A bowl filled with fresh whole milk ricotta and a spoon on the side.

5 / 3 votes

Fresh Whole Milk Ricotta

Making fresh cheese is easier than you may think. Give this simple recipe for ricotta a try and see for yourself. It's perfect for when you have a little time and don't want to run to the store.

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Resting Time1

Total Time1 50

Course: Basics

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Calories: 203

Ingredients

▢ 1 gallon whole milk
▢ 1 tablespoon salt
▢ 1 cup plain yogurt
▢ 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, (from 2 to 3 lemons)

US - Metric

Instructions

Make a double boiler out of 2 large pots, pouring enough water in the bottom pot to come at least halfway up the sides of the top pot. Pour the milk into the top pot and heat over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 190°F (88°C) on an instant-read or candy thermometer, at least 15 minutes and as long as 40 minutes.
Add the salt, yogurt, and lemon juice to the milk, and stir with a wooden spoon for about 30 seconds to mix everything together. Reduce the heat to low or turn it off.
Maintain the milk’s temperature at 190°F (88°C) for the next 25 minutes, lifting the pot out of the water if the milk gets too hot and returning it as the temperature drops. Whatever you do, DO NOT stir the milk while the ricotta curds are forming.
Use a skimmer to carefully lift all the ricotta curds out of the whey and transfer them to a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl.
Let the ricotta drain for about 1 hour and then pour off any of the drained whey from the bowl and gently dump the ricotta from the sieve into the bowl. Transfer to a covered container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Notes

How to make homemade ricotta with slightly less fuss

One of our recipe testers, Jenny Howard, has made this recipe countless times. And recently she tried it without the added trouble of monitoring and maintaining the 190°F temperature over hot water. She simply brought it to temperature as instructed in step one, added the additional ingredients in step three, turned off the heat, and let it sit for 25 minutes without stirring.

And what results was still quite lovely. As she explains, “It formed large curds perfectly well and was easy to lift out of the whey at the end of the rest. I’m not sure if I’m imagining it or not, but I vaguely remember the first batch (with the 190°F carefully maintained) being a bit lighter in texture and more airy, but it has been a while since I made that first batch and that could just be a confabulation.”

So there you have it. When time (or the kids) are pressing down on you, you can make things a little easier for yourself with barely a discernable shift in quality.

Nutrition