Make Your Own Mozzarella

Ok so the photo isn’t great, and my mozzarella balls are nowhere the smooth perfectly round ones you find in the store, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it tastes great!

These are a huge hit whenever I make them into Caprese skewers (cut into cubes and thread onto skewers with cherry tomatoes, then marinate in vinaigrette) or even just sliced into a salad.

It’s not as hard or as time-consuming as you’d think, either! Here are the basic steps. For a photo tutorial, check out cheesemaking.com, where you can also buy ingredients. You can find most of these ingredients online at other cheesemaking shops as well; or, if you live in West Michigan, you can buy them at Sicilianos, which is where my husband buys his brewing supplies.

What you’ll need

1 gallon of milk (raw is best; ‘ULTRA’ pasteurized won’t work)
1/2 C cool non-chlorinated water
1 1/2 tsp- 2 1/2 tsp Citric acid (I use 1 1/2 on my raw milk and it works fine)
1/4 Rennet Tablet (or 1/4 tsp if using liquid rennet)
1-2 tsp cheese salt (to taste)
4 qt pot (non reactive, not aluminum or cast iron)


Crush the 1/4 rennet tablet in 1/2 C cool water, stir to dissolve, and set aside.
Pour 1/2 C cool water and 1 1/2 tsp citric acid into the pot and stir to dissolve.
Add 1 gallon of milk and heat to 88F. Remove from burner and add the rennet solution, stirring for 30 seconds. Allow to set for 5-8  minutes.
Cut the curds with a knife into 1 ” cubes
Ladle curds into a microwaveable bowl and press gently, removing as much whey as possible.
Microwave the curds for 1 minute; gently knead (you want to get as much whey out as possible as this can cause souring later) until it cools off; reheat for 35 seconds and knead again. Reheat another 35 seconds and on this kneading cycle add the salt.
You can tell when it’s done because it will stretch like taffy and it will be shiny.
Place in ice water until cool and voila! Homemade mozzarella cheese.

This recipe also shared on Kitchen Tip Tuesdays, Real Food Wednesdays, and Works for Me Wednesday

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