how to make yogurt in an instant pot

If you love yogurt, stick around! I'm going to teach you step-by-step how to make yogurt in an instant pot. You will need 2 ingredients: milk (raw or store-bought) and plain yogurt. That's it!

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Jump to:

• Is it hard to make yogurt?
• Supplies for making yogurt in an Instant Pot
• How to make yogurt in an Instant Pot
• How to make strained Greek yogurt
• 📖 Recipe
• I've made yogurt, now what?
• How to make sweetened yogurt in the instant pot
• TOP TIP:
• Why does homemade yogurt separate?
• What is whey?
• What I'm planning next in my raw milk adventures
• More homemade recipes with milk!
• 💬 Comments

Is it hard to make yogurt?

When I watched a tutorial for how to make yogurt in an Instant Pot, it looked so easy I had to try it. And wouldn't you know it, it is even easier to make homemade yogurt than I imagined!

Let me just tell you, never in a million years did I see myself making yogurt. Like, ever. I guess I might as well be super honest and include that I also never thought I would own an Instant Pot. Who needs one more kitchen appliance? Besides, I already had a crockpot. Aren't 'never' statements cute sometimes?

My rationale for not wanting to make yogurt was very altruistic; I didn't want to kill my family with some rare food-borne illness. By the way, this was the same reason I kept dragging my feet on kombucha, sourdough, dehydrated foods and pressure canning projects like my canned sweet corn.

But, as my husband would say, I'm coming along nicely.

Supplies for making yogurt in an Instant Pot

• 1 gallon whole milk || I used raw A2A2 milk with the cream skimmed off. This recipe will work with whole milk and 2% milk. I haven't tried it yet with skim.
• ¼ cup full-fat plain greek yogurt || The first time you make this recipe, you will need to purchase a personal sized cup of greek yogurt. Once you've made a batch, you can reserve ¼ of a cup to inoculate your next batch with yogurt bacterial cultures.
• Instant Pot || This is the magic vessel that allows you to set a timer and walk away while it ferments the yogurt. It's better than any other recipe because it is 100% accurate.
• Thermometer || I've heard that some instant pots have a yogurt boil setting as well as a fermentations setting, but mine does not. I heat the milk and test my temperature using a digital read thermometer.
• OPTIONAL: A mesh strainer and tea towel for straining into thicker Greek-style yogurt. My mesh strainer is like this one and I love it.

How to make yogurt in an Instant Pot

1. Pour the milk into a large stockpot or use the insert for the Instant Pot if yours is able to go on the stovetop. Bring the milk to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, but no higher.
2. Let the milk cool to 120 degrees and then whisk in the yogurt.
3. Transfer the milk mixture into four clean 1-Quart mason jars. If you used the Instant Pot insert to heat the milk, wash and dry it. Place lids on the mason jars and place them inside the insert in the Instant Pot.
4. The Instant Pot has a yogurt fermentation setting. Attach the lid and position the steam release valve in the pressure position. Press the yogurt button and walk away! The yogurt will be finished in about eight hours. I usually do this before bed and refrigerate the yogurt the next morning.
5. Once the cycle is complete, it's time to transfer the yogurt into air tight containers like jelly jar mason jars. For a thicker strained Greek yogurt, see the next section.

How to make strained Greek yogurt

My latest obsession is strained Greek yogurt. It's the same recipe, but the steps are a little different.

1. The instant pot cycle for yogurt is eight hours, but we want to manually increase this fermentation time to 24 hours by pressing the yogurt setting button and then the plus sign until the digital screen says 24 hours. Let the cycle complete.
2. Once the yogurt has fermented for a day, prepare a straining station by layering a large bowl with a strainer or colander. Place a tea towel in the strainer and pour the yogurt into the strainer. Let the whey strain from the yogurt and into the bowl for 2-4 hours. I like to agitate the yogurt by stirring it once in a while to help it release more whey. If you want to be extra thrifty, keep the whey for bread making, ricotta, whey caramel or whey protein ice cubes.
3. After the yogurt has strained, scoop it into jars with air tight lids and store it in the refrigerator as usual. I like to use 8 ounce mason jars, repurposed Oui yogurt containers with bamboo lids, or pyrex single serve bowls.

If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. For more delicious recipes from scratch and homesteading tips, follow me on instagram @NinnescahHomestead

📖 Recipe

I've made yogurt, now what?

There are a few things that I wish I'd known after making my first batch, and I'm going to save you the trouble by sharing them.

For starters, if I am not interested in straining my yogurt, it is so much easier to pour the prepared batch directly into mason jars instead of just in the insert of my Instant Pot, like most recipes suggest.

To do this, pour the milk mixture into mason jars before placing them in the instant pot for fermentation. This keeps the yogurt and whey from separating and becoming watery. If I'm not straining it, it's so much less messy!

How to make sweetened yogurt in the instant pot

It is also possible to add sugar and vanilla to the milk mixture before fermentation begins. This will make a sweetened vanilla yogurt! During the step of adding the yogurt culture to the cooled milk, stir in 1-2 cups of white sugar and a tablespoon of vanilla extract.

However, when I am adding fruit I wait until fermentation is complete. It prevents mushy berries.

Why does homemade yogurt separate?

Now for a deeper dive into why yogurt separates and whether or not it's a good thing.

Personally, I don't think it's appetizing.

For this reason, I try to handle my yogurt as little as possible. This means I try to use an entire mason jar of yogurt in one setting, or transfer it into smaller jelly-sized mason jars.

Stirring the yogurt or disturbing it will create the separation of the whey (it's the watery liquid) from the yogurt. If this happens, either stir the watery part back in or carefully pour it out.

What is whey?

Whey is actually a good thing, even if it isn't desirable in your yogurt. Acid whey (also known as sour whey) is a byproduct brought out during the making of acid types of dairy products, just like this strained yogurt.

Dairy whey remaining from home-made yogurt has many uses. It can be used as a dough conditioner or substituted for milk in bread recipes such as my Pizza Pockets, Cinnamon Rolls, Sandwich Bread or Sourdough Sandwich Bread. I've even used it as a substitute for water in my traditional French Sourdough Batard recipe and it turned out beautiful!

What I'm planning next in my raw milk adventures

Wouldn't it be dreamy to have a refrigerator full of wheels of homemade cheeses?

I sure think it would be. Now that Rosie is giving us milk each morning, my raw milk adventure is really taking off! So far I've made butter, yogurt, ricotta, cottage cheese, clabber, mozzarella and used the buttermilk to make biscuits.

I plan on sharing that recipe once I've perfected it!

More homemade recipes with milk!