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Homemade Ricotta
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Store-bought ricotta can’t hold a candle to creamy, rich homemade cheese. You don’t need any special equipment, and the YOGURT setting on most Instant Pot models gently heats the milk to the perfect temperature, so there’s no worrying about scorching the milk on the stove. If you don’t have a Yogurt setting, heat the milk on Sauté on Normal/Medium heat, stirring occasionally, until a thermometer reaches 190°F before proceeding as directed.
Ricotta is only as good as the milk you use to make it, so buy the best milk you can find and make sure that it isn’t ultra-high-temperature (UHT) pasteurized milk. The UHT process changes the proteins in the milk and will prevent it from forming curds.
You can use fresh lemon juice to make the milk coagulate, but I find it easier to add citric acid, which you can find at spice shops or buy online.
The liquid left over in the pot after cheese making is called whey, as in Little Miss Muffet’s “curds and whey.” It’s full of beneficial probiotic organisms, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, so don’t pour it down the drain! You can use it in soups, sauces, and smoothies as a neutral-flavored liquid that adds a big nutritional boost.
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Pour the milk into the pot and cover with a regular pot lid that fits on top of the Instant Pot. Select the Yogurt function and adjust until the digital display reads BOIL. When the cooking time is up, remove the lid, being careful not to let any condensation drip back into the pot.
- Remove the inner pot from the appliance and place it on a trivet. Add the lemon juice or citric acid and stir gently a few times (overzealous stirring will yield cheese with a grainy texture) until you begin to see the milk coagulate—there will be a separation between bright white chunks of curd and thin yellowish liquid whey. This will take about 30 seconds. Stop stirring and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.
- Line a fine-mesh sieve or colander with cheesecloth or a clean, thin cotton-sack towel and set it over a large bowl. Carefully pour the cheese and whey into the colander.
- For moist, creamy ricotta, let the cheese drain for 5 minutes. For firmer ricotta, allow the cheese to drain for up to 4 hours at room temperature. When the cheese is done draining, stir in the salt (if using). Save the whey for another use (see Headnote in description of the recipe).
- Transfer the cheese to an airtight container and refrigerate.The ricotta can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
The following recipes are excerpted from INSTANT POT® ITALIAN © 2018 by Ivy Manning. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Ivy Manning is a Portland, Oregon based freelance food writer and author of Williams Sonoma Weeknight Vegetarian, Better From Scratch, Crackers and Dips: More Than 50 Homemade Snacks, The Adaptable Feast: Satisfying Meals for the Vegetarians, Vegans and Omnivores At Your Table, and The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally.
Ivy's work regularly appears in Cooking Light, Fine Cooking, Clean Eating, and Every Day with Rachel Ray. Visit her at www.ivymanning.com and on Instagram at Ivy_Manning
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Im so trying this!
Can the whey be frozen for future use?
Can this be made with lactose free milk?
Very good!
This is cottage cheese, not ricotta.
Is this ricotta or cottage cheese? Huge difference…
Sues, yes, the whey can be frozen and used later.
Apfaffnc, yes, I tested it with regular and lactose free milk (I’m lactose intolerant myself)
Taramarkham–commercial ricotta is usually made with whey or a mix of whey and milk, not just whole milk, this is true. But homemade ricotta is often made with whole milk and the texture of this recipe is much more similar to ricotta than it is larger curds of cottage cheese.
Alienwiredgirl: This recipe produces delicious, fine-grained fresh ricotta-like cheese that works well in cheesecake, lasagna, and stuffing recipes where commercial ricotta is called for.
Can it be made with alternative milk? I’m allergic to cows milk
Is there another setting that can be used if your pot doesnt have a yohgurt setting? I really want to try this.
Pressing yougart button how do i fing the boiled reading . So far its been on yugart but
Temp. Is only 100 Degrees for 1 hr. How do i get it to boil to 190 degrees?
Wheres the amounts?
Thanks a bunch! Came out great and was delicious in my lasagna. I may never buy ricotta again.
Can this be made with Coconut milk, Cashew Milk or Almond milk? My son is allergic to dairy so I would like to try to make my own using his milk because the non-dairy ricotta that I’ve found is so expensive. Thanks!
Hi Kellie,
No this recipe can’t be substituted with dairy alternatives. Dairy Free ricotta is made differently and doesn’t follow the same processes.
Ricotta is making at the moment. Will be using it in the zuchinni lasagna for dinner.
How much should this make?
I got 2 cups
2 cups is around 1/4 of the milk turned into cheese. That is pretty good, you will have a bunch of leftover whey. Ricotta is usually made using the leftover whey to get the last amount of milk solids left in the whey after cheese making.
Amazing!
My instant pot is a brand new one ..the instant pot duo evo plus and it does not have a boil function ..the optione are pasteurize and ferment. What do I do?
Waste of time and ingredients. Hardly curdled.
Nice, thank you. I use the silicone trivet with heat-resistant handles and it’s so much better than the metal trivet that came with the instant pot. I got it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/35LvU9n
What’s the end amount? What’s one serving? How much cheese am I getting? Lol
I have an Instant Pot duo evo plus. This model doesn`t have “Adjust” button. What can I press alternatively to bring milk to boil?
Marie – I got 406g!
Can ricotta be frozen or will the texture be ruined. I some times have extra milk and freeze if if’s going to expire but this would be a great alternative.
Iryna use the Saute setting. It takes 10-20 minutes to come up to tempetature.
Does this recipe work at an altitude of 10,000 ft?
I, also, have a duo evo plus and I don’t know which alternate buttons to press. Did anyone figure it out?
Made this today and all I can say is it came out excellent. I actually did a half recipe to try it in my 3qt Duo, and I think it came out just like I hoped it would. Next I’m going to try making yogurt.
I have been making ricotta for years. Having the yougurt button may make the process a bit more hands off but if you don’t have the button just do it on the stove. Same process as described above. 1/2 gal milk in a large saucepan. Heat on med (i use med heat to avoid scorching) stirring occasionally. Recipes say stir constantly but I just do other things near the stove and stir now and then. After about 15 – 20 min I start taking temp. (I really should get thermometer that hangs on the pot.) When the milk reaches about 170 i start stirring more often, taking temp often watching for it to reach just about 200 deg. 195,196 is probably fine. DONT LET IT REACH BOILING 212 DEG. The last 5 deg seem to take the longest, but this whole process is about 30 min.
Now pour in 1/4 c vinegar or lemon juice it will immediatly curdle, stir gently and let set 5 min or so to cool. Important strain into a pot or bowl that will hold 6-8 cups, DO NOT DISCARD THE LIQUID. Recipes say strain thru cheesecloth, I just use a cotton (not fuzzy) dishcloth that I keep just for straining. I like mine a bit moist so I don’t strain more than a few min. Makes about 2 c. I pack into 2 plastic containers adding back a little whey if it seems too dry. Ready for my next lasagna.
This cheese is pretty dry, if you want cottage cheese you stir in a bit of cream or half and half to make it creamier and probably a bit of salt.
Now the leftover yellowish liquid – the whey. It still contains a lot of protien and other nutrients. You can freeze it, I freeze 1c. portions. Use for instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal, rice, etc. Or use the entire amount and make a big batch of soup. Yes the yellow color is wierd but when you cook with it you’ll not notice it, it won’t taste like vinegar and you’ll be adding nutrition to your dish.
Press yougurt button 2x to get it to boil mode.
this is so good im making Lesagna and Cheese bread with it . Thank you so much i have Raw milk with tons of Cream.