Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Hello friends! Let’s make Homemade Ricotta Cheese today! It’s easy to make, only a few minutes hands on, and it will be the creamiest, richest ricotta you’ve ever had in your life.

Making Homemade Ricotta Cheese from scratch is probably one of the easiest things to make in the kitchen.

I learned how to make this years and years ago, when I was obsessed over making everything from scratch.

And I love homemade ricotta so much more than store-bought for many reasons.

Check out the video I made showing how to easily make this Ricotta Cheese:

Homemade Ricotta Cheese is way creamier than store-bought. It’s so much better for frosting too, specially if you take my recommendation to strain it overnight.

Also, ricotta from scratch has a much better taste, unlike any other ricotta I’ve ever had at the store.

The process is pretty simple. Begin by pouring the milk, heavy cream, and salt in a big pot.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

So, I used to have this recipe initially in the same post with my Cannoli recipe. And there, I instructed to remove the milk from the heat before it reached a boil.

However, after many years of making ricotta after that, I’ve learned that bringing the milk and heavy cream to a boil, actually ensures much better results. Often times, when I wouldn’t let the mixture boil, the ricotta wouldn’t curdle as much.

After the milk and heavy cream have been boiling for a couple of minutes, add the lemon juice.

Here, another note about the lemon juice. Also, in my original recipe, I called for vinegar instead. There are two reasons why I decided to switch for lemon juice:

• The lemon juice curdles the mixture much better in my experience.
• Also, the lemon juice just adds a better taste to the ricotta than the vinegar.

After the lemon juice has been added, let the mixture simmer briefly until it curdles up.

Then turn the heat off, and let it sit for a few minutes before straining.

Line a fine mesh strainer with two layers of cheesecloth, making sure the cheesecloth has an overhang, so you can cover the ricotta.

Let the ricotta strain for at least an hour. I like to leave mine draining in the fridge overnight, to obtain a very firm and creamy ricotta.

After about an hour of draining, the ricotta will begin to look like this:

That’s when you can cover it with the cheesecloth, and place in the fridge.

The next day, remove the ricotta from the fridge, and it should look very firm.

That’s when you should transfer the ricotta to a container with a lid, and use within 3 days or so.

You can use the ricotta to make pasta dishes, fill ravioli, use it as a spread on toast, filling for crepes, or even for frosting.

The results are a velvety and creamy cheese, with a subtle tang.

And here are some recipes you can use the ricotta with:

• To make the cannoli cream to fill these delicious homemade Cannoli Shells.
• As a filling for these Ricotta Asiago Tortellini.
• To spread on Challah Bread.
• In place of the blue cheese in this Sourdough Pizza with Buffalo Cauliflower.
• Or maybe to fill these Beet Tortellini.

And here is some of the equipment I have used to make this Ricotta recipe.

Thanks for reading my blog! Have a great time!

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Camila Hurst

How to make Homemade Ricotta Cheese with a few simple ingredients! This makes for the creamiest, richest ricotta you've ever tried!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Resting time 6 hours hrs

Total Time 6 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Italian

Servings 2 cups

Calories 400 kcal

Equipment

• Large pot
• Spatula
• Strainer
• Cheesecloth
• Bowl

Ingredients

  

• 6 cups whole milk (1.4 liters)
• 3 cups heavy cream (710 ml)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 5 tbsp lemon juice* (73 ml)

Instructions

 

• Pour the milk, heavy cream and salt in a large pot, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
• Lower the heat and let the milk and heavy cream boil for about 2 minutes.
• Add the lemon juice and stir. Let the mixture simmer briefly until you will see it start to curdle up. Turn the heat off and let the mixture sit for a few minutes.
• Line a large mesh strainer with two layers of cheesecloth over a large bowl. Make sure the cheesecloth is large enough to leave an overhang to the sides, so you can cover the ricotta later.
• Pour the curdled milk through the strainer and let it drain for at least 1 hour.
• I like to leave my mixture straining in the fridge overnight, to obtain a very firm and creamy ricotta. I simply place the strainer over the bowl in the fridge, and cover the ricotta with the overhanging cheesecloth, as you can see in the pictures of the post above.
• The longer you strain, the firmer and creamier the ricotta will be.
• Regardless of how long you strain the ricotta, refrigerate it for a couple hours before using.
• This recipe makes a little bit over 2 cups of ricotta.

Storage

• Store this ricotta in the fridge, in an air tight container for up to 3 days.

Notes

*You can also use vinegar instead of lemon juice. I prefer lemon juice, and I find it that sometimes when I use vinegar it won’t curdle as well as if I use the lemon juice. Also the lemon juice provides a better taste to the ricotta.

**I used to remove the milk from the heat as soon as it came to a boil. However, I find it that it works much better if you let the mix actually boil for a couple of minutes before adding the lemon juice in.

Keyword cheesecake, ricotta