How to Make Cottage Cheese at Home (Quick Vinegar Method)
Warm 3.8 litres (1 US gallon) of pasteurised skimmed milk to 49°C (120°F), take it off the heat and stir in 180 ml (¾ cup) of white vinegar. Leave it 30 minutes to curdle, drain the curds in cheesecloth, rinse them under cold water, then salt them and stir in a little cream. That is University of Illinois Extension's quick recipe, and it makes about 2 cups.
Use pasteurised milk, because the gentle heat in this method won't kill germs, and keep the cheese in the fridge. It is an acid-set fresh cheese, close to but not the same as cultured shop cottage cheese.
Ingredients
- 3.8 litres (1 US gallon, about 16 cups) Pasteurised skimmed milkThe tested recipe uses skimmed milk; semi-skimmed or whole milk also curdles and gives a softer, richer curd. Not raw milk
- 180 ml (¾ cup) White vinegarOrdinary distilled white vinegar. Lemon juice also curdles milk but leaves a lemony taste
- 1½ tsp kosher salt (about ¾ tsp fine table salt) SaltSeason to taste; this is where you control the sodium
- 120 ml (½ cup) Single cream, half-and-half or double creamAdded at the end for the creamy dressing; leave it out for dry-curd cottage cheese
Equipment
- Large heavy saucepan (at least 5 litres)
- Food or sugar thermometer
- Colander or large sieve
- Cheesecloth or a clean, thin tea towel
- Mixing bowl and spoon
- Lidded container for the fridge
Method
Wash up and warm the milk
Wash your hands with soap and water. Pour the milk into the pan and warm it over a medium heat, stirring now and then, until the thermometer reads 49°C (120°F). That is only warm, well below a simmer.1
Stir in the vinegar
Take the pan off the heat and gently pour in the vinegar. Stir slowly for 1–2 minutes: the milk will separate into soft white curds and thin, yellowish whey.1
Leave it to set for 30 minutes
Cover the pan and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes so the curds firm up.1
Drain the curds
Line the colander with cheesecloth and set it in the sink (or over a bowl if you want to keep the whey). Pour in the curds and whey and let the whey drain off for about 15 minutes while the curds cool.1
Rinse under cold water
Gather up the corners of the cloth and hold the bundle under cold running water for about 3 minutes, squeezing and moving the curds the whole time, until they are completely cool. Rinsing washes out the vinegar taste and firms the curds.1
Squeeze and salt
Squeeze the bundle as dry as you can, tip the curds into a bowl, add the salt and stir, breaking the curd into bite-sized pieces.1
Add the cream and chill
To eat it now, stir in the cream. To eat it later, put the salted curds in a lidded container in the fridge and stir in the cream just before serving. Keep it at 4°C (40°F) or below.1,5
Safety
- Use pasteurised milk. Warming to 49°C won't kill germs, and raw milk can carry Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter1,2
- Refrigerate at 4°C (40°F) or below. Clemson Extension gives shop cottage cheese 7 days; eat homemade within about 5 days5
- Throw it out if it smells sour or yeasty, turns slimy, or shows any mould
- Made with pasteurised milk, cottage cheese is on the NHS list of soft cheeses that are safe to eat in pregnancy7
- A large pan of warm milk is heavy. Use a deep pan, lift it carefully and keep children away from the hob
Variations
Halve everything: 1.9 litres (2 quarts) of milk, 90 ml (6 tbsp) of vinegar and ¾ tsp kosher salt, with 60 ml (¼ cup) of cream. Timings stay the same.
Use a pinch of salt or none. Penn State Extension notes that making it yourself is one way to control the sodium, which is high in most shop cottage cheese.
Skip the cream and squeeze the curds very dry. It crumbles well over salads or into pancakes and keeps its shape in baking.
Stir chopped chives, dill or spring onion and black pepper into the dressed curds just before serving.
Does it actually work?
There is no special health claim to test here: homemade cottage cheese is simply a fresh cheese, and the honest selling point is protein. USDA FoodData Central lists shop creamed cottage cheese at 11.1 g of protein per 100 g, and 1% fat cottage cheese at 12.4 g, so a half-cup (about 113 g) gives roughly 12–14 g.
Those figures are for factory-made cheese; nobody has analysed a homemade batch, and yours will vary with the milk and how much cream you add.
Penn State Extension points out two things worth knowing. Shop cottage cheese is often salty, upwards of 400 mg of sodium per half-cup in low-fat versions, and making your own lets you choose how much salt goes in. It is also lower in calcium than milk, so 2 cups of cottage cheese count as only 1 cup from the dairy group.
It is not quite the same food as shop cottage cheese. In the US, the dry curd is set by lactic-acid bacteria or by food-grade acids such as lactic or citric acid, then washed and mixed with a pasteurised cream dressing to at least 4% milk fat. Vinegar curds are firmer and milder and have no live cultures.4,6,3,8
Questions people ask
Is homemade cottage cheese the same as shop-bought?
Close, but not identical. Shop cottage cheese is usually set slowly with lactic-acid cultures, or with lactic, citric or phosphoric acid, and dressed with cream to at least 4% fat. The vinegar method is quicker and gives a firmer, milder curd.
Can I use lemon juice instead of vinegar?
Yes. Lemon juice also curdles warm milk, but it leaves a lemony taste, so distilled white vinegar is the neutral choice. Rinse the curds well either way.
How long does homemade cottage cheese keep?
Clemson Extension's storage chart gives shop cottage cheese 7 days in the fridge. Homemade has no sell-by date or sealed packaging, so keep it at 4°C (40°F) or below and eat it within about 5 days. Add the cream just before serving.
How much protein is in cottage cheese?
USDA data put shop cottage cheese at about 11–12 g of protein per 100 g, roughly 12–14 g per half-cup. Homemade hasn't been analysed but should be in the same range.
Can I make cottage cheese with raw milk?
We don't recommend it. This method only warms the milk to 49°C (120°F), which doesn't kill bacteria, and the FDA warns raw milk can carry Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7. Use pasteurised milk.
Sources (8)
- University extension University of Illinois Extension. Home-Made Cottage Cheese (recipe card).
- Regulator U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Raw Milk Misconceptions and the Danger of Raw Milk Consumption.
- Regulation Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 133.129 Dry curd cottage cheese.
- Government database U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central (SR Legacy): Cheese, cottage, creamed, large or small curd (FDC 172179); Cheese, cottage, lowfat, 1% milkfat (FDC 173417).
- University extension Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center. Food Storage: Refrigerator & Freezer.
- University extension Penn State Extension. How to Make Cottage Cheese Work for You. Updated May 2025.
- Health service NHS. Foods to avoid in pregnancy.
- Regulation Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 133.128 Cottage cheese.
Educational only. Patch-test anything new on your skin, and stop if it irritates.
Reader notes
Experiences and questions from readers, read by an editor before they appear. They are personal accounts, not evidence, and are not medical advice.