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Queso fresco (fresh cheese) is a light, mild Mexican cheese that isn’t technically a hard cheese, but is pressed, making the method similar. I’m highlighting queso fresco this month as part of my cheese challenge for New England Cheesemaking because, for the new cheesemaker, it’s an immediate gratification cheese. Queso fresco isn’t aged. It’s a chance to try out your cheese press–and eat the cheese right away. Because the taste of queso fresco is so mild, it can easily be incorporated into any number of dishes. Mexican food is generally quite spicy, and used in Mexican recipes, it will pick up the flavors of the dish. It can be sliced, crumbled, or shredded. You can use it in enchiladas, pizzas, salads, and just about anything else you can conjure. You can make the cheese plain, or incorporate peppers, onions, garlic, herbs, etc, right into the curds before pressing. It’s popularly sold in fresh Mexican markets, and in the U.S. you can find the gourmet brands selling for as much as $15/pound. Make your own! (Even if you have to buy the milk, that’s cheaper!)
Queso fresco with peppers.
Pretty, isn’t it? You need this cheese in your life!
From pot to press, this cheese takes up a mere 1 1/2 hours of your time. Make it early in the day, and you’ll have cheese by dinnertime. Or make it in the evening before you go to bed and press overnight. (Press time is 6 hours.)
The following recipe is from Ricki Carroll’s Home Cheese Making.
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How to make Queso Fresco:
2 gallons pasteurized whole milk*
1 packet direct-set mesophilic starter
1/4 teaspoon rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool water
2 tablespoons cheese salt
*I use raw milk from my cow to make cheese. If you have trouble setting curds with pasteurized store-bought milk, add calcium chloride. Find out more about using calcium chloride here.
1. Heat the milk to 90-degrees F. Add the starter and mix thoroughly.
2. Add the diluted rennet and stir with an up-and-down motion for one minute.
3. Allow to set for 30-45 minutes, or until the curd gives a clean break.
4. Cut the curd into 1/4-inch cubes.
5. Over the next 20 minutes, gradually increase the temperature to 95-degrees, stirring gently every few minutes to keep the curds from matting.
6. Let the curds set, undisturbed, for five minutes.
You’ll see a noticeable rise of whey in the pot at this point.
7. Drain off the whey.
I’ve tried any number of methods for pouring whey off curds still in the pot. It’s a difficult procedure. You don’t want to lose your curds, and with the lid barely cracked (to hold in curds), the whey comes out very slowly. I tried a fry splatter guard recently and it was the best method I’ve come up with yet! I just hold the splatter guard over the pot while pouring–the guard holds the curds in and lets the whey out much more quickly than when using a barely-cracked lid.
8. Add the salt and maintain the curds at 95-degrees for 30 minutes longer.
If you plan to add anything to the cheese (such as onions, peppers, herbs, etc), prepare your additives now. When adding peppers, I add anywhere from 1/2 cup to a cup. How much you put in is up to you.
I don’t usually add the salt right away, by the way. I wait till later in Step 8 (almost till time to put the curds in the mold) to add the salt, and I usually add a little bit more, like 2 1/2 tablespoons. Salt measurements in cheese recipes can be pretty conservative. Experiment to find out how much you like. It’s your cheese! If I’m adding onions, peppers, etc, I mix it in right before putting the curds in the mold.
9. Line a mold with cheesecloth and fill with the curds.
10. Press at 35 pounds of pressure for six hours.
Remove the cheese from the mold and store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Yield: Two pounds.
My experience: I’ve been making a lot of queso fresco lately, maybe as an impatient response to all the aged cheese I’ve been putting away. I need cheese. NOW. Queso fresco does the job with style. I love how quick and easy it is to make, and how versatile it is. You can slice it or shred it, just like a hard cheese. You don’t have to worry about incorporating peppers, herbs, etc, and keeping it away from the rind for fear it will introduce bacteria during aging. You can do whatever you want with it because you’re going to eat it right away. I’m wanting to try incorporating some fruit bits into it the next time I make it. That would make a great dessert cheese!
Queso fresco, shredded.
Enchiladas with queso fresco.
Pizza with queso freso.
If you’re ready to try your cheese press, but you don’t want to wait to try your cheese, this cheese is for you!
Want some?
See how to make a homemade cheese press here. The spring-loaded press I use now can be found here. See how I made my cheese cave here.
See all my posts in Cheesemaking here.
I get my supplies here.
This is my cow.
To help you get started making cheese, New England Cheesemaking is providing a package including (value of each item in parentheses): a hard cheese mold ($15.95), mesophilic culture ($5.95), veal rennet ($6.50), cheesecloth ($5.95), cheese salt ($2.95), and calcium chloride ($4.95). The total value of the package is $42.25. Note: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. (P.S. Or at least a U.S. shipping address. You can have a friend or relative send it on to you if they have a U.S. shipping address.)
For a chance to win: Leave a comment on this post and let me know you want it. ONE winner will be drawn by random comment number to receive the package. Eligible entry cut-off is midnight Eastern (U.S.) time tomorrow night (March 16). This post will be updated with the winner by 9 a.m. Eastern (U.S.) time on Thursday (March 17). Return to this post to claim your prize!
UPDATE 03/17/11: The winning comment number, drawn by random.org, is #210, Shannon Floyd. Email me at CITRgiveaways(at)yahoo.com with your full name and address for shipping!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED TO ENTRY.
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on March 15, 2011
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I am a first year goat owner and my Nubian does have just had their babies. I am so excited about using their milk to make my own cheese I can’t stand myself. LOL
Thank you for the opportunity for a chance to win. This is fun!
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one, it sounds yummy
Thanks and Happy cheese making
Lynn
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I have some basic cheesemaking stuff but am stalled due to lack of goats in milk, and lack of funds for more cultures!
Thanks!
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Oh please pick me. I have just started yesterday making cheese. I made mozzaarella yesterday, and thinking about velvetta today. I really could use some of the items in the kit.
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Lifes just better with cheese!
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One little tip – if you wait to cut it for about 2 weeks, it DOES get a little better flavor and isn’t so “bland”. This short “aging” is just done by leaving it in the fridge in the container. Be sure to turn it over a couple times every day during that period of time and wipe out the condensation from the container so there aren’t drips or the cheese isn’t sitting in the condensation. (When I know I’m going to let mine wait a couple weeks like this, I also let mine dry before putting in the fridge – on a rack at room temp like you would with other cheeses, turning at least twice daily.)
Oh…and sign me up for the give-away!
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I’ve made queso blanco. It is wonderful sprinkled over fresh sliced tomatoes and herbs in the summer. Alas, it does not melt. I’d love to be able to make pizza cheese on demand. Guess I’m sayin’ “Pick me! Pick me!”
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That cheese looks amazing!
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I LOVE CHEESE!!!
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Please enter me into the draw.
Thank You
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I’d love to be entered to win the goodies…I’m getting low on rennet for sure, and don’t have money for more right now.
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Thanks,
Ruth in NH
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-Andrew
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I am into instant gratification which is why cheese making has not previously appealed to me. Thanks for opening my mind a little bit to the possibility. All that cheese looks so yummy! Please enter me in the give away…cheese making sounds fun!
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I have a question…when you might add something such as peppers or onions, would they be used raw & fresh or canned or pickled…or even dried? your’s look like they were probally fresh, but just thought maybe fresh would create spoilage faster.
I have FINALLY mastered making mozzarella cheese & am really looking forward to making other types…not enough hours in the day for all I want to do…thank you
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Please enter me for the cheesemaking giveaway….
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Blessings~
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Charlene in Kentucky
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Queso Blanco uses vinigar and lots of people mix them up since the names are similar. The cheese made w/vinigar has a totally different texture and taste so…yes, if you want Queso FRESCO use the recipe/techniques you see here!
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Sandy
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Thank you, Suzanne, for sharing so much of what you do. This is an amazing website.
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I lOVE this cheese on enchiladas (with your homemade Tex-Mex gravy)!
ANd I’d love the cheesmaking kit. I don’t have a cow- but I can get some milk!
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THanks
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I love Queso Blanco, but have never made it with peppers.
My mouth is watering just thinking about this:-))
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Cheers
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P.S. That queso fresco with peppers looks divine!!!
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i have baby goats due the end of april, which means fresh milk in may!!!!
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Question, though… would you use fresh or dried? I would think fresh would spoil too quickly.
I’m also wondering if flavoring the cheese itself would be doable, such as adding the juice from the fruit at the same time you add the salt.
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Enter me!
dede
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Long time, no see picture of you….How tempting is that, I could reach out and cut me a slice of that cheese!Yummmm
I’m game, enter me in the drawing for the kit…
Thanks,
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Thanks
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ps. your post on making lemon curd recently helped me save a batch! so…Thanks!
Emily Witt
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Cindy
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But, I have not anything to make cheese with..
This cheese would be perfect for my first-time cheese making.
I have been wanting to get some ladies over to my house to make cheese and spread the word about how many good things we can make at home, so much better and healthier and even cheaper, than what is in the stores.
I hope you will give me the chance to do that. I will be sooooo mOOOOOved with joy!!
and Fancy will be proud of me, too:)
Shannon in Va.
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Have a blessed day!
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Thanks for the opportunity.
L
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Thanks and blessings,
connie price
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As for fruit in the cheese, I bought some goat cheese with dried apricots & walnuts – HEAVENLY!
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Thanks again for another fun cheese making entry.
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Thank you.
Bev
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Please enter me in the drawing, too.
And thanks!
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won’t let me have chickens…goats…or sheep
I have a garden and can, spin wool, weave cloth
even made my own dish towels…grew wheat once only to make the worst bread of my life…
can’t move to the country but would love to make my own cheese
so please pick me
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Hugh
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I would like to sign up for the give-away from Ricki.
I’ve been signing up faithfully just about every month, hopefully with the month of March I’ll spring away from the others!!
You sure have me interested in trying the questo freso.
Joan
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Thanks
TinaH
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Sincerely,
Joanne Bergren
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Am a transplant to WV from SoCal so MUST have Mexican food. Queso fresco is one of my go-to cheeses. Always from fresh goat milk!
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I would love to win the cheese making give away.
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I’ve made some soft cheeses before, but never any hard cheeses. A cheese mold would be GREAT!
YUM! Homemade Cheese.
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Enter me please
I am determined!
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Thanks to NECM and Suzanne for another great give-away! Please count me in on it!
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Looks great
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Thanks for the op.
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(sign me up for the giveaway
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All your cheese posts always have me drooling! The queso fresco is no exception! Would love to learn how to make cheese! Please enter me-thanks!
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Please enter me in your giveaway drawing….
Thanks.
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The Queso Fresco looks yummy. I am Very Excited to try it.
Please Sign me up for the kit.
Thanks,
Michelle
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I looked for recipes everywhere with no luck. I finally wrote to my friend in Georgia and got some vague directions on how to make fresh cheese there. Since then I have been making fresh cheese with mild success, but I wanted to know more. Now I know! Thanks for the recipe, I will do what I can without the press for as long as possible (I’m a graduate student after 5 years of volunteer work. All those things equal poor). But if I win this contest, I will be able to make the cheese I love much more easily!
PLEASE pick me!!!
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Thanks!
smiles,
Shari
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Good luck with the challenge – please add me to the draw.
Elizabeth
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I had problems with keeping the temperature at 90 during this cheesemaking and am worried I have killed the starter because I do not yet have a clean break after 45 minutes.
Any help would be appreciated!!
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