Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Ready in just 30 minutes, all you need is 3 ingredients to make delicious, fresh Italian homemade ricotta!
I can’t even begin to express my love for homemade ricotta. This unique Italian dairy product is incredibly versatile and can be used for both savoury & sweet recipes.
Ricotta is also naturally gluten-free, and vegetarian-friendly (unlike Parmesan cheese).
Growing up in Sicily, ricotta was a HUGE part of our family weekly menu.
I don't currently live in Sicily, so I like to make homemade ricotta as much as I can, rather than buying it from the grocery store.
And I'm here to encourage you to do the same!
Jump to:
WHAT IS RICOTTA CHEESE?
Ricotta is so-called because, in the Italian language, it literally means "re-cooked".
To be super precise, ricotta is not really considered a cheese, but a dairy product—just as mozzarella and burrata are.
If you want to learn how to make easy homemade ricotta at home, you have come to the right place.
You will get a product very similar to the ricotta that you usually buy.
To be precise, we can speak of curd, which we obtain from whole milk, while real ricotta is produced from raw milk.
To make the real authentic ricotta, the whey is cooked twice to obtain this fresh dairy product and rennet is added into the mix.
But this homemade version of homemade ricotta is very similar in taste. It takes a fraction of the time to make and calls for simple ingredients.
Best of all, you can make it at home, no trips to the grocery stores on Italian deli's!
INGREDIENTS
The best part about homemade ricotta is that you can easily make it at home in less than 30 minutes, with everyday kitchen utensils and three simple ingredients:
- fresh whole milk
- juice of lemon
- sea salt
For the best homemade ricotta, I recommend you opt for fresh whole milk (preferably organic).
You can use cow's milk, goat's milk and even sheep's milk or buffalo's milk.
In Sicily, you will often find sheep's ricotta, it's tastier and used as filling for the famous Sicilian cannoli.
Pasteurized milk is OK to use for making ricotta, but avoid UHT (Ultra High Temperature) pasteurized milk as it won't work well for this process.
HOW TO MAKE RICOTTA STEP-BY-STEP
The process for making ricotta at home is pretty straightforward and requires utensils you probably have in your kitchen already.
Here's my super simple step-by-step recipe on how to make homemade ricotta.
Scroll down until the end of the post for the full printable recipe.
- STEP 1 - Place the milk in a large pot over medium-low heat.
- STEP 2 - Let the milk warm gradually to 194°F or 90°C, monitoring the temperature with an instant-read thermometer.
- The milk should get lightly foamy, if it starts to boil, remove it immediately from the heat.
- STEP 3 - Once the milk temperature reaches the 90°C, remove the pot from the heat. Then pour in the lemon juice and salt.
- STEP 4 - Place a lid over the pot, and allow the milk mixture to sit for 10 minutes undisturbed.
- After this time the milk should start separating in clumps.
- STEP 5 - Set a strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with a cheesecloth.
- Scoop the big curds with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the strainer, then pour in the remaining curds.
To make the ricotta into its classic shape, you can scoop the curds into a traditional ricotta basket.
Let the ricotta sit for 15 minutes up to 1 hour, depending on how creamy you want it to be then serve.
CUSTOMISE YOUR RICOTTA
I can't stress enough how versatile ricotta is.
You can flavour your homemade ricotta with both savoury and sweet ingredients, here are a few simple add ons:
- chopped aromatic herbs (basil, thyme, parsley, sage work all well)
- chopped rocket leaves
- paprika or red chili flakes
- lemon zest
- orange zest
- good-quality honey
Serve it with fresh salads, toasted bread, crumbled cookies or chopped fruit.
RECIPE FAQs
You can store fresh ricotta cheese in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
You can prepare a vegan version of homemade ricotta with no extra effort. Just replace the cows' milk with soy milk and follow the recipe below.
There's also an aged version of ricotta, called ricotta salata (salted ricotta), where the ricotta is pressed, salted and aged for at least 90 days.
The final product is hard ricotta that you can shave or grate on salads, pasta alla norma, or that you can generally use in place of Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan cheese).
RICOTTA IN SAVOURY AND SWEET RECIPES
Ricotta is beautifully versatile and can be used in both savoury and sweet recipes (just like mascarpone cheese).
You can also use it as an alternative to cream cheese, yoghurt, and bechamel in many recipes.
Here below you can find some of my favourite Italian recipes that call for ricotta, and some personal favourite ways to use it in other recipes.
SAVOURY RECIPES WITH RICOTTA
- Ricotta Gnocchi - Ready in 20 minutes!
- Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Shells
- Bruschetta with Ricotta & Tomato Confit
- Ricotta, Spinach & Pumpkin Cannelloni
- Vegatarian Lasagna with no-cook ricotta sauce
SWEET RECIPES WITH RICOTTA
- Lemon Ricotta Cake
- Ricotta Cheesecake - Just 3 Ingredients
- Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake with Almond Crumble
- Chocolate Cannoli with Ricotta & Pistachios
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Please let me know how you liked it! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thepetitecook!
Don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Recipe
Homemade Ricotta Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 liters whole fresh milk
- 80 ml fresh lemon juice
- ⅔ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
- Place the milk in a large pot over medium-low heat.
- Let the milk warm gradually to 194°F or 90°C, monitoring the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. The milk should get lightly foamy, if it starts to boil, remove it immediately from the heat.
- Once the milk temperature reaches the 90°C, remove the pot from the heat and pour in the lemon juice and season with sea salt.
- Place a lid over the pot, and allow the milk mixture to sit for 10 minutes undisturbed. After this time the milk should start separating in clumps.
- Set a strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with a cheesecloth. Scoop in the big curds out of the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the strainer, then pour in the remaining curds.
- Let the ricotta sit for 15 minutes up to 1 hour, depending on how creamy you want it to be.
- You can eat the ricotta straight away or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I've made this a few times and keep forgetting to ask if you can post a recipe on how to make mozzarella with the whey that's left
Hi Andrea, how long does the whey last in the fridge? Is it ok to use microfilter milk?
Thank you in advance.
Marisa.
Hi Marisa, it's absolutely okay to use microfilter milk! Whey will keep well in the fridge for at least a week 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
How many litres of milk do I use to get the 600g of ricotta required to make the 3 ingredient cheesecake?
Hi Leora, I would simply double up the ingredients and use any leftover ricotta for pasta sauces, spread on toasted bread, or just freeze for later use.
From what I’ve learned, this is a recipe for cheese, not ricotta. To make the ricotta, you’d reheat the leftover whey from making the cheese and take those curds out to get ricotta. I just did this today and making your three ingredients Ricotta cheesecake.
Great recipe, thank you! I live in Argentina, and here, people don't know what ricotta is, so I make my own. This one is simple and fast, which makes things a lot easier 🙂
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing!❤️
I made it, and it was really easy. Is there any way I can use the whey?
I use it to make bread.
A list of equipment required would be useful. I had to source a thermometer and cheesecloth before I could start.
Helen, I find it helpful to always read carefully through the whole recipe first and that way I can make a mental note of utensils/equipment I'll need. Hope this helps.