Looking for the best Farmers Cheese recipe? Once you try this recipe, you will never want to buy Farmer’s Cheese from a store again.
In fact, many of my favorite desserts are made with this Easy Farmers Cheese Recipe! For instance, Farmers Cheese Coffee Cake Recipe, Apricot Farmers Cheese Cake and Farmers Cheese Cake aka Zapenkanka are all made with this easy recipe.
Farmers Cheese is common in European countries. Both my mom and grandma have been making homemade farmers cheese for as long as I can remember. In Ukraine, it’s especially popular with Vareniki.
I’ve tried many varieties of Farmers Cheese recipes, but have not been satisfied with the results until I discovered this one. The cool thing about this recipe is that it has no waiting time for milk to curdle and in my opinion, it tastes exceptionally good!
Farmers Cheese Substitute
Making Farmers Cheese is not difficult at all. But, if you want to make it even easier, try the Easy Farmers Cheese Substitute recipe. It doesn’t work for every recipe, but may be able to save you even more time.
More Ways to Use Homemade Farmer’s Cheese
Since the homemade cheese like this has a very mild flavor, you may be wondering how to use it outside of the recipes I shared. It’s a delicious farmers cheese, and is ideal for many great pairings.
- Add to homemade pierogie’s for a creamy filling that pairs well with almost any herb blend
- Mix into a cheesecake recipe for a creamier texture
- Use in place of ricotta in stuffed shells or lasagna
- Add to a traditional Mediterranean salad or recipe in place of Feta cheese
- Use in Indian dishes and curries instead of Paneer
How to Store Homemade Cheese
When making this homemade Farmer’s Cheese recipe, you know you will end up with more than you may typically buy in a grocery store. While I have some great recipes listed below that use this recipe, you may still have extra on hand. Since I don’t like it to go to waste, I prefer to store in my refrigerator in an airtight container. Typically, this lasts for around 10 days.
Some cheesemakers suggest wrapping homemade cheese in waxed paper and then plastic wrap to keep fresh for longer. This doesn’t work as well with crumbly cheese, but is another option you may want to try. I prefer simply storing in airtight containers since we usually eat it before it goes bad.
Other Tasty Recipes that Use Farmer’s Cheese Recipe
- Farmer’s Cheese Doughnuts
- Russian Creamcheese Vatrushka Buns
- Puff Pastry Cheese Turnovers
- Sweet Cheese Cookies
- Btw, You can season the cheese with herbs and add it to a Charcuterie Board!
Share Some Love ❤️
Recipe
Instructions
- In a large pot, bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Make sure to stir it occasionally so it doesn't stick or burn to the bottom.
- As soon as the milk begins to boil, turn off the heat. Using a spatula or slotted spoon, stir in the lemon juice and white vinegar. Within 5 minutes, the milk should begin to curdle.
- Line a colander with a cheesecloth and pour the milk through to strain out the curdles.
- Bundle the cloth around the cheese like a coin purse and bring out as much of the whey as you can.
- Place the wrapped cheese on a plate and weigh it down with a heavy pot or pan. Leave it to press overnight.
- Keep the farmer's cheese stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and use it in your favorite recipes and baked goods. Enjoy!
Hi, I'm wondering if there's a brand of whole milk that might work best? I know you say whole milk.
Hi Val - Thanks for the note. I typically go for organic milk like Horizon Organics or Organic Valley (typically whatever is being sold at Costco is what I have on hand). I find that the taste is richer than most standard milks. Hope this helps!
Coming from a Mennonite background, I am used to make farmer cheese out of old milk, without any need to add lemon, vinegar, kephir, yoghurt pr renet. Just let the milk get old (about 2 days out of the fridge will do it), and bring close to the boiling point. Let cool off and rinse.
Hi Cornelius, thank you for that tip!! That is another great option!
Can I use this the same day that I make it?
Hey Caroline, yes for sure. Enjoy
Do you leave the cheese pressed out of refrigerator over nite
Hi Jessica, you can leave it on the counter. Once the whey is drained, you would refrigerate after.
This looks so exciting! I have been making yogurt and buttermilk, and this looks comparatively easy! Thank you!
Virginia
Let me know how it goes, I'd love to hear your feedback!
I am never sure if I have the milk hot enough or not. I know you don’t want it to look like boiling water, but I’m never sure if it’s hot enough. Have you ever put in a candy thermometer and taken the temp when the milk is hot enough? It would be really helpful to get a rough temp of when to put in the lemon and vinegar. Thanks for the recipe
Hey dear, the milk should reach 205F. Enjoy the recipe!
I wonder if apple cider vinegar could be used instead of white?
Hey Anna, I personally wouldn't like the flavor of that but I think it can be. You can also use lemon.
I can't get the instructions, only ads, could you please help me with the recipe? Thanks
Hey, Kathy, did you click the jump to recipe button?
When my 38 year old daughter was a toddler, (before microwaves times), she would only drink her milk warm. So every day i managed to get the milk over boil and i had to take my whole stove top apart to clean up the MESS. As i was standing next to the stove just now, making your recepie, waiting for the milk to boil, it happened again. 🙄
Btw. I used 1% milk and it started to curdle immediately, no problem. Now i have to go and take my stove top apart.
I'm going to use my farmer cheese to make my childhood favorite, Hungarian "túro gomboc" cheese dumpling, which is NOTHING like the Italian cheese balls.
Judit, en is imadom a turos gombocot. Not sure if you speak hungarian. I love turos gombos as well!!
Haha, brought back some memories! I'm glad your farmers cheese worked out! Let me know how your dumplings turn out.
I plan to make your donuts with farmers cheese. Approximately how many pounds would this farmers cheese recipe make?
It makes about 1/2 a pound of farmers cheese. There are many factors that go into it, it would depend on the cheese and how much liquids you sqeeze out.
Thank you for this recipe. My family makes pierogi every year and farmers cheese is very hard to find and very expensive in my area. I followed the directions and it turned out just like I hoped. I do have one question, though. From the photo, it looks like you wrapped your cheese and cling wrap before weighting it down. What does weighing down do (I guess I’ll know by tomorrow), and wouldn’t any moisture left in the cheese still be there because it’s trapped by plastic?
Hey, the wrap is only between the pot and the cheesecloth. Sorry for the confusion. But I am so happy you found this recipe! 🙂
My brother-in-law, the chef in charge of the cheese filling for our annual
Pierogi day, said this was the best cheese EVER! The filling was a great consistency and tasted SOOOO good. I’m so glad I found this recipe and thank you again.
That is so good to hear, I'm so glad your family enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for your feedback.
When the cheese is left to be pressed, it is refrigerated right?
Hey Sarah, you can leave it on the counter. Once the whey is drained, you would refrigerate after.
So excited to find this recipe. I’m going to make pierogi!
I hope you love it, circle back and let me know!
Thank you for sharing the recipe, my spouse lives puff pastry and this farmers cheese will make a wonderful filling.
Sonya, I hope you love the recipe, it's great for all kinds of baked goods. I have tons of recipes with farmers cheese as the filling 🙂 I hope you give some of them a try!
Hi natalaya so I just made it turned out perfect I think. It’s currently sitting under a gallon of water. If I wanted to use it to bake zapekanka today how long do I have to have it sit for. Is 6 hours enough ?
Hey Valentina, I think it should be enough. Just double-check on the consistency of it.
Natalya
Is this more similar to Friendship Farmer Cheese or to the pot cheese...both of which were staples in our Jewish household growing up, but are not found in major grocers any longer.
My grandparents were of Russian/Polish descent and this was the cheese used in noodle kugels or sometimes just mixed with egg noodles and served.
Jeff, really cool! I have never tried noodle kugels, had to google it. Sounds delicious!
Hi Natalya. I just made it and it looks like tvorog, but the taste just isn't there. Is it supposed to be sort of tasteless, like ricotta? It's not sour like traditional cheese.
Hi Tamara,
I've made the buttermilk version and it doesn't have that sour taste either. I went looking and found a recipe that mentions the sour factor, but it called for letting the milk curdle on the counter for a day or more, either alone (if it's fresh milk) or with sour cream if pasteurized. Haven't tried it yet, but that's probably what you're looking for.
Make sure it's not ultra-high pasteurized -- many milks are these days.
Tamara, When we buy farmers' cheese at the European market, the taste and texture are very similar to this recipe. I know you can also make farmers cheese with buttermilk, maybe that's the recipe you are looking for.
what is ( qt ) plz?
Hey dear, its a quart. Hope this helps 🙂
6 qt = 24 cups? and
cup= 250ml?
Hey, that is correct.
I suggest that you be more specific with the amount of milk in your recipe. 1 gallon of milk in Canada is 5 cups or 160 fluid ounces. In the US 1 gallon is only 4 cups or 128 fl. oz. Also, milk is frequently sold in litres. There are 3.79 L in a US gallon whereas there are 4.5 L in a Canadian (or the UK) gallon.
Hey Chris, we use a measuring cup for all our measurements. Thanks for your tips.
Do you think whole lactose free milk would work for this recipe?
Jennifer, I haven't tried using lactose-free milk. I am not even sure.
Iv tried twice organic Jersey milk from my bulk tank used fresh lemons an bottle both times never curled all I have is liquid brought to boil followed direction to tee it don't work not happy
Please make sure its full fat milk
Yes, whole milk gives you the best results.
Hey Becky, I am sorry this happened. I am a bit confused because if you combine lemons with milk in warm heat, no matter what it should curl up. I wonder if it boiled on high heat or did you just bring it to a slight boil?
Organic milk won't work. It is ultra heat treated. If you can get raw organic, that will work.
Sandy, thats interesting. It worked for me.
I'm going to make this and now I'm worried about the milk. I usually get organic milk but for this should I just get regular pasteurized milk? ALso, planning to make a cheese babka -- do you think this is the right kind of cheese? Thanks!!
You can use organic milk. We use only organic and the recipe has worked for me. I don’t know how cheese babka is made so I don’t know what cheese you may need.
This was amazing and if anyone is wondering it was perfect for Polish cheese babka! I've got a lot leftover though -- do you think it's still good after a week in the refrigerator? I am thinking about making another babka.
Farmers cheese should stay fresh for about two weeks when stored in a sealed container.
We are Polish. I remember my Mama making a cottage cheese spread with green onions. She served it on rye bread. She alway said it is not the cheese in a container by in a block. Could this be Farmers Cheese
Hi Halina! The spread you’re talking about is called “twarożek” And is made from farmers cheese. I usually add some radishes as well besides green onions. Stir in greek Yogurt or sour Cream, little bit of milk if too thick, add salt and pepper and enjoy!!!
We ate the cheese+sour cream + onion, salt and pepper on caraway rye bread on Fridays OR had the cheese with mashed potatoes loaded with onions cooked in brown butter. Smacznego! Great on Fridays! I sure did NOT miss meat!!!
Hey Justyna, thank you for sharing. I will have to try it!
Hey Halina, I am not sure. I am not familiar with a cheese spread like this. It sounds delicious with rye bread.
I must brought the milk to a half boil and added the lemon juice along with the vinegar. It started curding but it still looks sort of like milk with some curds. Is there a way for me to fix that?
Marina, two things could be causing this. Either you need to cook it more but as soon as it starts to boil, turn it off. Or it doesn't have enough acidity. When you say half boil, what do you mean?
I don’t think I brought the milk to a boil. I turned it off when it was simmering...
I just heated it up again and it started curding more now. I’m keeping my fingers crossed 🤞
Thank you!
Hey Marina, I hope it turned out for you!
It turned out well 😊 we had it for breakfast this morning and my husband complimented on it!
Marina, when husband compliments, thats the best 🙂 SO happy you guys loved it! thanks for the comment.
I need a pound of the cheese. How would I figure that with your recipe
It makes about 3 cups of cheese, it would depend on the type of milk you use.
Is it going to work with regular Walmart whole milk? I just heard it has to be fresh milk from cow.
Which you did you use on yours?
Hey Diana, you can use any whole milk. Enjoy!
After adding the lemon juice and vinegar it began to curdle, but I think I made the mistake of stirring it. When I squeeze the whey out it looked like mozzarella cheese, and sort of rubbery? I don't know if I overcooked the milk ? The bundle was hot so I put some cool water on it to squeeze the whey out. Any suggestions for next time?
Hey Charlotte, it sounds like the milk got too warm. I think at this point its best to let it cool down completely and see how it comes out. I would love to hear your feedback.
Hi Natalya,
I squeezed out all the whey I could and left a heavy pan on top to squeeze out any remaining liquid. It was a circle disk of rubber, I may have invented a new way to make rubber ehehe. It was inedible, as it was rubbery and tasteless, I tried to eat it but it was not good. I think I made the mistake of not having a rubber or wooden spoon to mix the mixture after the addition of the lemon juice and vinegar. I used a plastic mixing spoon with holes, when stirred probably created a solid mass that congealed into the rubber tire that I ended up with and perhaps over boiled the milk.
I tried it again yesterday using fewer ingredients to conserve milk and I had a better result, this time I used:
1/2 gallon of milk (or 2 cups)
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp white vinegar
I stopped the milk before it boiled, I added the lemon juice, and white vinegar to the milk and stirred it with a silicone spoon and walked away for 20 minutes before I attempted to squeeze out the whey. After squeezing out the whey, the consistency was cheese-like. I put a heavy pan on top of the cheesecloth to squeeze out any remaining liquid and it looks , smells, and tastes like a mild cream cheese. I am not sure what it's supposed to taste like since I 've never had it and wanted to try it to make the cheese turnovers that suppose to taste like Porto's cheese rolls.
I think I won't know if I did it right or not until I make the cheese turnovers I guess. But I am glad I tried again, since I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong but I really wanted to make the cheese turnovers ehehe.
Very interesting. Thank you for going into such detail with instructions. I know this will really help others. I appreciate your comment.
Sorry, there is a mistake it should be:
1/2 gallon milk (8 cups)
Thank you so much for the easy recipe. I wanted to years to make cheese but felt intimidated, I found your site and made it, I am so happy how it turned out. I am so happy I won't buy again at the store! I made half the recipe the first time. Two questions: 1. when can I put salt? I like store-bought salty taste and would like to salt it. 2. is it possible to modify consistency by modifying more or less vinegar or lemon? What happens if you put more or less of these ingredients? Thank you again, an amazing recipe!
Hey Irina, I never really played around with consistency because this version worked so well for me. You can add salt at the beginning to the milk. I am so so happy this recipe worked well for you. Thank you so much for sharing!
When you leave it pressed overnight, is that in the fridge or room temperature? I just found this site and can’t even decide what to make first it all looks so good!!
Oh my dear, such a sweet comment. Good thing all the recipes are so easy! 🙂 But leave it overnight in a room temperature.
Hi , can I use 2percent milk instead?
Hey Leana, you will get a better result with whole milk but you can use 2% as well.
This is the only place I found that actually uses this cheese in a recipe, thanks for that
Hey Lynne, welcome and enjoy it! Thanks for saying hi!
Could you infuse this cheese? Like adding onion powder and dill?
Yes, you definitely can. But only add it to the finished product.