A complete tutorial to make your own homemade yogurt in an Instant Pot at home from simple clean ingredients.
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I have a daughter who continually asked for yogurt and I started buying it more and more often. I would be buying 2 at a time. It is a great source of protein, tasty and a good snack. Gosh this is getting expensive.
So I had to ask myself, is it really cheaper to make my own yogurt?
Do you know how hard it is to find Greek yogurt without a bunch of junk in it? The cleanest least expensive organic plain yogurt I’ve found at my local grocery store is $5. The flavored kind of the same brand contains junk I don’t want to feed my kids. I can get a gallon of organic milk for a little over $6, make it into yogurt and strain off the whey and get 2 quarts of Greek yogurt. The bonus whey I get to use to put in breads and soups upping protein content and flavor in those recipes.
How can I make my own yogurt at home?
The answer I finally came to…My Instant Pot. I just set it to boil on the yogurt function and let it go, no need to watch, stir or monitor, the Instant Pot does it for me. Then I let it cool to at least 132 but no less than 115 degrees fahrenheit. Mix in some previously obtained yogurt, set the Instant Pot to yogurt for either 12 or 24 hours. Voila, you magically have yummy yogurt!
I was hooked the first time I made it that way. I will include a full tutorial showing how I make my yogurt at the end, so stay tuned.
Should I buy a yogurt maker, Instant Pot or some other equipment to make yogurt?
I am a busy lady and I know you can make it with a hot-pad and jars or a cooler and a hot-water bath but but I wanted something easier. Before I had my Instant Pot I tried:
…The hot pad method…
I had to stand by my stove and watch the milk to keep it from scalding. Then I had to use a thermometer to make sure it reached 180 degrees. Wait, now I had to let it cool and continue to monitor the temp and make sure it didn’t go below 115 degrees. Once it cooled to under 132 but above 115 I had to place it all in jars on a heating pad. Then make sure it stayed at the right temperature for 12 hours! That was a lot of time and work!
I did look into a yogurt maker
…but a yogurt maker was so expensive! Not to mention it would take up extra space on my counter which I didn’t have room for. This meant I’d store it downstairs in my extra storage space and never use it again. I gave up and never made yogurt again. I just started getting store-bought yogurt. I bought it a lot less often.
Enter the Instant Pot
Buying an Instant Pot was a worthwhile investment for making meat dishes, chili, soups, boiling eggs, cooking rice. All kinds of uses. I have used it so often I had to replace it once, maybe twice. Then I bought a second smaller one so I now have 2! I can use them as a slow cooker, tube cooker or pressure cooker. I use it for almost everything. Its a win-win. Then I saw something somewhere on the internet that piqued my interest in making yogurt in the Instant Pot
..and the rest is history…
I’ve been making homemade yogurt ever since. If you have an Instant Pot and haven’t used your yogurt setting I entreat you to try it. If you don’t have one I urge you to get one as it will save you so much time, but not just for yogurt. I use it at least 3 times a week.
What kind of milk is best?
My opinion and this is just my opinion not advise…is whatever you can afford. I honestly prefer whole milk to skim milk. If you can afford organic go for it. But if the cost holds you back use the conventional milk. You won’t be sorry your making real yogurt from real ingredients will you? I personally wouldn’t use raw just because I heat it up in the process anyway, why waste raw dairy in that way? Its hard to find raw dairy here because it’s illegal to sell in stores. To get raw dairy I have to drive about 40 minutes away to spend about $15 a half gallon, so that’s a no for me. Also I live in a suburb and can’t keep my own cow.
A little bit about yogurt starter.
You can buy yogurt starter online but its easier to just buy a bit of yogurt at the store and use a cup. Make sure the yogurt you buy has active cultures. You can freeze the extra for next time you need it. Then you just use a cup of your previously made yogurt to make the next batch. When it stops thickening its time to get out the frozen stuff and use it.
Can I make Greek yogurt at home?
Did you know that Greek yogurt is just yogurt that has had some of the liquid strained out of it? You take a strainer, put it in a bowl and put a cheese cloth in it. Then you pour your yogurt in and let it sit for a few hours or overnight until it is as thick as you want. Now you have Greek yogurt and the liquid in the bowl is whey.
Oh the beauty of whey.
Greek yogurt is my daughters yogurt of choice because “it has more protein”, her words. Well the beauty of making Greek yogurt at home is I get lots of whey. Unbeknownst to my family I add whey to my homemade breads, sweets, soups where a recipe asks for water. It adds flavor and protein.
A full tutorial for making homemade yogurt in an instant pot.
Equipment needed:
- Large Instant Pot
- 1 gallon of milk
- 1 cup of commercial yogurt that has live cultures
- or 1 cup of yogurt from a previous batch
- Super big bowl of ice to cool the heated milk. Don’t get this out until your Instant Pot says “Done”
- Tea Towel or Cheese cloth
- Strainer
- Large bowl
- Storage containers such as quart mason jars
Lets start making yogurt!
Grab your instant pot and your milk!
Put your milk into your instant pot and click yogurt 3 times until it says “BOIL”.
Let your Instant Pot do the work!
Seriously, put the milk in the Instant Pot, hit the Yogurt button a few times until it says “BOIL” and wait. It will shut off when it reaches the right temperature. Don’t overthink it! When it beeps, remove the insert from the Instant Pot..
Get a Big Bowl of Ice
Submerge your Instant Pot insert into an ice bath otherwise know as a bowl of ice, or wait a long while for it to come down in temperature. Ensure it is less than 132 degrees Fahrenheit but more than 115 degrees, this way it won’t kill your yogurt.
Place your insert back in your Instant Pot.
With your insert back in your Pot your going to put a bit of yogurt in a bowl and put a cup or 2 of warm milk in with it. This helps the yogurt get cozy before you plunge it in the rest of the milk!
Put your Yogurt in your Instant Pot and let it go!
Once you’ve let your yogurt get cozy in the milk your going to put it in the big pot with the rest of the milk. Hit the yogurt function once for 12 hours or twice for 24. The longer it goes the thicker and tangier it gets. Want it less tangy or a thinner yogurt? Set it for less time.
Wait 8 hours for thinner yogurt or up to 24 hours for a thicker more tangy yogurt and Voila! You have now made your own yogurt! This is now considered regular yogurt and you can put it in your storage containers and place in the fridge as is or go to the next step.
Want Greek Yogurt?
Pour your finished yogurt in a cheese cloth lined strainer set into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. The longer you let it strain the thicker it gets. I love a good thick yogurt in place of sour cream. To get your Greek yogurt smooth use an immersion blender.
Homemade Instant Pot Yogurt
An easy yogurt recipe using an Instant Pot, a gallon of milk and some yogurt. An inexpensive alternative to store-bought yogurt.
Ingredients
- Large Instant Pot
- 1 gallon of milk
- 1 cup of commercial yogurt that has live cultures
- or 1 cup of yogurt from a previous batch
- Super big bowl of ice to cool the heated milk. Don't get this out until your Instant Pot says "Done"
- Tea Towel or Cheese cloth
- Strainer
- Large bowl
- Storage containers such as quart mason jars
Notes
Put your milk into your instant pot and click yogurt 3 times until it says "BOIL".
Let your Instant Pot do the work! Seriously, put the milk in the Instant Pot, hit the Yogurt button a few times until it says "BOIL" and wait. It will shut off when it reaches the right temperature. Don't overthink it! When it beeps, remove the insert from the Instant Pot..
Get a Big Bowl of Ice. Submerge your Instant Pot insert into an ice bath otherwise know as a bowl of ice, or wait a long while for it to come down in temperature. Ensure it is less than 132 degrees Fahrenheit but more than 115 degrees, this way it won't kill your yogurt.
Place your insert back in your Instant Pot. With your insert back in your Pot your going to put a bit of yogurt in a bowl and put a cup or 2 of warm milk in with it. This helps the yogurt get cozy before you plunge it in the rest of the milk!
Put your Yogurt in your Instant Pot and let it go!Once you've let your yogurt get cozy in the milk your going to put it in the big pot with the rest of the milk. Hit the yogurt function once for 12 hours or twice for 24. The longer it goes the thicker and tangier it gets. Want it less tangy or a thinner yogurt? Set it for less time.
Wait 8 hours for thinner yogurt or up to 24 hours for a thicker more tangy yogurt and Voila! You have now made your own yogurt! This is now considered regular yogurt and you can put it in your storage containers and place in the fridge as is or go to the next step.
Want Greek Yogurt?
Pour your finished yogurt in a cheese cloth lined strainer set into a large bowl and place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. The longer you let it strain the thicker it gets. I love a good thick yogurt in place of sour cream. To get your yogurt smooth use an immersion blender.
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