How to Make German Quark
Discover just how simple it is to make German quark – such a versatile fresh cheese similar to ricotta or cottage cheese.
We absolutely love making cultured dairy products, and quark is one of our favorites.
Perhaps you’ve traveled to Germany and seen quark there, or maybe you’ve only heard of it. If you haven’t, let me introduce you to this mild, creamy, fresh cheese that’s a bit like ricotta or cottage cheese, but with its own special character.
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What is Quark?
- According to Wikipedia, quark is “a type of fresh dairy product […]. It can be classified as fresh, acid-set cheese. […] It is soft, white, unaged, and usually has no salt added.”
- Quark is incredibly popular in Germany and throughout Europe, where you can pick it up in supermarkets for just pennies. Its mild taste makes it the perfect base for both sweet and savory recipes – though I often enjoy it just by itself.
- In the U.S., quark can be hard to find, and when you do spot it, it often comes with a hefty price tag. That’s why I love making my own at home!
What You Need to Make Homemade Quark:
- Cultured buttermilk: This is the star ingredient. You can easily find cultured buttermilk in grocery stores. Just make sure it says cultured! Or, try making your own. I have a full tutorial on how to make real cultured buttermilk from the raw milk we get. You can also buy direct buttermilk cultures online and follow the instructions on the package.
- Milk: You can use any type of milk. We use raw milk but pasteurized milk works as well. The fat content of the milk will determine the fat content of your quark. I do not recommend ultra-high pasteurized milk, though!
Helpful equipment:
- Mason jars or glass containers: Perfect for culturing your buttermilk.
- Colander and large bowl: You’ll collect quite a bit of whey, so a roomy bowl is helpful.
- Cheesecloth or 2 paint strainers: I double these up to line the colander.
- Wooden spoons, spatulas, or wooden butter paddles: You’ll see why in a moment.
How to make quark (method 1):
1. Culture the Buttermilk
- Preheat your oven to 120˚F (50˚C). Pour the buttermilk into mason jars, a glass bowl, or another oven-safe container.
- Place it in the oven and let it gently warm. Since cultured buttermilk is a living food, results can vary. I suggest checking it after 1 hour, though sometimes it takes closer to 2 hours.
How to Know When It’s Ready
- You’ll see the curds start to separate from the whey. Look for clear or slightly yellowish whey pooling on top and around the sides, with little “pockets” of whey.
- When you spot this, your quark is ready for the next step. Be careful not to overdo it – I’ve left it too long before, and ended up with a much firmer, almost cheese-like texture.
How to make quark (method 2):
1. Heat the milk
Add the milk to a large pot. Over low-medium heat, bring the milk to about 175˚F (80˚C). Let it cool at room temperature to warm to the touch (about 95˚F or 35˚C).
2. Add the buttermilk:
Stir in the buttermilk. I like to use about ¼ cup of buttermilk for about 1 quart of milk. Let this ferment at room temperature until the mixture has set. This can take up to 24 hours.
Strain the Quark
Set two wooden spoons (or butter paddles or spatulas) across the top of a large bowl. Rest your colander on these, then line it with doubled cheesecloth or paint strainers.
Carefully pour the curdled buttermilk into the lined colander. The whey will immediately start to drip down into the bowl.
- For a soft, creamy quark: strain for about 6 hours.
- For a firmer quark: strain for around 12 hours or even overnight.
You can also tie the cheesecloth into a bundle and hang it from a cabinet knob to let gravity do more of the work. This gives you a drier, thicker quark.
Tip: About 2 quarts of buttermilk will yield just over 1 pint of quark and a bit more than 1 quart of whey.
How To Store Your Homemade Quark
Transfer your quark to a container, cover it, and store it in the refrigerator.
We make ours from buttermilk cultured with raw milk, and it keeps beautifully for about 2 weeks, sometimes longer. If you’re using pasteurized or store-bought buttermilk, it may last even beyond that.
How to Use German Quark
- Bake it into a German-style cheesecake, which is lighter than its American cousin.
- Enjoy it plain, straight from the jar (my favorite!).
- Stir in fruit and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup for a light breakfast or dessert.
- Use it like ricotta or cottage cheese on toast, bread, or baked potatoes.
- Serve it the traditional German way: with boiled potatoes, flaxseed oil, herbs, and chopped onions.
Ready to Try It?
I hope this inspires you to make your own quark at home. It’s simple, delicious, and opens the door to so many delicious, homemade dishes. If you give this recipe a try, let me know how it turns out for you!
German Quark Cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine milk with buttermilk and stir well.
- Set your oven to 120˚F and transfer the pot with the milk to the oven.
- After 1 hour, check whether your milk has started to thicken. If not, keep it on the oven for another hour or until it has thickened.
- Line a strainer with very fine cheesecloth and place it over a bowl large enough that it can catch at least 1 quart of whey.
- Pour the buttermilk into the strainer and let it strain for up to 8 hours or until the quark cheese has the desired consistency.
- Transfer the quark cheese to an airtight container and transfer it to the refrigerator.
Notes
- you can also make quark in a yogurt maker or an instant pot on the yogurt setting
- quark is high in protein and low in calories depending on the kind of milk you’re using, about 100 kcal for about 4 oz
Nutrition
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Hello,
How much buttermilk and milk would I need to make your cheesecake? In the cheesecake recipe, it says 4 cups of quark. I have tried doing the conversion myself, and I don’t think I am understanding.
You’ll probably need around 2 quarts total of buttermilk and milk to end up with about 1 quart/4 cups of quark ~ Anja
I know this isn’t real quark but I make a type that is utterly delicious, very fresh tasting!
Simply strain plain (homemade) yogurt overnight or till preferred consistency. Salt and/or flavor and eat on toast or crackers or crudités.
Then u have all that whey for soaking grains etc, too!
Yes, the consistency is similar but the taste is slightly different. It works for most recipes, though ~ Anja
Anja, do you think this would work with previously frozen milk? I often buy several bottles of A2 /A2 milk from azure standard and freeze it.
While I have not tried it myself, I think that should work. You can always try a small amount and see what happens ~ Anja
When I made this, I hadn’t seen the advice not to use homogenized milk, so I used milk that was pasteurized and homogenized. That advice was not from your site.
The lowest temperature at which my oven would operate was 145 F, so I put the pot in at that temperature. I checked the consistency at 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours. No thickening at all. At that point, I figured it was time to feed it to the pigs. Upon reflection, I decided that the time required to buy the land and acquire the pigs made this idea less than perfect. Instead, I left the pot in a cold oven overnight, with the oven light on. In the morning, I had firm, perfectly creamy quark, which made a fantastic cheesecake.
In short:
1) Homogenized milk works
2) Patience is required
Thanks,
Joachim
Nice! Sometimes, you might need to give it more time to set but I am so glad you figured that out ~ Anja
How much does this recipe yield?
Rule of thumb: you get about half quark and half whey ~ Anja
I am a little confused, the video and steps above say to use cultured buttermilk. The recipe card says 2 quarts of milk and half cup buttermilk. I was understanding that you use all cultured buttermilk??
Also, would a nut milk bag work to strain also?
Thanks 🙂
You can pretty much use whatever you have. A nut milk bag might work, I would just double it so you’re not losing too much quark with the whey ~ Anja
Hi Anja,
Just wondering why some other recipes for making Quark call for using citric acid or lemon juice but yours doesn’t? Is there a difference in taste or texture? Thank you for the recipe. Also, I too am unable to find the ‘Print’ button for the recipe.
I am not aware of using the citric acid/lemon juice method that sounds more like ricotta which is not cultured like buttermilk. I will update the recipe card so check back soon ~ Anja
Have you tried using the Instapot for making quark? You can you the yogurt setting and strain it when the cycle is finished.
I don’t have an instapot but it’s perfect for making quark ~ Anja
In Belgium we have ” fromage blanc” ( white cheese. ) I miss it in Usa but now I learn to make it with milk and rennet.
Do you think instead of buttermilk I can make this Quark cheese with kefir ? I am sure you do also your homemade kefir.
Thank you for the healthy recipe Life changing bread. I will make it this week.
Francoise
Hello Francoise, yes, I am very aware of fromage blanc which is a bit firmer and stronger than quark. You can definitely “play” with trying to make quark with kefir (if you do, let me know how it turned out). I am so glad you like my life changing bread recipe, too ~ Anja
It’s a shame you don’t have a print button for your recipes.
There should be one and it should automatically show (I can’t add or remove it) ~ Anja
Can you substitute cottage cheese if you blend it up first?
That could work but typically cottage cheese is a lot more salty ~ Anja
Copy and paste the recipe to your notes or a new Word document or something, and then print it from there. That’s how I would do it anyway.
I spent the summer of 1996 as an AuPair in Munich. The family had quark frequently as a dessert made with fresh cherries and sugar. I loved it! I had never seen it in the US and I am thrilled to finally understand how it is made. Thank you!
Yes, Germans love quark and all the various ways to serve it. Sounds like you have great memories of your time there!
Thank you.
I have been making quark for about 3 years, but this time I got carried away making the cultured buttermilk for the quark. I have about 1 quart of cultured buttermilk left after freezing some for future buttermilk productions and using 1/2 gallon of it for quark. . If I make more quark, can it be frozen? I love it on sourdough bread with salmon and chives, the dog and cat love it (yes, I give it to them too), but I don’t want to make more and have it spoil.
While you can freeze quark, I don’t necessarily recommend it as it will change its texture a bit. Since I haven’t tried using previously frozen quark for the cheesecake recipe, it might be worth an experiment. Otherwise, your four-legged companions will love you for it ~ Anja
Hi! I wanted to use this recipe to make your cheesecake. I just want to make sure I am understanding the measurements. Since the cheesecake recipe calls for 4 cups of quark, that means I need to do 16 cups of buttermilk and 64 quarts of milk? I feel like I am doing the math wrong, but it says 2 quarts of buttermilk will yield 1 pint of quark.
I may have to update/clarify the instructions but as a rule of thumb you get about 1 quart of quark out of 2 quarts of buttermilk/milk mixture. Hope this helps ~ Anja
Hello, Anja ~
I have two questions:
1. The lowest temperature on my oven is 150 F. Is that too warm for making the quark?
2. I do make a homemade buttermilk cheese, but the recipe calls for letting the buttermilk stand at room temperature until the curds begin to separate from the whey, then gently heating the curdled buttermilk in a saucepan on the stovetop.
Would that cheese work in your German Cheesecake recipe?
That should be fine. You can also quickly turn your oven to 150˚F and then turn it off after 10-20 minutes. And you can absolutely try making quark the way you make your buttermilk cheese (should be the same thing). I hope this helps ~ Anja