This homemade ricotta cheese recipe calls for nothing more than milk, buttermilk, salt, and 15 minutes. I promise it will be the best ricotta you’ve ever tasted…you might not ever buy supermarket ricotta again!
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why we love this recipe
Okay, the first thing I have to say is, hang in there with me for a few minutes. I know you are thinking, make your own homemade ricotta cheese? REALLY?
Here on this blog, where I have said about a million times, it’s all about getting in and out of the kitchen in 30 minutes or less? Has she finally eaten one too many piece of bacon and gone off her rocker?
Hang in there with me while I promise you these three things:
1. If you can boil water, you can make your own ricotta cheese.
2. It will take you less than 15 minutes from start to finish.
3. It will taste so good, you will wonder why on earth it took you so long to figure out that you should have been making your own homemade ricotta cheese for the past hundred years.
Let’s do this thing!
ingredients you need
ingredient notes and substitutions
- Buttermilk: You can find buttermilk near the cream in the dairy section of your supermarket…make sure you give the bottle a good shake before you pour it out.
- Milk: You have to use whole milk to make this heavenly ricotta…no low-fat or skim, please!
- Salt: We love using fine sea salt for this recipe, which you can find in the spice aisle.
how to make this recipe
STEP 1: Get out your handy strainer and put it in your sink. Line it with a little cheesecloth, which you can find in your supermarket, sometimes with the baking stuff and sometimes with the laundry stuff, for mysterious reasons. I usually fold it into a square that has about 3-4 layers until it looks like this. This will take you two minutes.
STEP 2: Now take a nice heavy saucepan and pour in 4 cups of whole milk and one cup of buttermilk.
PRO TIP: If you have any heavy cream hanging around, you can add this to the buttermilk and milk mixture – any amount up to 1/4 cup – and your ricotta will be extra super duper rich. Sometimes I do this and sometimes I don’t.
STEP 3: Set it on the stove and put the heat on to medium high and bring it to a boil.
In the early going, you may want to clip a candy thermometer on to the pot so you can watch the temperature, because when the temperature gets to about 185 degrees, the curds (the solid part) will have separated from the whey (the liquid part), and it’s time to strain it.
If you don’t have a thermometer don’t fret, because you can pretty much see it happening.
The milk mixture will boil, and it will gradually curdle and separate into the solids and the watery looking liquid. This will take about 10 minutes…sometimes less.
STEP 4: When the liquid starts to look like clearish milky yellow and you see lots of curds, take the pot off the burner and reach for your handy slotted spoon, and start scooping out the solids, letting the liquid drain off. Drop the spoonfuls of solids into your strainer.
STEP 5: I like to sprinkle a little sea salt onto the cheese every couple of spoonfuls or so. Once you are done, let it drain for about 2 minutes (if you like your ricotta moist) or 5 minutes (if you like it drier).
You can leave it right in the strainer, or you can be like I was when I first made it and hang it dramatically from your kitchen faucet.
STEP 6 (my favorite step): Taste it after a few minutes…if it’s gotten too dry just stir in a tablespoon or two of milk, and if it’s too moist for you, let it keep draining.
Fifteen minutes have now passed, and you have made your own homemade ricotta cheese. 🥳
recipe FAQ
Buttermilk is a low-fat dairy product that is high in protein. It has a slightly sour taste and a thick, creamy texture.
So many things! We love making steak marinated in buttermilk (super tender), buttermilk fried chicken tenders and of course, buttermilk pancakes!
Most supermarkets carry in either the laundry aisle, the baking aisle or both.
Pop your question the comments section below and I will answer pronto!
Recipes that are perfect for fresh ricotta
There are SO many, but I’m going to control myself and just tell you about my top three faves!
Number one on the list is scrambled eggs with ricotta. It’s comfort food on top of comfort food. And a close second is the recipe I make on repeat all summer…Summer Lasagna, full of fresh summer veggies and, yep, ricotta!
I’m also in love with this peach ricotta crostini, which is the perfect blend of a sweet and salty nibble.
And honey cheese pizza! Dolloped with this ricotta. THE BEST.
other homemade staple recipes we love
could you leave us some stars?
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section. Your thoughts and advice will help both us and your fellow readers. 🥰
PrintHomemade Ricotta Cheese Recipe
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
5 from 3 reviews
This homemade ricotta cheese recipe calls for nothing more than milk, buttermilk, salt and 15 minutes!
- Author: Kate Morgan Jackson
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Staples
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- One cup buttermilk
- Sea salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (optional)
Instructions
- Line a fine mesh strainer with several folds of cheesecloth and set it in your sink.
- Combine milk, buttermilk and (if you are using it) cream in a medium heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a boil until cooking thermometer registers 185 degrees (if you don’t have a thermometer, keep an eye on it to see when the curds (the solid white parts) are mostly separated from the whey (the cloudy liquid). This will take about 10 minutes – stir a couple of times during the boiling process.
- Remove from heat and using a slotted spot, scoop spoonfuls of the curd into the cheesecloth-lined strainer, sprinkling with a little salt every few spoonfuls or so.
- Let the ricotta drain for about 5 minutes and then taste to check the consistency. If you like it drier, then let it drain a little more. If you like it moister, stir in a tablespoon or two of milk. This ricotta is best used right away, but will keep for a day or two in the fridge.
Notes
- Buttermilk: You can find buttermilk near the cream in the dairy section of your supermarket…make sure you give the bottle a good shake before you pour it out.
- Milk: You have to use whole milk to make this heavenly ricotta…no low-fat or skim, please!
- Salt: We love using fine sea salt for this recipe, which you can find in the spice aisle.
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Lisa says
can the ricotta cheese be made with less fat?
Kate says
Hi Lisa! I’m actually not sure – I’ve only made mine with the ingredients in this recipe. I do use reduced fat buttermilk, so there’s that! But to get the great taste of this one, I think you do have to use the whole milk and cream. Maybe some other readers have some ideas?
novachic says
Great Recipe. Thanks!
Kate says
Happy ricotta!
Annie says
I am definitely making this this weekend!
xo Annie
laircake.com
Kate says
Yay! I promise that once you make it, you’ll never go back to to store kind! :)
karen says
Great recipe and super easy! One suggestion I would make is to include how much ricotta the recipe yields. The pictures look like it makes quite a bit but it only yielded about 1 cup of ricotta. I was planning to use this to make lasagna but I guess I will use it to mix with eggs as shown in one of the photos. Now I know to at least triple the recipe if you want to make lasagna.
Kate says
Hi Karen! Great suggestion of course. I think I usually get about a cup and a half, but the next time I make it I will measure it up and add the yield to the recipe. I hope you like the ricotta with eggs – it is one of my favorite comfort foods EVER! :)
Nika says
Reading over all the comments, I think I may have gotten impatient and not let it cook long enough, or maybe cooked it too long or over stirred it. I did not get curds large enough to scoop out. The result tasted fine and it was great stuffed inside your summer lasagne.
I used organic buttermilk-the only thing I could find without carrageenan and that was labeled as being pasturized, but not ultra-pasturized, whole cream from a local dairy that was only grade a cream and whole milk. As it has set, it has become a very compact cheese rather than crumbly or creamy. Adding whey back to it allows it to become spreadable again. Any ideas on what I might have done wrong.
As to washing the cloth, my great grandmother had a pot for boiling hers with some vinegar and baking soda, then hang dry or if you have a sweater rack for your dryer, use the air fluff cycle. If you do wash it in your machine, run a vinegar and baking soda wash using hot water and if available the sanitizing cycle, then place your cloth in a lingerie bag and wash on hot water with vinegar and baking soda. Hang dry or air fluff .. no laundry detergent, fabric softner or dryer sheets.
Kate says
Hi Nika! I never stir mine except for a little bit at the end just to check out the curds – in the beginning a thermometer can help you judge if they are where they need to be. And thanks for the cloth cleaning tips!
Bethany says
This tasted really good but it only made about half a cup when I tried it. I don’t know I got such a small amount.
Kate says
Hi Bethany = it might be because you took it off the heat a little too soon, before all the curds had a chance to form. If the liquid was still kind of milky looking that could be the reason – that’s my guess. Next time leave it simmering a little bit longer (it won’t hurt it) and you should get about 1.5 cups or so.
Barbara says
Thank you so much for posting this. I can’t wait to try it. One day I brought a dozen cannolis to work. An Italian nurse tried one. The other nurses asked her how they were. She told them that they were horrible, “Don’t even try them.” The next day she told me that they were so good, she ATE THEM ALL. She told me how she told everyone how bad they were so that they wouldn’t eat any. She said, “They wouldn’t appreciate them”. I assume because they’re not Italian. My secret ingredient to make the cannolis is amaretto.
Kate says
Love cannolis – and this story!!
Karen Valencia says
Is the cheese cloth something you can wash and re-use, or do you use new pieces each time?
Kate says
I use new pieces each time, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t rinse it VERY thoroughly and use it again.
Elise says
You can also go to the paint store and buy a paint strainer. It’s super cheap and works great and you can wash it easily.
Kate says
A great suggestion that I never would have thought of – thanks, Elise!
Shellie Martin says
I love homemade Ricotta made with goats milk products even more! I make buttermilk with goats milk as well to use in all my cheese recipes that call for it. Not big on store bought goats milk at all as it drastically changes to a strong flavor once pasteurized, so would recommend buying it from someone who milks their own goats.
Kate says
Thanks Shellie – great advice for goat milk lovers! :)
mindymoo says
Do you stir the liquid mixture while waiting for it curdle or leave it alone? Cant wait to try this!
Kate says
You can stir towards the end to get a sense of how things are thickening up, but you don’t have to. You definitely don’t have to stir it in the beginning – just let it do its thing. Have fun!
Emma says
How long will the ricotta last in the fridge? I would love to make some and store it for lunches during the week!
Kate says
It will last a few days, but it might dry out a bit – just stir in a little milk though and it should loosen back up!
Babs mom of 5 says
I made low fat ricotta using this recipe: 5 cups skim milk, 1/2 tsp salt…cook until it reaches 190 degrees, stirring to keep milk from scorching. Remove from heat and add 4Tbsp lemon juice, stir twice, then let sit 5-7 minutes. Strain as directed in recipe above^^^ It turned out beautifully!!!
Kate says
Thanks for the variation Babs – I know folks have been looking for the low-fat version!
AL TAN says
I have been planning to make Ricotta cheese at home but its just they can’t last long as cheddar cheese. I will be using yogurt instead of cream as in Malaysia its very hard to find cream.
Catherine says
Hello! I dont have access to buttermilk, can I make this without it? Thanks!
Kate says
Hi there – I’ve never tried it, but I know folks make buttermilk out of regular milk and lemon juice. If you scroll the comments or Google it you’ll see how it works..
Adrianne says
I too thought, how good could this be? It’s ricotta cheese. Boy, was I wrong. This is amazing. THe recipie is easy to follow, the cheese is moist and smooth and full of flavor, and clean up is next to nothing. Great recipie, and I’ll never buy store bought again.
Kate says
Hurray! That was my experience EXACTLY! :)