Healthy Low Fat Cream Cheese | Easiest Recipe | 3 Ingredients

This homemade cream cheese recipe is the simplest way to make soft, delicious, guilt-free cream cheese. All you need are just need 3 ingredients which you probably have in your kitchen right now.

I don’t even remember when was the last time I bought cream cheese from the market. This is because the process of making cream cheese at home is ridiculously easy. Literally anyone can make it. All you need is whole milk, lemon, salt and my secret ingredient to make super smooth and creamy cream cheese at home.

These are the basic ingredients. You can also customize it as per your liking by adding herbs, garlic, seasoning for sweet and savoury flavours.

But for now let’s not get into complications or variations and keep the recipe super simple for all the first timers.

More About Cream Cheese

I have seen many recipes on the internet where they use rennet, heat the milk to certain temperature to make cream cheese. But I don’t believe in complicating recipes. I like to keep my recipes simple yet delicious so that I don’t have to think twice before making them.

I have used whole milk here. You can however get experimental and can use cream as well. Combining milk and cream in equal parts or even using just cream alone. Obviously the more cream you will use the creamier the cheese will be but it would also up the fat level.

What is Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is a soft, tangy usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream. It usually comes in two forms – firmer one in blocks or softer and more spreadable one from tubs.

Commercially, cream cheese goes through a curdling process. It is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to the milk and cream mixture. It is then heated, cooled, and strained to create a creamy consistency. Heavy cream is added to adjust the fat content to add creaminess to the final product.

Unlike the commercial version, in this DIY we will be using either lemon juice, lime juice or plain white vinegar to make cream cheese.

Ingredient List

• Whole Milk: I have used whole milk in this recipe to get richness and body. Full fat milk gives more and bigger curds. It gives rich and creamy texture. However, if you wish you can totally use skimmed milk. The result will be less creaminess but it will not compromise on the taste.

• Lemon/Lime Juice or Plain White Vinegar: To curdle the milk we will use lemon or lime juice. Plain white vinegar will also work here.

• Salt: Brings out the flavour and also acts as a natural preservative.

• Greek Yogurt: Yes, you read that right! That’s my secret ingredient! Instead of using heavy cream, we will be using Greek yogurt to get that perfect creaminess in our cream cheese.

How to Make Cream Cheese at Home

1. Heat the Milk: Firstly, bring the milk to a rolling simmer in a heavy sauce pan on a medium heat. Do not let the milk boil. Heat the milk till you see bubbles forming on the side.

2. Add Acid: Next step is to add the lemon juice or vinegar, one tablespoon at a time till the mixture curdles completely. While doing this, keep the flame on a medium heat and keep stirring continuously till the milk curdles. Remove from the heat.

3. Strain: Thirdly, lay a strainer with a cheesecloth and keep it on a large bowl. Pour the curd mixture into the sieve. Add cold water to wash off any lemon juice or vinegar. Let it strain and cool. This should take about 10 minutes.

4. Blend: Lastly, transfer the milk curds into a blender. Add salt and Greek yogurt. Blend in a blender for about a minute or until the curds have come together and have become completely smooth and creamy.

5. Season: At this stage, you can add seasoning of you choice; fresh or dried herbs, garlic, spices anything you like.

FAQs

Why is my cream cheese grainy?

The grainy texture of cream cheese comes when milk is overheated. This can be avoided by heating the milk to a simmer instead of boiling it. If the cream cheese is gritty after blending, you can add a little bit more of Greek yogurt and salt. Added salt will help the curdles to break down resulting in smooth texture.

How to use this cream cheese? Can you bake with it?

You can use this cream cheese just like any other. I love adding fresh herbs like sweet basil, garlic and Italian seasoning to this cream cheese and using it as a spread to make yummy Sandwiches. You can try my Cold Cream Cheese and Cucumber Sandwich. The sandwich spread can also be used as delicious dip. You can also bake a cheesecake using this cream cheese. Use it in Cream Cheese Frosting for Carrot Cake, Orange Cake or for Glaze in cookies or for No Bake Cheese Cakes. The versatility and possibilities are endless

How to store? How long does it last?

Store it in an airtight container in refrigerator. Since this cream cheese is made using fresh milk and has no added preservatives to it, I would recommended to use it within 7 days. In summers or humid areas maybe even less than 7 days.

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