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.
ML says:
The picture shows ultra pasteurized milk. I read the ultra pasteurized won’t work, I read this after I had my batch failed and was reading up to find out why. Also, is why I was looking at more recipes for farmer cheese to see what works for others. I’m on my way to buy non-ultra pasteurized to try it again. I have made mozzarella before with success, but this is first try at farmer’s…Have you actually had cheese making work with ultra pasteurized?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Not sure where or who said that ultra-pasteurized does not work for farmer’s cheese, but we always use ultra-pasteurized milk for homemade farmer’s cheese. It’s our primary milk in the house. I don’t know about other cheeses, but for this exact recipe post for farmer’s cheese we use ultra-pasteurized. We use different brands of ultra-pasteurized for many years and always a success. The milk on the picture is the exact milk I used in this recipe post when taking photos for this recipe and the exact milk I use about 75% of the time I make farmer’s cheese, and that’s at least 6 times farmers cheese we make every month. If you made my recipe, make sure you’re following directions and not making any substitutions or additions, and not letting the milk boil or not adding vinegar too early. Also, like mentioned in the post, Heinz distilled white vinegar works the best. Other brands or flavors might provide slightly different results. Hope this answers your question. 🙂
Grace says:
I make your cheese 3-4 times per month because we like to snack on it for breakfast especially, and I have used brands Horizon, Organic Valley, O organics, Darigold and these are all ultra-pasteurized and the cheese always turns out beautifully. This is my favorite recipe that never dissapoints.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thank you for sharing that with us, Grace! Those are great choices for cheese making. I’m so happy to hear you’re enjoying this recipe 🙂
Mimi says:
Can I half htis recipe?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You definitely can. Just halve the ingredients listed.
Betty Ann Coleman says:
Dear Olga,
What would happen if I used lemon juice instead of vinegar?
Thank you,
Betty
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Betty! I personally never used lemon juice for cheese making, but my mom did and it also works. You will just have a slight lemon aroma in cheese.
Eileen says:
My Ukrainian grandmother (baba) made something similar, but it had eggs and milk and no vinegar.
Do you have any savory recipes for the farmers cheese?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
No savory recipes with farmers cheese at the moment, but I will keep it in mind 🙂
Veronika Bari says:
My mother and grandmother always made farmers cheese. Somehow they were not able to explain the recipe to me. This is perfect. As easy as it gets, and excellent results.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so happy this recipe worked out well for you, Veronika!
Roby Rutledge says:
I am addicted to this cheese! Thank you for posting the recipe. I made it the other morning and it was so easy. It came out great.
Do you have the nutritional information by chance?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
That’s wonderful, Roby! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. I don’t do nutritional info, but I have some helpful links on the FAQ page that might be helpful for you.
Nancy says:
OMG! The best farmer’s cheese we ever had! Now my husband doesn’t want me to buy it anymore. Thank you for sharing your recipe ♥️
Nancy
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so glad you and your husband enjoyed this recipe, Nancy! I think homemade is always best and fresh 🙂
Brittany says:
Can you make this using raw milk?
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I have not tried it myself, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. From what I know, people in Ukraine always use raw milk for cheese and it always works. Hope this helps! 🙂
Camille says:
Please tell me what is the difference between farmers cheese and ricotta cheese,it seems that is the same way I make ricotta cheese.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Camille! I’ve never made a homemade ricotta, but if I was to compare homemade farmers cheese with store ricotta, the texture is different. Farmers cheese is more dry and comes with bigger crumbs, while store-bought ricotta is very mild and has very tiny crumbs. Hope this helps!
Connie Ditcher says:
Easy and yummy! Thank you for this delightfully easy recipe.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Connie! 🙂
Karen says:
I’m anxious to use this farmer’s cheese in perogies. Can I add salt to this? If so, when would you suggest? Would I use Kosher or fine sea salt? Many thanks for your response.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Hi Karen! You would usually add sugar and salt in pierogies and you want to use a little bit of fine salt (definitely not kosher), depends on the amount of cheese. Maybe these two recipes would help you decide (check the filling ingredients). Sweet Cheese Filled Buns (Vatrushka Recipe) or Farmer’s Cheese Sweet Rolls (pirozhki)