How to Make Cream Cheese (The Easiest Cream Cheese Recipe)
My Homemade Cream Cheese recipe could not be easier to make, because everything you need to make rich, creamy, and tangy cream cheese is most likely already in your fridge.
4 cups (32 oz /1000 ml) whole milk (full fat, not low fat)
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice ((lime juice or white vinegar))
¼-½ teaspoon salt ((read notes))
Categories
Ingredient
Cuisine
American
Steps
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk on med-high. Stirring constantly until it starts to a rolling simmer.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the lemon juice 1 tablespoon at a time, in 1-minute intervals. Continue stirring constantly.
Continue cooking until the mixture curdles. Stir constantly until the mixture has separated completely, this should take just a few minutes. There will be a yellowish liquid on the bottom and thick curdles on top. Remove from the heat. This should happen within a few minutes.
Lay a cheesecloth in a large sieve and place it over a large bowl. Pour the curds into the sieve. Let it strain and cool for about 15 minutes.
Once cooled, use the cheesecloth to squeeze the excess whey out of the curds. (Note: You can reserve the whey for marinades, bread, pancakes etc)
Transfer curds to a food processor and process until very smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. If the mixture seems grainy and stiff then add in a splash of the whey or cream to loosen it.
Add salt and taste. Add more if you want more flavor. Now is also a good time to add herbs, garlic or any other flavors you like.
This cream cheese must be stored in the fridge. I always use it within 7 days.
Reviews
AKP on 2025-10-17 (2 stars): Would love some pointers. 1st time trying the recipe tonight and it was kinda a flop. For starters I only ended up with 1/2 cup of "cheese" I felt like it didn't have a cream cheese taste. Also no sure if I squeezed out to much liquid ut it was very think/almost a rubery/foam texture. Not sure if that makes sense. So I am hesitant to try again and waste milk for only such a small amount in return. Any tips or tricks would be great
Kimberly on 2025-10-14 (4 stars): Can you use heavy whipping cream instead of whole milk?
Elijah on 2025-10-06 (5 stars): Hi if I use this for cheesecake can I mix in about 100g of store bought cream cheese once I'm done as I don't want to waste it
Scott Chippawa on 2025-09-26 (5 stars): Great recipe! Don't forget that you can use the whey to make pancakes, cakes, bread, etc.
TC S on 2025-09-23 (2 stars): Just made this. I managed to get it creamy, but it's really bland even with extra salt and whey. It yielded about 6 ounces of cream cheese. Store bought is better.
