Making your own yogurt at home is easy, delicious, and super cost-effective. Forget stocking your shopping cart with an endless supply of yogurt tubs, cups, and pouches.
2tablespoonsplain yogurt with active live cultures (whole, 2%, or skim will work!)
Instructions
Pour the milk into a 6-quart or an 8-quart insert. Close and lock the lid. Set your valve to sealing and press the “Yogurt” button until the screen reads “Boil.” Let it do its thing for 30 minutes and then hit cancel until it turns off.
Grab some oven mitts or potholders and carefully remove the insert. Set it on a trivet, a folded over kitchen towel, or some other heat-safe surface.
Allow the milk to cool for about an hour stirring occasionally. You are looking for the temperature of the milk to drop down to 110F. This can be determined with a candy thermometer or an instant-read thermometer.
If you don’t have either of those, drip a few drops of milk onto your wrist (old school baby bottle style.) If it feels warm, like body temperature, it is ready to go.
If you are unsure, best to err on the side of caution with this step. If it feels too warm/hot, let it cool a bit more. You don’t want to kill off the live cultures in the yogurt.
Once the milk has reached 110F, stir the yogurt into the milk still in the insert. Return the insert to the Instant Pot.
Lock the lid in place. Set the valve to “Sealing.” Hit the yogurt button and set the temperature to “Normal.” The way you do this may vary by model. Set the timer for 8 hours.
When the cycle is complete, press cancel, remove the lid, and remove the insert. Use a spoon or a spatula to give the yogurt a stir and then transfer into one large, air-tight container or some small, single-serve containers. Let the yogurt cool in the fridge for 3 hours before serving.
If you want to add flavor or extract, do so after the yogurt has chilled and thickened.
This should keep for roughly 2 weeks in the fridge.
If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Notes
For flavored yogurt, such as vanilla yogurt, add 1 tablespoon extract after yogurt has chilled. You can also stir in fresh fruit or jam, granola or other flavors and textures. For thicker yogurt, place cooled yogurt in a strainer lined with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and allow to drain for 2-8 hours.