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How to Make Cream Cheese with Just One Ingredient

Make homemade cream cheese, just like what you can buy at the grocery store.

March 22, 2020 By Mary's Nest 9 Comments

How to Make Cream Cheese with Just One Ingredient

Watch the How to Make Cream Cheese Recipe video

Learn How to Make Cream Cheese with this simple One Ingredient Recipe.

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Yogurt Cheese or Cream Cheese?

Making homemade cream cheese couldn’t be easier, and it only takes one ingredient to make it…yogurt! Any yogurt will do—full-fat, low-fat, or fat-free. In this recipe, I am using full-fat yogurt because I believe it creates the best final product. Plus, make sure the yogurt that you use is plain, unflavored yogurt and not Greek yogurt.

Why Not Greek Yogurt?

I recommend making this homemade cream cheese with regular yogurt for two reasons:

  • First, plain unflavored yogurt is generally less expensive than Greek yogurt.
  • Second, by straining regular yogurt, which is the first step in this process, you will be getting a nice amount of whey liquid. Whey is a nutritious probiotic-rich by-product of making homemade cream cheese. In a future video and blog post, I will be sharing how to use this wonderful liquid in a myriad of different ways. So stay tuned!

Straining Yogurt and Molding Yogurt Cheese

After straining the yogurt for 24 hours, you’ll be ready for the next step, which involves lining a small container—any type you have will do—with some cloth and allowing your cream cheese to “ripen” or “age” for about a week in the refrigerator. Once you un-mold it from your container, you’ll have homemade cream cheese! This couldn’t be easier!!

How to Use Homemade Cream Cheese

You can use your homemade cream cheese in the same way that you would use the block of cream cheese that you can buy from the grocery store. Your cheese can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. And easiest of all, you can simply place the homemade “block” on to a plate and cover it with some spicy jelly or shrimp and cocktail sauce, and you have a quick and easy dessert!!

More Homemade Dairy Recipes

Now that you’ve learned how to make Cream Cheese be sure to try your hand at making other homemade dairy recipes, including homemade Cottage Cheese, Ricotta Cheese, Sour Cream, and Cultured Butter.

  • How to Make Cottage Cheese – The Easy Way!
  • How to Make Homemade Ricotta Cheese – The Easy Way!
  • How to Make Sour Cream with 2 Ingredients
  • How to Make Cultured Butter with Only 2 Ingredients

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I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Love,
Mary ♥
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

Homemade Cream Cheese with One Ingredient

Learn how easy it is to make homemade cream cheese with just one ingredient
Prep Time5 mins
Draining and Aging8 d
Total Time8 d 5 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Mary’s Nest

Equipment

  • Bowl or large measuring cup
  • Mesh strainer
  • Flour sack towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filters

Ingredients

  • 32 ounces Plain whole milk yogurt, unflavored Low-fat or fat-free yogurt can also be used

Instructions

  • Line a mesh strainer with a flour sack towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filters.
  • Place strainer over a bowl or large measuring cup.
  • Pour yogurt into the lined strainer.
  • Place lined strainer with yogurt, which is over the bowl (or measuring cup), into the refrigerator, and allow the yogurt to drain for 24 hours.
  • The yellowish liquid that will accumulate in the bowl or measuring cup is acidic whey. Transfer this to a lidded jar and refrigerate. This will last, refrigerated, for six months. It is rich in probiotics. You can drink it, use it in place of liquid in baked goods, or use it to soak grains.
  • After the yogurt has drained for 24 hours, transfer it to a small container lined with a small flour sack towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filters. (See Video.) And then cover the container with a lid or other weight such a plate.
  • After one week, un-mold the "cream cheese" and store it in the refrigerator to be used in any recipe that calls for cream cheese. This homemade cream cheese will stay fresh, refrigerated, for about 2 weeks.

Notes

Find this recipe and video at https://marysnest.com/how-to-make-cream-cheese/
Copyright © 2020 Mary’s Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Homemade Dairy Supplies

  • 8-Cup Measuring Cup
  • Stainless Steel Mesh Strainer
  • Flour Sack Towels
  • Cheesecloth
  • Spatula
  • Glass Containers with Snap-Tight Lids

Recommended Reading

  • Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats
  • Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World
  • Nourishing Diets: How Paleo, Ancestral and Traditional Peoples Really Ate
  • Nourishing Fats: Why We Need Animal Fats for Health and Happiness

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

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    Learn where I buy my beef bones, electric grain mills, sprouted grains, and more…and get special discounts for Mary’s Nest visitors, including from US Wellness Meats, Mockmill, Masontops, and Cultures for Health.

*Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My videos and blog posts may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

**Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.

Filed Under: Cheese, Homemade Cheese Tagged With: Cream Cheese, Homemade Cream Cheese, One ingredient Homemade Cream Cheese

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ella Martin says

    March 25, 2020 at 3:44 pm

    Mary, I love your presentations and use your recipes to make things I never knew I could make so easily and better at home.
    I am having a bit of a problem though with my no knead sourdough bread. I don’t know if my starter is to strong or if I am adding to much water to the dough, but my dough looks like the sponge (all bubbly). It does not hold any shape and is very sticky when pressed into, please tell me what I am doing wrong. It rises great! It’s just very fluid. I’m going to keep trying because I love sourdough bread.

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      April 5, 2020 at 9:10 am

      Hi Ella, I’m not 100% sure but based on your explanation, I would try cutting back on the water. Keep me posted. Love, Mary

      Reply
  2. Stephanie says

    May 13, 2020 at 2:11 am

    5 stars
    Hello! I love your channel! Thank you for sharing so much information and showing me and teaching how to cook and actually love to cook. One question I’m wondering about is the cream cheese. I made it and let it sit for the week in the covered container. Although it tastes great and we have been eating it with crackers and salami how do I remove or lessen the yogurt flavor? I separated it into two and added garlic salt, pepper and basil to what I call mine, but my kids didn’t like my flavored one and prefer the non flavored one but they said it still has a slight yogurt taste to it.
    Thank you again for everything.

    Reply
  3. Stephanie says

    May 13, 2020 at 2:14 am

    5 stars
    Hello! I love your channel! Thank you for sharing so much information, showing and teaching me how to cook I actually love to cook now (after 10 years of motherhood) One question I’m wondering about is the cream cheese. I made it and let it sit for the week in the covered container. Although it tastes great and we have been eating it with crackers and salami how do I remove or lessen the yogurt flavor? I separated it into two and added garlic salt, pepper and basil to what I call mine, but my kids didn’t like my flavored one and prefer the non flavored one but they said it still has a slight yogurt taste to it.
    Thank you again for everything.

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      July 21, 2021 at 4:08 pm

      Hi Stephanie, Thank you for the kind words! Hmmm…you ask a great question! This is in essence a mock cream cheese because actual cream cheese is made with cultured milk and cream under pressure in the factory which we can’t really do at home. So using yogurt is as close as we can get. I’m not sure I have a good answer as to how to lessen the slight yogurt flavor. Maybe try a different brand of yogurt that might have a more mild flavor? Or if you are making your yogurt homemade let it ferment for a shorter period of time. I’m not sure. I will have to experiment and see what I can come up with. I’ll keep you posted. Love, Mary

      Reply
  4. Niyati says

    August 31, 2020 at 3:51 pm

    Hi,
    I made the cream cheese twice turned out lovely. I had a question though about seasoning the cream cheese, could i add salt and other ingredients after draining the yoghurt and then put it to ripen for a week or would the salt change the yoghurt cheese as it rests?

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      August 31, 2020 at 7:24 pm

      The method you described works perfectly. Yes, add the flavoring, salt, etc., mix well and then put it in the mold. So happy to hear that the batches you have made so far turned out great! Love, Mary

      Reply
  5. Paula says

    December 14, 2021 at 2:58 pm

    5 stars
    Love this idea of homemade cream cheese and your channel! However, I am lactose intolerant and was wondering if I could make this using store bought coconut plain yogurt? Like the brand So Delicious?

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      December 18, 2021 at 2:05 pm

      Hi Paula,

      Definitely! You can use coconut plain yogurt, but the cream cheese will have a slightly different texture and taste. Otherwise, everything should work wonderfully.

      Love and God bless,
      Mary

      Reply

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