Cheesecloth is an unassuming kitchen staple that can be used for a variety of tasks. It’s typically used as a strainer when making homemade noodles, or to strain soup stock. But did you know it could also be substituted with other items?
Cheesecloth Substitutes
- Kitchen towel: Use a large, clean kitchen towel to replace cheesecloth in any of its functions. You can even use the same one over and over again as it won’t get too dirty – just rinse under running water first if needed. This works better with larger cuts because smaller pieces will easily fall through the gaps between the towels.
- plain cloth: If you don’t have cheesecloth, plain cloth will work just as well. It might be a little bit more difficult to pull through some functions but it does the job just fine overall.
- To make homemade noodles or strain soup stock with plastic wrap is very similar to using cheesecloth. Cut a piece of wrap to the size you need and put it over your spoon or pot. You can also fold it in half for easier use with smaller dishes.
- Nylon mesh: A good substitute is to buy nylon follow netting (aka grape bag, jelly bag) from any home store like Home Depot or Lowe’s when you need to make fruit jelly.
- Flour sack or old, lint-free dish towel: A good substitute for cheesecloth is a flour sack kitchen towel if you don’t have any handy. You can also use an old and laundered (lint free) dish towel but you will want it to be bigger than the dish you are covering.
- Coffee filters: A good substitute for cheesecloth is to use a used coffee filter as it will not impart any scent or flavor onto your dish but be sure that they are clean and dry before using them, which may take some time if you’ve had them sitting around in the open air of your kitchen for a time.
- Tea towel: A good substitute for cheesecloth is to use any old, lint free kitchen or dish towels that you have in your cupboards. If you’ve forgotten them and don’t want to go out to buy some then grab an unused clean tea towel from your linen closet instead of using a new one.
- Bandanas: An alternative way for you to cover dishes is by using an old cotton bandana or piece of soft cotton cloth.
- Paper towels: Paper towel can be an excellent substitute for cheesecloth and the only downside is that you will have to change it more often than with a kitchen wash rag which would also work well, but if you’ve already bought them then use them.
- Net Milk Bag
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When it comes to cooking, cheesecloth is the most versatile and inexpensive cloth you can use in your kitchen.
It can be used for straining liquids, lining cake pans or baking dishes with a non-stick coating like greaseproof paper, covering food to keep warm while browning other items on the stove top and more.
