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If you’ve ever thought Homemade Cream Cheese was too difficult to make, this post is proof that it couldn’t be easier! You need four simple ingredients! Homemade Cream Cheese is fluffy, fresh and so utterly delicious. Use this for these Bagel Sandwiches and serve them with horchata coffee.
If it’s one thing I love, it’s breakfast at home. Let’s all agree that it’s absolutely breakfast at home > brunch out. Who needs overpriced, mediocre brunch when you can make it at home for a fraction of the price and so much more delicious! I love making everything from my Breakfast Burritos, Breakfast Tacos to the best Blueberry Muffins.
If you ever want to make a bagel spread, this homemade cream cheese is an absolute must. It couldn’t be more simple to make; it’ll surprise you, for sure! Let’s get into it.
Supplies You’ll Need to Make Homemade Cream Cheese
Most of the supplies you’ll need to make homemade cream cheese are easy to find, especially on Amazon. Here is what you’ll need:
What’s the Difference Between Homemade and Store Bought Cream Cheese?
There are plenty of things that I think are silly to make homemade. Cream cheese IS NOT ONE OF THEM. Its texture is a million times better than the cream cheese you buy at the grocery store. It’s so much smoother, lighter, creamier. The main difference is that store-bought cream cheese usually has a gum listed in the ingredients (guar gum, xanthm gum, etc.) which mean it’s a lot thicker and denser.
It’s so good, that I probably won’t ever go back to store-bought cream cheese ever again.
Ingredients for Homemade Cream Cheese
- Dairy – We need heavy cream, whole milk and buttermilk.
- Rennet – You can use vegetable or animal rennet.
- Salt – I like to use kosher salt. That’s it!
How to Make Homemade Cream Cheese
- Combine the milks. In a big pot, add the heavy cream, whole milk, buttermilk and salt.
- Warm to 75 degrees F. Heat the milk mixture to this temperature.
- Mix in the rennet. Add the rennet and mix throughout. This is going to make it so the solids separate from the whey.
- Allow to stand at room temperature in a warm place. In order for this to actually work, the temperature has to be nice and warm.
- After 14 Hours, strain it. This takes about 14 hours for the whey and solids to separate. Line a sieve or strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth. Nestle it over a large bowl. Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth.
- Allow it to drain. This should take about 4 hours for it strain.
Recipe Tip for Homemade Cream Cheese
Leftover Whey. You’ll end up with whey, which is the liquid leftover from the curds. Don’t throw it away! Instead, use it in place of the buttermilk in my Buttermilk Biscuits. The result will be divine, super tender and delicious biscuits.
Recipe FAQs
You can add them to smoothies (like my Hailey Bieber Erewhon Smoothie), pancakes (like these lemon ricotta pancakes), or cinnamon rolls (see my overnight cinnamon rolls). Use the whey in place of the liquid/milk ratio.
I adore cream cheese frosting (my brown butter cream cheese frosting is DIVINE). This homemade version is MUCH softer than store-bought cream cheese so this will make the frosting softer too. I would add less heavy cream in that recipe, as well as chill the frosting so it doesn’t melt.
In order for milk to coagulate and form curds, it needs enzyme properties. Vegetable rennet gets these enzymes from vegetables like artichokes, nettles and figs. While animal rennets gets these enzymes from the gut of animals.
More Breakfast Recipes
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Homemade Cream Cheese
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- Cheese cloth
- 1 strainer
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk, ultra-pasteurized is ok!
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk, shaken
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 drops liquid vegetable or animal rennet, dissolved into 2 tablespoons of water
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine heavy cream, whole milk, buttermilk and salt. Heat to 75 degrees F. (Warm to the touch.)
- Mix in rennet being sure it’s evenly distributed. Cover with clean kitchen towel and allow to stand in place that’s 75 degrees for 14 hours. Just a heads up, I tried this once during the day and once at night. No surprise that the batch that sat for 14 hours during the day was MUCH better. It was just warmer and was overall a better environment for the cream cheese.
- Line a fine-mesh strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth; and then nestle it over a large bowl. Pour the cream/milk mixture into the cheesecloth and allow it to strain, on its own (don’t work it through), for about 4 hours to 5 hours. When it’s completely drained, the final product should be a creamier, smoother and lighter version of cream cheese that you’re probably used to. It keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*This post was originally published on June 24th, 2015 but it has since been updated with new copy and new photos!
Being quite lactose intolerant, I have been unable to find lactose free heavy cream or buttermilk. But, I have found plenty of lactose free Half & Half and yogurt (unsweetened and unflavored with live cultures as a substitute for buttermilk). What do you think about using only the Half & Half as a sub for both the heavy cream and the whole milk. I would also use the yogurt in place of the butter milk. What do you think? I already make ricotta, Paneer and quark.
Hmmm…interesting. Not sure, it definitely will be a bit different. I imagine not as thick, not as tangy, not like cream cheese? But you’ll definitely end up with something interesting. If you try it, let us know how it goes!
Such a cool idea! I’ve never made cream cheese at home, but now I think I definitely need to try it out. 🙂
#pantydropper
Do you have any recommendations on where to store the mixture at 75 degrees in a typical household? During summer, we keep the house cooler than 75 degrees and well under that in the winter. Looking forward to trying the recipe. Thanks!
I turned on the oven to 200 degrees F and put the cream cheese mixture on top of the stove (in the pot), covered it and it worked! It did take a bit longer (around 16 hours) but it was great.
Wow. Do you think this can be used for baking or just for spreading on toast/bagel?
Hmm…not sure completely since I haven’t baked with this but I personally wouldn’t bake with it because it’s just too good on its own.
If I’m using vegetable rennet tabs, what’s the conversion from liquid drops?
I did some googling and this is the conversion that I found:
The conversion is 1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet = 1/4 vegetable rennet tablet.
But your measurement is drops. How much liquid is in your “drop?” I too use the tablets.
Tried this this weekend with tablet rennet. I ended up using 1 tablet (started with 1/2 but it was not satisfactory and also it’s cold here right now and my lactic cultures did not develop in the 14 hours, as Adrianna warned) and all told, with 1 tablet and about 30 hours of culturing, my cream cheese finally worked– it’s extremely creamy and quite good, but if you wanted something firmer (this is very buttery) you might be able to get away with 1.5 tablets. I’d go with 1 first though and see how you like it.
whoa this is so cool. i’ve always considered cream cheese to be one of those magical objects that can only be factory made and store-bought (i used to think this about marshmallows too!), but now i have to try this, i’m so intrigued!
Same and marshmallows are also one of those things that are way better homemade!
This is far easier than I was anticipating – I worried it would be a real painstaking process but seems like it could be do-able even for me!
www.ellebloggs.com
This is such an inspiration. Cream cheese is very expensive where I live so knowing how to make it would be wonderful!
Awesome! I never knew how to make cream cheese, it’s just something I’ve never thought of doing myself but it seems so easy! And if the result is as good as you say… it’s definitely worth it!