Homemade Ricotta Cheese is surprisingly easy to make, only requiring 4 simple ingredients and 20 minutes of time. And tastes a million times better than store bought!
Have you ever made (or tasted) homemade ricotta cheese? It will sort of blow your mind if you’re used to store bought. They are absolutely nothing alike!
What is Ricotta Cheese?
When you make cheese, you separate the milk into two things: the solids (curds), which are pressed, and the liquid that is left behind, which is called whey. Ricotta (translated to recooked in Italian), is a “whey” cheese. It’s made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk. Cheesemakers repurpose the whey by heating it with a small amount of milk and some form of vinegar or citrus, which creates curds. Then the curds are transferred to a cheesecloth and strained. What remains is delicate, fluffy, glorious ricotta.
If you’re at all into bread (and what sane person isn’t?), chances are you’ve heard of Nancy Silverton. She’s a pioneer when it comes to yeast and flour and has been at the forefront of efforts to revitalize sourdough and artisan breads in the United States. She’s also a James Beard award-winning pastry chef, founder of La Brea Bakery, co-owner of Mozza in Los Angeles, and author of 7 cookbooks. How’s that for a resume?
I was fortunate enough to attend a cooking demo she put on, where she created some small bites, which included amazing homemade ricotta cheese.
How Do you Make Ricotta Cheese?
(Full printable recipe is at the end.)
You only need four simple ingredients! Whole milk, heavy cream, fresh lemon juice, and kosher salt.
- All the ingredients go into a small, heavy-bottom stainless steel saucepan. Bring it to a boil, without stirring. Then turn off the heat and set the saucepan aside until the mixture cools slightly, 5-10 minutes. (You’ll see the mixture separating into curds.)
- Line a strainer (or colander) with cheesecloth and place in the sink. Very gently scoop the curds out of the saucepan (don’t pour! which will break up the curds) and into the strainer to drain.
That’s it! Serve warm over bread, with fresh herbs, drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of pepper!
Awesome uses for Ricotta Cheese
- Dollop a bit on crusty bread, drizzle with quality olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Simple and delish!
- Take your breakfast up a notch and spoon it onto scrambled eggs.
- Include it as part of the mixture for homemade meatballs.
- Make my absolute favorite snack with roasted grapes. Life changing.
- Combine it with some grilled fruit, granola, and honey for a light dessert.
- Use it as a layer in lasagna.
- Stir it in cooked pasta and spaghetti sauce.
- Mix it with spinach and cheese to make a tasty dip!
Can You Freeze Ricotta Cheese?
Freezing homemade ricotta is not ideal. Since it’s a soft cheese, the high moisture content becomes ice when you freeze it, and then once thawed, you can see the division of whey and curds, resulting in a drier, grainier texture. I don’t recommend it!
Watch the video for Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Other homemade spreads and sauces we love include Sweet Chili Sauce, Pesto Sauce, Lemon Curd, Tzatziki Sauce.
Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed, strained lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Without stirring, pour all of the ingredients in a small heavy-bottom stainless steel saucepan; bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and set the saucepan aside until the mixture cools slightly, 5-10 minutes. (You’ll see the mixture separating into curds.)
- Line a strainer (or colander) with cheesecloth and place in the sink. Gently scoop the curds out of the saucepan (don’t pour! which will break up the curds) and into the strainer to drain.
- That’s it! Serve warm over bread, with fresh herbs, drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of pepper!
Video
Notes
- If you don't have a cheesecloth, 2 layered coffee filters does the trick, too!
- If you don’t want to use the ricotta warm, you can tie the cheesecloth onto the handle of a long wooden spoon; place the spoon over a bowl or pan so it’s hanging. Then place in the refrigerator to drain until you’re ready to use it, for up to 2 days.
- Unfortunately, it takes a lot of liquid to get a mere 1 cup of product. But don’t waste it. Use the reserved liquid (whey) to replace water or milk in any yeast bread recipe, and also for cooking rice or pasta!
- For several ways to use delicious ricotta, refer to the article.
Nutrition
Other Notes
recipe compliments of Nancy Silverton
Sounds very easy to make …. but do you need a stainless steel pan? Mine are all Teflon coated.
Hi Jan – I honestly couldn’t say. I’ve only ever used stainless steel. But I bet it would still be fine. Try it!
I absolutely love ricotta and was not aware it was this easy to make at home, this is truly amazing!!!
I am a total Nancy Silverton fan girl! And fresh ricotta is the most amazing thing! Thanks for including a link to my mascarpone :) ??
I love all that curly hair! I need to learn tips from you because my daughter somehow got curls… and both of us have straight hair, so we’re at a loss on how to tame it, haha.
Also, homemade ricotta is one of my favorite things to make and eat, it’s just amazing!
Oh gosh…tips on taming it? As soon as *I* figure that one out, I’ll let you know! I have such straight hair envy.
What a fun event, and nice that you were able to share it with a food blogging friend! I’ve always made ricotta with whole milk; the heavy cram must make it extra luxurious~
This sounds like my kind of event. Bread, olive oil and ricotta. What more could a woman ask for? Well, besides pie and chocolate. And dogs. But you get the idea.
P.S. I’m jealous of your frequent celebrity chef meetings. I need to live in a better state.
So happy you were able to go! It sounds like it was very delicious. We’ll let you know about the next Macy’s CC Stop in SF. You are a rock star!!
Britton
OMG. I’m a Nancy Silverton devotee! Love that sandwich book of hers… we use it all the time!
What fun! I have my DVR set up to record The Borgia’s – it looks good. Also, I wanted to thank you for your kind comments about Scrappycat.
What a fantastic, jealousy-inducing experience! How awesome. And I am looking wistfully at the picture of you and Nancy and your gorgeous locks because I lost most of my curls after Walt was born. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
I guess I’m going to have to eat a tub of warm ricotta to soothe myself.
Ha. See, you’re disappointed, and I’m bitter – everyone swore my curls would loosen up once I gave birth. No such luck :( Now *I* need to go comfort myself with a bowl of warm ricotta ;-)
My mind sorta just blanked after reading about homemade ricotta. It’s totally on my to-do list!
Looks like a great time was had.
Lucky!! I was just thinking this afternoon that I needed to get myself up to LA soon to go behind the scenes at La Brea Bakery and maybe catch up with Nancy Silverton. What an amazing lady!
No doubt. The entire time I’m talking to her, I’m thinking “I’m not worthy. I’m not worthy.” Would love to got to La Brea, but at least I got to eat some of her bread for an hour. I’ll take what I can get!
Ricotta is totally my icing. What a great event! You know how I feel about bread…totally have to check out the Mozza cookbook. Amazon and I are becoming close friends.
And OMG. Homemade ricotta. Need this. In my life.
It doesn’t come out until August. Waaaaa. SO WRONG. The ricotta, though – so so right. You would absolutely love it, J.
I love ricotta baked in a little shallow dish and then drizzled with honey, sprinkled with some fresh herbs… Schmeared on bread…
Such a great time! The ricotta was A.MAZ.ING! OMG…like nothing I’ve ever had before.
I know. I’m still dreaming about it…
Well it looks like you guys had a blast. Image the curl fest we’d have if I was there too!
I’m headed back to the hospital to see Dad, but I did manage to make some blue stilton crackers today. First time in the kitchen in almost a week!
That seriously would have been hilarious. And I would have felt bad for anyone sitting behind us…it’s like being behind the guy in the hat.
The fact that you were motivated enough to make crackers tells me things are looking up. I certainly hope that’s what it means. (((hugs)))
I may make this when you come see me. Really! Lasagna with homemade noodles kind of calls out for homemade ricotta. ;)
You totally should have got hair tips from her. Glad you guys had fun. That picture of you and K made my day. :D
Do not tease me, Melissa. That would just be cruel.