When I purchased my Instant Pot I noticed the yogurt feature but honestly didn’t think I would ever need it. A few years later I’ve found that it is so easy and I wonder why I hadn’t been doing it all along. Yogurt is a great product to learn to make from scratch and always have on hand.
Because of the nature of the yogurt culture, it’s a renewable resource. Meaning that a portion of the culture from a previous batch of yogurt, even a store bought one, can be used as a starter in a new batch without having to purchase a new culture every time you want to make it. So, homemade yogurt is quite cost effective.
I found this to be true for myself particularly because I have a sensitivity to some dairy products and so making yogurt with milk that I can tolerate is much more cost effective if I make it myself. Let me explain.
Why Make Homemade Yogurt Rather Than Buying it From the Store?
A1 Casein is a protein found in regular milk which some people can be sensitive to, this has been my experience. So, I look for milk and other dairy products that have A2 instead which is easier to digest. It’s also preferable to buy whole, organic yogurt but it’s often hard to find a yogurt that checks all these boxes.
A batch of yogurt that is organic, A2, and made with whole milk from a store can be between $5 – $8 for 32 ounces. Making yogurt from scratch using milk that meets my qualifications costs only $4.59 for 64 ounces. That is a significant difference of $.18 cents per ounce.
This was one major deciding factor in making homemade yogurt in the Instant Pot. Control of the ingredients and quality as well as the cost.
While it may seem more convenient to purchase yogurt from the grocery store, there are some benefits of homemade yogurt to consider. Namely, controlling the quality and the type of dairy used, especially if you have sensitivities. And many commercially available yogurts have additives, preservatives, stabilizers, and added sugar. Making yogurt from scratch helps to eliminate these factors.
How to Choose a Store Bought Yogurt to Create a Starter Culture
It’s not difficult to pick a store bought yogurt to use as a starter. Choose yogurt that has the consistency and flavor that you like. For my original culture I used Siggi’s which has a mild sour flavor and great thick creamy texture. Those features will be replicated in your homemade yogurt. There are also starter cultures you can buy online. Here are a couple of resources:
Azure Standard Yogurt Starters
Cultures for Health Yogurt Starters
It’s also worth considering the quality of yogurt to use as your starter culture. Choose a yogurt that lives up to your standards. You may want organic with no additives or stabilizers. Check the labels to be sure you’re happy with the yogurt you choose.
It’s ideal to use unflavored and unsweetened yogurt as your starter. You can add your own flavoring later, we’ll talk about flavors later in the article. It’s best to start with the clean slate of plain yogurt.
As mentioned earlier, store bought yogurt sometimes has stabilizers added to maintain the consistency of the yogurt and make it shelf stable for a longer period of time. Usually these stabilizers are in the form of a starch which isn’t necessarily terrible but it is unnecessary.
Preservatives can be added to commercial yogurt to “maintain freshness”. These preservatives can be avoided by making yogurt at home.
Sugar and corn syrup. Fruit and yogurt are a classic combination and so delicious. However some yogurt with added fruit can also contain excess sugar and/or corn syrup. Whereas if you make yogurt at home, you can control these ingredients and choose options like fresh fruit, homemade jam, or honey.
Why Yogurt is Great to Eat
Yogurt is alive and is wonderful for your gut health. It’s a great source of good bacteria that helps to build up the microbiome (the good bacteria) of the gut and contributes to overall health and well being.
This is a great article from Healthline that discusses the benefits of eating yogurt regularly.
The culture of yogurt is also fridge stable for a long-ish period of time of anywhere from 2-4 weeks. So it won’t go bad very quickly. Because of the nature of it being a cultured food, the bacteria protects it’s environment from other potentially harmful bacteria.
How to Use Yogurt in Recipes
Yogurt is a wonderful thing to have in your fridge for a snack or to use in some other recipes.
Check out these recipes for yogurt Easy Tzatziki Sauce, Chicken Shawarma
Yogurt can also be used as a substitute for sour cream in some recipes. You can put a dollop on chili or mix herbs and garlic to make a dip for vegetables or chips. Yogurt is a very versatile ingredient to have on hand.
How to Make Homemade Yogurt in an Instant Pot
I was surprised how easy making yogurt in the Instant Pot actually is. It does take a fair chunk of time but ultimately it’s very hands off so the time it takes doesn’t impact the day too much. making yogurt really just takes 5 steps.
Yogurt making in 5 simple steps:
- Pasteurize the milk
- Cool the milk to 110˚ – 115˚ degrees
- Add the yogurt starter culture (and sweetener and flavorings if desired)
- Incubate/ferment the yogurt for 6-24 hours in the Instant Pot
- Cool and store
The first time I made yogurt it was a little bit more hands-on time than I expected. Subsequent batches have been less time consuming as I am learning how to manage the timing. It’s a good idea to have some projects to do where you can stay close to the kitchen when the milk is coming to temperature.
Get an Instant Pot
Process Step 1 – Pasteurize the Milk
Add the milk to the Instant Pot inner pot. Press the yogurt button repeatedly to choose More, the LCD display will say boiL. I suggest covering the pot to prevent particles and dust from falling in. The Instant Pot will beep once the milk is up to temperature.
Disclaimer – always reference the user manual for your Instant Pot and follow all safety protocols and specific instructions. This recipe is based on my specific Instant Pot model. This blog post is meant for educational purposes and is not meant to replace the manufacturers written instructions.
If you’re using raw milk it needs to be pasteurized, which means you need to heat the milk to kill any bacteria present in that could compete with the yogurt culture and affect the results. Pasteurization requires heating the milk up to 180˚ F. This takes about 20 minutes in the instant pot.
I do this step even though I purchase pasteurized milk as I have not found any reason not to and the process of making yogurt requires heating the milk anyway. It also helps with peace of mind to be sure that all that any bad bacteria or any competitive bacteria would be killed.
After the milk is pasteurized the temperature needs to be brought down to 110˚ to 115˚ F before adding the starter culture. Anything higher than 115˚ F will kill the yogurt culture.
Process Step 2 – Cool the Milk
Remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot and let it sit on the counter until it’s cooled to between 110˚ -115˚ F. An instant read thermometer makes keeping track of the temperature very easy. A candy thermometer will do the trick also.
Cooling the milk down takes a little time, about 35 – 50 minutes depending on the temp of your kitchen. Check the temp of the milk after the first 20 minutes and then every 5 – 10 minutes until it’s reached the right temp. Be sure to set a timer for each check. If the milk cools too much you’ll have to heat it back up again.
Process Step 3 – Add the Yogurt Culture
Once the milk cools to 110˚ – 115˚ degrees add the yogurt culture to the milk.
It can be added directly to the pot or the milk can be divided into glass jars and then the culture can be added to each jar. This is when you would add any flavorings or sweeteners.
Quick tip: Use a metal spoon or glass straw to stir instead of a wooden spoon. A wooden spoon is porous and could introduce bacteria into the culture which you don’t want.
When making my first batch, I decided to flavor half of the yogurt and leave the rest plain which meant dividing the yogurt between 5 pint jars. The capacity of your instant pot will determine the size and number of jars you can use if you decide to do this method.
When separating the yogurt into jars there are a few key points to keep in mind. Wash the inner pot after you divide the milk into the jars before adding it back to the Instant Pot. Use the rack insert for the Instant Pot and add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the pot. Be sure your jars fit into the pot with the rack and can close the lid.
Process Step 4 – Incubate the Yogurt
Now that you’ve mixed in the yogurt culture and any flavorings you like it’s time for the yogurt to incubate. Place the inner pot back into the Instant Pot.
I found a fantastic tip from Farmhouse on Boone that if you use your Instant Pot to cook savory things, particularly bone broths or foods with strong flavors, that the silicone gasket can actually retain some of that flavor and pass that on to the yogurt in the Instant Pot. No one wants bone broth flavored yogurt. Because the pot does not need to be sealed to incubate the yogurt the silicone ring can be removed before putting the lid on.
Put the lid on. The toggle on the valve can be set to either seal or vent, it doesn’t really matter. Press the the Yogurt button and choose the Normal setting. Set the amount of time for the yogurt to incubate/ferment.
How Long Does Yogurt Take in the Instant Pot?
For the yogurt to do it’s amazing work it must be kept at a consistent temperature for a long period of time. That’s why an Instant Pot is such and amazing tool for this job. It maintains a consistent temp while being completely hands off during the process.
Let’s talk about timing. Yogurt can incubate anywhere from 6 – 24 hours. The length of time affects the texture and sourness of the yogurt. Shorter periods of time will produce mild, runnier yogurt while longer times will produce thicker, more sour yogurt.
Keep in mind too that if you like a milder flavor but thicker texture you can strain the yogurt after the incubation. Time may be a factor that you will have to experiment with to find the sweet spot. Consider starting in the 8 hour range and adjust from there.
Process Step 5 – Cool and Store the Yogurt
Once the Instant Pot is done YoGT will show on the LCD screen, meaning that it’s now yogurt. Yay! Remove the lid. Be aware that there is condensation that can build up underneath the lid and can dribble into the yogurt. It’s not a big deal, just something to be prepared for. Try quickly lifting the lid straight off without tilting it to keep liquid from dribbling into the yogurt.
Remove the liner (or the jars) from the pot and let it cool to room temperature. Transfer the yogurt to a glass storage container with a tight fitting lid (or remove the jars from the Instant Pot and place lids on each jar). Store the yogurt in the fridge.
There are some varied opinions about how long you can store homemade yogurt in the fridge. It seems somewhere between 2 – 4 weeks is ideal. Yogurt in my house never lasts much longer than 2ish weeks so I haven’t done extensive research on if and when it will go bad. Yogurt can also be frozen, which is a great option if you don’t get through a batch in a reasonable amount of time.
Reusing Yogurt Culture
To make continuous batches of yogurt, be sure that you always keep about a quarter of a cup from a previous batch as a starter for a fresh batch. You’ll have endless yogurt!
How to Flavor Homemade Yogurt
Plain yogurt is so versatile and useful to keep on hand for making sauces or topping your favorite dishes. However, it is nice to add some flavoring to the yogurt as well. Flavorings and toppings can be added to a bowl of plain yogurt which gives you an endless variety of flavors.
If you want to flavor the whole batch of yogurt, here are some delicious suggestions that you can add right into the pot in step 3. If using the divided jar method, divide the ingredients evenly between the jars. Mix the ingredients thoroughly with the heated milk.
- Honey Vanilla yogurt – ½ cup honey + 1 TBL vanilla
- Fruit flavored yogurt – add 1 cup of your favorite fruit jam
- Sweetened yogurt – add ½ cup maple syrup or honey
- Maple cinnamon – ½ cup maple syrup + 2 tsp cinnamon
How to Serve Homemade Yogurt
Yogurt is delicious with sweet and savory dishes. It can be included in sauces or as a dollop of a garnish on a soup or chili or nachos or really anything you can think of. Plain yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream. It’s wonderful as a snack paired with fruit and nuts and granola. Try it in smoothies. Enjoy!
Check out these yogurt recipes Easy Tzatziki Sauce, Chicken Shawarma
What if you don’t have an Instant Pot?
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, and still read this whole post, (Wow! Thank you!) I got you! Check out this amazing video of an easy way to make yogurt without an Instant Pot.
Do you need an Instant Pot?
Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Please note that I’ve linked to these products purely because I recommend them and they are from companies I trust. There is no additional cost to you.
Yogurt in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Metal Spoon
- Instant Read Thermomter or Candy Thermometer
- Glass storage container with lid – 1/2 gallon glass jar
Ingredients
- 1/2 Gallon Milk – organic A2 whole milk preferred. Choose your favorite milk.
- 1/4 cup Plain unsweetened yogurt – or yogurt starter culture
Optional Add Ins
- 1/2 cup Sweetener like honey or maple syrup – optional
- 1 tbsp Vanilla – optional
- 1 Cup Jam or fruit preserves – optional
Instructions
- Add milk to inner pot of the Instant Pot. The can be covered with the lid or left uncovered.
- Press the Yogurt button until the display reads bioL, More. Allow the milk to heat up to 180˚ F. The Instant Pot will beep when it's has achieved this temperature.
- Remove the inner pot and set out to cool down until the milk reaches 110˚ – 115˚ F. 35 – 50 minutes depending on the temperature of the room. It's recommended to cover the pot so debris does not contaminate the milk, covering the pot can slow the cooling process.
- When 110˚ – 115˚ is reached, stir in the yogurt starter culture with a metal spoon. Optional – add in sweetener and/or flavorings.
- Place the inner pot back into the Instant Pot.
- Remove the silicone gasket from the lid and place the lid on the pot. The valve setting doesn't matter since this process does not require sealing.
- Press the Yogurt button repeatedly until the display reads Normal and you see a timer setting. Set the time using the +/- buttons to the desired amount of time. Leave undisturbed to process for the set amount of time.
- Once the yogurt is finished the display with read Yogt and the pot will beep.
- Remove the lid. Remove the inner pot and set out. Allow the yogurt to cool to room temperature.
- Transfer the yogurt to a glass container with a tight fitting lid. (or multiple containers if needed) Place in the fridge.
Divided Batch Method
- After pasteurizing the milk and the milk has cooled to 110˚ – 115˚, (step 4 above) divide the milk between several glass jars. (the number of jars used is determined by the capacity of your Instant Pot, see blog notes).
- Divide the yogurt starter culture between the jars. Stir thoroughly with a metal spoon. (Optional – add sweeteners and flavorings, dividing evenly between all jars)
- Wash and dry the inner pot.
- Place the inner pot into the Instant Pot. Place the wire rack into the pot. Add 1 cup water to the bottom of the pot.
- Place the jars onto the rack.
- Close the lid. Be sure the lid closes securely and can accommodate the size of the jars you've chosen.
- Process the same as the instructions for the undivided batch, step 7-11.
