If you've struggled with making homemade yogurt with limited success, or it just feels overly complicated, try this easy method with just a few simple ingredients!
I've tried making homemade yogurt in many ways. I've had a yogurt maker. I've read complicated instructions. I've tried it with the pilot light in the oven.
It's safe so say I've tried every complicated way of making yogurt, and this method I'm about to share...well, for my family, it couldn't be any easier. My wish is that if you've been wanting to make yogurt, but are intimidated, or are making yogurt, without consistent results, that you be inspired to try this method.
Be sure to check out my accompanying video where I demonstrate how to make yogurt the old school way or you can watch as I show you how to make yogurt in the Instant Pot.
How to Make Homemade Yogurt
Ingredients for Homemade Yogurt
- Milk---3 litres, whatever toots your fancy. I'd probably stay away from ultra-pasturized. I've only ever made this with raw milk, which is apparently harder to do than with pasturized milk, because it still contains some healthy bacteria that wants to fight with the yogurt culture. Because of the higher fat in my raw milk it is thicker than homogenized milk from the store.
- Store-bought, plain yogurt----3 tablespoons, If you don't currently have any, just buy a little serving sized cup, it will be more than enough. For your next batch, use the yogurt from the previous batch!
- Optional---Honey and Vanilla----6 tablespoons honey, 3 tablespoons vanilla to make a beautifully sweetened yogurt
Equipment for Homemade Yogurt
- Thermometer
- Pot - That's big enough and easy to pour from (My Le Creuset spills everywhere, everytime, but my All-Clad has a lovely lipped rim that makes pouring a cinch.),
- Whisk
- 3 Quart jars with lids- (You can even just be saran wrap with an elastic if you don't have any rings and leftover lids. I use lids from previously canned jars that can't be used for canning again) Or 6 pints jars
- Cooler- I couldn't tell you what size ours is, but it's gotta be big enough to fit your jars
Directions for Making Homemade Yogurt
I'm going to write this out in easy peasy steps for making 3 quarts of yogurt. My favourite time to make yogurt, is when I'm done dinner, I put on a pot of milk while I'm puttering around the kitchen anyways. Then it's ready in the morning when I wake up.
1.) Heat your milk in the pot, to 185F. Medium heat, whisking every few minutes. The optional sweetener is added during this step.
2.) Cool your milk to 115F-120F. I usually pour it into a bowl and put it outside, whisking every 10 minutes or so. In our winters, this takes about an hour to cool, but so many factors change this. You'll just have to see!
3.) Whisk the culture into the milk really well, go up and down, side to side.
4.) Pour into your quart jars.
5.) Put your jars, into the cooler, and fill with hot tap water, half way up the jars. Our tap water comes out at about 108F, you wouldn't want anymore than 115F, if you have super hot tap water. Just take the temperature with your thermometer to be sure the first few times.
6.) Close the lid on the cooler, and leave it a minimum of 12 hours, preferably 14 or so, but it's even been forgotten about for 30 hours before.
7.) Take it out of the cooler and put it in your fridge.
It's ready to eat! I love homemade yogurt with granola!
Yogurt Making Formula
You can make any size batch of yogurt, here is the formula...
- 1 litre milk needs 1 tablespoon yogurt culture and is sweetened with 2 tablespoons honey and 1 tablespoon vanilla.
Some recipes call for much more culture, but what I've learned, is that the culture needs space to grow, so less is more.
Homemade Yogurt
Equipment
- Thermometer
- Large Pot
- 3 Quart Jars with Lids
- Cooler
Ingredients
- 3 litres milk not ultra-pasteurized
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 6 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons vanilla
Instructions
- Heat your milk (with optional sweetener) in the pot to 185F over medium heat, whisking every few minutes.
- Cool your milk to 115F-120F.
- Whisk the culture into the milk really well, go up and down, side to side.
- Pour into your quart jars.
- Put your jars into the cooler and fill with hot tap water, half way up the jars. Our tap water comes out at about 108F, you wouldn't want anymore than 115F.
- Close the lid on the cooler, and leave it a minimum of 12 hours, preferably 14 or so.
- Take it out of the cooler and put it in your fridge.
Video
Notes
- Yields 3 quarts
Nutrition
Delicious Dairy
Swimming in milk? Try some of these other dairy recipes.
Irene
Hi! Don’t have social media, but I really want to get my hands on your dried starter... what’s the best way to contact you? Thanks so much!
katehosie
Hey I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, email me [email protected]
Annette
This recipe is super simple and the results are amazing. My husband, who is not much of a yogurt fan, is now taking a jar in his lunch often, its that good! Making it yourself also provides a significant savings over buying at the store.
Megan
I’ve only made it once and it was kinda runny. Delicious though. Hopefully I’ll get better at it as I make more!
kateschat
It can really depend on your culture
Kelsey Gill
How long will the yogurt stay good in the fridge for?
[email protected]
If the yogurt starter culture is fresh it will be good for about 2-3 weeks.
Crystal
Ever tried using any other culture as your starter? Or think it would work? I typically save yogurt from a previous batch but hungry kids ate it all lol
Nicole
Does the yogurt starter matter what kind of yogurt? I have both plain and greek!
[email protected]
Either will work just fine.
Lisa
I love this recipe! I’ve made the most delicious yogurt, and it’s so simple, thank you!
I just had an oops moment, where I added my starter after bringing the milk up to 185 degrees, BEFORE allowing it to cool to 115 degrees. How will this affect it? Should I add starter again once it cools?
[email protected]
Yes, you would likely have killed the starter. I'm hoping you added it again. I'm glad you've had success with it!
Kayla Spangle
So is there no way to make homemade yogurt without buying store yogurt ? Or am I missing something here ?
[email protected]
You can buy a dry culture but buying a container or organic yogurt and eating the remainder is just easy.
Molly
Cultures for Health is a website that sells all sorts of cultures if you didn't want to start with store bought yogurt!
Hannah
Kayla,
There are ways to make your own culture. Typically, this involves using a hot pepper or citrus. You can find tutorials online. I've done it so I know it works, but you'll need to allow for extra time before enjoying a normal bowl of yogurt because your first several cultures will have the taste of whichever you choose to use to get it started.
Using store bought yogurt or a powdered culture is just faster and easier 🙂
Ashley
Do you add vanilla and honey after the yogurt is made?
[email protected]
Yes, you can stir it in after.
Valarie
A couple of questions: what can I alter to make this thicker? Can this recipe be used to start a new batch? Or do I need plain yogurt for that?
[email protected]
You do need plain yogurt to start a batch. To make it thicker, make sure you cool it down as quickly as you can. I put my pot in a cold bowl of water. You can also leave it longer in the cooler to make it thicker.