Fresh cheese, also known as queso fresco, is a mildly flavored, soft, crumbly, and handmade white cheese that works well in place of goat or feta cheese. After preparing my Shredded Beef Tacos or Lazy Birria Tacos, I decided to try this Queso Fresco dish. It’s incredible!

Queso Fresco

Amelia

Queso fresco is a soft, crumbly Mexican cheese made with whole milk, vinegar, and salt, perfect as a topping for tacos and enchiladas or as a ricotta substitute, prepared by curdling milk, draining whey, and optionally pressing into a mold for storage of up to seven days.

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Prep Time 2 5

Chilling Time 4

Total Time 6 5

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 12 Servings

Calories 50 kcal

Ingredients

½ Gallon (8 cups) whole milk
¼ Cup (59.5g) Distilled white vinegar
2 Tsp Kosher salt

Instructions

Add milk and heat in a big heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent uneven heating, until it nearly boils (between 180°F and 190°F). To prevent the milk from burning, do not heat it too quickly. (This could take up to half an hour.)
Take off the heat and add the vinegar gradually. You'll notice tiny curds starting to form. After gently stirring the mixture for five minutes or so, leave it alone for thirty minutes or so.
Over a big bowl, place a large colander coated with two thick layers of cheesecloth; the cheesecloth should hang over the bowl's edges. Allow the liquid (whey) to drip into the basin as you carefully ladle the curds into the cheesecloth. Gently mix the curds after adding the salt.
Please take note: Before pouring the curds, you might need to layer up to ten cheesecloths with wider openings to ensure that the openings are extremely fine.
Carefully raise the cheesecloth's edges and gather them at the top once the cheese is cool enough to handle. To drain more of the extra liquid, twist. The cheesecloth should have a ball of cheese in it.
To completely seal in the queso fresco, firmly fasten the extra cheesecloth with a rubber band or kitchen twine.
Use the extra cheesecloth to hang it from a cabinet handle over a bowl or the faucet over your sink. It will keep draining for around an hour.

Store and/or Press

At this stage, the cheese can either be pressed or kept in its loose curd state. Press it into a mold or squeeze it one last time before putting it in an airtight container.

To Press

On a flat plate or baking sheet, place a 4 to 5-inch mold of any shape (we used a large cookie cutter). Press the curds firmly against the mold's edges after adding them. Place a weight on top of the parchment paper-lined mold. (We used a mason jar filled with water, but anything that weighs 1-2 pounds and fits inside the mold would work.)
Chill for three to four hours or overnight.
Once the cheese has cooled, take it out of the mold and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. You can keep it in the fridge for up to seven days.

Keyword Queso Fresco

Queso Fresco Mexican Food

Mexican food is frequently linked to queso fresco, a white, milky cheese. Only three ingredients and a little perseverance are needed to make it. After heating the milk, adding vinegar to make it acidic, and letting it curdle, it is strained through cheesecloth and either pressed or stored in loose curd form.

It works nicely as a garnish for tacos, enchiladas, and enchiladas. In some recipes, such as my Three-Cheese manicotti, it can be used in place of ricotta cheese.

The ingredients for queso fresco

This dish only requires three ingredients. But don’t forget to bring cheesecloths to drain the curds. I used these high-quality, reusable, and reasonably priced cheesecloths.

Cotton Farm Pre-Cut Cheese Cloths, 18 x 18 inch, Grade 100, Overlocked Edges, Ready to Use

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Milk: For optimal effects, I like whole milk. You could attempt it with only reduced-fat milk, but the cheese won’t be as creamy.

Vinegar: To cause curdling, warm milk is acidified by adding distilled white vinegar.

Salt: After draining the curds, sprinkle them with kosher salt, as this cheese has a slightly salty kick.

Methods for Curdling Milk

As I mentioned above, making this requires patience, but other than that, it’s pretty simple! Additionally, homemade cheese is sure to be fresher than any processed cheese you might purchase. Curdling the milk is the first step in the cheese-making process.

To begin, place the milk in a big, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. The milk may burn if you try to heat it too quickly, so keep the heat at medium-low. Over the fire, stir the milk continuously for up to 30 minutes or until it reaches 180°F to 190°F. Keep in mind that slow and steady wins the race; in this instance, that means heating the milk evenly without scorching it.

Remove the milk from the fire and add the vinegar once it has gradually risen to a nearly boiling temperature. After gently stirring the milk and vinegar for approximately five minutes, allow the mixture to rest for approximately half an hour. The curds will have developed by now.

How to Prepare Fresco Queso

When the curdled milk is ready to use, do the following:

Place a bowl over a large colander that has been lined with a few cheesecloths. The liquid that drains from the curds will collect in the dish. (To make the holes as satisfactory as possible, stack up to ten cheesecloths if they have larger holes.)
Allow the whey (liquid) to drip into the dish as you carefully pour the curds into the cheesecloth.
Lightly mix the curds after adding the salt.
Pull the cheesecloths together at the top after the cheese curds are cool enough to touch. To get a ball of cheese in the cheesecloths, twist to drain more of the extra liquid.
To completely seal in the queso fresco, firmly fasten the cheesecloth with a rubber band or kitchen twine.
Lastly, tie the cheese ball to a cabinet handle over a bowl or hang it over the sink (in the cheesecloth). Give it another hour or so to drain. (This is not required. We tested without performing the extra drain, and the outcomes were comparable. Your cheesecloth’s quality will have an impact.)

Queso Fresco Pressing and Storage

Once the last draining is complete, you can keep the loose cheese in an airtight container in the fridge. Alternatively, you might store it by pressing it into a mold. Use these guidelines to press the cheese:

Line a baking sheet or flat plate with a 4—to 5-inch mold. We used a large cookie cutter, but you could use a cup, bowl, jar, or any other shape you’d like.
Press the curds firmly against the mold’s edges after adding them.
Place a 1-2 pound weight that fits inside the mold on top of the parchment paper-lined mold (or container). We utilized a water-filled mason jar as our weight.
Let the cheese cool for three to four hours or overnight.
Once the cheese has cooled, remove it from the mold and wrap it in plastic wrap for up to seven days. (If you leave it in the metal mold for too long, the cheese may mold too soon.)

About 12 ounces of cheese were produced by this recipe.