Homemade Cottage Cheese Recipe

This homemade cottage cheese is super healthy and of course right up there as part of any diet. It’s rich and creramy but light and will take on almost any flavour so just perfect for adding into all sorts of dishes from salads to baked potatoes and so much more.

Cottage cheese takes me right back to my school days. We were always trying to lose weight and cottage cheese and crispbreads featured heavily in our lunch boxes on a regular basis.

Now don’t be put off by the ubiquitous cartons of cottage cheese and pineapple that you find in the supermarket. This homemade cottage cheese is super tasty and way better than anything store-bought. And yes, you can add pineapple too if you like!

Health benefits of cottage cheese

• Cottage cheese is packed with protein and other goodies too including calcium for teeth and bones
• It helps you to feel fuller for longer so yes it does help in a calorie controlled diet!
• It’s low in calories as you can make cottage cheese from skimmed milk
• The casein in the protien is great for muscle building which is why cottage cheese is so popular with sportsmen

Ingredients for homemade cottage cheese

There are only 3 ingredients in my version of cottage cheese;

• skimmed milk
• buttermilk (see my recipe for Homemade Buttermilk)
• vegetarian rennet

Alternative ingredients

You can use any type of milk you have to hand, full cream, semi skimmed or skimmed milk.

I use vegetarian rennet but you can easily use lemon juice or white vinegar instead to make cottage cheese. I just use rennet as I’ve been doing loads of cheesemaking and have it in the larder as it’s so useful.

If using lemon juice use 2 tbsp for this recipe.

How to make cottage cheese

• Heat the milk to 35C/95F and add the rennet mixed with a little water (or lemon juice/vinegar whatever you are using here) and stir well.
• Pop on the lid and set aside for an hour at room temperature.
• Cut the resulting curds with a knife into chunks and reheat to 43C/110F and keep it at this temperature for 10 minutes.
• Ladle the curds into a sieve lined with cheesecloth/muslin and let the whey drain off for 5 minutes (save the whey, see below)
• Wrap the curds in the cheesecloth and rinse under cold water and squeeze out the cheese to remove more whey/water
• Put the cottage cheese into a bowl and stir in some salt. Pop it in the fridge to chill before using

Flavouring cottage cheese

Cottage cheese does not hold a lot of flavour in its own right . This makes it the perfect vehicle for adding anything you like to create your own flavours.

Flavour your cheese by adding in the ubiquitous pineapple or some snipped chives. Go for a sweet version by stirring in some homemade jam.

Or why not go spicy and add some harissa or other spices. Check out my homemade harissa recipe.

How much does this recipe make?

You should get about 350g of cottage cheese from this recipe.

How long does homemade cottage cheese keep?

This will keep in the fridge for up to a week. Remember to keep it in a jar or box with a lid so that it doesn’t absorb any of the aromas lurking in the fridge – like onions etc!

How to serve cottage cheese

On crispbreads of course with salad to be the perfect diet lunch/snack.

Use your cottage cheese as a dip, like tzatziki by stirring in some grated cucumber and mint.

Use instead of cream cheese in sauces and the like.

Serve in a baked potato, a classic!

Cottage cheese is just perfect for picnics and BBQs as it’s the ideal side dish for salads etc.

Looking for more easy homemade cheese recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;

Homemade ricotta cheese (+Video!)

How to make Labneh (yogurt cheese) with video

Making Halloumi cheese

Traditional Scottish crowdie cheese

Homemade mascarpone (+Video!)

how to make Greek style feta cheese