Homemade Farmer’s Cheese (tvorog)
My mom’s method for Homemade Farmer’s Cheese. So easy, fresh and delicious every time. Takes less than an hour to make and enjoy hours later once cooled and drained. A 2-ingredient recipe that you will always want to make and keep in your fridge!
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Homemade Farmer’s Cheese is very easy to make. It only requires 2 ingredients: milk and vinegar. It’s truly amazing and if you try it, you will want to always have some on hand in your refrigerator. We like to enjoy it for breakfast or as snack with cup of tea or coffee. It’s good idea to always have some already made in refrigerator.
My mom always made this cheese with vinegar and it works magic every time. It’s cheap to make as you don’t need any extra dairy to make it besides milk. It’s a huge time saver as it only takes less than an hour to make and once cooled, you drain it and use it. There is no way I would want to wait days for cheese to form. When I start something, I like to get it done that same day (preferably). I have seen different methods online for homemade farmer’s cheese, but I found my mom’s recipe to always have the best flavor, texture and no unusual aroma to it.
I had never seen farmer’s cheese at my local stores. Probably because not all stores sell it, therefore, I never noticed. Fresh homemade is always better and I know the quality of my cheese. With organic milk and vinegar, I spend $7 maximum to make around 4-5 cups of farmer’s cheese. Most times, I would catch organic milk reduced in price with few days left until expiration date and that would make my cheese about $4. Such a great penny saver!
Farmer’s cheese is one of the easiest and delicious fillings to use for rolls, pastries, cakes and more. Like most Ukrainians, I LOVE farmer’s cheese and I bake a lot with it.
Best Milk for Homemade Farmer’s Cheese:
Try to use good quality milk. How do you know if it’s good quality? You really don’t. But, brands such as Organic Valley or Smith Brothers always were the best and always provide quality cheese. In fact, Organic Valley is the only milk I buy lately.
Use 2% or whole milk. Try avoiding 1% or anything below. Cheese with 1% turns out like sand. The million pieces don’t really connect and it’s hard to work with when baking. It just falls apart. Whole milk creates the best cheese. The cheese turns out thick and rich in flavor. The 2% is a bit thinner and works great as well. I try my best to avoid half & half and heavy cream, even if to add a bit to the rest of the milk. You will have hard time draining the cheese, as the cheese will look more like pudding in your pot and get stuck in the cheese cloth.
Can You Freeze Homemade Farmer’s Cheese?
Yes! I sometimes do it, but not often. To freeze cheese: cool, wrap in plastic food wrap and place into freezer bag. Keep up to 3 months. The frozen cheese texture differs a bit from freshly made cheese and becomes a bit fall-apart, but works great for Cheese Pancakes (sirniki) and other breakfast recipes. Therefore, I do it all the time. I take the cheese out to thaw overnight at room temperature to use in the morning. My family loves sirniki; kids especially.
Important Tips for Making Farmer’s Cheese:
1. Use Heinz distilled white vinegar for best results. My mom has tested different brands and from some of the brands the cheese didn’t want to turn out the way it’s supposed to.
2. Use stainless steel pot if you have one. The nonstick takes forever to bring the milk to bubble and you will most likely end up with milk scorching at the bottom of the pot.
3. Use Flour Sack Towel instead of cheese cloth. I bought it at my local Walmart and cut into 4 squares. It’s thick and works perfect for cheese making. Wash used flour sack towel in hot water with lightly soapy water, dry and re-use. From experience, cheese gets stuck in cheese cloth and usually they are pricier and one time use.
Farmer’s Cheese Ingredients:
- 1 gallon whole milk (I use Organic Valley)
- 1/2 cup Heinz distilled white vinegar
How to Make Farmer’s Cheese:
- Heat milk over medium-low until you see hundreds little bubbles appear, but do not bring to a boil. (it would take 30-40 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching at the bottom of the pot.
- Once you see lots of bubbles popping, slowly add distilled white vinegar and give it a gentle stir and wait for 30-60 seconds. Then stir again. The cheese will curdle (become crumbly) and the water should be lime-yellow-ish color. If it doesn’t, add a bit more vinegar until you do see that color of water. Remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
- Line a sieve or a colander with a flour sack towel. Slowly pour the cheese into the cloth to catch the curds. Gather the cloth around cheese and squeeze it as much as you can to get all the whey out. When you start seeing white-ish liquid coming out instead of lime color, you can stop there. *If saving whey (the lime water), drain the cheese into a bowl. People use whey for bread, different cooking and gardening.
- Refrigerate farmer’s cheese once cooled and keep it in refrigerator for up to a week.
Enjoy These Farmer’s Cheese Recipes:
- Cheese Pancakes (Sirniki) + Video – favorite breakfast
- Crepes With Cheese (nalisniki) – thin and delicate with creamy cheese filling
- Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake – flaky, buttery and so easy
- Farmer’s Cheese Sweet Rolls (pirozhki) – so fluffy and mouth-watering
Homemade Farmer's Cheese (tvorog)
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole milk (preferably organic)
- 1/2 cup Heinz distilled white vinegar
Instructions
- Heat 1 gallon milk over medium-low until you see hundreds little bubbles appear, but do not bring to a boil. (it would take 30-40 minutes). Stir occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching at the bottom of the pot.
- Once you see lots of bubbles popping, slowly add 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar, give it a gentle stir and wait for 30-60 seconds. Then stir again. The cheese will curdle (become crumbly) and the water should be lime/yellow-ish color. If it doesn’t, add a bit more vinegar until you do see that color of water. Remove from heat to cool to room temperature.
- Line a sieve or a colander with a flour sack towel. Slowly pour the cheese into the cloth to catch the curds. Gather the cloth around cheese and squeeze it as much as you can to get all the whey out. When you start seeing white-ish liquid coming out instead of lime color, you can stop there. *If saving whey (the lime water), drain the cheese into a bowl. People use whey for bread, different cooking and gardening.
- Refrigerate farmer’s cheese once cooled and keep it in refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
- Use Heinz distilled white vinegar for best results.
- Use stainless steel pot to less likely end up with scorching at the bottom of the pot.
- Use Flour Sack Towel instead of cheese cloth.
- To freeze farmer's cheese: cool, wrap in plastic food wrap and place into freezer bag. Keep up to 3 months. The frozen cheese texture differs a bit from freshly made cheese and becomes a bit fall-apart, but works great for Cheese Pancakes and other breakfast recipes. Take the cheese out to thaw overnight at room temperature to use in the morning.
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Rafael says:
I finally made it! It’s so delicious. Someone in the comments said it reminds them of ricotta cheese, but it definitely is not ricotta. Ricotta is smooth and this cheese is crumbly like cottage cheese, except way more tastier. My husband thought I bought it somewhere. We ended up topping with honey and enjoying as snack. Thank you so much!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review, Rafael! I’m so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this recipe!
Svetlana says:
This is the most delicious homemade cheese recipe I have ever tasted. I try to limit on sugar intake, so this is my favorite snack with tea lately. I made couple batches and storing in fridge. This is now my go-to cheese recipe. I made your cheese crepes over the weeekend. Wow. Definitely recommend! Very easy recipe, great outcome! Thank you Olga!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review, Svetlana! So glad you enjoyed it!
Michael E Alexander says:
Made a half recipe the first time that I tried this recipe. Should have made a whole recipe! It is easy and delicious, so I am making Farmer’s Cheese again for the second time this week!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review, Michael! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe!
brian says:
thank you, your recipe was perfect. added some salt knowing from previous attempts it would be a bit bland.
Kris says:
My nephew just turned 20 and wants to come over tomorrow and make pierogi for his birthday! Thrilled he wants to get in on the family tradition, and thrilled this recipe makes great Farmer’s cheese, got my curds cooling now. Added a 1/2 tsp salt to the gallon of milk, and not draining it as long as I did last time, wife said cheese got too firm with prolonged draining/squeezing. Not paying 8 bucks a gallon for organic milk, this time I just used store brand whole milk, I’ll update if it didn’t come out as good as my last try with organic milk. I used Mike’s Famous vinegar (was on sale), the curds formed just fine.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for sharing that with us, Kris! So happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Olga says:
Hi Olga, I followed the recipe exactly.. same brand whole milk and vinegar. It took a lot longer to see the bobbles… I added medium heat. I have gas stove… not sure if it makes a difference. The milk curled after vinegar and I saw the green color. once cooled and drained I ended up with much less portion maybe 2 cups only..is this normal? Before you let it cool and remove from heat completely should there be more curling of the entire pot?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Olga! The heating will depend on the type and brand of the pot you’re using (can take longer or less). Usually from gallon of whole milk, it’s about 4 cups if you break apart into smaller pieces and place in a measuring cup. If you pack it like you would brown sugar, it will definitely be less than 4 cups. When you add vinegar, you want to give it a chance to curdle and stir gently occasionally, not all the time. You want it to form large chunks of cheese. I have tested several milk brands for this cheese and weighted the amount, that I want to add to this recipe this year. Hoping it will help many to be more successful at this easy, yet delicious recipe 🙂
Leanne says:
This was my first time making cheese, and I was a little cautious, so I made a little sample using 2 cups of 3.25% milk and a tablespoon of vinegar. I needn’t have worried, for it turned out perfectly! It’ll be a whole gallon of milk for me next time, and I will be making this often. Perhaps this cheese will make it into a few Christmas gifts this year! Thanks so much for the recipe.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for the wonderful review, Leanne! This cheese would make amazing Christmas gifts 🙂
Leah Rosenthal says:
I made the farmers cheese for the first time. It worked out exactly as you said it would. The curds are straining now and I’ll squeeze more whey out once it cools some. For a smoother consistency could I whip the cheese?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Leah! For smoother texture, I usually don’t squeeze it out so much and avoid keeping it steaming too long before adding the vinegar. The moment you start seeing some bubbles, add vinegar, keep over the heat for cheese to curdle and remove from heat.
Matthew H Hoffman says:
Great consistency but lacks the taste that store bought farmers cheese has. Wondering if you or anyone knows how to modify it to get that taste
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi! This recipe is for regular cheese without flavors so that it’s good to snack on, or easily incorporate into many dishes (sweet or savory) without having unneeded flavors. Store cheese and many other products always taste different because they add some stuff (often not healthy stuff) to make sure the products last on the shelves as long as possible. Many times, they add flavors to the cheese. Unfortunately, I don’t buy farmers cheese at store, but other readers did mention their incorporated flavors in. It depends what flavor you are looking for. For example, if you want rosemary cheese, you would want to add rosemary or lemon juicy for lemony flavor, etc.
Adriana says:
Hello! Thanks for this recipe.
I love real farmers cheese and like your simple recipe. Can’t wait to try it. I have access to good quality raw milk and plan to use that.
One question: will apple cider vinegar work as well? I have both in the house but I’m a real sucker for the flavor of ACV. Would it be too strong for this cheese?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Adriana! I have not experimented with apple cider vinegar. I usually just use regular vinegar (like the one in the recipe) to make sure the cheese tastes original and can be used for many dishes without any extra flavor.