Learn how to make your very own homemade yogurt from scratch with only two ingredients: milk and yogurt!
Yogurt is hands down one of my favorite breakfast and snack foods out there. It’s rich in protein and calcium, it is cold and creamy, and you can add tons of toppings to change up the flavor whenever you feel like it. However, getting a good yogurt without added sugar or that isn’t overly processed and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg is hard to find. So I decided to look into making my own homemade yogurt and haven’t looked back since!
Like with any new recipe, making yogurt can sound daunting. However, it’s surprisingly simple. You just need whole milk, some pre-established yogurt, and a pressure cooker.
What does homemade yogurt taste like?
Homemade yogurt tastes similar to store-bought yogurt (if you don’t buy flavored yogurts). The major difference is that homemade yogurt—in our experience—is milder and sweeter than the store-bought versions we compare it to. It still has that traditional yogurt tang, but it is not as overpowering as a typical Greek yogurt. You might be surprised at its sweetness since we don’t add any sugar or other sweeteners to this recipe.
Ingredients for homemade yogurt
Milk
The most important ingredient in yogurt is milk. You will want to use whole milk for this recipe so your yogurt has the right consistency. If you want an even thicker yogurt with a consistency similar to Greek yogurt, find organic whole milk. The more natural the milk is and the more fat it has, the thicker your yogurt will be!
If you prefer low-fat yogurt, you can substitute the whole milk for a 2% or skim. By using milk with less fat, your yogurt won’t turn out as thick or creamy, and you may need to lengthen the incubation period.
Yogurt
Interestingly enough, you cannot make yogurt without yogurt! You will want to find an unflavored, natural yogurt that says it has live cultures included. These cultures are necessary to thicken your milk and turn it into yogurt. My personal favorites that are easy to find and have the necessary live cultures are Fage and Chobani.
The best part is that once you make one batch of yogurt, you can use your homemade yogurt to make more!
Pressure Cooker
The pressure cooker is where the yogurt will spend all of its time. Not only will you warm the milk up in the pressure cooker, but you will also incubate the yogurt in the pressure cooker. The most important feature of the pressure cooker is that its lid can seal. Sealing the container where yogurt is incubated is critical because it helps keep the top of the yogurt from hardening by preventing water from escaping.
For this recipe, I’m using a stovetop pressure cooker. If you’re using an electric pressure cooker, you can use the yogurt setting instead of putting it into your oven.
How to make homemade yogurt
- Pour milk into a pressure cooker and heat it on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Once the milk reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit, turn off the heat and let it cool until your mixture reaches 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the milk is cooling, preheat your oven to the lowest temp (generally around 175 degrees).
- Let the oven run for about ten minutes after preheating, then turn it off. Keep the door closed and the oven light on.
- Once your hot milk mixture has cooled to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, add your yogurt and gently mix it in. (Be careful not to scrape the bottom of your pan).
- Seal the pressure cooker with its lid and place it into the oven with only the oven light providing ambient heat.
- Then, let the yogurt incubate for 6 to 8 hours.
- After the incubation period, put the yogurt into mason jars and then put them in the fridge. (We usually need two quart-sized jars to fit all of the yogurt in each batch.)
Be aware of how much yogurt you have while you’re eating it, as you will need about a quarter of one of the jars to use as the starter for your next batch. Using your homemade yogurt as the starter for future batches will help save you tons on your yogurt budget since you’ll only have to pay for the milk!
Troubleshooting homemade yogurt
How do I make my yogurt more like Greek yogurt?
If you prefer your yogurt to be tangier and even thicker there are a couple of options you can use. First, incubate your yogurt longer. The longer it incubates, the tangier and thicker it will get. You can incubate your yogurt for up to 12 hours if desired.
The second option is to strain out your yogurt. When you make homemade yogurt, there will be a liquid and a solid—the liquid is whey. Removing the whey will make your yogurt even thicker than before, giving you that perfect Greek yogurt consistency. Plus, you can save the whey for a healthy protein boost to recipes!
Why is my yogurt not setting?
If your yogurt isn’t firming up, there could be a couple of issues. It might have cooled past 115 degrees, or your incubation period was not long or warm enough for the yogurt to develop properly.
If you over-cooled your yogurt, warm it back up to 115 degrees, then put it back into your oven immediately.
If the incubator isn’t warm enough, you can wrap your pressure cooker with a towel, move your pressure cooker closer to the oven light, or take the yogurt out and re-heat the oven to its lowest temperature. Let it sit at that temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn off the heat. Put your yogurt back into the oven and repeat the incubation process.
If neither of these options solves or is the issue, you can always try increasing your incubation time up to 12 hours.
How do I know if my yogurt is bad?
The biggest indicator to know if your yogurt has gone bad is your nose. Your yogurt should have a slightly, non-overbearing tangy smell. If you automatically recoil from the smell, your yogurt is probably not good anymore. Also, if your yogurt has mold anywhere, I would discard it.
Your yogurt will naturally separate into a solid and a liquid if you don’t strain your whey, so don’t panic if you see liquid starting to form. You can either mix the whey back into the yogurt or discard it.
Homemade yogurt lasts for about two weeks in the fridge. But as always, use your best judgment if your yogurt smells or looks off.
Easy Pressure Cooker Yogurt From Scratch
Learn how to make the creamiest, most delicious homemade yogurt using only two ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon of whole milk
- 1/4 cup of unflavored yogurt
Instructions
- Pour milk into a stovetop pressure cooker and heat it on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Once the milk reaches 180 degrees Fahrenheit, turn off the heat and let cool until your mixture reaches 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While the milk is cooling, preheat your oven to the lowest temp (generally around 175 degrees).
- Once the oven has preheated, let it run for about 10 minutes, then turn it off. Keep the door closed and the oven light on.
- Once your hot milk mixture has cooled to 115 degrees Fahrenheit, add your yogurt and gently mix it in. (Be careful not to scrape the bottom of your pan)
- Put your pressure cooker into the oven with only the oven light providing ambient heat.
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