecloth and allow it to drip in the sink.

Store your fresh ricotta in the fridge or freeze it for later.

Ricotta Cheese Recipe #2 (using whole milk)

You Will Need:

• 1 gallon of whole milk
• 5 teaspoons of lemon juice (see note below)
• 1 teaspoon salt (I love and use this one)
• Butter muslin (like thisor this one is great too) OR a tea towel OR myfrugal cheesecloth alternativeOR afine mesh reusable coffee filter

Instructions:

Place the gallon of milk in a large stockpot and heat it over medium heat.

Once it has reached190-195 degrees, remove it from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

Allow the milk to sit for 5-10 minutes and wait for the curds to form.

Once you see those lovely, fluffy curds, drain the whey as directed in the whey ricotta instructions above.

Store in the fridge, or freeze for later.

Kitchen Notes

• Lemon juice isn’t your only option for creating curds. Some people prefer 1/4 cup of vinegar, while others add 1 teaspoon of citric acid. Feel free to play around a bit–as long as you end up with curds, you are on the right track.
• Keep in mind that heating the whey for these recipes kills most of the good bacteria, so it will only keep for about a week–unless you freeze it.
• If you don’t see curds right away, try adding a bit more lemon juice, or heating a bit more on the stove. It’s really hard to mess this up–so even if the recipe doesn’t go exactly as described, it’s likely you can still salvage it and end up with some sort of ricotta-like curds.
• The whole milk ricotta cheese recipe will yield more than the whey ricotta cheese recipe.
• You’ll end up with a bunch of leftover whey after you drain it from the curds. Here’s a whole list of how to use that whey.
• **I love New England Cheese making Supply Co. for all of my cheese making needs. They’re truly just a great company with great products, and I love supporting their small business whenever I can. They’ve also offered my readers 10% off and order with the code HOMESTEAD for a limited time.**