Learn how to make goat cheese using a traditional cultured recipe. Chèvre is an easy and delicious cheese for beginners. Try one of the six flavor options!
Homemade goat cheese is a delicious addition to salads, crepes, pizza, and sandwiches. This traditional recipe has a creamy texture, perfect for spreading on crackers.
If this is your first time making cheese, check out my post on how to make cheese at home. It will provide more details on each of the steps in this recipe.
Flavoring Soft Goat Cheese
Flavored goat cheese is a delicious and impressive appetizer.
Here are a few popular flavor additions:
- Try a Boursin-style mix of garlic and herbs.
- Add 2 Tbsp of fresh herbs like basil, chives, and dill with a drizzle of olive oil on top.
- Use 1-2 Tbsp of a flavorful olive tapenade.
- A few cloves of roasted garlic with a drizzle of olive oil
- For a spicy cheese add 1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
- Add 2 Tbsp of blueberry or cherry jam, either stirred into the cheese or dolloped on top.
Ways to add flavors
There are a few ways to add flavor to goat’s milk cheese. Stirred into the freshly drained curds or added on top of the cheese.
- Mix flavors in with the salt for an evenly distributed flavor. I recommend this for dried herbs.
- Firm logs of cheese can be rolled in the toppings, then wrapped in wax paper for easy serving and storage.
- Alternatively, pack the cheese into a mason jar, then add the toppings on top.
Goat cheese or chèvre
Homemade soft goat cheese, like chèvre, is an easy and delicious cheese for beginners. Adding flavors to goat cheese turns it into an impressive appetizer. See the section above for more information on how to flavor goat cheese.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Approx. 1 1/2 lbs
- Category: Cheese
- Method: Cultured
- Cuisine: French
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1–gallon of whole goat’s milk
- 1/2 portion of mesophilic starter or chevre starter (see notes for details)
- 1/2 portion of rennet mixed in 1/4 cup of chlorine-free water (see notes for details)
- 1 Tbsp cheese salt (optional)
Instructions
- Heat milk to 76F (24C).
- Add the rennet and the mesophilic culture at the same time. Stir thoroughly to ensure even mixing.
- Maintain at 72F (22C) for 12 hours to set the curd.
- After 12 hours, it will have formed a thick curd. Gently pour the entire batch into a strainer lined with butter muslin.
- Hang in the butter muslin for 6-48 hours, until you have reached the desired thickness. A shorter time, (6 hours) will result in a soft spreading cheese. A longer time will result in a firmer, crumbling cheese. This recipe will not result in a slicing cheese.
- When the cheese is finished draining, place it in a bowl. Add the salt. Additional flavors, like herbs, can either be stirred in with the salt or added on top of the cheese. See the sections above for more information on flavoring and forming the cheese.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within 1 month.
Notes
- Only use half the amount of rennet that is normally used to set a gallon of milk. The exact amount will depend on whether you are using liquid rennet
or a rennet tablet
. Follow the instructions on your rennet package or use 1 drop of liquid rennet.
- Chèvre is officially made with its own specific mesophilic culture
. However, soft goat cheese can be made with any type of mesophilic culture, including a 1/4 cup of milk kefir or a 1/4 cup of mesophilic yogurt. For a mild-tasting cheese, don’t add any culture.
or a 
. Follow the instructions on your rennet package or use 1 drop of liquid rennet.
. However, soft goat cheese can be made with any type of mesophilic culture, including a 1/4 cup of Keywords: chevre, goat cream cheese, soft cheese, easy, diy, homemade, flavoured, herb, garlic, fruit, olive
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