By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026
Leave milk kefir to drain for a day and it turns into a soft white cheese, as spreadable as cream cheese but brighter and tangier. Stir in garlic, snipped chives and a little mustard, and you have a savoury spread for crackers, bread or cucumber and carrot sticks, with no cooking at all.
How a cloth turns kefir into cheese
As kefir ferments, its bacteria turn milk sugar into lactic acid, which sets the milk proteins into a soft curd. In a cloth-lined sieve, gravity pulls the watery whey away and the curd stays behind. A few hours gives a spoonable kefir like thick yogurt, about a day gives a spread, and longer makes it firm and crumbly. Draining in the fridge keeps the flavour mild, because at room temperature the kefir keeps fermenting and turns sourer.
If the cheese stays runny, give it more time or use a tighter cloth, since a loose weave lets small curds slip through. If it turns crumbly, stir back a spoonful of the saved whey. Kefir that has already separated is a good start, because its whey is already on the way out.
A cousin of labneh, at home on a cracker
The closest classic is labneh, a salted strained yogurt eaten across the Middle East with olive oil and bread. Kefir cheese is just as soft but starts from milk kefir. Spread it on a cracker with a slice of cucumber and a few extra chives, or loosen it with a little kefir as a dip for carrot sticks. For other versions, fold in chopped olives and sun-dried tomatoes, or swap the chives for dill, spring onion and lemon.
Chives and mustard from a Taiwanese shop
Fresh chives are grown in Taiwan and sold in small packs by specialist herb growers. They taste like a more concentrated green onion, so green onion tops work when chives are hard to find. For the mustard, choose a yellow or Dijon-style one made from mustard seeds. The green paste served with sushi is a different product, made mostly from horseradish with green colouring.
Garlic and chive kefir cheese spread
Ingredients
- 500 g plain milk kefir One 500 g bottle is enough.
- 2 tbsp fresh chives Snip finely before measuring. Finely chopped green onion tops can be used instead.
- ¼ tsp garlic powder Choose garlic powder without added salt.
- ½ tsp prepared mustard Use yellow or Dijon-style mustard made from mustard seeds, not green sushi paste.
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch ground pepper
You will need
- Fine-mesh sieve and tightly woven food-safe cheesecloth
- Deep bowl and a plate for covering
- Small mixing bowl and spoon
- Kitchen scissors and measuring spoons
- Kitchen scale
Instructions
- Set a sieve lined with a double layer of clean cheesecloth over a deep bowl, leaving room underneath for the whey to collect.
- Pour the milk kefir into the lined sieve.
- Cover with a plate and let the whey drain in the refrigerator at 4°C (40°F) or below for about 24 hours, until the cheese is thick enough to spread.
- Scrape the drained cheese into a small mixing bowl. Keep the whey in a covered jar in the fridge in case the cheese needs loosening.
- Rinse the chives under cool running water, then pat dry with a clean paper towel.
- Finely snip the chives, then measure the amount needed.
- Use a spoon to stir the chives, garlic powder, mustard, salt and pepper into the cheese until evenly mixed.
- Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed.
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