Instant Pot Ricotta
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
Homemade ricotta is one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever make. This Instant Pot ricotta recipe costs much less than store-bought ricotta, and it tastes delicious!
Homemade ricotta cheese couldn’t be easier to make. It’s as simple as heating up some milk, adding vinegar, and waiting a few minutes for the magic to begin.
An Instant Pot makes it even easier than my stove top homemade ricotta. There’s no worrying about a pot of milk boiling over on the stove. The yogurt setting on the Instant Pot heats the milk to the required 180 degrees, so all you have to do is add the vinegar and strain the mixture.
This Instant Pot ricotta is a great spread for crackers or a base for pancakes and muffins. I can never bring myself to buy ricotta anymore now that I know how easy and affordable it is to make my own.
Step by Step Instructions for Instant Pot Ricotta
Step One: Heat the milk in the pressure cooker
Heat the milk to 180 degrees using the Instant Pot. To do this, pour the milk into the Instant Pot, close the lid, and set the valve to Sealing. Press the Yogurt button and press Adjust until you see the word “Boil.” Let the pot run the boil cycle.
Step Two: Confirm the temperature of the milk
When the Instant Pot beeps, it means the milk has come to the perfect temperature of 180 degrees. Remove the top and confirm that the temperature is correct with a thermometer. (If it’s a bit high, let it sit for a minute until it comes down to 180 degrees. If the temperature is less than 180 degrees, press the Saute button and watch the thermometer until the temperature comes to 180 degrees.)
Step Three: Add vinegar to the hot milk
Remove the inner pot to a trivet and pour the vinegar into the milk. Stir briefly. You’ll see the ricotta separating from the liquid. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
Step Four: Strain the Instant Pot ricotta
Transfer the ricotta mixture to a fine mesh strainer or colander lined with butter muslin or cotton cheesecloth. Let the liquid drain into a large bowl for a couple minutes until it reaches the desired texture, and add a sprinkle of salt if desired. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate.
Tips and Frequently Asked Questions
If you have lemons on hand, you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar in this Instant Pot ricotta recipe. And if you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can follow my recipe for stovetop homemade ricotta using a pot and a thermometer.
The liquid that gets strained out is whey. It can be added to baking recipes or pancake batter in place of water or milk. It can also be used to soak grains or added to smoothies.
Ricotta is delicious on its own as a spread on crackers, and it adds a wonderful texture to pancakes and baked goods. It can also be used as a topping for pizza or pasta. It’s a central ingredient in lasagna, stuffed shells, and other baked pasta recipes.
Be sure to confirm that the milk has reached the correct temperature of 180 degrees. If it doesn’t begin to separate into curds within a couple minutes, add an additional tablespoon of vinegar. This should move the process along.
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 2 tbs white vinegar
Instructions
- Pour the milk into the Instant Pot, close the lid, and set the valve to Sealing.
- Press the Yogurt button and press Adjust until you see Boil.
- Let the pot run the boil cycle. When it beeps, it means the milk has reached 180 degrees. Remove the top.
- Remove the inner pot to a trivet and pour the vinegar into the milk. Stir briefly. You’ll see the ricotta separating from the liquid. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the ricotta mixture to a fine mesh strainer lined with butter muslin. Let the liquid drain for a couple minutes, and add a sprinkle of salt if desired. (Let it drain for a bit longer if you want firmer ricotta).Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate.
Approximate Nutrition Info
This recipe may contain affiliate links. A purchase or click through one of these links may result in a commission paid to us at no additional cost to you.
Instant Pot Ricotta Price Breakdown
This recipe costs a total of $.82 to make, and it yields about 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces). This comes out to $.07 per ounce ($.55 per cup). This is less than half the cost of store-bought ricotta, and the homemade version is so fresh and delicious! Try this recipe the next time you’re making something that calls for ricotta. You’ll never go back to the packaged version.
Note: This recipe was originally published in 2017, and it was updated in 2023.
Can 2% milk be used?
Yes, you can use 2 percent milk. It may yield a little less ricotta and be a little less thick/creamy, but it will work.
This is amazing! How long can you store this in the fridge? I assume it wouldn’t freeze well? I don’t have the IP with the yogurt option, could I use a different setting?
This will keep in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days. I haven’t tried freezing it, so I’m not sure how it would hold up. You can use the saute setting, and use a thermometer to watch the temperature until it reaches 180 degrees. (You can also do this in a pot on the stove.)
I have put cottage cheese, same recipe in the freezer and it’s fine to defrost and eat
I made this recipe but used fresh lemon juice instead of vinegar. This ricotta cheese was awesome! I am making it today for stuffed shells for surprise birthday picnic tomorrow.
Easy to follow recipe. I substituted apple cider vinegar and used 1 cup of heavy cream with 3 cups of 2% milk. I did have to turn on the sauté setting for a minute or two to bring up the temp. I was using my crockpot pressure cooker on the yogurt setting, high temp.
Smells amazing. Not done yet but when it is I will be using it in my lasagna. Trying to use what we have on hand as much as we can. I already cook a lot from scratch and this will be one I will definitely save. I am also going to experiment with different flavors and see if we can change it up a bit. Yum!
Instead of milk, can I substitute nut milk instead, like almond milk, soy or coconut milk?
I haven’t tried this with non-dairy milk. I’m not sure if it would work.
Mine was done much quicker. My Instant Pot beeped closer to 15 min or fewer. It turned out great! Thanks for sharing! I’m delighted!
So all I got was curdled milk with almost no solids.
I have never tried any milk products in my instant pot but I followed the directions in setting the yogurt button to “boil” and it beeped and said “yo grt” after about 10 minutes so I took it out.
Any advice/suggestions on what I did wrong?
I’m not sure what happened. If you try it again, I recommend using a thermometer to make sure the milk has reached 180 degrees. If your Instant Pot is working properly, this is the temperature it should reach when it beeps. Then proceed with adding the vinegar, and let it sit for 10 minutes before straining.
not sure why, but when mine beeps on the boil setting, it’s about 150 degrees, I have to heat to 180 by using saute for about another 10 minutes.
Maggie, what size Instant Pot are you using? I haven’t had that experience, but I’m glad you were able to get it to the right temperature with Saute.
My yogurt setting doesn’t seem to come up to 180 either. I use the sous vide
setting at 180 to make yogurt. I am going to try it for ricotta.
Can I strain with something besides cheese cloth? Is there a household staple that could be an equivalent substitute? I happen to have nut milk bags, could those work? A tea towel?
Nut milk bags or even a coffee filter should work. Good luck!
I have used new pantyhose in a pinch.
Do you have any recommendations for the leftover whey? I’d hate to throw it out!
Yes! Use it in any baking recipe as a substitute for the liquid (e.g. muffins, cake, pancakes). Also, you can use it to soak grains, nuts, beans, etc. in order to minimize their phytic acid.
EXCELLENT!! I used 2% organic lactose free milk and lemon juice. It totally worked! After moving the mixture to a cheese cloth lined strainer I let it sit for 30-40 mins. I dont think the yield was as good as you would get from full fat milk, but who cares, I was able to serve my lactose intolerant husband a yummy pasta meal with dollops of ricotta on top. He didnt realize he could love me more! Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe!
That’s great! I’m so glad it worked well with lactose free milk.
1/2 gallon milk you should get 1/2 pound ricotta. I would use more vinegar. Until now I have used a pasteurizer for milk ( I have goats and plenty of goats milk ) I usually make 2 gallons of goat milk into 2 pounds of cheese. When the milk reaches 180′ I add 1 cup vinegar. SO for 1/2 gallon of milk I would add 1/4 cup vinegar.
Loved this recipe! It was fast and turned out great!
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks for the heads up. I updated the instructions.
Can I use plain cheese cloth instead of butter muslin?
Yes, you can use cheese cloth. I recommend folding it over a couple times so the ricotta doesn’t slip through the bigger holes. Enjoy!
Will this work if I make half a recipe to see if I like it? I have a Duo 8
I haven’t tried it that way, but you should be able to half the recipe. Let me know how it turns out.
Thank you!
That amount of liquid is for the IP to come to pressure…so you should be able to use any amount. Obviously, don’t use so little that it boils down to nothing.
Will be trying this soon. I’m curious to know, where do you find 4 cups of milk for 82 cents?
I hope you enjoy it! I can get milk for less than $3 a gallon at Costco and Wegman’s in my area (eastern Massachusetts). This comes out to less than $.75 for 4 cups. What does milk cost in your area?
I buy organic milk. In southern Delaware, best price I can find is $4 for a half gallon. No Wegmans & nearest Costco is an hour & a half drive away. I’m going to try this anyway just because I prefer homemade.Jea
Walmart sells their brand for 81 cents/half gallon.