Homemade Yogurt in the Instant Pot

By: Amber Grangroth

I’ve been making yogurt almost weekly for 10 years! Yogurt has become a staple in our house. We eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and snacks. It has been the first food for several of our babies. It’s full of probiotics and costs only slightly more than a gallon of milk. If you have never made yogurt, i encourage you to try! It’s just so delicious!

I make a gallon of yogurt at a time. Sometimes, twice weekly. I have used whole milk, 2% and 1%, and they all turn out great. Whole milk makes the thickest creamiest yogurt.

Next, you will need yogurt with live cultures. The live cultures in the yogurt multiply and turn the whole gallon of milk into yogurt. When you buy yogurt, look for a yogurt that is just milk and live cultures. Full fat or non fat, they both work the same. Added sugar or vanilla is fine, but be sure there are no other ingredients such as pectin or other thickeners. These types of ingredients can cause your end result to have a grainy texture.

I started making yogurt before the instant pot was a thing. I used to heat milk on the stove and preheat my crock pot, and when everything was ready, pour it in my crock pot, cover it, and wrap in a towel to sit overnight. Sometimes I would wrap my pot in a towel and place it in the oven with the light on overnight. The milk needs to be kept warm for the live cultures to multiply.

If your yogurt is too thin for your liking, place a large strainer over a large bowl and line with a flour sack towel. Pour yogurt in and let it sit to strain for 2-6 hours until your desired thickness has been reached. This is how you make Greek yogurt! What’s left in the bowl is a yellow liquid called the yogurt whey! Use this in place of water in baking bread (it will give a yogurt-y taste) as the liquid in smoothies or feed to the animals! They’ll thank you!
Let’s make yogurt!

Homemade Yogurt In the Instant Pot Recipe

Ingredients:

1 gallon of milk

1 cup yogurt with live cultures

1/3 cup sugar (optional)

2 Tbsp vanilla (optional)

Directions:
1. Pour milk into instant pot, place lid, and press yogurt button until the screen reads “boil.” When it’s done, the instant pot will beep, and the screen will read “yogurt.” Turn the Instant pot off.

2. At this time, you can leave it to sit for 4 hrs or so to cool down or remove the pot to let cool faster. A skin will form on top. Just remove it before mixing. Cool to between 105°F-108°F. Really anywhere between 100°F and 110°F works, but I find it turns out the thickest between 105°F-108°F. If it cools too much, place on sauté for a minute or two while stirring and watching the temperature.

3. Once cooled, mix in the yogurt. Also, add the sugar and vanilla if using.

4. Place the lid back on and press the yogurt button until the screen reads “24:00” Leave it to incubate for 12-24 hours. The longer it sits, the more sour the taste will be.

5. Once you’ve let it incubate the desired length of time, ladle it into containers and refrigerate. Or eat it warm, sometimes my boys can’t wait for it to cool!

6. Enjoy with granola, fruit, honey, or maple syrup. Add on top of pancakes or waffles and in smoothies!