Essential Guide To Raw Milk (Plus 115 Recipes)

Protein, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids are all present in milk, making it a wholesome food. Before the early to mid-1900s, when pasteurization was first used, all milk was drank raw and basically unprocessed. Raw milk consumption rises as it grows popular being categorized as healthier than processed ones.

As they say, you haven’t had real milk til you’ve had one raw! Learn why you should drink it and get 115 recipes to try in this Essential Guide to Raw Milk!

Maybe it’s just me, but even though it excites me afresh each and every time a fruit or vegetable comes into season, by the time the season is over, I can’t help but be secretly glad. Yes, even fresh tomatoes. By the time they’re done, I’m ready to move on. It’s horrible, isn’t it? But it’s true. I easily get bored and I love trying new recipes, and flavor combinations, and I’m always eager for the next thing to come into the season.

Don’t you dare try to get between it and me? I take it straight, 3 times a day (at least), and I never, and I mean never, EVER tire of it. As much as I love water, you try drinking it with your oatmeal in the morning. Nee-asty!

Give me my fresh, full-fat, Jersey milk from milk maidens. I mean the ones milked by hand, but no post-pasteurization dead bacteria floaties, please. I’ll take mine raw and alive & healthy and teeming full of beneficial bacteria! After all, I KNOW our milk was handled, start to finish, especially for raw consumption and so it’s safe and clean.

If you’ve no clue as to why you should be drinking your milk(besides the fact that it tastes amazing), let me direct you to some articles and resources that will have you ready to see what the big deal is all about. Check out the Real Milk website as your first step in the search. There are so many ways to use the extra milk left in your harvest. You can actually make cultured buttermilk out of it.

Of course, once you’ve found a local source of clean, you’re going to want to play around with it a bit. And I highly recommend that you do, even if your milk source offers other dairy products such as yogurt & cheese, I promise you, they will taste better if you make them yourself. That’s why I choose to DIY. So, if I may, I’d like to suggest trying one of the recipes here.

Essential Guide To Raw Milk

Be sure to head over and check out our Homesteader’s Shopping Guide to find the best tools and resources for managing all that milky goodness in your home dairy!

Why is it the Best Milk?

• What’s the Big Deal with Raw Milk? The Truth Behind the Phenomenon
• Raw Milk from Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund
• Got Raw Milk? Questions to Ask Your Farmer from Nourishing Joy
• 5 Reasons Why We Drink Raw Milk from Nourishing Joy
• Raw Milk & The Raw Truth from Cultured Palate
• 3 Facts You Should Know About Raw Milk from Real Food Kosher
• The Risk of Raw Milk by Pantry Paratus
• The Top 10 Benefits of Organic Grass-Fed Dairy Cheese
  from Mamavation
• Why Grass Fed Matters from Nourished Kitchen
• Why you should be drinking Raw Milk from Weed Em & Reap
• Raw Milk: The Benefits, The Drawbacks, And Making It Work For You from Don’t Waste The Crumbs
• Raw Milk & Dairy: The Health Benefits from Au Naturale Nutrition
• Why I Drink Raw Milk from Eat Naked Now
• From Barn to Fridge: 6 Tips for Safely Handling Raw Milk from The Prairie Homestead
• Got (Raw) Milk? Why We Went Raw from The Prairie Homestead
• Can Farm Life Boost Your Natural Immunity?
  from Learning & Yearning
• Can Good Bacteria Destroy Bad Bacteria? from Learning and Yearning
• Salmonella Hoopla: Why I feed my children RAW egg yolks, RAW cheese, & RAW milk from Weed Em & Reap
• I Drink Raw Milk from O Lardy
• Why My Paleo Family Drinks Raw Milk from The Paleo Mama
• The Cost of Producing Raw Milk from The Well-Fed Homestead

Raw Milk Recipes From Reformation Acres

• Raw Milk 101
• Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese
• Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
• Cottage Cheese
• Traditional Milk Mozzarella
• Cream Cheese
• Vanilla Pudding
• 4 Ways to Make Sour Cream
• Homemade Vanilla Yogurt
• Cultured Buttermilk
• Sweet Cream Butter
• Mesophilic Starter Culture
• Mascarpone Cheese
• Hot Chocolate
• How to Skim Cream from Whole Milk
• Maple Sweetened Condensed Milk

Butter

• Making Cultured Butter from The Promised Land Farm
• Homemade Grass-Fed Raw Butter from Livin’ Lovin’ Farmin’
• Pesto Compound Butter from Feed Your Soul
• Homemade Clarified Butter (Ghee) from The Elliott Homestead
• How To Make Cultured Butter from The Elliott Homestead
• 5 Homemade Flavored Butter Recipes from Happy Money Saver
• Best Flavored Butter Recipes from The Elliott Homestead
• Roasted Garlic Butter from The Elliott Homestead
• Cinnamon Butter Candy from The Elliott Homestead
• Making Butter in a Jar from The Homestead Honey

Cheese

• Raw Cheese Benefits from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Making Raw Milk Camembert & Brie Cheese from The Promised Land Farm
• Cottage Cheese from Homemade Mommy
• Homemade Mozzarella & Ricotta from Livin’ Lovin’ Farmin’
• Homemade Quark from Cakes & More
• Large Curd Cottage Cheese from Common Sense Homesteading
• Blossom Cheese from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Farmhouse Cheese from Sunnyside Farm
• Cheddar Cheese from Amazing Graze Farm
• Quick & Easy Cheese Spread from Amazing Graze Farm
• How To Make Ricotta Cheese (video) from The Elliott Homestead
• Homemade Halloumi from Cooking with Gifs
• Romano Cheese from New England Cheesemaking
• Havarti Cheese from New England Cheesemaking
• Gruyere Cheese from New England Cheesemaking
• Gouda Cheese from New England Cheesemaking
• A Complete List of Cheese Recipes from New England Cheesemaking
• Colby Cheese from New England Cheesemaking
• Homemade Cultured & Flavored Cream Cheese (video) from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• 4 Easy Raw Cheese Recipes from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Labneh With Lemon and Thyme and Ciabatta Toasts from Simply Delicious
• Mascarpone Cheese from Food Fanatic
• Homemade Fresh Farmer’s Cheese from The Healthy Foodie
• Paneer from Health Starts in the Kitchen
• The Easiest Homemade Cheese Ever: Soft Fromage Blanc from Common Sense Homesteading
• Homemade Raw Cheddar Cheese from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Waxing Cheese from The Survival Mom
• Beeswax Cheesewax from Curd Nerd
• How To Smoke Cheese at Home from Melissa K. Norris
• How To Make Fromage Blanc from The Prairie Homestead
• Mizithra Cheese from Joybilee Farms
• How To Make Cream Cheese from The Prairie Homestead
• Cottage Cheese from Urban Overalls
• How To Make Feta Cheese from The Promised Land Farm

Cream, Soured & Otherwise

• How To Make Sour Cream from The Prairie Homestead
• 20 Ways to Use Sour Raw Milk from The Prairie Homestead
• How To Clabber Milk from The Nourishing Cook
• Cultured Sour Cream from O Lardy
• Cultured Dairy: How to Make 1 Stick of Butter, 1 Pint of Sour Cream, and 1 Pint of Buttermilk with JUST ONE Quart of Cream! from The Paleo Mama
• Transforming Homemade Creme Fraiche Into Cultured Butter
• Homemade Sour Cream from Whisk Affair
• Homemade Creme Fraiche from The Hungry Hounds
• Clotted Cream from Craft Marmalade

Ice Cream, Drinks, & Desserts

• Raw Milk Popsicles from Nourishing Joy
• Bourbon Honey Ice Cream with Brown Butter Crumble & Fresh Peaches from Climbing Grier Mountain
• Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream from With Love & Cupcakes
• Rice Pudding from Spicy Southern Kitchen
• Vanilla Milkshake from Paula Deen
• Cultured Vanilla Ice Cream from The Coconut Mama
• Perfect No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream from Venison For Dinner
• Salted Caramel Pudding from Baking a Moment
• Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake from Recipe
• Chocolate Probiotic Ice Cream from Homemade Mommy
• Raw Milk Orange Julius with Ginger & Chia Seeds from My Life in a Pyramid
• Homemade Custard from My Recipe Book
• Raw Chocolate Milk from Nourishing Days
• Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake from The Hungry Mouse
• Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Recipe from Common Sense Homesteading
• Basic Eggnog from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream from Home Joys
• Golden Milk from The Faulk Farmstead
• Pumpkin Pudding from Home Joys
• Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta from Livin’ Lovin’ Farmin’
• Simple Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream from The Prairie Homestead
• Real Milk Vanilla Ice Cream from Homemade Mommy
• Eggnog from The Nourishing Cook
• Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt from Whole Lifestyle Nutrition
• Raw Milk Ice Cream from Butter Nutrition

Goat’s Milk

• Goat Milk Ricotta Cheese from Homespun Seasonal Living
• Homemade Chèvre Goat Cheese from Weed Em & Reap
• Homemade Goat’s Milk Mozzarella Cheese from Weed Em & Reap
• Marinated Feta from Bite By Michelle
• Soft Goat Milk Cheese from Homestead Revival
• How To Make Goat Cheese from Green Eggs & Goats

Milk Kefir

• How To Make Homemade Milk Kefir The Easy Way from Whistle Pig Hollow

• How To Make Kefir from The Elliott Homestead
• Raw Pumpkin Kefir Cheesecake from Homemade Mommy
• Raw Milk Kefir Smoothie from The Browning Homestead
• How To Make Kefir Cheese and Whey from Homemade Mommy
• 8 Yummy Ways to Eat Kefir from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Kefir Popsicles from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS
• Chocolate Kefir Smoothies from Traditional Cooking School by GNOWFGLINS

Yogurt

• Kefir/Yogurt Cheese Balls from GNOWFGLINS
• Super Easy Yogurt Cheese from The Elliott Homestead
• Homemade Frozen Yogurt from The Prairie Homestead
• Yogurt Fruit Leather from Thank Your Body
• How to Make Foolproof Crockpot Yogurt from From Scratch Farmstead
• Yogurt Ranch Dip from Nourishing Days
• Yogurt Cream Cheese From Thank Your Body
• Homemade Vanilla Yogurt
• Homemade Honey-Sweetened Yogurt Popsicles from The Elliott Homestead
• Blueberry Yogurt Pancakes from Real Food Outlaws
• No- Measure Homemade Yogurt from Attainable Sustainable

Whey

• 16 Uses for Whey from The Prairie Homestead

Now, what’s your favorite way to take your raw milk?