Cream Cheese Recipe

Thinking about making your own cheese? This is a great one to start with! It only takes a few ingredients and some little time to can make your very own homemade Cream Cheese From Scratch! – Newly updated with a smaller, easier-to-make amount!

Whats at the heart of from-scratch cooking? Cheese, of course! One of the easiest cheeses you can make yourself is homemade Cream Cheese From Scratch! It takes just a few ingredients and you can have the creamy dreamy perfect bagel pairing rich cheese.

How to Make Cream Cheese (The Easiest Cream Cheese Recipe)

My Homemade Cream Cheese recipe could not be easier to make, because everything you need to make rich, creamy, and tangy cream cheese is most likely already in your fridge.

Prep: 10min

Total: 25min

Yield: 1

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (32 oz /1000 ml) whole milk (full fat, not low fat)
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice ((lime juice or white vinegar))
• ¼-½ teaspoon salt ((read notes))

Instruction:

1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk on med-high. Stirring constantly until it starts to a rolling simmer.
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the lemon juice 1 tablespoon at a time, in 1-minute intervals. Continue stirring constantly.
3. Continue cooking until the mixture curdles. Stir constantly until the mixture has separated completely, this should take just a few minutes. There will be a yellowish liquid on the bottom and thick curdles on top. Remove from the heat. This should happen within a few minutes.
4. Lay a cheesecloth in a large sieve and place it over a large bowl. Pour the curds into the sieve. Let it strain and cool for about 15 minutes.
5. Once cooled, use the cheesecloth to squeeze the excess whey out of the curds. (Note: You can reserve the whey for marinades, bread, pancakes etc)
6. Transfer curds to a food processor and process until very smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. If the mixture seems grainy and stiff then add in a splash of the whey or cream to loosen it.
7. Add salt and taste. Add more if you want more flavor. Now is also a good time to add herbs, garlic or any other flavors you like.
8. This cream cheese must be stored in the fridge. I always use it within 7 days.

Simple Creamy Homemade Cream Cheese

How to make delicious, soft homemade Cream Cheese using a super-simple method and 3 ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen

Prep: 5min

Total: 10min

Yield: 1

Serving Size: 1 Tbsp

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 Tbsp, calories 76 kcal, Carbohydrate 6 g, Protein 4 g, Fat 4 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 12 mg, Sodium 125 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 6 g, unSaturated Fat 2 g

Ingredients:

• 8 cups full-fat milk ((whole milk) – best raw or pasteurized, but not UHT)
• 5 Tbsp lemon juice (or 1 large lemon)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
• pinch of dried herbs (garlic powder, dried chillies, etc)

Instruction:

1. Begin by pouring the milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk and bring it to boil over medium-high heat.
2. As soon as it boils, add the lemon juice and then turn off the heat.
3. Set aside for a few minutes while the milk curdles. You’ll notice curds forming and a yellow-ish liquid being left behind.
4. Within a few minutes, all of your curds should have formed. Pour the curdled milk through a cheesecloth and a sieve to strain all the liquid whey. Alternatively, you can use a slotted spoon to scoop out all the curdles, while leaving the liquid whey* in the pot.
5. Rinse the curds with cold water. This will help to get rid of any extra whey, clinging to the curds.
6. Squeeze the curdled milk as much as possible to drain any last drop of the liquid whey.
7. Put the strained milk into a food processor/blender and add the salt. Within 1-2 minutes ( this may vary depending on how powerful your machine is) you’ll have a light and fluffy cream cheese.
8. If you want to add any additional herbs/flavourings then do that now too. Be warned though as certain additional ingredients will affect the shelf-life of the cheese. I like dried herbs and garlic powder as natural flavourings that don’t affect the shelf life too much. Store the cream cheese in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. You can freeze cream cheese, but the texture upon thawing is more crumbly and is best used where you’re cooking it into something like a dip or sauce.

Cream Cheese From Scratch

Making your own Cream Cheese From Scratch is a lot easier than you’d think!

Prep: 5min

Total: 255min

Yield: 12

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 177 kcal, Carbohydrate 3 g, Protein 2 g, Fat 18 g, Saturated Fat 11 g, Cholesterol 64 mg, Sodium 129 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 1 g, unSaturated Fat 6 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instruction:

1. Line a large sieve or colander a large cheesecloth and position over the sink or over a large bowl or pot if you plan to use the whey later. Be sure that your cheese cloth hangs quite a bit over the edges of the sieve – plenty for gathering when you drain.
2. Rinse a large pot with cold water. Add milk / creams and salt to the pot and heat over medium heat. Heat to approximately 165°-170° F, approximately 5-6 minutes.
3. Stir in the lemon juice and continue for a minute or two. Curds will begin to form and float to the top and the milk/cream will begin to simmer a bit and a gentle foam will start to form. Soft curds will start to form, but they won’t be as firm as curds from mozzarella, they’ll be much softer and cloud-ike. Once you start to see them form, turn off heat and let it sit for another minute and then remove from heat.
4. Let sit for 2 minutes and then use a large spoon to gently scoop curds into the cheesecloth, and then slowly and gently pour the rest of the curds/whey into the cheesecloth. Note: The curds will often seem very soft and cloud-like and it may seem like they’re not scoopable. If that’s the case, just gently pour into the cheesecloth and allow to drain.
5. Gather edges of the cheesecloth and suspend over kitchen faucet or just let drain in the cheesecloth lined sieve/colander. You can give the wrapped cheesecloth a gentle squeeze or release some of the whey. See recipe notes.
6. Let drain for at least an hour and up to four.
7. Gently open cheese cloth and turn cheese into a large bowl. If it seems a little loose still, that’s ok it will thicken a little more in the fridge as it chills.
8. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or add to an air tight container and let cool for at least 2-4 hrs, this will help it thicken.
9. Store in fridge for about a week or in freezer for up to 2 months.

Homemade Cream Cheese

Luscious, soft, tangy cream cheese, made in minutes with just 3 ingredients? Absolutely. Follow this easy recipe to learn how to make cream cheese at home.

Total: 20min

Serving Size: 2 Tbsp

Nutrition Facts: calories 22 calories, Carbohydrate 1 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 5 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 2 grams fat, Fiber 0 grams fiber, Protein 1 grams protein, Saturated Fat 1 grams saturated fat, servingSize 2 Tbsp, Sodium 76 milligrams sodium, Sugar 1 grams sugar, Trans Fat 0 grams trans fat, unSaturated Fat 0 grams unsaturated fat

Ingredients:

• 1 litre (1 qt.) full cream milk (1 quart)
• ½ tsp citric acid, dissolved in 50ml (3 Tbsp) of hot water
• ½ tsp sea or kosher salt

Instruction:

1. HEAT THE MILK: In a large saucepan, heat the milk on a medium setting until it is nearly simmering, stirring to stop the milk from catching. The milk is ready when tiny bubbles start to form around the outside of the pot.
2. ADD ACID: Stir in the citric acid, lemon juice or vinegar, and continue to heat, stirring gently, until the curds separate from the whey, clumping on the surface with the greenish whey liquid underneath. Turn off the heat and allow to sit for five minutes, while you line a sieve with the cheesecloth or muslin and place it over a large mixing bowl to catch the whey.
3. DRAIN: After five minutes, carefully pour the curds and whey into the sieve, then allow to drain and cool for 10-15 minutes. 10 minutes will give a softer set, while 15 minutes will be firmer after chilling.
4. SALT AND PROCESS: When the curds have cooled, scrape into the bowl of a food processor. Add ½ a teaspoon of salt and process until the cheese is soft and creamy, and not at all grainy. This will take around 2-3 minutes, and you should stop halfway to scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl.
5. SEASON TO TASTE: Taste the cream cheese and add a pinch more salt if you think it needs it, processing again to combine. If the cheese is crumbly and refusing to come together, add a tablespoon of the reserved whey to loosen.
6. CHILL: The cream cheese will be very soft, but it will firm up in the fridge. Transfer to a small container with a lid and refrigerate until ready to use – this sort of cheese will last 5 days in the fridge.

How to Make Cream Cheese – One Ingredient Homemade Cream Cheese Recipe