How to Make Homemade Yogurt in the Instant Pot
Making homemade yogurt in your Instant Pot is both easy and rewarding. You get to pick the quality of milk and know exactly what ingredients are used. Give it a try and you will be happy to know that there is much less sugar and more gut health probiotics than what you get in the store.
A few years ago I really wanted to start making homemade yogurt.
I watched a bunch of videos and read all about it.
It seemed a bit complicated and so I never got around to it.
And boy am I glad I didn’t.
You see, at that point I didn’t yet have an Instant Pot. And even though I have never made yogurt without my Instant Pot, I’m going to say that I’m not sure I would want to try it any other way.
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Why would I bother to make my own yogurt?
There are several reasons that I think making homemade yogurt is worth it.
- Cost – We eat a lot of yogurt in our house. If we buy the quality of yogurt that I like to use, it can get expensive. Even if we buy high quality local organic milk to make the yogurt, it still saves money. Since the goal is to have our own dairy cow someday, that cost will get even lower as we are working to use up our own milk.
- Ingredients – No extra added sugars or other unpronounceable items are in this yogurt. If you go with a high quality milk and starter, you know you are getting a good product.
- Fun – I think its just plain fun to make it and it makes me proud to know I can.
What you need to make homemade yogurt
Really just two simple ingredients.
Milk
Yogurt or yogurt starter culture
You will also need:
Instant Pot (Must have the yogurt setting)
Does it matter what kind of milk or yogurt/starter is used?
For the milk you can use any kind, but I would recommend that you use raw milk as first choice. It’s just better for you.
Next best thing would be whole milk. Organic is good, but a lot of times it is ultra heat pasteurized, which kills a lot of the good bacteria. I try to find a local company who does low heat pasteurization or small vat pasteurization for the next best to raw.
But you can use any kind of milk you have for this recipe. That’s what’s nice about it.
As for the yogurt, any kind will do as long as it has live active cultures in it. Most people recommend that you use plain, but I used vanilla (what I like to keep in the house). I really liked that the end result was a very mild vanilla flavor. But it will have a bit more sugar too.
I would not recommend that you use any other flavor.
I like a homemade yogurt that is pretty thick and I think that by using that type of yogurt as my starter, that my batch also turned out that way.
If you would prefer to get your own starter culture instead of yogurt at the store, you can do that too. There are many options online. They even have vegan options so you can go dairy free as long as you use nondairy milk options.
Step By Step How to make Homemade Yogurt
- Measure out 8 cups/half gallon of milk.
- Pour the milk into the Instant Pot and turn on the saute button.
- Stir frequently until the milk reaches 180 degrees. Use the pocket thermometer to take the temperature. As the temperature reaches 130 degrees to 140 degrees, it needs to be stirred very frequently as it goes quick from there and you don’t want it to scorch.
- Once it reaches the 180 degrees, turn off the Instant Pot and let the milk cool down to 115 degrees.
- When cooled, you will add the starter culture or 1/4 cup of yogurt to the batch and stir it in.
- zNext, turn on the Instant Pot to the yogurt setting and it should automatically be set to 8 hours. Pop on the lid, tighten, and wait it out.
- You can go longer on the ferment of the yogurt if you would like a more tangy taste, but I would recommend that you start with 8, see how it goes, and adjust from there if needed.
- Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. I like to use large mouth quart jars.
Tips to Make the Best Homemade Yogurt
- You can double this recipe to a gallon of milk. It fits jus fine in the Instant Pot.
- Unless you only use your Instant Pot for yogurt making, you will want to remove the inner rubber ring to make yogurt. No matter how well that ring is cleaned it tends to hold onto the smell from the last item you cooked. I don’t think I want chicken broth or stew flavored yogurt. Yuck! And since yogurt doesn’t need the pressure part of the instant pot, it works best to remove it.
- After the milk has reached 180 degrees, I remove my Instant Pot inner pot and set it aside on the counter to cool faster. Stir every once in awhile at this point to keep the bottom from scorching. I will sometimes put ice packs around it too.
- If your yogurt comes out thinner than you like, you can strain it by putting a tea towel over a wire mesh strainer and strain out some of the whey. If you accidentally strain out too much and it is too thick, you can mix some of the whey back in. I would use a stick blender to do this, but you could probably whisk by hand.
- Save the whey to use in place of milk or water in your next baked good.
Other Ways I Use My Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
- Homemade Vegetable Broth with Kitchen Scraps
- Homemade Chicken Broth
- Southern Style Green Beans
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This is an amazing tip. Can we store this homemade yogurt for 2-3 days?
Yes. I usually eat it up pretty quick, but have had it as long as a week and it has been fine.