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    Home » Low Carb Appetizers & Snacks » Homemade Cream Cheese

    Published: Sep 14, 2012 · Modified: Jun 28, 2022 by Carolyn

    Homemade Cream Cheese

    This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    12.9K shares
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    You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own cream cheese. Perfect for all of your low carb and keto cheesecake recipes!

    Homemade Cream CheeseLittle Miss Muffett, sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey.  Who among us doesn’t know that nursery rhyme off by heart?  I must have said that one over and over as a kid, but like the words of the Canadian Anthem in French, I didn’t exactly know what it meant.  What the heck is a tuffet?  And what are curds and whey, they sound utterly dreadful!  Along the way somewhere, I found out what curds and whey were, but they still sounded dreadful.  Clumpy cheese in some sort of watery, milky liquid?  Um, no thanks.  I think I will stick with your basic Cheddars and Monterey Jacks.

    It wasn’t until just now that it occurred to me to look up the word “tuffet”.  According to the almighty Wikipedia, it’s a kind of low footstool covered in cloth.  I always imagined it as some sort of outdoor thing, like a little grass-covered mound or the stump of a tree.  I envisioned Little Miss Muffett sitting outside under a tree from which the spider descended.  I’ve read my fair share of English Lit classics and tuffet always seemed to go along with words like “heath” and “moors” and “hillock”.  Words that conjure up images of a lonely, windswept English countryside with a single imposing stone house lording over it.  With turrets, the house must of course have turrets.  Turrets, tuffets…you can see where I am going with this, right?

    I am now much more familiar with curds and whey.  I am not about to sit down and eat a bowl of the stuff, but I know what both are and how to use them to advantage.  And I’ve made my own yogurt and my own butter.  It was time to step it up a notch and start making my own cheese.  Which means making my own curds and whey, and then draining the whey away.  A-whey!

    I got this bee in my bonnet about a week ago and I googled how to make cream cheese.  I came across a recipe from the Splendid Table and it seemed easy enough, so I gathered my cream, half and half, and milk, and away (a-whey?) we went.  Except that as I was in the middle of it, I realized that the instructions from The Splendid Table were rather vague.  Oh, and it said to gently simmer on medium-high heat.  I don’t know about your stove, but on mine, medium-high usually results in a full boil.  It did come to a boil, which I caught rather quickly and turned the heat down.  I was so unsure of myself in the middle of the process that started looking up other resources.  I found instructions for making ricotta, which said clearly to NOT boil the cream mixture.  Uh oh.  I also was worried that my curds weren’t forming properly so I added some vinegar.  By the time I was scooping out my curds, I was quite certain this wasn’t going to work at all.

    Boursin with homemade cream cheese and homemade butter!

    But I am happy to report that making cream cheese is quite a forgiving process!  Once the whey drained out, I was left with a beautiful creamy cheese that tasted far better than any storebought version.  I can’t believe how well it worked and I’ve corrected the instructions to reflect what I did, so that you can have the same results.  This stuff is so good and it makes quite a lot (I think I got about 1 ¼ lbs of cream cheese out of the deal).  We’ve been spreading it on everything.  My husband used some to make his wonderful Boursin (recipe here) and I used a large amount of it to make some gorgeous mini pumpkin cheesecakes (recipe to come in a few days).  And it was so easy, I am not sure I will ever buy cream cheese again.

    Want to make more of your own cheese? Check out this recipe for Easy Homemade Ricotta from Texanerin Baking.

    Mini Maple Pumpkin Cheesecakes

    Homemade Cream Cheese

    You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own cream cheese. Perfect for all of your low carb and keto cheesecake recipes!
    No ratings yet
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    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes
    Drain Time: 4 hours
    Total Time: 30 minutes

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups heavy cream
    • 2 cups half and half
    • 2 cups whole milk
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 3 tablespoon white vinegar

    Instructions

    • Line 2 medium sieves with cheesecloth or cotton tea towels and place over bowls.
    • In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, half and half, milk and salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low and simmer gently.
    • Stir in the vinegar and continue to simmer until cream mixture separates and curds appear and float to the top. Curds will begin to clump together.
    • Remove from heat. Scoop out curds with a slotted spoon and divide between lined sieves. When you are getting to the bottom of the pan and it's hard to scoop them out, feel free to pour all of the mixture into the sieves.
    • Let drain until whey is removed, at least 4 hours. This is faster if you divvy the curds up into two sieves, as opposed to one. You can also hang the cheesecloth/tea towels filled with curds to encourage it to drain faster.
    • Once curds have the consistency of room temperature cream cheese, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate.
    • Keeps for about 1 week.

    Notes

    The carbs are difficult to calculate because many are in the whey that is drained off. But it would have no more than store bought cream cheese, about 1 or 2 g per 1 ounce serving.
    12.9K shares

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    Nutritional Disclaimer

    Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Clare Forshaw says

      December 15, 2020 at 4:40 am

      Hi Carolyn,

      Thank you so much for this! We are living in Portugal now and cream cheese is hard to come by (except in very tiny packages!). I met you when you came to Toronto and have all your books, signed!!!

      Just a quick question, dobrou think it would be possible to keep the way and dehydrate it? I cannot find unflavoured whey protein here anywhere and don’t want my lemon and blueberry cake to have hints of chocolate!

      Thanks so much for all you do!

      Clare

      Reply
      • Clare Forshaw says

        December 15, 2020 at 4:51 am

        Sorry for the spelling issues. I have a very aggressive spellcheck!

        “Do you think it is possible to keep the whey?…”

        Reply
    2. Ralph says

      November 21, 2020 at 2:00 pm

      still cannot get any real curd development after adding the vinegar – approximately how long should it simmer before one sees curds (vs porridge texture)

      Reply
    3. Ralph says

      October 05, 2020 at 4:46 pm

      Have made the Cream Cheese recipe several times & even allowing the mixture to simmer as long as 15-20 minutes I have never seen separation or curds developed – the mix resembles a semi thick porridge at best. What am I missing?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        October 05, 2020 at 8:16 pm

        What kind of pan are you using?

        Reply
        • Ralph says

          October 06, 2020 at 7:40 pm

          Stainless steel

          Reply
    4. Melissa says

      December 11, 2019 at 2:47 am

      So this mysteriously turns from curds to cream cheese consistency? No blending in food processor?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        December 11, 2019 at 8:09 am

        As it drains, the added liquid disappears and the curds come together into a smooth cheese.

        Reply
    5. Lulwa says

      April 18, 2016 at 2:19 pm

      What do you main hafe and hafe

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        April 18, 2016 at 3:58 pm

        Half and half is a north american product, meaning half cream, half milk, homogenized to make a great coffee cream.

        Reply
    6. Juanita says

      March 22, 2016 at 9:43 am

      Have you ever tried freezing the homemade cr.cheese?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        March 22, 2016 at 4:08 pm

        No, sorry, I have not.

        Reply
    7. Jane Jouraida says

      April 01, 2015 at 6:03 am

      Hi, I was so happy to find this recipe BUT the vinegar just didnt do its magic and it didnt separate! Any idea why? I added some lemon juice to give it a boost and that didnt work so…..I ended up tipping it all away. I did taste it first and the vinegar taste was very strong! A total fail for me but I often make Ricotta so where did i go wrong???

      Reply
    8. MemphisBelle says

      November 23, 2014 at 9:32 am

      I am lactose intolerant and I was wondering if I can use Lactose Free Whole Milk? If yes, do I use the same amount of liquid as stated in your recipe? Thank you.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        November 23, 2014 at 9:47 am

        I honestly have no idea, I have never used it and don’t know if it will curdle like regular milk.

        Reply
    9. Bethany says

      August 25, 2014 at 12:51 pm

      Hello!

      What could be used in place of the half and half?

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Bethany says

        August 25, 2014 at 12:56 pm

        Nevermind. I see that someone already asked this question above, and you answered.
        Thank you!

        Reply
    10. Veena Ramachandran says

      July 31, 2014 at 12:36 am

      This may sound strange to you but back in India, “curd” exclusively means yoghurt. Haha. It’s so funny how there are these little differences across the globe. : )

      Homemade cream cheese sounds SO Healthy and delectable!

      Reply
    11. Sue says

      May 15, 2014 at 6:54 am

      Isn’t this priceythough? On sale, Philly cream cheese is two for three dollars Am I missing something?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        May 15, 2014 at 9:40 pm

        Do as you wish. I enjoy making my own and knowing I am getting real cream cheese, without additives.

        Reply
        • Sue says

          May 16, 2014 at 6:31 am

          Oh, no, don’t get me wrong, I’m with you on wanting to know what’s really in your food! Just curious how much per pound you would spend to make it, is all… I want to try it now!

          Reply
          • Carolyn says

            May 16, 2014 at 4:12 pm

            I have a local creamery where I can buy a half gallon of cream for $7 so that helps. If you can source less expensive cream, I think this would be somewhat more expensive but not wildly so. A whole recipe of this makes more than a pound of cream cheese and you use milk and half and half too.

            Reply
    12. adriana says

      November 12, 2013 at 9:48 pm

      do you think this would turn out using only half and half?

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        November 13, 2013 at 12:50 pm

        It should, since it’s made from whole milk and heavy cream. But there might be something in the homogenization of half and half that affects it. Try a half-batch and see!

        Reply
    13. Ashley j says

      August 07, 2013 at 3:45 pm

      Can you freeze this??

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        August 07, 2013 at 4:39 pm

        Yes, but like any cream cheese, it’s going to change in texture a bit when you thaw it.

        Reply
    14. Luana says

      July 08, 2013 at 11:27 pm

      About how much cream cheese will this recipe yield? 8 ounces? 16 ounces? I’d love to try it.

      Reply
      • Carolyn says

        July 09, 2013 at 6:18 am

        It makes a lot. I weighed it last time and the full recipe makes about 1 pound, 12 ounces of cream cheese. 28 ounces!

        Reply
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