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Behold, homemade “Velveeta” cheese made with real food. Honestly! This is clean-eating kind of food. Seriously.
The cheese loaf. It’s not exactly the most beautiful creation in the food world. You walk over to the refrigerated section of your grocery store, glance around quickly to see if anyone’s looking and then quickly place that bright yellow box into your cart and bury it under a bag of fresh vegetables.
But let’s face it, you simply cannot make creamy, cheesy dips for football season without it! And no matter how hard I’ve tried, I CANNOT make macaroni and cheese in the slow cooker without cubes of yellow “cheese-product.”
Until today. The process for this could not be easier.
This recipe for homemade Velveeta cheese takes fewer than 5 minutes to put together. Then you have to patient and wait for 12 hours, so plan ahead!
The good news is that this will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator if you keep it tightly wrapped. I have noticed that it starts to lose it’s ability to melt down into creamy perfection the longer it’s been in the refrigerator, so I would use it sooner rather than later.
I actually had a box of Velveeta in my refrigerator *blushes* so I pulled out the cardboard box and lined it with plastic wrap. It was a perfect fit!
Cover tightly and refrigerate!
Want to see this homemade Velveeta in action? Here’s a deliciously-gooey grilled cheese sandwich I made using a couple slices of my homemade Velveeta cheese.
Honestly? It tastes WAY better than the stuff that comes in the bright orange box. I’ve always thought Velveeta had a bit of a funny aftertaste.
This cheese will melt and give you all the texture that you’re looking for in comfort food, without adding any unnecessary chemicals. Hurray for clean eating when and where you can!
Try this homemade Velveeta cheese in one of these recipes:
Homemade Velveeta Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 pkt unflavored gelatin 1/4 oz.
- 6 tbsp dried milk powder
- 16 oz. cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- 1 cup boiling water, 1 pkt unflavored gelatin, 6 tbsp dried milk powderAdd boiling water, gelatin and powdered milk to the blender (or food processor) and puree until mixed.
- 16 oz. cheddar cheeseAdd shredded cheese a few handfuls at a time and continue to blend until smooth. Open and scrape down the sides with a spatula a few times.
- Pour/scoop mixture into a small loaf pan or other mold lined with plastic wrap. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
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Melissa says
I made this recipe and the cheese itself turned out fantastic! Tasted better than velveeta in my opinion. however when I melted it for dip it wasn’t smooth. It was kind of grainy looking – like small chunks didn’t melt. Any ideas what I did wrong or how I can fix it?? Thanks so much!
Nicole Burkholder says
In the past, I have occasionally had difficulty with it melting down completely for a dip as well-it’s been great in sandwiches and with mac and cheese, but I don’t know if it’s a heating issue (maybe melting too fast/too hot) or something with the gelatin perhaps. It’s not been consistent, so I haven’t figured out what it could be-other than it was a few days old in the fridge when I tried it. Sorry that’s not really helpful! I agree, though, it tastes way better than Velveeta (since it’s actually cheese) 🙂
Joy Troutt says
? on the home made velvetta cheese. I’m big on home canning ready made ingredients for quick use. Wondering if this velvetta could be pressure canned/sealed for shelf storage?Would be refigerated 1st or just place in jars from the blender and process for canning. would the cheese set up in the jar? I may have to experiment and see! Another opinion appreciated!
Nicole Burkholder says
I honestly can’t answer that because I have no idea-have you pressure canned cheese before? I know meat can be cooked and canned, but I’ve never heard of cheese being preserved that way before. Interesting, though! I’m curious to see if anyone responds 🙂
Janice Powers says
Do you use 2 8 oz blocks of cheese & shred? Or is it 2 cups of shredded cheese?
Nicole Burkholder says
In a recipe, when it’s written as a certain amount, followed by an instruction (for example 16 ounces cheese, shredded) that means that you measure out the called for amount and THEN follow the instructions. So for this recipe you would use a one pound block of cheese (or two 8 ounce blocks) and then shred them. 🙂
Linda Bb says
Hi, I was hoping this was a recipe on making the V cheese with milk. Have you ever thought of trying to develop a recipe without buying expensive premade cheese to make V cheese? Maybe the powder cheese with milk and gelatin?
Nicole Burkholder says
Honestly, regular cheddar cheese isn’t all that expensive, and I like real cheese too much to try to choke down the powdered stuff. 🙂 The whole point of this recipe is to enjoy a good melty cheese without adding a bunch of chemicals. Most powdered cheese mixed come with preservatives and who knows what else. At our local grocery store, a pound of block cheddar cheese is about $3.50. Even if it was up to $5, this recipe would still be cheaper than buying a block of Velveeta, so I’m still coming out in the black. But if you try it, I’d really be curious to know how it worked!
Lauren says
Do you know of a gelatin substitution for those who eat kosher? Thank you!!
Nicole Burkholder says
There are many brands of Kosher gelatin, so no need for substitution. Just check the packaging to be sure. It should have Kosher markings.
Chelsea says
I am trying to fond nutritional facts on this recipe everywhere… I can’t seem to find any. I’m trying to stay within my macros. But I want a “processed” cheese recipe to use in dips & on burgers (without the bun of course 😉.)
Nicole Burkholder says
I just updated the post to include nutrition facts in the recipe box! Thanks for letting me know they were missing!
Sam says
This didn’t quite taste like Velveeta, but close. I used Kraft sharp cheddar cheese & a whole milk dried powder. Next time I might downgrade to a store brand cheese get more authentic. lol I love Velveeta & this recipe is costlier, but that is to be expected. But Velveeta is a salt mine, so this recipe is worth keeping.
Nicole Burkholder says
Yes! The sodium content is crazy high in Velveeta. You’re never going to get the exact flavor in a copycat, since this cuts out all the random preservatives, but it’s a close second 😉
Isabel says
Does it freeze well?
Nicole Burkholder says
I don’t think that it would. I’ve never tried it, but it doesn’t last too long in the refrigerator before it loses it’s good melting qualities.
Sam says
I froze the carryover I had for several months, with no ill effect. I wrapped it in foil & put it in a zippered bag.
Jess says
I’m a little confused on the recipe. Is it one 4 oz. package of gelatin?
Nicole Burkholder says
No, it’s one of the little paper packets of gelatin, which is one fourth of an ounce. 🙂
Krista says
Thanks for sharing!! Velveeta has always creeped me out but is a necessity for homemade mac and cheese. I tried this version & when I attempted to mix it into the hot noodles, it just grumped up & wouldn’t melt. It’s like it won’t stick to anything but itself. Any suggestions??
Nicole Burkholder says
That’s odd! I used it for homemade “cheesy noodles” as my kids insist I call it, and it’s been fine. I did notice that the older it got, the less creamy and melty it was. Was yours fresh? How old were the ingredients you used to make it?
Jeanette Schutz says
Can this be made with low fat cheese also?
Nicole Burkholder says
I wouldn’t. The full fat is going to have a different consistency. Low fat doesn’t melt well.
Jeanette Schutz says
That’s odd, since they do have LF Velveta on the shelves. I find that fat free doesn’t melt well, but i generally have no problem with low fat. I might just have to try it and see.
Nicole Burkholder says
Well I’m not sure what exactly is IN Velveeta 😉 but if you do try it, please come back and let us know how it works/tastes!
Heather May says
HOLY COW!!! This is awesome Thank you 🙂
Nicole Burkholder says
It is truly life-changing 🙂
Emily says
oh wow, thanks!! and yum!! ;o) Velveeta is SOO expensive here, so I bring some from the USA, then when that’s gone we don’t eat mac and cheese until the next time we go back ;o) Excited to try!!
Melissa | Persnickety Plates says
So funny, I hate buying/eating/looking at “cheese product”! This is so much better!