This easy Farmer Cheese is made with only 3 ingredients: milk, lemon juice, and salt. This recipe will take you from milk to a delicious soft cheese in under an hour.

Is cheesemaking on your goals list for the new year? If it is, welcome to the club! I started dabbling in cheesemaking year before last when we our fridges were overflowing with milk from our jersey cows. I needed to do something with all the excess milk and cheese is a perfect way to do that. I have some tweaking to go with hard cheese, so that’s for this year! Through the process of learning, what blew me away was just how easy it is to make soft cheese.

Here’s soft cheese math: Milk + acid = curds. Curds, pressed or strained = cheese.

Whether you’re wanting to incorporate cheesemaking into a routine or just try it or fun or as a homeschool experiment with your kids (this counts as science class, right!?), farmer’s cheese is a perfect intro.

What is Farmer Cheese?

Farmer’s cheese is a mild, fresh, soft cheese with a crumbly texture. Unlike hard cheeses, it does not need to be pressed or strained for long. It is in fact one of the simplest and quickest cheeses out there to make. My recipe will take you from milk to cheese in under an hour, and mine even ended up being about half an hour. It is a really versatile cheese as well, making it a delicious addition to many dishes!

While the thought of cheesemaking could sound intimidating, I think you will end up absolutely loving the process and the end result!

Best Uses for Farmer Cheese:

Tacos
Scrambled eggs
Breakfast skillet hash
On toast (Think sourdough toast with avocado and fresh farmer cheese…yum.)
Salad topping
Melting cheese on burgers
Cheese and crackers
Baking substitution for ricotta. (Ricotta tends to be be a little creamier, so you might need to adjust the moisture levels in substituting. Or, if you want a creamier version of the farmer’s cheese, you can simply squeeze less whey out of it at the end.)

Best Uses for Whey:

During the cheesemaking process, acid (lemon juice) is added to milk. This causes the milk fat proteins to separate from the rest of the milk and form together, creating curds. The remainder of the liquid is called “whey.” It is similar to skimmed milk, but has been heated. Don’t throw this a-whey! (I had to) It is high in protein and calcium and is perfectly useful in the kitchen. Here are some common uses:

Baking (substitute for buttermilk, milk)
Fermenting vegetables (often used as a starter culture in fermentation)
Soaking grains and oats
Smoothies (think “whey protein powder” in liquid form)
Garden fertilizer. Seriously. Your plants will love you!
Chickens and pigs love it, if you happen to have those around.

Ingredients for Farmer Cheese:

*Recipe can be easily halved, doubled, etc to your preference.

1 gallon raw or pasteurized milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
Salt
Optional: fresh herbs

How to Make Farmer Cheese

Add your milk to a clean stove pot and turn the heat to medium high.

2. Stir often to keep the bottom of the pot from burning. Heat until you see lots of tiny bubbles on the surface of the milk, indicating it is hot. *Do not let the milk boil.* The heating can take up to 20-30 minutes. While your milk is heating, line a colander with clean cheesecloth and place the colander set up ontop of another pot in the sink. (The colander and cheesecloth will catch the curds and the pot will catch the whey)

3. Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat. Let the milk sit undisturbed for 1 minute.

4. Pour the pot of curds/milk into the lined colander and the whey will be poured into the pot. Use the whey in a different baking or cooking project.

5. Gather the corners of the cheesecloth and squeeze the remaining whey out of the curds. The curds will be very hot, so use gloves or wait a few minutes for it to cool before doing this step.

6. Scoop the curds into a bowl. Add salt and herbs, if using, to taste. Enjoy!

If you want to see the Instagram video version of this Farmer Cheese recipe, click here!