Homemade Feta Cheese Recipe - Larder Love (2024)

No self-respecting Greek salad would be seen dead without that all-important feta cheese. But did you know you can make your own deliciously tangy homemade feta cheese really easily with just a few ingredients.

Greek Feta Cheese

Having been lucky enough to live on the Greek island of Crete for three years and having worked on many Greek islands in my mispent youth I do have a real love of all things Greek in the foodie department. And feta cheese is right up there art the top of my list.

Feta has been made in Greece for many hundreds, actually thousands of years. Traditionally made from a mixture of goat’s and ewe’s milk every family would make their own feta and keep it in brine. Feta has become such an iconic cheese that in 2002 it was granted a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) which means that only feta cheese made in specific regions of Greece can use the title Greek Feta.

Feta is used in so many dishes. In fact I use it in everything from main dishes to desserts. Salads are the obvious choice for using feta, the classic Greek salad or my simple beetroot salad with orange and feta. My total favourite salad has to be watermelon and feta salad with mint, that’s Crete on a plate for me!

In cooked dishes from soups like courgette/zucchini and feta soup to main dishes like paella style stuffed peppers with feta and in egg dishes like this spinach frittata.

But it’s also great served up in different ways like these baked grapes bruschetta with whipped feta or

And even in desserts, like my delicious fig and feta tarts with thyme and honey.

Ingredients for homemade feta

• Milk – I have used two different types of milk for my feta. Goat’s milk and cow’s milk.
• Live yogurt
• Rennet tablet or liquid rennet
• Sea salt

The most important ingredient when making homemade feta style cheese is time. You need to give that cheese time for the amazing salty flavour to develop. Don’t rush it folks!

What type of milk do you need for feta

While I have used a mixture of goat’s milk and standard cow’s milk for my homemade feta you can use just cow’s milk instead if you like. I just really love the taste of goat’s milk myself.

The main thing to remember about the milk you use is that it is not UHT milk (that’s the Ultra Hgh Temperature pasturised stuff) you want the gold top wilk that has the creram on top of the bottle.

Yogurt

You can make your own homemade yogurt which is just perfect for this cheese-making recipe. Check out my how to make your own yogurt (+video!) and also how to make Greek-style yogurt.

How to make homemade feta cheese

This recipe is very easy but it’s one that takes a few days to come together. The actually doing part is simple, you just have to have a bit of patience while things come together in the natural way.

You start by dissolving quarter of a rennet tablet in 50ml of cooled boiled water. Mix a tablespoon of the live yogurt with 50ml of cow’s milk and set aside in a warm place.

Mix the rest of the milks together in a pan and heat to 90F/32C on a low heat, do not over stir the mix. Remove from heat and add the yogurt mixture and stir slowly to mix thoroughly.

Cover and leave for 1 hour. After this time if the temperature has dropped bring it back up to 90F/32C.

Gently add the rennet mixture using an up and down movement with a wooden spoon for a few seconds only. Replace the lid and leave for 12 hours.

Cut the curds in different directions and let it all rest in the pan for 10 minutes then line a sieve with the muslin and pour in the curds and either let the whey drain away or collect in a bowl (useful for scone making or skin softening in the bath!) then tie up the ends and hang over a tap to drain completely in a cool place (or tied to a wooden spoon over a bowl in fridge) for 36 hours. Turn over the curds half way through.

Break up the curds with a fork and add 2 teaspoons of sea salt making sure it is completely mixed in with the cheese.

Make a parcel of the muslin with cheese inside and place a heavy weight on top and plate underneath and leave in the fridge to come together, firm up and flatten out a bit for 12 hours (did tell you this took a bit of time didn’t I).

Open the muslin and cut into squares, you can sprinkle with more salt but I found mine quite salty enough so didn’t add any more. You can eat it now but I left mine in the fridge for another day to dry out a little.

How long will homemade feta keep?

You can store it in fridge and use it within 3 days if kept in an airtight container.

Or you can do as I did and put your homemade feta into a jar with a few herbs and some olive oil and it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months as long as it is submerged in oil.

Looking for more super easy homemade cheese recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;

How to make traditional Scottish crowdie cheese

Homemade Labneh (yogurt cheese)+Video!

How to make Italian ricotta cheese

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.