When I got my Instant Pot (also known as IP) two years ago I remember feeling a little scared of this appliance but soon after I started cooking with it, it changed my life. If I could give an Instant Pot to each and every one of my friends, I would – that’s how amazing it is!
The best part of the Instant Pot is that you can have dinner ready in less than 30 minutes, even when using frozen meat. Plus you can dump all the ingredients in the pot, set it to cook and forget about it. Once it beeps your food is ready and nothing is burned. It is the best invention I’ve ever seen and if you’re a busy parent it’s something you definitively want to buy.
When I first started using the Instant Pot I didn’t know all it could do at that time. I used to make rice and chicken with it and that was about it. Now, two years later, I use it to make anything from a meal to desserts. Today I’m going to share with you a recipe that you probably didn’t know you could make in your IP: cottage cheese.
The best part is that all you need is milk and vinegar so if you love cottage cheese you’re going to save lots of money by making your own, instead of buying it. Plus it tastes amazing! If you’re feeling adventurous you can even add some flavoring at the end. I’ve added garlic, oregano and even strawberry jam for my kid’s sandwiches.
This recipe has several steps to it but it is so easy to prepare that even my 4 year old helps me with it. If you love cooking with your kid, this is a great recipe to try with them.
Instant Pot Cottage Cheese
Yields 2 cups.
Ingredients:
- 1 gallon organic milk (we like it with whole milk)
- 3/4 cup of organic white vinegar
- 1/2 cup organic milk (reserved)
- Stainless steel mesh strainer
Directions:
Pour milk into Instant Pot and reserve the 1/2 cup of milk for later.
Lock the lid into place and turn the valve to seal. Press the yogurt setting, and press the adjust button until the display screen reads boil.
Let the milk go through the boiling process. When the Instant Pot beeps, switch to yogurt. About 1 hour later, turn the Instant Pot off.
Remove the lid and mix the vinegar into the milk slowly.
The vinegar will curdle the milk as you mix it. You will see the whey separate from the milk, the whey should be a greenish color, like this:
Let the milk curdle in the Instant Pot for about 10 minutes.
Other Instant Pot recipes you might like:
- Instant Pot Buttery Lemon Chicken
- Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
- Instant Pot Chicken Marsala with Spaghetti Squash
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
When it is done, strain the whey from the cottage cheese with a stainless steel mesh strainer.
Place the cottage cheese in an airtight container, mix in the 1/2 cup of milk that was reserved. This will make the cottage cheese creamy.
Store in the fridge until the sell by date on the milk jug.
Doesn’t that look delicious?
I hope you try this recipe – it’s really easy to make and so far we haven’t messed it up.
You can add seasoning to make it taste even better. Try things like garlic, oregano, basil and pepper for salty treats and fruits or jam for sweet treats.
If you love it as much as we do, be sure to let me know by leaving a comment.
Instant Pot Cottage Cheese
Fast and easy homemade cottage cheese in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon organic milk
- 3/4 cup of organic white vinegar
- 1/2 cup organic milk, reserved
- Stainless steel mesh strainer
Instructions
- Pour milk into Instant Pot and reserve the 1/2 cup of milk for later.
- Lock the lid into place and turn the valve to seal. Press the yogurt setting, and press the adjust button until the display screen reads boil.
- Let the milk go through the boiling process. When the Instant Pot beeps, switch to yogurt. About 1 hour later, turn the Instant Pot off.
- Remove the lid and mix the vinegar into the milk slowly.
- The vinegar will curdle the milk as you mix it. You will see the whey separate from the milk, the whey should be a greenish color.
- Let the milk curdle in the Instant Pot for about 10 minutes.
- When it is done, strain the whey from the cottage cheese with a stainless steel mesh strainer.
- Place the cottage cheese in an airtight container, mix in the 1/2 cup of milk that was reserved. This will make the cottage cheese creamy.
- Store in the fridge until the sell by date on the milk jug.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 2 cupsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 1047Total Fat: 39gSaturated Fat: 24gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 162mgSodium: 1053mgCarbohydrates: 100gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 70g
Please keep in mind that these nutritional values are estimates, based on the ingredients, and it might not be accurate.
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Can lactose free skim milk be used in this recipe?
I honestly don’t know because I’ve never tried it but it’s worth a shot. 🙂
What do you do with the leftover whey?
I throw it out.
I feed to my dogs and other animals.
That’s a great idea! 🙂
if you bake bread, you can use the whey instead of water or half whey and half water, it is really good
How would I do in pressure cooker it doesn’t have a yogurt setting
I don’t know – sorry! I’ve only use an instant pot for this and not a regular pressure cooker.
I’m a little confused about this specific instruction… “When the Instant Pot beeps, switch to yogurt. About 1 hour later, turn the Instant Pot off.”
Do you turn it off 1 hour after you switch it to yogurt? also, do you do a natural pressure release at this point? Thanks!
When it beeps you have to change the settings to yogurt. After you pressed yogurt, wait one hour and then you can open the lid.
When I push my yogurt button I get a choice of 8 or 24 min which one do I want? Does it matter as long as I let it set one hour.
What matters is that you let it set one hour.
How much does this make. I don’t want a huge amount. This would be nice to do when it is needed but I am a party of 1 and don’t use in large quantities. 🙂
You could cut the recipe in half. 🙂
Have you ever used a nut milk? Almond, cashew or even coconut?
I have not… Sorry!
I love cottage cheese… I’ve achieved making the most incredible NON-tart, extra thick yogurt with my IP, and now I will try this as well. I’m assuming the whey would have too much of a vinegary taste and thats why your tossing it? Thank you so much for this recipe.
Yes, let me know how it goes. I hope you love it!
Can it be made in the IP with out the yogurt setting like yogurt can?
Most likely but I have not tried it that way.
Do I continue to stir for the 10 minutes that the milk is curdleing? or just leave it sit
I’m thinking about reserving the whey for a bread recipe.
Great idea!
I really like this recipe. Good success making it. Instead of reserving milk to add to it, I left it dry and before serving added a little bit of cream and salt and pepper. Reminded me very much of what we used to have on the farm.
Thanks The tip! And I’m so happy you found a way to make it like what you had on the farm. ?
Thank you for the delicious recipe for homemade cottage cheese in my IP! I’ve been making yogurt for a couple years, but hadn’t tried cottage cheese yet, not sure why! LOL! I’ll never buy storebought again! So easy and tasty!! To answer some questions in the comment section, the leftover whey is a buttermilk substitute due to the vinegar and can be used in a variety of ways (pancakes, bread, anything that calls for buttermilk) so I reserve a quart jar of it and put it in the fridge for when I need it. (search leftover whey uses on the web) I’ve even made the most delicious caramel from the leftover whey from my IP yogurt. Hope that helps!