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!
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.
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 1/4 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.
Homemade Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp 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
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Oh and on this note what about making ricotta is this possible would love to know how to make a lower carb ricotta for an eggplant recipe I want to try to convert to low carb…
I haven’t yet tried ricotta but I hear it’s not difficult!
I love your recipes and this looks great but what is the carb content wonder because you posted the fact that it is made with whole milk and half n half and the like. Thanks Sandy!
Hi Sandy…keep in mind that the majority of the whey from the whole milk gets drained out, and that’s where all the carbs are. So I estimate that the carb count is similar to store bought CC, but maybe less because I don’t add in any fillers like carrageenan. So I think 1-2 carbs per 1 ounce serving.
How much cream cheese does this make? What size container should I expect to use.
Really excited to try this.
It makes about 1 pound of cream cheese, I think.. Since I actually have some draining right now, I will weigh it out and let you know once it’s completely done. I use a medium sized tupperware, something that holds 3 cups or so.
Okay, so turns out that it made almost 2 full pounds of cream cheese! 1 lb and 11 ounces.
Can you taste the vinegar in the finished product & does it work well for cheesecake?
No you can’t taste the tang of the vinegar at all. It’s even sweeter and creamier than storebought cream cheese.
Thanks
Hey, I’ve seen the ingredient half n half around in many recipes but I’ve no idea what it actually is and I doubt they have it where I love, could there be a substitute for it?
Great recipe by the way! Could this be turned low fat?
Thanks a bunch for your amazing recipes
Hi Asma – half n half is basically half cream/half milk, meant for coffee and other hot drinks. It’s homogenized so it doesn’t separate. YOu could easily take that quantity and do half cream and half milk and get the same thing for the cream cheese. I am not at all sure about making this low fat, though. The consistency relies on the fat content…but you could probably give it a go. Try a half batch and see if it works. In reality, it will be Neufchatel cheese.
Quit being afraid of FAT!
Not sure what this is in reference to?
Asma’s low fat request. Lori is obviously keto.😇
Can i use this homemade substitute of heavy cream to make this cream cheese?? Please help..
No, I am sorry, I don’t think that would work very well at all. The flour would really gum up in the cream cheese.
It worked! I, like you, was concerned I had done something wrong, but low and behold, I now have cream cheese. I’m going to use your husband’s boursin recipe for dinner party tonight.
I have terrible reactions to the stabilizers used in commercial cream cheese (carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum) so haven’t been able to eat cream cheese in YEARS, which is devastating because I love it. I was so excited about finding this recipe, I went out and bought the cream (another challenge: finding cream without the stabilzers), came home, and went right to work. It’s now draining in bowls on my counter. I’m excited beyond excited to taste the results! I didn’t want to use a cheese with rennet, or one using a culture. Of all the recipes I searched, this was the right one for me. THANK YOU!
So glad, Lori! We actually just made another round of it this weekend, and it worked beautifully. It’s so creamy and slightly sweet, and the only ingredients are cream, milk and some vinegar!
Can you freeze this cream cheese?
Honestly, I am not sure. Most cream cheese gets a bit of a strange texture after freezing, a bit clumpy, and I think this probably would too, especially as it has no fillers or preservatives.
Hi Carolyn,
Sounds great, I’m going to try it. DON’T throw your whey out though. It’s awesome to use in place of water when making bread or in protein shakes; anything really. It is chock-full of protein… lots. Have a great day 🙂
Wow. Cannot wait to try this one!!
Can you suggest a substitute ingredient for what you call “half and half” as we do not have this in the UK…?
Thank you!
Mrs Wibbs
Half and half is simply half milk, half cream. So take the amount and split it between milk (whole milk) and cream.
Ah ok….. Is that all “half and half” is?!? If so, why do people BUY that stuff???! You don’t have to answer that! Thank you for the reply.
Guess I’ll be making cream cheese this week end!
It’s homogenized, so it stays together, without the cream separating out. And you don’t get an oily film on the top of your coffee 🙂
Seems simple enough…I make my own yogurt, why not take it a step further and try my hand at making cream cheese?
Pinned, shared on Facebook and adding to my MMM Must-Make-Monday series 🙂
I don’t know if I missed it but can you tell me how long it takes on the simmer heat before you see curds? I am not sure if I have done this correct. I actually have a pot on the stove as I write this!
I didn’t specify how long because it depends so much on the heat of your stove. Stick a spoon in and drag some up from the bottom. You should see it look like milk that has gone bad and is kind of lumpy, with some milky liquid around the lumpiness. Then I’d say give it a few minutes longer, even up to 5 or 10 minutes, (without boiling).
It worked fine! It’s delish! Just so everyone knows, I used 2% milk and it worked. I love how creamy, almost like a whipped cream cheese and it taste so much better than store bought.
So glad it worked!
Carolyn this is so cool. I would never have thought to make my own. You amaze me.
Isn’t amazing that everyone is amazed at this? People would have thought nothing of this until the start of the 20th century when everything went mechanized and commercial. Are we really so “advanced”?
Fantastic! I’d love to try this – I’ve made mozzarella and ricotta over the past year or so, this would be a great next cheese to try. 🙂
Can you tell me how to make the mozzarella?
No, because I’ve never made it! Sorry.
I will have to give your method a try. I made it using a cheese culture, I like how yours can be made without having to get some supplies at a cheese making specialty store. Love the homemade cream cheese though, lovely taste and texture.
Wow, what a fun project! I totally want to make this now!
Homemade cheese of any kind is always on my menu…I love the look of this…I’ve made mascarpone before, but this looks at least a little bit lower in fat. And my hips could use the help. 🙂 Theresa
You go, girl!!! Your hubby’s homemade boursin looks fantastic! Brava on making your own cream cheese…who knew it could be done so easily????
PS…I used your yummy roasted tomato soup for a guest post on Tuesday. Loved it!