How To Make Paneer at home is one of the most frequently asked questions. And if you have the same query, you have landed in the right place. The homemade Paneer Recipe is super easy and gives you a block of soft, creamy, yet firm Indian Cottage Cheese. We can get fresh and preservative-free homemade Paneer with only a few ingredients.

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Let’s Find out All About How To Make Paneer:

What is Paneer:

Paneer is an Indian cottage cheese that is soft and non-melting. It is derived from milk by curdling milk with fruit acid or white vinegar. After curdling the milk, the cheese we get is called Chhena. And after pressing Chhena, we get soft yet firm Cheese. And that is called Paneer.

Ingredients For Homemade Paneer:

We need only a few ingredients to make this delicious Indian Cheese. I have used three ingredients, but basically, we need only two.

Milk
White Vinegar
Yogurt (Optional)

What Kind Of Milk To Use:

To make Indian Cottage Cheese, we need to use full-fat milk. But in different places, there are different types of milk available with various fat percentages.
If you are in India, you will surely get full-fat milk. In North America, we have Homo milk with 3.25%, low-fat milk with 1%, 2%, and fat-free milk. In some countries, whole milk is available with 3.5% fat.
So depending on where you live, go with the milk with a maximum fat percentage to make this cheese. We can use either cow milk or buffalo milk for Homemade Paneer.
In a nutshell, use full-fat milk or whole milk for soft and creamy Paneer. But avoid using low-fat or fat-free dairy.

What If I Have Only Low-Fat Milk:

With low-fat milk, we get less amount of Indian Cheese. And it will be rubbery and not pleasant due to low-fat percentage. But if you have access to only low-fat milk, you can mix the cream with milk to make Paneer.
I have done that plenty of times. We use 2% milk regularly and buy whole milk when I plan to make Paneer.
But sometimes, I have to make Paneer unplanned. In that situation, I combine milk with cream ( I most of the time have cream in my fridge) before boiling.
So let’s say for this recipe, if you are using low-fat milk (2%), take 7 cups of milk (1.75 litres) and mix it with 1 cup (250ml) of heavy cream.
Or mix 6 cups (1.5 litres) of milk with 2 cups (500ml) of 10% cream.
Using cream makes Paneer not only soft but creamy as well (Malai Paneer, to be precise).

Which Acids To Use:

To make Paneer, people use different types of acidic ingredients based on personal preference. We can use lemon or lime juice, white vinegar, or yogurt to make paneer.

White Vinegar: This is my personal favorite to curdle the milk. However, I have tried making Homemade Paneer with lime juice and lemon juice as well. But somehow, for me, vinegar always works fine, and I can quickly get rid of its sour taste after pouring some water.
Lime or Lemon Juice: This fruit acid is popularly used to make Indian cottage cheese. Because it is readily available in our kitchen, it is easy to access. If you are using lime or lemon juice, strain the juice before using it.
Yogurt: I don’t use yogurt as a main acidic ingredient to curdle the milk. But I add it in a small quantity before the milk starts boiling. Adding yogurt as an extra element makes paneer softer. I add yogurt when the milk starts simmering. Adding yogurt at this stage supports the curdling of milk at a slow pace and prevents the Paneer from becoming stiff and rubbery. However, you can skip the yogurt if you want to.

What To Do With Left Over Whey:

Please do not throw it! The leftover whey is very healthy and packed with protein. We can use it in different ways.

Make Roti, Paratha, or Naan dough using whey instead of water.
While cooking rice, replace some of the water with whey.
Use the whey to make sour Kadhi.

Why Make Paneer at Home:

My Family loves Paneer and Paneer recipes, just like many other Indian families out there. Making Paneer at home is very simple and easy.

Also, there is a significant difference between homemade and store-bought Paneer. My son immediately recognizes if I use store-bought Paneer in curries and shows his dislike.

I am sure once you will start making Paneer at home, you will find out how convenient and delicious it is.

Success Tips on How To Make Paneer:

While heating the milk, make sure to stir it regularly to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom.
Make sure to add vinegar or lime/lemon juice only after the milk starts boiling.
Once the milk is curdled completely and a clear yellowish or greenish whey is separated, immediately turn off the heat.
After you turn off the heat, immediately transfer the curdled milk into the colander covered with a muslin cloth.
Do not keep the heavy object on to the Paneer block for a longer time. Please keep it for 30 minutes to an hour only because the cheese should still have some moisture.
After Paneer is ready, please do not leave it open; store it in an airtight container to keep it soft and supple.

Homemade Paneer blocks on a wooden board

How To Make Paneer at Home / Homemade Paneer Recipe with Step by Step Instructions and Pictures:

Heat milk into a large, heavy-bottomed pot or pan.

Once the milk is hot and starts simmering, add yogurt. Mix well.

If you don’t want to use yogurt, skip it.

Continue heating the milk on moderate heat and bring it to a boil. Keep stirring the milk at short intervals.

Once the milk starts boiling, turn the heat on low.

Add vinegar and keep stirring until milk curdled completely and a clear yellowish or greenish whey is separated.

If it doesn’t curdle completely, add 1 or 2 tablespoon of vinegar more.

Once the milk is curdled completely, turn off the heat immediately. Cooking longer will result in hard and rubbery Paneer.

Layer the large colander with a clean muslin cloth and place over a large bowl (bowl to collect the whey).

Pour the curdled milk into a colander lined with a cloth.

I have used a pressing cheese mold to collect the Chhena. So I lined the mold with a clean muslin cloth and placed the mold into a colander.

Chhena in the cloth to make homemade paneer

Once you collect the Chhena into a cloth, immediately pour the clean cold water over it to get rid of the vinegar taste.

Then gather up the corners of the cloth and squeeze out the excess liquid from the Paneer.

Now place the paneer covered in cloth onto a flat surface, and put a heavy object on the Paneer.

I have kept it in the mold and placed a heavy object on it.

Keep it like this for at least 30 minutes. This way, the excess water will be removed, and Indian cheese will become firm.

Remove the cheese from the cloth, and cut into the desired shape.

With the mold, we can get a rectangular block of Paneer. If you are not using a mold, you will get almost a round block of it.

You can use it immediately or place it in the fridge for later use.

Store the entire Paneer block or pieces into an airtight container and place in the refrigerator.

So I hope you will like this recipe and if you make it, please leave your comment. You can also easily rate the recipe in the recipe card below.

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