Traditional Homemade Finnish Cheese “Munajuusto”

When people think of Finnish food, cheese usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind — we’re usually far more famous for our saunas, rye bread, and endless cups of coffee. But Finland actually has a surprisingly long and rich history of making cheeses at home, well before grocery store dairy aisles were a thing.

Among all of our traditional recipes, munajuusto — literally “egg cheese”— is almost certainly the most popular homemade cheese in the entire country. If you ask a local, they’ll tell you it belongs to the Häme region in southern Finland, where it’s practically a point of regional pride. But in reality, you’ll find versions of this mild, golden cheese served on holiday tables and family gatherings from one end of Finland to the other.

The magic of munajuusto is that you don’t need any special equipment or hard-to-find cultures to make it. You just need milk, eggs, buttermilk, and a little patience while physics does the heavy lifting. The result is a soft, sliceable cheese with a gentle, slightly tangy flavor that tastes incredible fresh — or baked in the oven until the top gets those lovely browned spots.

As usual, I’ve put together some tips for variations at the end of the post if you want to experiment with different flavors or herbs. But let’s start with the classic recipe first!

A Quick Trip Through Finnish Cheese History

Finland doesn’t exactly have a reputation as a cheese nation. Nobody pictures a Finn standing in a cellar, tapping wheels of cheese and nodding thoughtfully. Yet cheesemaking here goes back centuries, and for most of that time it wasn’t a hobby — it was how you got through the winter without going too hungry.

Here’s the thing people forget about old Finnish farms: cows didn’t produce milk year-round. Feed was scarce once the snow arrived, so the animals simply stopped. That made summer a frantic dairy sprint. Every drop of milk that came in was turned into something that could last, and cheese was the most reliable option. What you managed to put away in July, you were grateful for in February.

Cheese was valuable enough that it worked as actual money. Old tax records show farmers settling their dues with cheese instead of coins, which means somewhere in history there was a Finnish tax collector riding home with a cart full of dairy. I like to imagine he was in an excellent mood.

The country also split neatly into two cheesemaking camps. In the south, west, and north, people used starters and rennet to set their milk. Head east into Savo and Karelia, though, and cheese cultures weren’t part of the picture at all. There, cheese meant colostrum — the thick first milk after a cow calves — which curdles beautifully in the oven without any help whatsoever. That tradition is still alive, too. My mom makes oven-baked colostrum cheese to this day, with nothing but a pinch of salt for seasoning. (Well, she used to add sugar, but I helped her get rid of that bad habit!)

Goats had a much bigger role in the 1800s than they do now. These days I’d wager most Finns have never tasted goat milk, even though plenty of us cheerfully buy imported goat cheese. Thankfully, one determined Finnish family runs a dairy producing cheese and butter from Finnish heritage goats, and their products turn up in grocery stores across the country — which feels like a small victory for a nearly forgotten tradition.

Commercial cheese production got its start in 1856, when Finland’s first cheese dairy opened in Sippola, just down the road from my hometown Kuusankoski. Both are nowadays part of a large town Kouvola. I take entirely unearned pride in this.

These days, the average supermarket dairy aisle stretches on forever, mostly filled with rubbery low-fat cheese and industrial plant-based imitations that gave up trying. Making your own is a refreshing change of pace: you know exactly what’s in it, the ingredient list stays short, and the whole process is genuinely fun in a way store-bought cheese never manages to be. And if you follow a carnivore diet and handle dairy well, this one slots right into your routine.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Let’s dive deeper into Finnish cheesemaking and make our own delicious cheese following these steps:

Take a mixing bowl. Add 1 qt (1 l) of buttermilk…

…and 4 pastured eggs.

Whisk until well combined and set aside.

Oh yes, this buttermilk is unhomogenized and it’s made from A2 cows, meaning it’s much better tolerated than the usual A1 milk.

Pour 3 qt (3 l) of whole milk into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. I have unpasteurized, unhomogenized whole milk that we — thankfully — get directly from the grocery store here in Finland. How lucky are we!

Yes, it’s lots of milk.

Heat the milk over medium heat…

…stirring occasionally…

…until it’s piping hot (i.e., just under a boil).

Reduce the heat to low. Slowly pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into the hot milk while gently stirring.

Bring to a boil over low heat, then let it simmer gently for 5 minutes…

…until thick curds separate from the liquid whey. (Fun fact: my camera’s memory card suddenly got full after this shot. So, I walked to the nearby store for a replacement. I’m happy that the memory didn’t fill up at a critical moment!)

Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover with a lid, and let sit undisturbed for 1—2 hours to let the curds set.

Line a cheese mold or a fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth and place the whole thing on top of a bowl or saucepan.

Like this.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the curds into the strainer…

…sprinkling a little bit of unrefined sea salt evenly between the layers.

Neat!

Fold the cheesecloth over the top.

Place a small plate over the cheese…

…and set a weight (such as a heavy jar or small bottle) on top. Drain in the fridge for 12 hours until firm.

Once firm, unmold, slice, and serve.

Do you see the resemblance to my Carnivore Paskha?

Since Finnish cheese is often baked in the oven, you can place the chilled, firm cheese onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or oven-proof plate and bake at 425°F (220°C) for 10—15 minutes…

…until the top develops golden-brown spots.

Cool completely before slicing. And before you ask: my cheese weighs 421 grams.

I prefer to eat the cheese with meat discs. These are my Premium Meat Discs made of Highlander cattle meat. They are incredibly tender!

Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:

Continue to Content

Traditional Homemade Finnish Cheese "Munajuusto"

Yield: 6—8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Additional Time: 12 hours

Total Time: 12 hours 20 minutes

When people think of Finnish food, cheese usually isn’t the first thing that comes to mind — we’re usually far more famous for our saunas, rye bread, and endless cups of coffee. But Finland actually has a surprisingly long and rich history of making cheeses at home, well before grocery store dairy aisles were a thing.

Among all of our traditional recipes, munajuusto — literally “egg cheese”— is almost certainly the most popular homemade cheese in the entire country. If you ask a local, they’ll tell you it belongs to the Häme region in southern Finland, where it’s practically a point of regional pride. But in reality, you’ll find versions of this mild, golden cheese served on holiday tables and family gatherings from one end of Finland to the other.

The magic of munajuusto is that you don’t need any special equipment or hard-to-find cultures to make it. You just need milk, eggs, buttermilk, and a little patience while physics does the heavy lifting. The result is a soft, sliceable cheese with a gentle, slightly tangy flavor that tastes incredible fresh — or baked in the oven until the top gets those lovely browned spots.

As usual, I’ve put together some tips for variations at the end of the post if you want to experiment with different flavors or herbs. But let’s start with the classic recipe first!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 qt = 1 l buttermilk
• 4 pastured eggs
• 3 qt = 3 l whole milk
• 2—3 teaspoons unrefined sea salt

Instructions

1. Combine the buttermilk and the eggs in a bowl. Whisk until well combined. Set aside.
2. Pour the milk into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat, over medium heat, until the milk is piping hot (i.e., just under a boil), stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
3. Reduce the heat to low. Slowly pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into the hot milk while gently stirring.
4. Bring to a boil over low heat, let simmer gently for 5 minutes, until thick curds separate from the liquid whey. Do not allow it to boil vigorously!
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover with a lid, and let sit undisturbed for 1—2 hours to let the curds set.
6. Line a cheese mold or a fine-mesh strainer with a double layer of cheesecloth and place the whole thing on top of a bowl or saucepan. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the curds into the strainer, sprinkling the sea salt evenly between the layers.
7. Fold the cheesecloth over the top, place a small plate over the cheese, and set a weight (such as a heavy jar) on top.
8. Drain in the fridge for 12 hours until firm.
9. Once firm, unmold, slice, and serve.
10. Optional: Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Place the chilled, firm cheese onto a parchment-lined baking sheet or oven-proof plate. Bake for 10—15 minutes, until the top develops golden-brown spots. Cool completely before slicing.s

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Tips for Variations

This cheese is wonderfully forgiving, and once you understand the basic principle — hot milk + acid + eggs = curds — you can take it in dozens of directions. Here are my favorite variations.

If You Can’t Find Buttermilk

The buttermilk brings acidity (which helps the milk curdle) and a gentle tang. Any of these will work beautifully:

Kefir (my top pick)
Use 1 qt (1 l) of plain, unsweetened kefir as a straight 1:1 replacement. It’s actually more acidic than most commercial buttermilk, so the curds set fast and firm. The flavor is slightly more complex and yogurty.

Plain yogurt, thinned
Whisk 3 cups (710 ml) of plain full-fat yogurt with 1 cup (240 ml) of water or milk until smooth and pourable. Strain out any lumps before adding the eggs.

Soured milk (the emergency version)
Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice per 1 cup (240 ml) of whole milk, stir, and let it stand at room temperature for 10—15 minutes until it looks slightly grainy. It won’t have the cultured depth of real buttermilk, but the curds set perfectly.

Sour cream or crème fraîche, thinned
Whisk 2 cups (470 ml) of sour cream with 2 cups (470 ml) of milk. This gives the richest, creamiest result of all the substitutes — noticeably more luxurious, and a good choice if you’re serving the cheese as a centerpiece.

No cultured dairy at all?
Increase to 6 eggs and add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the milk just before the eggs go in. The curds will be softer and milder, closer to a delicate ricotta.

Keto-Friendly Savory Seasoned Versions

Add seasonings when you’re layering the curds into the cheesecloth — sprinkle them between the layers along with the salt. This distributes flavor evenly without breaking up the curds.

Garlic and Fresh Herb
2 cloves of garlic, very finely minced or grated, plus 3 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh herbs — chives, dill, parsley, or a mix. Dill and garlic together is especially Finnish and pairs magnificently with the baked version. If raw garlic feels too sharp, heat it gently in a spoonful of butter first; it turns sweet and mellow.

Nettle Cheese
Nettle is a genuinely brilliant addition here — we Finns use a lot of this practically free herb.

Use about 2 cups (470 ml) of young nettle tops (spring nettles, before they flower). Blanch them for 60 seconds in boiling salted water, plunge into cold water, squeeze out every drop of moisture — and I mean every drop, or your cheese will be watery — then chop finely. Fold into the curds with the salt. I highly recommend adding some garlic for more flavor, as nettle and the cheese are quite bland.

By the way: blanching neutralizes the sting completely, so there’s no need to be nervous. Wear gloves while handling the raw leaves.

If you are too anxious to handle raw nettle — or if you cannot find them or the season is not right — dried nettle works too: 3 tablespoons, rehydrated in a little warm water and squeezed dry.

Caraway (the classic Nordic move)
Lightly toast 1 1/2 teaspoons of caraway seeds in a dry skillet until fragrant. Then sprinkle them on the curds while layering them into the cheesecloth. This is the traditional seasoning across Finland, Estonia, and Latvia for fresh cheeses, and there’s a reason it stuck around for centuries.

Black Pepper and Juniper
Let’s keep the twist Nordic! Add 1 teaspoon of coarsely cracked black pepper plus 4—5 crushed juniper berries to the curds. Piney, resinous, and unmistakably northern. Excellent with game meats.

Smoked Paprika and Chive
Add 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika and a generous handful of chives to the curds. Bake until spotted; this one develops an almost bacon-like savoriness.

Wild Garlic (ramsons)
In spring, replace the herbs with a large handful of finely chopped wild garlic leaves. Milder than garlic cloves, greener, and beautifully fragrant.

Dill and Lemon Zest
Add 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill plus the finely grated zest of one organic lemon. Bright and fresh — the best version for warm weather.

Horseradish
Add 2 tablespoons of freshly grated horseradish to the curds. Sharp, sinus-clearing, and outstanding alongside beef.

Keto-Friendly Sweet Versions

Add sweet flavorings the same way — between the layers of curds — or fold them in gently just before draining.

Vanilla and Cinnamon
Add the seeds from half a vanilla pod, 1 teaspoon of ground Ceylon cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of powdered erythritol or allulose. Reduce the salt to a pinch. Baked, this tastes remarkably like a cheesecake crust. Serve with whipped cream for an ultimate comforting dessert!

Cardamom Cheese
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of freshly ground cardamom and sweeten to taste with your favorite sweetener. Cardamom is THE Finnish baking spice, and it belongs here. Serve warm.

Lemon and Vanilla
Add the finely grated zest of an organic lemon, 5 drops of LorAnn lemon oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla powder. Sweeten to taste. This version is light, fragrant, and dessert-like without being too heavy.

Almond and Nutmeg
Add 1/2 teaspoon of natural almond extract and a good grating of fresh nutmeg. Sweeten with your favorite keto sweetener. Add 3 tablespoons of toasted flaked almonds to the top before baking.

What to Do with the Leftover Whey

You’ll be left with a surprising amount of whey — and it’s far too good to pour down the drain.

I simply drink mine cold, straight from the glass. It’s tangy, refreshing, and a nice source of electrolytes. Nothing beats it after a sauna.

A few other ideas:

 
Just keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge and use it within about five days.

Final Thoughts

Milk, eggs, buttermilk — that’s all it takes. No rennet, no special equipment, no weeks of aging. Just heat, time, and a bit of patience while it drains.

And it’s endlessly flexible. You can eat it plain or pan-fried in butter, season it with garlic and dill, or stud it with nettle in the spring — same cheese, different outfit every time.

If you’re eating low-carb or carnivore, this one earns its place. Real food, short ingredient list, genuinely filling. My favorite way to eat it is still the simplest: warm slices straight from the oven on top of my meat discs.

Give it a try — and if you invent a seasoning combo I haven’t thought of, tell me about it. And don’t forget to check my other cheese recipes!

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