Homemade Mozzarella Cheese Recipe! Super Easy and Yummy too!
Homemade Fresh Mozzarella Cheese!!!
Who knew making homemade mozzarella cheese was so easy and Oh, So YUMMY!
I’ve never tried to make cheese before so I took a stab at this recipe and WOW! I impressed myself! I prepared this Fresh Homemade Mozzarella cheese from start to finish in just under 1 hour (48 minutes to be exact)!
Price Comparison: Making it vs buying it
- Sea Salt $1.50, used about 3¢ worth
- Citric Acid $4.99, used about 10¢ worth
- Rennet Tablets 5.34, shipping included, I used 34¢ worth
- 1 Gallon Organic Milk at Target $6.79
Total $7.26 for 1 batch which yielded about a pound of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese. My local H.E.B sells fresh mozzarella cheese for $9.98 per pound! Here is a photo of .43 lbs for $4.29!
Tip: None of these items were purchased on sale, nor did I use a coupon so this scenario could get better if you found a sale and used a coupon. My grocery store will cut the price of Milk by 1/2 if it’s about to expire in 3 days.
- 1 Gallon of Organic Milk (Must be organic – Don’t use the ultra-pasteurized milk) Use whole milk or Lowfat milk to save some calories.
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of Citric Acid
- 1-1/2 tablet of Vegetable Rennet
- Sea Salt or cheese salt
- Start off by dissolving a 1/2 Rennet tablet in 1/4 cup of water and set it aside.
- Start to warm the Organic Milk slowly on low.
- Stir in the Citric acid and stir until the heat reaches about 105 degrees.
- Turn the heat off and pour in the dissolved rennet water mixure.
- Stir for approximately 30 seconds.
- Now let the Milk mixture set for about 15 minutes (or longer if you don’t see it start to separate)
- After it has set, run a knife through the mixture, cutting squares to break up and separate the curd from the whey. Use the stainless steal spoon to scoop out the curd and put it in the glass bowl, leaving the whey in the pot.
- Remove as much of the whey as you possibly can. Now for the fun part! Once the liquid as been drained, you will microwave the curd mixture on high for about one minute. Remove it from the microwave and drain the whey again. Press down on the cheese to remove as much of the whey as possible. Repeat as necessary but only microwave it for 30 seconds each time you drain it. A stainer would be helpful (I didn’t have one: hint! hint! if anyone cares to get me a gift! lol…) I did this 3 times.
- Once completely drained, start kneading the cheese until it comes together like dough. While you are kneading it add a generous pinch of salt. I would estimate this is about a teaspoon but mine could have used more like a teaspoon and a 1/2 next time. I got a bit shy with the salt.
- Tip: If the cheese still hasn’t come together, you will need to microwave it again and drain the whey until it does come together. I ended up microwaving it one last time for about 45 seconds for it finally to come together.
- Shape it into a ball and let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes and enjoy! I ended up cutting a few tomatoes and it started to disappear rather quickly!
Here are the ingredients you need:
- 1 Gallon of Organic Milk (Must be organic – Don’t use the ultra-pasteurized milk) Use whole milk or Lowfat milk to save some calories.
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of Citric Acid (This can be found with the canning supplies at your grocery store or here on Amazon)
- 1-1/2 tablet of Vegetable Rennet (I was only able to find this on Amazon online HERE – none of my local stores had it)
- Sea Salt or cheese salt
Equipment needed:
- Thermometer (I used a candy thermometer)
- Large Stainless Steel pot (must use stainless steel: other pots will be reactive to the ingredients)
- Large Glass bowl
- Stainless steel spoon with holes
Directions:
Start off by dissolving a 1/2 Rennet tablet in 1/4 cup of water and set it aside. Start to warm the Organic Milk slowly on low. Stir in the Citric acid and stir until the heat reaches about 105 degrees. Turn the heat off and pour in the dissolved rennet water mixure. Stir for approximately 30 seconds. Now let the Milk mixture set for about 15 minutes (or longer if you don’t see it start to separate)
Here’s a photo of the beginning process before I waited the 15 minutes:
After it has set, run a knife through the mixture, cutting squares to break up and separate the curd from the whey. Use the stainless steal spoon to scoop out the curd and put it in the glass bowl, leaving the whey in the pot.
Remove as much of the whey as you possibly can. Now for the fun part! Once the liquid as been drained, you will microwave the curd mixture on high for about one minute. Remove it from the microwave and drain the whey again. Press down on the cheese to remove as much of the whey as possible. Repeat as necessary but only microwave it for 30 seconds each time you drain it. A stainer would be helpful (I didn’t have one: hint! hint! if anyone cares to get me a gift! lol…) I did this 3 times.
Once completely drained, start kneading the cheese until it comes together like dough. While you are kneading it add a generous pinch of salt. I would estimate this is about a teaspoon but mine could have used more like a teaspoon and a 1/2 next time. I got a bit shy with the salt.
Tip: If the cheese still hasn’t come together, you will need to microwave it again and drain the whey until it does come together. I ended up microwaving it one last time for about 45 seconds for it finally to come together. It should pull apart like this:
And finally… Shape it into a ball and let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes and enjoy! I ended up cutting a few tomatoes and it started to disappear rather quickly!
I adapted this recipe from the American Mozzarella Cheese recipe found in the Rennet Pamplet. There is no way you need to wait 2 hours for your cheese to finish!
Happy Cheese Making my Friends!
We love making cheese around here! Mozzarella cheese is especially fun to make with the kids. I usually make a 2 gallon batch so the kids can help, I usually have them eat the ones they make. Love it! Thanks for sharing this recipe too!
We love it too!!! Thanks for stopping by!
Can you freeze it or how long does it last in the fridge before it will go bad.
I’ve heard you can freeze cheese but I’ve never tried it myself. I’ve had this in my fridge for about a week. It’s usually gone before that though.
oooooooooooh Wowwwwwwwwww..I love this:P! thanQ
I have tried making this cheese to my surprise, it worked but……… there is absolutely no taste!! What am I doing wrong!?
It could be the type of salt you used. I used the specific cheese salt. Also, try a different brand of milk next time and see if you get a different taste. Anyone else have an idea?
Would really love to do this, but I avoid the microwave as much as possible. Do you know of a way that this could be done without the use of the microwave? Love the ease of the recipe! Am excited to try it out.