Easy Homemade Marinated Feta

I’ve been making our own homemade cheeses for the last couple of years. This year I’ve been encouraged to give a new variety of cheese a chance, resulting in this delicious family favorite cheese recipe, easy homemade marinated feta.

Statistically American’s love their cheese, maybe a little too much. According to the USDA American’s are steadily increasing their consumption of cheese, resulting in an increase in their waistlines! It is estimated that Americans consume 21 pounds of cheese per year, per person. That’s a lot of cheese!

As a cheese lover myself, with a dairy goat forever blessing us with milk. Cheese is one of my favorite things to make with goats milk.

What Type of Milk Do I Need?

This recipe can be made using cows milk, sheep’s milk, goats milk, and it can be store bought milk as well. For this recipe I’ll walk you through how I make this easy homemade marinated feta completely from scratch.

Our goat gives us anywhere from a half gallon to a gallon of milk a day! That’s a lot of milk.

This easy homemade marinated Feta recipe is a mild Feta, if you are like me and don’t usually eat Feta because of it’s strong taste, then this mild Feta won’t disappoint. It’s sweet, it’s creamy and doesn’t have that bitter tang of strong Feta cheese.

This feta is amazing without the marinade, great on salad, pizzas, or just eaten plain. My kids eat it like string cheese.

If I had a dollar for every time someone felt the need to tell me why they don’t like goat cheese and how gross it is. Insert ten million reasons here. I’d be rich. Fresh goat cheese tastes nothing like goat cheese from the store here in America.

First I want to drop the recipe for you here for those who don’t care to read my morning ramblings. If you don’t want to make homemade Feta, you can run to the store and buy Feta cheese. Then skip to the marinating recipe.

First, Mild Feta Recipe From Scratch

Yield: 1 lb

Homemade Mild Feta

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A simple Mild Feta recipe for the beginning cheesemaker. A mild, salty cheese that's fabulous eaten plain, sprinkled on pizzas or salads.

Prep Time 3 hours

Cook Time 1 hour

Additional Time 1 day

Total Time 1 day 4 hours

Ingredients

• 2 gallons whole milk -pasteurized goats milk
• 1/8 tsp DVI Feta Culture
• 1 teaspoon liquid rennet mixed into 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cheese salt
• 1 teaspoon calcium chloride mixed into 1/2 cup water

Instructions

1. Begin by pasteurizing your raw milk. If you are using store bought milk you can skip this step.
2. If you are using store bought milk you need to add 1 teaspoon calcium chloride mixed into a 1/2 cup of water. Stir into the milk right after adding the culture. If you are using fresh milk from a home dairy you will skip this step.
3. Heat your milk to 86° F. Then sprinkle the top of the heated milk with the Feta Culture, and stir well. (Add the calcium chloride now if you are using store bought milk.) Cover and leave to sit for 1 hour.
4. Mix the rennet into the cold water, and stir it into the milk. Cover and allow to sit for another hour to coagulate. Then cut the curds into cubes and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes.
5. Fill your sink with hot water, and place your pot of curds into it. Heating the curds to 86° F for 15 minutes. I gently stir the curds with my hand every 5 minutes to prevent the curds from sticking together.
6. Then line a colander with cheesecloth, and pour the curds into the cloth. I make sure to keep the whey for other recipes or to feed back to the plants and animals. Tie the bag and leave the cheesecloth to hang for 4-6 hours.
7. Once drained, remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and cut it into 2 slabs. Each slab should be about 1-2 inches thick. Lay them flat in a glass pan and sprinkle both sides lightly with cheese salt.
8. Leave the cheese to set lightly covered with a cheesecloth at room temperature for 24 hours. During that 24 hours turn the cheese over 2 times and lightly salt each time. Don't overdo it with the salt.
9. The cheese will weep liquid to help create a firm cheese during the salting process. I prefer to strain the liquid off after the 24 hours.
10. Place your covered homemade feta cheese in a glass container in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Notes

This can be cut into thin slices like string cheese for a healthy high protein, healthy fat snack for your family!

Nutrition Information:

Serving Size:

265
Amount Per Serving: Total Fat: 21g

How To Marinate Your Homemade Feta (Or Store Bought)

Yield: 40 oz

Easy Homemade Marinated Feta

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Feta cheese is absolutely delicious when marinated. For this recipe I use a mild feta. No refrigeration is needed for this recipe the oil preserves the cheese, so you can have a healthy snack waiting on the counter whenever you get hungry.

You can alter the herbs and spices to fulfill your taste buds,the options are vast.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• Feta -1 lb
• 10 to 15 Garlic toes
• 1 teaspoon dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
• Olive Oil -Enough to Fill the Jar

Instructions

1. Place 3 to 4 garlic toes into a sanitized mason jar.
2. Put a layer of Feta pieces, and then sprinkle on the herbs.
3. Make another layer of garlic toes, cheese, spices, and continue until you have the jar full of cheese and herbs.
4. Once the jars are full with cheese and your herbs, fill with olive oil to the top of the jar. Make sure the oil covers the cheese completely. Any cheese that is not completely immersed can spoil.
5. Put the lid on your jar and leave on the counter for a healthy snack. You can also place it into the fridge for longer storage, just be sure to remove it a half hour or so before eating so the oil has time to liquify.

Notes

After the cheese is gone, you can use the oil for salad dressings, or for your next batch of homemade marinated feta.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 264Total Fat: 21.3gSaturated Fat: 4.1gProtein: 14.2g

First Things First You Need A Feta Culture

In order to make feta cheese you need a Feta Culture, I purchase mine here from Hoegger Supply. Their cultures are fabulous quality, and a small family owned business. I keep a surplus of all my cultures in the freezer.

What Is A Cheese Culture?

Cheese cultures are a specific bacteria strain that are added to milk to make a particular type of cheese. All cheese cultures accomplish the same task – raising the acidity of milk by absorbing the lactose and transforming it into lactic acid.

The acid helps the milk split into particles called curds – think little Miss Muffet eating her curds and whey.

• The lactic acid then causes the milk to become more acidic by consuming the sugar inside the milk.
• Lastly this is how the cheese begins to formulate its own specific flavor, texture, and smell.
• Baically to make your own homemade cheeses you need cheese cultures specific to your desired cheese.

If you are using raw milk, I prefer to pasteurize my milk (heat it to 165 degrees for 30 seconds) before making my homemade cheeses. Sometimes the existing cultures within the raw milk counteract with the cheese cultures resulting in not so pretty results. This isn’t the case for every cheese, but for this feta recipe I use fresh pasteurized goats milk.

I do not use a cheese vat for any of my homemade cheese recipes, I’m sure it’s helpful but I’ve gotten along just fine without one. A sink full of warm water works just as well.

Is Making Your Own Cheese Worth The Effort?

I would say making your own homemade cheese is absolutely worth the effort. Not only is it rewarding to feed your family and friends from the work of your own hands, but it tastes better as well. Despite the hours invested in making the homemade Feta cheese I assure you, you won’t be standing in the kitchen for 24 hours. It’s a come-back-to recipe needing tending here and there.

Once you begin making your own homemade cheese you will find that the store bought cheese here just doesn’t taste like real cheese.

My dairy goat is one of my biggest blessings on our homestead. Her milk cuts our costs significantly. Because of her generous milk supply we do not need to purchase any dairy products from the store.

If you are on the fence about a dairy animal I would strongly encourage you to add one to your homesteading efforts. If you have the ability to get fresh milk from someone with their own dairy animal, buy it, make your own dairy products you won’t be disappointed!

May your week be blessed!

Danielle