Name: Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: Makes 2 1/2 cups
Ingredients: 8 cups whole milk; 1 cup heavy cream; 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Active Time
10 minutes
Total Time
25 minutes

Once you try this easy and delicious recipe, you'll never buy grocery-store ricotta again.

Watch our video for a step-by-step tutorial ›

Ingredients

Makes 2 1/2 cups

8 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Step 1
Line a large colander with 2 layers of cheesecloth and place over a large bowl.
Step 2
In a 5 to 6 quart pot over medium heat, heat milk, cream, and salt, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching, until mixture foams and comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add lemon juice. Simmer, stirring, until mixture curdles, 2 minutes for small curds. If you'd like a larger, dryer curd, continue to simmer an additional 2 minutes.
Step 3
Pour mixture into cheesecloth lined colander and drain 10 to 15 minutes or until desired texture is achieved. Empty liquid from bowl if necessary to ensure proper draining. Reserved whey can be used in smoothies or soup. Chill ricotta until ready to use.
Step 4
Serve spread onto crostini with a drizzle of olive oil, dollop over pasta or pizza, or stir into scrambled eggs. Ricotta will keep in the fridge for 1 week.

Cooks' Note

See How to Make This Recipe

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Reviews (16)

I'm usually not one to post reviews of recipes I haven't made but this one caught my eye. I've been making homemade ricotta for many years and this recipes ingredients seem of. to me. I use 4 cups of whole milk, 2 cups of heavy cream, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 3 tablespoons of plain vinegar. Bring the milk and cream to a boil, add the salt, take off the heat, add the vinegar and let it sit for exactly 1 minute. Line a strainer with 1 layer of cheesecloth and pour the mixture into the strainer. The longer you let the ricotta sit in the strainer, the thicker it will be. I like to make it thicker to use for crostini appetizers.
- jguglietti1
- Fallbrook, CA
- 1/2/2021
More a question than a review - has anyone tried making this using an actual strainer rather than the cheese cloth! I have one I use for yogurt that is magic - would like to use it for this too.
- smchaulk
- Ottawa, ON
- 1/1/2021
Delicious. Agree it did take longer to both boil and simmer (about 15 minutes each) even though I halved the recipe. So much better than store bought, will definitely be making again soon.
- Anonymous
- Burnaby
- 1/2/2019
absolutely perfect. So much better than store bought. Very easy and foolproof. Takes a few herbs and spices to become an instant vehicle for crackers etc.
- Anonymous
- Tianjin China
- 11/16/2017
Agree with reviewer that it takes about 25 min. to get to a boil. I got about 4 cups yield because after adding lemon juice, I cooked about 15 minutes and let it sit on the stove to curd more. It's delicious!
- dherron
- Charlotte, NC
- 10/3/2017
This is a good recipe that I've used for dessert but takes far longer than the time listed. It takes about 20 minutes to bring to a boil on medium heat, and about 25 minutes to get the curdles beyond the top surface. Would be curious to know if others have similar time frames . . .
- jle11
- 7/29/2017
Yes, this was easy to make & pretty quick --a keeper. I detect a slight lemon flavor in the finished product which resulted in about 2 cups of ricotta cheese. I think this lemon flavor would lend itself well to sweet Italian desert recipes made with ricotta. I will be using this for lasagna. Next time I will double the recipe to make 4 cups of ricotta. I hear you can also use vinegar to make this I might look into that & try it that way too, but this lemon method is fresh & delish.
- me_want_chocolate
- 6/21/2016
Wow - so easy. One thing I learned was not to squeeze the cheese curds dry because the ricotta became way harder than I wanted it to be.
- mtnmeye
- Denver
- 4/1/2016
This was the first recipe I tried and the last! It is fantastic and so easy. We followed the recipe exactly and used it to make gnocchi. AMAZING!
- mj13
- Clarkston, MI
- 1/23/2016
A very simple way to make Ricotta that's much better than the grocery store options. I have tried several different recipes and this one seems to work the best and to be the most clear. It might not be technically Ricotta Cheese (earlier review) but it's the one type of cheese I make, so I don't happen to have any leftover whey laying around. This cheese can be used in any dessert calling for Ricotta Cheese - the type of cheese in Tiramisu is Mascarpone. I don't think I'd substitute Ricotta. It's a different texture.
- kathycookstoo
- Sunny sofla
- 12/15/2014
can it be used for making desert? like a tiramisu?
- NimifromKenya
- Montreal
- 8/27/2014
Sorry. This is not ricotta! Ricotta is made from the whey. The word ricotta means re-cooked in Italian and the cheese is made from the left over whey. Call it cottage cheese or farmer's cheese or something else.
- Authentic
- Texas
- 8/26/2014
Would this work some how with less fat? I always buy the part skim ricotta and this seems to have more fat and calories.
- Debcakes
- WI
- 8/26/2014
This recipe is so simple and turned out amazing!!!! I made this when I was making homemade lasagna. It was so easy and so delicious. Way better than store bought ricotta. Don't be intimidated to try this recipe!!! You will love it!!!!
- sweetpeasxoxo
- London,ON
- 8/26/2014
I have made this recipe a bunch of times....it is easy, and the ricotta is so much better than store bought!!!!! Love this recipe!!!! Try this recipe!!!!
- sweetpeasxoxo
- London,ON
- 8/26/2014