Cooking Guides

How to Make Paneer Out of One Gallon of Milk

This easy paneer recipe makes approximately 13 oz. of paneer out of one gallon of milk.

Homemade Paneer

1 gallon (3.78L) of whole milk
6 tablespoons of white vinegar
cheesecloth
string or shoelace
stopwatch

1. Empty the entire gallon of milk into a large pot. Slowly bring the milk to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally. While the milk is heating up, measure out the six tablespoons of vinegar into a separate bowl. Line a colander with the cheesecloth. If you intend the keep the whey, then place the colander in an empty pot to reserve the whey.

2. When the milk comes to a boil, turn off heat. Add the vinegar to the pot of milk. Stir constantly for two minutes (tip: use a stopwatch to keep track of the time). At the end of two minutes, the milk will have separated into solid white curds and a liquid whey that is green or yellow in color.

3. Gently pour the contents of the pot into the colander lined with cheesecloth. If you are keeping the whey, then make sure the colander is placed inside an empty pot to catch the whey. Move the pot of whey elsewhere to cool down (store the whey in the refrigerator after it has cooled down). Place the colander with the cheesecloth and solid curds under a sink faucet. Rinse with cold, running water until the curds are cool.

4. Gather and wring the cheesecloth with curds to form a round shape. Squeeze the excess whey out (this will take a lot of squeezing). You should have a round ball of curds wrapped in a cheesecloth at this point. Hang the cheesecloth ball either from the sink faucet or somewhere above the sink for 30 minutes to drain further. Tip: An easy way to hang the paneer is to tightly tie a string or clean shoelace around the top of the cheesecloth ball, then tie the other end of the string or shoelace to wherever you’re hanging it from.

5. Place the cheesecloth ball on a flat surface. Cover with a heavy object for 3-4 hours. Tip: Sandwiching the paneer between two cutting boards with a heavy weight or cast iron pot on top works well.

6. The paneer is done at this point. If you don’t intend to use it soon, then carefully remove the cheesecloth, place the flattened paneer is a storage container, and store in the refrigerator. Tip: You can wash and reuse the cheesecloth for future use.

Yield: Approximately 13 oz. of paneer. The amount will vary somewhat depending on the quality of the milk and how many curds are lost in the straining process.

Find more recipes here: The Complete List of Bean Recipes by BeansBeansBeans

Pinto Beans Recipe

Use this easy pinto beans recipe as a starting point for refried beans or bean burritos. The onion and jalapeno give the pinto beans a delicious, spicy flavor, but those ingredients are optional. The pinto beans taste just fine cooked in water only!

Pinto Beans Recipe

2 cups dried pinto beans (1 lb. package)
8 cups water
1 tbsp cooking oil (vegetable, canola, or peanut)
1 large onion, diced (optional)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (optional)

Place the dried pinto beans in a colander. Carefully inspect the beans and remove any small stones, debris, and questionable-looking beans. Rinse the beans in the colander under cold running water. Move the beans around with your hand while under the running water so that the beans are thoroughly washed.
If you are using the onion and jalapeno, heat the oil in a large soup pot over high heat. Sauté the onions and jalapeno pepper for 3-4 minutes until just soft.
Add the dried pinto beans and water to the large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover only half the pot with a lid, so that steam is allowed to escape. Cook until the beans are tender, 1½ – 2 hours. Stir occasionally and check the water level. Add more water if the water level looks too low or if the beans are cooking too slow.
Drain the beans in a colander when cooked. If you need to reserve the bean cooking liquid for refried beans or another recipe, place the colander over a large empty pot and drain.

Yield: 6 cups cooked pinto beans and approximately 4 cups bean broth

Find more bean recipes here: The Complete List of Bean Recipes by BeansBeansBeans

Mixed Dried Bean Blend

You can often find prepackaged dried bean blends containing three or more bean varieties, but it is cheaper to make your own. Here is a mixed bean recipe that combines 15 types of beans! Wow!

This 15-variety mixed dried bean blend is a key ingredient in our 15-bean and Winter Squash Chili recipe.

Mixed Dried Bean Blend

Combine equal parts dried beans:

great northern beans
white kidney beans (cannellini beans)
red kidney beans
black-eyed peas
green lentils
split peas
black beans
yellow split peas
navy beans
cranberry beans
pinto beans
small white lima beans
red lentils
cow peas (field peas)
pink beans

Avoid using large beans like chickpeas (garbanzo beans), fava beans, and large lima beans in your bean mixes because these beans take longer to cook than other varieties.

Find more bean recipes here: The Complete List of Bean Recipes by BeansBeansBeans