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    Home » Recipes » Czech Recipes

    Homemade Czech Tvaroh Cheese

    Published: Oct 12, 2022 · Modified: Jun 10, 2024 by Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs · 13 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    • 298shares

    Tvaroh cheese is a traditional sweet baking ingredient in the Czech Republic and throughout Central Europe. In today's recipe, I will explain what tvaroh is and how you can quickly and easily make it at home!

    Homemade tvaroh - fresh cheese from cow milk.

    ➜ What is Czech tvaroh?

    Tvaroh is a Czech type of unripened curd cheese that is traditionally produced from fresh cow's milk. Tvaroh is created by fermenting milk and separating the whey from the solid components of the cheese. Finally, the curdled fresh cheese is drained through a fine cloth to get the right consistency and crumbly texture.

    Making tvaroh cheese the traditional way takes about three days.

    ➜ Use of tvaroh cheese in the kitchen

    Tvaroh is most commonly used to make kolache and sheet cake filling, as a topping for sweet dumplings, or to make cheese dough.

    It's also fantastic in savory dishes. Tvaroh is frequently the key component in a variety of popular Czech spreads.

    Tvaroh filled Czech kolache pastry.
    Czech kolache with tvaroh filling

    ➜ Tvaroh in international cuisines

    In the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it is no problem to buy tvaroh cheese in a regular grocery store. Germans call it Quark; in Polish, it's twaróg.

    But even in the US, people looking for tvaroh don't have to worry: a suitable alternative exists in the form of farmer's cheese, which can be bought in the refrigerated dairy aisle at the store.

    Good news for those who can't find tvaroh in their local grocery shop: You can easily make this cheese at home, just like Czech grandmothers did back in the day!

    ➜ Ingredients

    Ingredients for making Czech tvaroh cheese, inclusive captions.

    To make homemade tvaroh, you only need two basic ingredients:

    • Fresh cow milk; I used fresh pasteurized whole milk with a fat content of 3.5%. Raw milk from a local farm is also a good choice, but I would recommend pasteurizing it at home to make sure no germs remain in the milk. After all, the milk needs to be left to ferment at room temperature for two days. Do not use long-life milk treated with the UHT method; fresh milk is imperative.
    • Lemon juice; I add it to the milk to encourage souring

    ✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.

    ➜ Equipment

    Equipment to make homemade tvaroh cheese.
    • A pot with a lid; in which the milk will ferment
    • Sufficiently large sieve; it does not have to have an extra fine mesh
    • Cheese cloth; or thinner cotton canvas
    • A pot into which you let the whey drip

    ➜ Making homemade tvaroh

    STEP 1: Pour the milk into a saucepan and stir in the lemon juice. Cover with a lid, leaving about ½ inch of space on the rim. Let stand for two days on the kitchen counter at room temperature.

    Making Czech tvaroh fresh cheese.

    STEP 2: After about two days, the solid components of the cheese separate from the whey. The solid cheese will float on the surface while the whey sinks to the bottom of the pot.

    Soured milk in a pot.

    STEP 3: Now you need to separate the cheese from the liquid whey. Prepare a clean pot and put a sieve over it. Line the sieve with a fine clean cloth. Pour the curdled milk into the lined sieve and allow the whey to drain.

    Draining homemade fresh cheese.

    STEP 4: To make sure the tvaroh contains less liquid, twist the cheesecloth gently to get as much whey out of the cheese curds as possible. This will give you a soft tvaroh with a creamy consistency, ready to use in your recipes.

    MY TIP: If you want a dryer cheese, weigh the curds down with a small pot of water, for example, and let the whey drip overnight. By the next day, the cheese will acquire a crumbly consistency with no excess whey liquid.

    I know there are a lot of recipes on the internet that use fresh warmed milk with lemon juice to make farmers' cheese / Czech tvaroh. I've tried this method too, but the milk never turned sour as well as it did when I let it sit at room temperature for two days.

    That is why I advocate a little patience when making homemade tvaroh cheese and recommend letting the milk sour naturally, as was the custom in the past. Although it takes two extra days, the result is guaranteed!

    Fresh tvaroh cheese

    ➜ Storage

    Store fresh tvaroh in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep for up to five days.

    In the old days, Czechs used to leave the tvaroh for another two days at room temperature and then use it as a base ingredient for making delicate salty cheeses. Indeed, the world-famous Czech smelly "tvarůžky" is made from aged tvaroh cheese!

    Recipes using tvaroh as an ingredient

    • Tvaroh filling – for kolache, buchty and other sweet pastry
    • Rozhuda – Czech spread with chives
    • Puff pastry with sweet cheese filling
    • Farmers cheese pancakes – tvarohové placky
    • Czech tied kolache – vázané koláče

    ➜ Useful tips

    • The tvaroh cheese has a slightly sour taste and mild flavor and is suitable for both sweet and savory dishes.
    • If you want the tvaroh cheese to have a milder taste, add half a cup of heavy cream to the milk before souring.
    • Instead of lemon juice, add distilled white vinegar to encourage the milk to sour. Use the same amount of vinegar as the lemon juice specified in the recipe. Another way to boost the fermentation of fresh cow's milk is to add a cup of buttermilk to it.

    Tried this recipe?

    Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

    Other readers and I love hearing what you think. Stay in touch by following me on Facebook and Pinterest. For more Czech stuff, subscribe to my newsletter!

    Czech tvaroh cheese.

    Homemade Czech Tvaroh Cheese

    Author: Petra Kupská | Cook Like Czechs
    Tvaroh cheese is a traditional sweet baking ingredient in the Czech Republic and throughout Central Europe. In today's recipe, I will explain what tvaroh is and how you can quickly and easily make it at home!
    5 from 3 votes
    Prevent your screen from going dark
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    Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
    Resting time: 2 days d
    Total Time: 2 days d 15 minutes mins
    Servings: 1 pound

    Tap or hover to scale

    Ingredients 

    • ¼ gallon fresh whole milk
    • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice fresh

    Instructions 

    • Pour ¼ gallon fresh whole milk into a saucepan and stir in 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Cover the saucepan with a lid, leaving about ½ inch of space on the rim. Let it stand for two days on the kitchen counter at room temperature.
    • After about two days, the solid components of the cheese will separate from the whey. The solid cheese will float on the surface, while the whey will sink to the bottom of the pot.
    • Now you need to separate the cheese from the liquid whey. Prepare a clean pot and place a sieve over it. Line the sieve with a fine, clean cloth. Pour the curdled milk into the lined sieve and allow the whey to drain.
    • To ensure the tvaroh contains less liquid, gently twist the cheesecloth to extract as much whey as possible from the cheese curds. This will result in a soft tvaroh with a creamy consistency, ready to use in your recipes.

    Notes

    • The basic recipe makes about 1 pound (450 g) of Tvaroh cheese.
    • If you prefer a drier cheese, weigh the curds down with a small pot of water, and let the whey drip overnight. By the next day, the cheese will have a crumbly consistency with no excess whey liquid.
    • STORAGE: Store fresh Tvaroh in an airtight container in the fridge, where it will keep for up to five days.
    • If you want the Tvaroh cheese to have a milder taste, add half a cup of heavy cream to the milk before souring.
    • Instead of lemon juice, you can add distilled white vinegar to encourage the milk to sour. Another way to boost the fermentation of fresh cow's milk is to add a cup of buttermilk.

    Nutritional estimate pro serving

    Calories: 571kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 360mg | Potassium: 1435mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 1534IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 1165mg | Iron: 0.01mg
    Servings: 1 pound
    Calories pro serving: 571
    Course: Appetizer
    Cuisine: Czech
    Keyword: Dairy recipes
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    Do you like the recipe?I would be happy for your feedback! Please, rate the recipe and share your opinion or questions in comments bellow. Thank you very much.
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    Comments

    1. Cindy says

      July 16, 2023 at 4:29 am

      5 stars
      How much of the lemon juice for 1 l milk.
      we just came back from CK and want to make this

      greating from Belgium

      Reply
      • Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says

        August 12, 2023 at 5:10 pm

        Hello Cindy - for 1 liter of milk, you should use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Hope this helps!
        Greetings form the Czech republic 🙂

        Reply
    2. Kim Hruba says

      August 26, 2023 at 12:18 pm

      5 stars
      Thank you! I let mine sit out for 3 days (got busy) and it worked great! My favorite part of the tutorial was seeing the kind of cloth you used because that is exactly what I have! 🙂

      Reply
      • Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says

        August 27, 2023 at 5:43 am

        Thank you so much for your comment, Kim. I am happy to hear that the tvaroh worked out well. I appreciate this 🙂

        Reply
    3. Monika says

      January 01, 2024 at 8:42 pm

      Hi, I followed the instructions and after 48 hours nothing happened. It was liquid milk. I used whole milk (3.25%) and fresh lemon. Any idea what I did wrong?

      Reply
      • Jeannette M. Wilson says

        May 04, 2024 at 7:36 pm

        As a Texas Czech, we set out raw milk to clabber, drained into a pillow case, tied a knot in it, squeezed out the whey, and hung it on the clothes line for a few hours to drip dry. But you cannot SAFELY use pasteurized milk! Pasturizing kills bacteria-both good and bad. Pasteurized milk rots. You risk getting sick. It's not worth it to risk illness with Pasteurized milk.

        Reply
        • Petra Kupská says

          May 06, 2024 at 8:33 am

          Thank you, Jeannette, for you insight!

          Reply
    4. Jason says

      January 26, 2024 at 11:20 pm

      Hey, Monika, just wanting to know if you figured anything out?... Did your cheese ever turn out? Was thinking about trying this out...

      Reply
    5. Parrish says

      January 27, 2024 at 9:54 am

      5 stars
      This is very similar to making homemade ricotta cheese. The technique is so much a part of many cheeses - Cotija, Ricotta, Creme Fraiche, etc. It feels like such an accomplishment when you make this yourself. And now I know how to make a Czech cheese! Petra, you have one of the best food sites out there. I always feel your warmth coming through your words. Thank you for all of your hard work.

      Reply
      • Petra Kupská says

        January 27, 2024 at 4:49 pm

        Aww, thank you so much for your nice words, Parrish!

        Reply
      • Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says

        February 12, 2024 at 11:49 am

        Thank you so much for your comment and kind words - I really appreciate them!

        Reply
    6. Valerie B. says

      January 28, 2024 at 7:36 am

      Once this is made, I would assume you could store it in the refrigerator. How long would it generally keep and is it good until it grows mold? Thanks for sharing so many traditional Czech recipes. I have some Czech cookbooks, but they have no photos or even detailed directions. My Grandma died when I was fairly young and my mother Americanized the names. The photos really help me identify the foods I loved!

      Reply
      • Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com says

        July 02, 2024 at 2:21 pm

        Hello Valerie, thank you so much for your comment!
        Tvaroh goes bad rather quickly - in the refrigerator, it should last three days - after that, the risk of mold increases significantly.

        Reply

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    Hi there, I am Petra, born and raised in the Czech Republic, a self-taught home cook with over 20 years of experience. I am on a mission to keep Czech culinary heritage alive by sharing cherished recipes & stories with nostalgic hearts worldwide.

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