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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!
I live in india. We do not get the same buttermilk as America. Any suggestions to what I can substitute the buttermilk with or a recipe how to make home made buttermilk?
You can “curdle” regular milk (to make it more like buttermilk) by adding about 2 tbsp of lemon juice (or white vinegar) to whole milk. It will curdle and is good as a substitute for buttermilk. Hope this helps in a ‘pinch’.
I made this and came out wonderful. I made it a second time and doubled the recipe including the rennett and it didn’t really work. The temp may have been a bit cooler but not much. Any thoughts?
Can you please post the strength of the rennet you used because they vary, thanks.
instead of heating the milks, could I just leave them out for an hour to come up to room temp before adding the rennet and do everything in a bowl or something similar?
Or will leaving it out cause problems? Or does the faster change from cold to warm that the stove provides make a difference? I noticed the milks are supposed to be 75 before the rennet, and then you keep it at 75 in room temp.
If my room temp is colder than 75 degrees, should I keep this on low flame? or just let it sit for longer?
Not sure since I didn’t test it that way–sorry!
What did you do with the Whey? It doesn’t say?
I made biscuits. They’re linked to the recipe in the *notes* section of the recipe!
Does the end product taste any different? If so, how? I am thinking of making my own cream cheese and sour cream for a New York cheesecake. Do you think the difference in texture would affect how the cheesecake would turn out?
I’m not sure, I haven’t made a cheesecake with it. But I suggest going through the trouble to make homemade cream cheese if you’re spreading it on a bagel or toast. It’s a much fluffier texture!
Thanks for sharing your recipe! We have only eaten raw dairy products for the past year due to health problems with pasteurized/homogenized dairy (lactose intolerant people typically are fine with raw dairy since lactase is not destroyed by the high temps of pasteurization). do you know if this an acceptable recipe for raw dairy?
Oh I think it will be delicious and perfect to make cream cheese. It will most likely be easier because ultra-pasteurized milk doesn’t have any cultures, making it sometimes difficult to make cream cheese with. But raw milk should work great! Let me know the results!
I am looking for a cream cheese recipe to frost a carrot cake for my 4ths 1st birthday next month… we’ve been on raw dairy for the past 7 years and recently received our own milk cow. Wanted to share with our sweet 80 year old neighbor and he said he’s lactose intolerant. At first he wouldn’t try it but he came over last night to give it a try. It’s been so long since I researched raw milk, that I’d forgotten several of the reasons raw is more digestible. Your comment reminded me, and I was happy to see it, after seeing him enjoy the milk last night!
I love homemade food and I also offten make cream cheese at home. Thank for your share. it ‘s very helpful.
have you ever simply drained yogurt thru cheese cloth? its almost exactly like cream cheese and much easier and cheaper 🙂
Yes! It’s called lebneh! Very delicious but it tastes super different from cream cheese, in my cheese-loving opinion. 😉
It may depend on the type of yogurt. I only had it in Egypt and it tastes the same to me. Perhaps the yogurt used is less tangy, I do add a bit of salt though. I also adore cheeses 😀 I hope I get the chance to try your recipe soon 🙂 thanks
What about fat free?
That sounds sad. 🙁