How to Make Homemade Raw Milk Cottage Cheese
Learn how easy it is to make raw milk cottage cheese! If you are new to making your own dairy products, this recipe is for you. This nutrient dense snack only requires simple ingredients and a few easy steps.
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If you have hopped on the raw milk train, then you have to try this homemade cottage cheese recipe. It is an easy, nutritious snack made from raw cow’s milk and loaded with bioavailable vitamins and minerals. It’s super delicious topped with fresh fruit or a little black pepper. Making cottage cheese is also a great way to use up an extra milk. The best way to eat fresh cottage cheese is with some fresh peaches. So good!
Raw milk has certainly been on the rise in popularity over the last couple of years. Which is amazing because there are so many health benefits in raw milk! The Raw Milk Institute says, “Numerous scientific studies have shown that raw milk is correlated with decreased rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, fever and respiratory infections. Raw milk also aids in recovery from antibiotic use, and provides many gut-healthy probiotics and enzymes.” Read more about the benefits of raw milk here.
why make cottage cheese from scratch?
The fresh flavor and texture is only one great reason to make your own cottage cheese. Here’s another reason: If you’ve ever read the ingredients on grocery store cottage cheese, they may have looked something like this:
Ingredients Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Skim Milk and Cream, Whey, Contains Less than 2% of Modified Food Starch, Potassium Citrate, Salt, Calcium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Phosphate, Lactic Acid, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Natural Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3.
Like, why?! This is the reason I started making my own dairy products like raw milk ice cream, raw butter, raw sour cream and raw mozzarella cheese. Store-bought options for cottage cheese especially are usually full of gums, stabilizers and preservatives. I was happy to learn that the raw cottage cheese process is not difficult, and only requires ingredients that I almost always have on hand.
everything you’ll need to make your own cottage cheese
ingredient list
Raw, whole milk – Fresh cheese made from raw milk is the most nutrient dense. If you don’t have access to raw milk or don’t feel comfortable using it, you can use store-bought organic milk as long as it is NOT ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurized.
Animal rennet – This is the animal rennet I keep in my fridge. It works great for this recipe, and I also use it for Raw Mozzarella Cheese.
Filtered water – We love and recommend our Berkey water filter.
Heavy cream – After raw milk is refrigerated, you can easily skim the cream off the top of the milk. You can reserve some of the cream from the same jar of milk you are using to make this recipe.
Sour cream – Follow this recipe to make the best Raw Sour Cream from scratch!
Sea salt – Use Redmond Real Salt for extra minerals.
Animal rennet is not a commonly used ingredient, unless you’re a cheesemaker. In case this is new to you, let me explain a little bit about what it is and what it does. Animal rennet comes from the lining of a calf’s stomach. When the calf drinks fresh milk, the milk separates into curds and whey inside its stomach. The same thing happens when we add this enzyme to warm milk in our kitchens. The milk coagulates into curds, and the byproduct is whey. Animal rennet can potentially be purchased from a health food store or online. Check and make sure you are not using extra strength rennet, or you will have to adjust the quantity for this recipe.
equipment you’ll need
Wooden spoon or slotted spoon
Meat thermometer
Cheese cloth or mesh strainer
can cottage cheese be made with pasteurized milk?
This recipe can be made using store-bought milk as long as it is NOT ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurized.
how to make raw milk cottage cheese
skim the milk
1. Before making cottage cheese, skim the cream off the top of the milk. The cream would be lost into the whey, so we might as well save it. We will add it back into the cottage cheese when we are done.
warm the milk
2. The first step to making raw milk cottage cheese is to coagulate the half gallon of milk into curds. There are a few different ways to create a curd mass, but my favorite way is to use animal rennet. To do this, pour the milk into a large pot on the stove. Slowly warm the milk over medium-low heat until the milk reaches 100 degrees f. Don’t exceed 100 degrees when using raw milk, otherwise all of the good bacteria will suffer.
coagulate with rennet
3. While the milk is warming up, mix the animal rennet into filtered water. When the milk reaches 100 degrees, remove from the heat and add the rennet mixture. Mix it in with a wooden spoon using an up and down motion to properly distribute the rennet. Don’t stir in circles. Gently move your spoon up and down in the milk for about 30 seconds and then stop. You want the milk to be still for the next step.
4. Put a cover on the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, check for a clean break to make sure the milk has properly coagulated. To do this, poke your finger down into the curd mass and lift it up letting the curd break over your finger. If the curd has set, it will split apart over your finger in a clean break. It’s not ready yet it is is soft and doesn’t split. If this is the case, cover and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
cut the curds
5. At this point, the curds should be a solid mass in the pot. We are going to cut the curds into small pieces using a whisk. Go up and down through the curd mass with the whisk – don’t stir. Just push the whisk down in and pull it out over and over until you have a pot full of smaller curds.
6. Let the curds rest again at room temperature for about 10 minutes, but up to an hour.
7. When you return, gently warm the pot over low heat again. The curds will be very soft, but will firm up by gently stirring. The temperature of the pot should reach about 105 degrees F, but don’t exceed it. Gently stir the curds every couple minutes or so, until the curds sink to the bottom of the pot when they are left. Lightly squeeze a curd between your thumb and finger – it should be firm, but not rubbery. If the curd is really soft and mushy when you squeeze it, the curds are not ready yet.
strain the curds
8. Strain the curds through a cheese cloth or fine mesh strainer. This next step is all about preference, so strain the curds to your liking. This takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours. Straining it longer will result in drier curds in the end.
finish making the best cottage cheese
9. After the whey is strained off of the curds, transfer to a small mixing bowl. Stir with a fork to break up curds. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of cream, 3 Tablespoons of sour cream and 1 teaspoon of salt. This will give it that creamy, slightly tangy flavor of store-bought cottage cheese. Taste and add more salt if needed. Chill before serving.
10. After storing in the refrigerator, curds may have absorbed the moisture from the cream and sour cream. Break up the curds with a fork and stir in more cream if it needs it.
how to store homemade cottage cheese
Store your raw milk cottage cheese in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It is best if eaten within the first 2 or 3 days. Like any other raw dairy recipes, cottage cheese is best made in small batches and eaten right away.
how to use raw milk cottage cheese
One great thing about cottage cheese is that it’s super easy to add some fresh fruit or berries for a quick snack. You could also use it in recipes like lasagna or add it to sourdough pasta. You could even spread it on toast or a bagel as a creamy, salty topping.
what to do with the leftover whey
After making cottage cheese with your fresh, raw milk, you’ll end up with a yellowish liquid that separates from the curds. This is whey. You could dump it out, or you could totally use it! Whey is packed with protein. You can save the whey in your fridge or freeze it to use in soups and smoothies.
try these other raw milk recipes
- Raw Milk Ice Cream
- Raw Sour Cream
- Raw Milk Kefir
- Raw Butter
- Raw Milk Greek Yogurt
- Raw Mozzarella Cheese
recipe card for raw milk cottage cheese
Raw Milk Cottage Cheese
Learn how easy it is to make raw milk cottage cheese! If you are new to making your own dairy products, this recipe is for you. This nutrient dense snack only requires simple ingredients and a few easy steps.
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon raw milk
- 1/4 cup filtered water
- 1/8 teaspoon animal rennet
- 3 Tablespoons sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons cream
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Before making cottage cheese, skim the cream off the top of the milk. The cream would be lost into the whey, so we might as well save it. We will add it back into the cottage cheese when we are done.
- The first step to making raw milk cottage cheese is to coagulate the half gallon of milk into curds. To do this, pour the milk into a large pot on the stove. Slowly warm the milk over medium-low heat until the milk reaches but does not exceed 100 degrees f.
- While the milk is warming up, mix the animal rennet into filtered water. When the milk reaches 100 degrees, remove from the heat and add the rennet mixture. Mix it in with a wooden spoon using an up and down motion to properly distribute the rennet. Don’t stir in circles. Gently move your spoon up and down in the milk for about 30 seconds and then stop. You want the milk to be still for the next step.
- Put a cover on the pot and let it sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, check for a clean break to make sure the milk has properly coagulated. To do this, poke your finger down into the curd mass and lift it up letting the curd break over your finger. If the curd has set, it will split apart over your finger in a clean break. If it is not ready yet, it will be soft and will not split. If this is the case, cover and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
- At this point, the curds should be a solid mass in the pot. We are going to cut the curds into small pieces using a whisk. Go up and down through the curd mass with the whisk - don't stir. Just push the whisk down in and pull it out over and over until you have a pot full of smaller curds.
- Let the curds rest again at room temperature for about 10 minutes, but up to an hour.
- When you return, gently warm the pot over low heat again. The curds will be very soft, but will firm up by gently stirring. The temperature of the pot should reach about 105 degrees F, but don't exceed it. Gently stir the curds every couple minutes or so, until the curds sink to the bottom of the pot when they are left. Lightly squeeze a curd between your thumb and finger - it should be firm, but not rubbery. If the curd is really soft and mushy when you squeeze it, the curds are not ready yet.
- Strain the curds through a cheese cloth or fine mesh strainer. This next step is all about preference, so strain the curds to your liking. This takes anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours. Straining it longer will result in drier curds in the end.
- After the whey is strained off of the curds, transfer to a small mixing bowl. Stir with a fork to break up curds. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of cream, 3 Tablespoons of sour cream and 1 teaspoon of salt. This will give it that creamy, slightly tangy flavor of store-bought cottage cheese. Taste and add more salt if needed. Chill before serving.
- After storing in the refrigerator, curds may have absorbed the moisture from the cream and sour cream. Break up the curds with a fork and stir in more cream if it needs it.
Notes
Store your raw milk cottage cheese in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It is best if eaten within the first 2 or 3 days. Like any other raw dairy recipes, cottage cheese is best made in small batches and eaten right away.
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