How To Make Feta Cheese

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Feta cheese is one of the best beginner-friendly, firmer cheeses to make at home—simple, satisfying, and far more affordable than store-bought. With just a few ingredients and a little patience, you can create a creamy, tangy, salty feta that’s just as good as anything from the store—at a fraction of the cost. The money saved alone makes it well worth the effort!

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I love making feta cheese—it’s just complicated enough to feel like a fun challenge, but not so tricky that it feels out of reach. Once I got the hang of it, it tasted just as good (if not better!) than store-bought, and I ended up with way more cheese for a fraction of the cost.

I’ve been experimenting with feta cheese for a while now, and I’m finally comfortable with it. Of course, there’s always more to learn, but there’s nothing quite like that confidence boost when your homemade feta cheese turns out just right.

Many feta cheese recipes online call for specific cheesemaking cultures like mesophilic or thermophilic starters. While those are important for aged, hard cheeses, I’ve found they’re not essential for feta cheese.

That’s why I use plain yogurt as my starter culture. It contains live, active cultures that ferment the milk just as effectively, and it’s something most people already have in the fridge. No special orders, no extra cost—just real food doing its job.

Also, just because I don’t take great photos, doesn’t mean it’s not great feta cheese. Knowing how to make feta is life-changing and I hope to inspire you to make it as well! You won’t miss store-bought at all once you get the hang of it.

Why You’ll Love This Feta Cheese Recipe

Fewer fancy ingredients – No need for specialized cultures or hard-to-find supplies.
You can find what you need at the store or on Amazon – Nothing super complicated that needs to be bought from a niche site or store.
Challenging but achievable – Just enough of a challenge to be fun, without feeling overwhelming.
So much cheese for so little money – You’ll get a generous batch of fresh feta for half the price (or less) of store-bought!

My Favourite Ways to Serve Homemade Feta Cheese

Classic Greek Salad: Toss with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, olives, and a splash of olive oil and vinegar. Simple and perfect.
Sprinkled Over Roasted Veggies: Add crumbled feta to hot roasted vegetables like zucchini, carrots, or beets—melts just slightly and adds creamy saltiness.
On a Greek-Style Pizza: Use feta in place of mozzarella or alongside it, with olives, red onions, and spinach on tomato sauce.
To Elevate a Simple Green Salad: Add crumbled feta to mixed greens with lemon vinaigrette—instantly adds salty richness and tang.
Baked with Tomatoes & Olive Oil: Pop a block of feta into a dish with cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and herbs. Bake until soft and melty—perfect for spreading on crusty bread.

What You’ll Need To Make Feta Cheese At Home

Large Pot – For preparing your cheese.

Thermometer – To get the right temperature for culturing and heating up the curds.

Wooden Spoon – For mixing ingredients in the large pot.

Knife – For cutting the curds. A long cake decorating spatula works great too.

Slotted Spoon – For gently transferring curds from pot to colander.

Colander – Lined with cheesecloth to separate curds and whey.

Bowl – To place under the colander to catch whey.

Cheesecloth – To line the colander to catch curds and squeeze the whey out and transfer to a mold.

Cheese Mold – To hold and shape your curds.

Trivet – To place your cheese mold on to leave space for whey to drip out of the mold as your cheese firms up.

Glass Dish – To catch the whey dripping from your cheese mold.

Half Gallon Jar – To store your finished feta!

Ingredients For Feta Cheese

1 Gallon of Milk – This recipe uses cheap, store-bought milk as raw milk is illegal in my area, unfortunately. I usually use 2% milk but whole milk would be great if you can get that at an affordable price.

1/4 Cup Yogurt – For culturing your feta. I usually use a frozen yogurt cube that I freeze after making homemade yogurt. If you’re buying yogurt from the store for culturing feta, make sure its plain, no added sugars or flavours, with live, active bacterial cultures.

1/4 tsp Liquid Animal Rennet (in 1/4 cup water) – For coagulating your milk. You can also use a liquid vegetable rennet. I haven’t had much success with rennet tablets but it works for some people if that’s more available to you. If your rennet has a recommendation per gallon of milk that is different, follow that instead of my instruction. Different products may have different potency.

1/4 tsp Calcium Chloride (in 1/4 cup water) – For producing firmer curds. This is essential for pasteurized, store-bought milk which is what we’re using. Recipes with raw milk don’t need calcium chloride. If your calcium chloride has a recommendation per gallon of milk that is different, follow that instead of my instruction. Different products may have different potency.

2 tbsp Sea Salt – For coating your block of feta. This helps draw out more moisture, resulting in a more crumbly texture.

Brine Ingredients

The brine is the salty mixture that your feta will be stored in, similar to the one you buy feta in from the store.

1/2 lb (225g) Sea Salt – Preserves the cheese and continues to draw out moisture.

1 tsp White Vinegar – Helps preserve the cheese and keeps it firm and crumbly rather than turning soft.

1/2 tbsp Calcium Chloride – Similar to white vinegar, keeps the cheese firm and crumbly and prevents it from going soft and mushy.

Whey – Leftover whey from making the feta curds, this will make up most of your brine.

1. Heat and Culture the Milk

Pour your milk into a large pot and gently heat it to 29–31°C (85–88°F). Once at temperature, stir in plain yogurt until fully dissolved.
Cover the pot and let it sit at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes to allow the milk to culture.

2. Add Calcium Chloride and Rennet

After culturing, stir in your calcium chloride diluted in a small amount of water.
Then, stir in your rennet diluted in water with about 5–10 gentle strokes of your spoon—no more than necessary.
Cover again and let it sit undisturbed for 45–90 minutes, or until you achieve a clean break (a firm curd that separates cleanly when cut). If it’s not ready, give it another 30 minutes.

3. Cut and Heal the Curd

Once the curd is ready, cut it into 1-inch cubes, then slice through diagonally to make smaller curd pieces.
Cover the pot again and let the curds rest undisturbed for 5–10 minutes to firm up slightly.

4. Stir and Warm the Curds

Turn the heat on to very low and gently stir the curds.
If the temperature isn’t already there, bring it back up to 31°C (88°F).
Once at temp, turn off the heat and stir gently for another 5–10 minutes, then cover and let the curds rest for 10 minutes.

5. Prepare the Brine and Drain the Curds

Line a colander with cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl.
At this point, the curds should have sunk to the bottom of the pot with clear whey on top.
Slowly pour the whey through the cheesecloth to catch the curds.
Once you’ve collected enough whey to fill ⅔ of a half-gallon jar, transfer it to the jar and add salt, white vinegar, and calcium chloride. Shake gently to dissolve and set the brine aside in the fridge.

6. Press and Mold the Cheese

Scoop the curds into the cheesecloth-lined colander using a slotted spoon, pressing and squeezing gently to remove excess whey.
Let the curds drain for about 10–15 minutes.
Prepare your cheese mold by placing it on a trivet inside a glass dish to catch additional whey.
Transfer the curds into the mold, press down lightly with the follower, and fold the cheesecloth over the top. Let rest for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, unwrap, flip the cheese, and place it back in the mold. Let it sit for another hour.

7. Salt and Rest

Unwrap the cheese and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of salt on one side, rubbing it in gently.
Flip and salt the other side with another tablespoon.
Place the cheese back in the lined mold, fold the cloth over, and let rest at room temperature for 16–24 hours.

8. Slice and Brine

Remove the cheese from the mold and slice it into 8 equal pieces.
Place the pieces into your prepared brine and let them cure for at least 12 hours or overnight.

9. Enjoy

Crumble and enjoy your homemade feta!

Video

Feta Cheese

Bronwyn Case

Feta cheese is one of the best beginner-friendly cheeses to make at home—simple, satisfying, and far more affordable than store-bought.

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Prep Time 6

Cook Time 2

Total Time 1 8