Ricotta is my favorite Italian cheese, it’s creamy, delicious, and versatile. It’s one of my favorite ingredients in pastas, lasagna, pizza, and desserts like Cannoli! Today I’m showing you how to strain ricotta cheese the right way!
MY LATEST VIDEOSRicotta is an Italian cheese that’s used in a lot of Spring recipes, so for today’s #SpringEats pots I will be showing you how to strain ricotta cheese!
A lot of ricotta cheese recipes ask for strained ricotta cheese, but they don’t tell you how to do it. Let me show you!
Kitchen Equipment Needed:
Small Bowl – The small bowl from this set is perfect for straining ricotta cheese, the lip of the bowl is just the right size to rest the strainer on. Plus the other bowls are great for other recipes, I use these bowls daily!
Strainer – The medium strainer from this set fits perfectly over a small bowl for this recipe. I love this set because the large size is great for sifting large amounts of flour or powdered sugar, the medium size is great for straining, and the small one is awesome for sifting small amounts of powdered sugar to garnish desserts.
Cheesecloth – Cheesecloth is necessary in this recipe. It keeps any cheese particles from slipping though the strainer.
You can use cheesecloth in other ways:
- I like using cheesecloth to make a small herb or spice satchel for soups, that way you get all the flavor from the herbs and spices but no debris ends up in your soup.
- I also like using it when I make home-made stock, it’s great for removing the accumulated fat that forms on the surface. I place some cheese cloth just below the surface of the stock, and then I chill it in the refrigerator for an hour. Then I simply lift the cheesecloth to remove the fat from the surface of the stock.
How to Strain Ricotta Cheese
Step 1:
Place the strainer over a small prep bowl, and line it with cheesecloth.
Step 2:
Add the ricotta, and using a rubber spatula, gently push and spread the ricotta into an even layer. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator. Let the ricotta cheese strain over night, or at least for 8 hours. Discard the accumulated liquid in the bowl, and use the ricotta as directed in your recipe.
That’s it, folks. That’s how to strain ricotta cheese. Later this week I’ll show you how to take this strained ricotta cheese and make Cannoli with it, yum!
Check out other recipes in my Spring Eats Recipe Series:
Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies with Toasted Coconut
Bakery Style Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake
Leprechaun Bait Chex Mix
Toasted Coconut Macadamia Nut Bars
Strawberries & Cream Cheese Blintzes
Bunny Bait Snack Mix
Check out my post for Parade Magazine’s Community Table!
7 Lucky Leprechaun Recipes Roundup
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I love your “new look.” Even at my age, I am still learning tricks to be a better cook. Thanks!
Thanks, Karen! I love how the new design came out, I’m glad you like it! 🙂
Hi Jillian, I’ve been looking for a cannoli recipe, thanks for sharing with us and I’m looking forward to your next post
Jennifer, I just got done writing the post and its scheduled to go live on Thursday!
I’m curious how long I can leave the ricotta in the fridge? I’m about to begin the straining now (7:00pm) and I plan to make the cannoli filling with it around 4:30 pm tomorrow… that’s almost 21.5 hours.. is that too long?
Amanda, 21.5 hours should be fine. I wouldn’t do any longer than that though!
Can I freeze the cannoli filling if I have extra? If so for how long do you think it will stay good in the freezer?
Sadly, you cannot freeze cannoli filling. I’ve tried it and when it thaws it looks sort of curdled. It’s the same as when you freeze and thaw sour cream.