Learn how to make yogurt in the Instant Pot, to enjoy this awesome snack on the cheap. We are all about easy and healthy snacks in the farmhouse, Instant pot yogurt and granola are a staple.
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Mastering Homemade Yogurt
Yogurt making has been more of a saga over the last ten years, than something I could say I confidently mastered five years ago.
First, I tried the crock pot method. It went something like this. Get the milk super hot in the crock pot. Then, after it cools back down, wrap it up in five towels to trap the heat in.
Ask me how many milk soaked towels it took for me to quit that method.
Next, I tried something similar with heating pads and a cooler. My results were inconsistent at best.
When my family went on the GAPs diet, a gut healing protocol, in 2016, I learned about 24 hour yogurt. The premise behind this is that the gut can’t easily digest lactose, but when yogurt is fermented for at least 24 hours, the good bacteria consume all the lactose.
I might be reporting the science a little wrong, but its definitely somewhere in the neighborhood of right. Basically, yogurt that has been fermented for 24 hours is suitable for a gut healing protocol.
Now, do you think my crock pot or cooler method can keep milk at a constant temperature for 24 hours? Not a chance.
Because of this, we stopped consuming yogurt and dairy products, while we were on the GAPS protocol, all together.
Enter Instant Pot Yogurt
November 2016, I finally tried out the Instant Pot everyone was talking about. And boy oh boy, my yogurt dreams came true!
Here there was a magical little machine that cold effortlessly convert a gallon of milk into gut healthy whole milk yogurt. You have to be sure to get an Instant Pot that has the yogurt function, because they don’t all have it! (This one does.)
I have tried raw milk yogurt, and regular yogurt that is comparable to store bought. I’ve fermented it anywhere from 8 hours up to 24. All with great success!
Tips For Making Yogurt In The Instant Pot
- Use a culture from another batch of yogurt or buy a starter culture.
- If using yogurt from a previous batch of yogurt, only use about 4-5 times before replacing the culture entirely and using store-bought yogurt to culture your homemade yogurt.
- If you have a little issue digesting dairy, try fermenting the yogurt for 24 hours.
- For the kids, I will ferment it for 8 hours, any longer they will say it is too sour.
- Serve it with some homemade granola and fruit for a delicious breakfast.
- Don’t use the silicon ring in the Instant Pot since it tends to harbor smells.
Supplies You May Need:
Instant Pot with Yogurt Function
How to make yogurt in the Instant Pot video
How to make yogurt in the Instant Pot instructions
- Pour a half gallon of milk into the Instant Pot, and press the “sauté” button. Whisking constantly, allow the milk to rise to 180 degrees. I use a small pocket thermometer to test the temp. Press “cancel” to turn it off.
- Allow the milk to cool back down to 115 degrees.
- Whisk in 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. You can either use store bought, or start with a starter culture. I started with these cultures, and now I make the next batch with a little yogurt from a previous batch. I like to not get too far removed from the original starter. So, after four of five rounds of using the yogurt from a previous batch, I will go back to another starter packet.
- Set Instant Pot for 8-24 hours on the yogurt setting.
Why do you have to heat milk to make yogurt
- Milk is heated to destroy bacteria that are present in milk, and could compete with the yogurt cultures, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus.
- Heating changes the structure of the proteins in milk that gel, causing the finished yogurt to have a thick consistency.
You don’t have to heat the milk, but if you want to eat the finished yogurt with a bowl and spoon, you might want to. There is a way to make raw milk yogurt with the help of gelatin and some different cultures. I have had great success with this method from Traditional Cooking School.
How long should you ferment homemade yogurt?
As far as fermenting time goes, for bowls of yogurt I like to do the 8 hour ferment. Any longer and my kids say its too sour. For smoothies, they can tolerate the 24 yogurt. I sweeten it up by blending it with frozen bananas and strawberries.
When my yogurt is all done, I store it in a half gallon mason jar with a plastic lid. It will keep for two weeks.
Do you like to make homemade kefir? Get my free ebook on our five favorite kefir smoothie recipes:
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Check out the other favorite recipes right from the farmhouse
- How To Make Sourdough Waffles
- Lacto Fermented Salsa Recipe
- My Top Ten Favorite Sourdough Recipes
- How To Make A Whole Chicken In The Instant Pot
- Chicken Salad Recipe – 3 Ways
Instant Pot Yogurt
Easy and delicious homemade yogurt. Learn how to make yogurt in the Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- Half gallon of milk - we prefer whole milk.
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt or you can use a yogurt starter culture
Instructions
- Pour a half gallon of milk into the Instant Pot, and press the "sauté" button. Whisking constantly, allow the milk to rise to 180 degrees. I use a small pocket thermometer to test the temp.
- Press "cancel" to turn it off.
- Allow the milk to cool back down to 115 degrees.
- Whisk in 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. You can either use store bought, or start with a starter culture.
- Set Instant Pot for 8-24 hours on the yogurt setting.
- When the timer goes off the yogurt is ready.
- Transfer to a storage container and refrigerate.
This post was updated July 2019.
Julie says
Who knew you could do this? Wow, it looks so easy and so good! This makes me want to add an instapot to my kitchen!
Lisa says
You will love it Julie! So super simple. 🙂
Pattie M Reiter says
SAME HERE! Hard to believe I don’t already HAVE an instant pot….sigh….I just don’t like all the “gadgets” and prefer ways my ancestors cooked….HOWEVER, I may be getting an instant pot afterall!
Sharon says
Hi I saute milk cooled it down it formed skin so milk cooled to 112 skin broke got it all out aded yogurt starter. Put instant pot on yogurt mode and it went to boil and would not change it got to 180. Question is will that stop the yogurt starter from working?
Lisa says
It may have killed the starter if it got all the way back up to 180. Sorry.
Kaybee says
The yoghurt function has two settings. You likely set it to boil, which is what I use instead of the sauté for this recipe. As it automatically shuts off when the yoghurt reaches boiling.
Darlene says
How do you make yogurt in an Insta Pot without the yogurt setting ?
Lisa says
Unfortunately you will need one with the yogurt setting.
Becky says
Can you please answer a question for me, I was wanting to know when you make the oatmeal using 2 cups of oats add the milk and stir then cover. My question is I will be using 2% milk and will it be alright leaving it out all night? I’m worried about spoiling …. please respond …. Thank you for doing your blog I throughly enjoy it….
Lisa says
Hey Becky! Since you are using store milk, maybe just use water instead of the milk. It should be ok, but I’m not 100% sure with pasteurized milk. You could also use coconut milk.
Lisa says
For the oatmeal recipe, you can use coconut milk or water, if you don’t have organic raw milk.
Samantha says
Hey!
I’ve been following you for a while now and just got up the courage to make this instant pot yogurt. It turned out so much better than I thought it would after fermenting for 10hrs. My question is, how do you thicken up the yogurt? Mine was still a bit runny and not the normal store bought yogurt consistency. Or is runny the normal for homemade?
Thanks!
Lisa says
Did you just get it out of the pot recently? Because it thickens up after a few hours in the fridge! 🙂
Amanda says
I also didn’t care for how runny the yogurt was, even after cooling in the fridge. My solution was to buy a nut milk bag. I put the yogurt in the bag and hang it over a bowl. You can let it strain to your desired thickness. The bonus is that you also wind up with whey for lacto-fermenting if that’s something that interests you. Here’s a link to the bag I bought. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075HHKJF4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Wendy says
i tried heating the milk in my instant pot and it separated. I still added the starter and let it ferment for 8 hours. The result was very grainy yogurt. Second attempt: I brought the milk up to 180 degrees on the stove. Again, when I got to about 160 degrees it started to separate into curds and whey. I am wondering 2 things: shall I only take it up to 110 degrees and add the starter? OR wait til the cow has been milking longer? She just freshened a week ago….some people think it is too high in sugar. I am not sure that would change the problem. Isn’t the curdling process about the proteins?
Tiffani says
Push the yogurt button then the adjust button until it says “boil”. It will bring the yogurt up to the correct temp without you having to check it. It will beep and then you can either leave it in the IP to cool (it will take a LONG time) or you can take out the pot and put in a bowl of ice water. I usually do this and it takes around 5 minutes to cool down to 110. Then you place it back in the IP and push the yogurt button for the desired time.
Linda says
I’m allergic to milk. Do you know of a good recipe to make coconut yogurt?
Lisa says
Culture’s for Health has one, and they have a dairy-free vegan starter as well!
Sarah says
When ferment for 24 does the yogurt smell sour, like spoiled milk?
Lisa says
It smells sour, but not like spoiled milk. The cultures keep it from going sour in that way.
Juanita says
I make my yogurt in the instant pot and instead of using sauté button
Add gallon of milk; hit more until it says boil; it’s not really boiling
Just heats milk to 180 degrees…after it’s done cancel the warm setting to off. Let it cool to about 99 deg.
After cooled take milk yogurt and mix with 4-5 oz of plain store bought yogurt and beat together instead small bowl. Then add back into pot and then time it for 8 hours, once done take inside pot to fridge.
Amanda says
Does it matter if using organic milk or can I use any kind of milk….trying to be cost effective.
I’m scared to make it how do I know if bad…..I don’t want to poison my kiddos!
Lisa says
Any milk will work!
Shannon says
Hi Lisa just wondering have you ever tried to make Greek Yogurt? I am also curious as to why you picked the Medium Flavor “Traditional” Yogurt & not another kind? Was it for health reasons or are you just not a huge fan of Greek Style Yogurt….please let me know I start my yogurt journey next week when I receive my instant pot.
Thanks!
Shannon M.
Lauren says
Hi! So I attempted to make my first batch of Greek yogurt in the instant pot, and it just seems to be slightly warmed up milk. A little bit of tang, but nothing like I thought it would be at all. Even let it be in the instant pot for 14 1/2 hours. I wanted to let it go for the full 24 hours for a gaps diet protocol, but I heard it would be too runny and sour tasting. Is there something that maybe I overlooked or does the instant pot not stay warm enough for it to culture? All I did was hit the yogurt button after I had heated it up and let it cool down to about 110°. Then I walked away. Do I need to hit more for a higher temp or anything? I can’t strain either because it’s just liquid so there’s be nothing to strain:)
Thanks!!
Oh and PS: I didn’t take the silicone ring out and I think there is a slight chicken broth flavor LOL any saving it?
Lauren says
Who knew it was this easy?! Thank you so much for an incredible recipe!
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes says
Excited for another thing I can make in my instant pot!
Ciera says
I drained the whey from my store bought yogurt, can I use 1/4 cup of that whey instead of the yogurt?
Krystel says
Do you seal or vent the valve on top?
Lisa says
You can have it vented.
Vanessa says
If I wanted to add vanilla, when in the process would I do that?
Lisa says
I would do it after it has chilled in the fridge, just before serving!
Emma Barrett says
Can I use Graziers non-homogenized whole milk vanilla yogurt as my starter?
Lisa says
Yes, that’ll work!
Madison says
Hi Lisa!
I finally got my hands on some raw milk and have been following all of your recipes! Last night, I made about half a gallon of yogurt using raw milk with a little cream and a starter culture from the store. I followed your directions and let it incubate for about 10 hours. I let it sit an hour or two this morning before I tended to it. To my surprise, it was super thick and had a bubbled yellow skin on top! It tastes fine, although not sour like I expected. My question is what the heck could that be? I can’t find anything online! Could I have accidentally made some kind of cheese? Thanks!
Rebecca says
Hello! Love your blog by the way ;D anyway, I just made yogurt last night and I’m so excited! I wanted to ask about the watery layer on top? Mine is thick but has a watery layer on top. Should I skim that or can I eat it??? My milk almost boiled over when getting it to 180 but other than that everything was normal.
Cheryl Anderson says
Will it work with lactose free milk?
Debbie says
Great post!!!! Thanks! very informative
Katharina says
Why can you not keep on reusing your own yogurt to make the next batch? I was hoping to not have to buy any more yogurt.
Lisa says
You can for several batches, but after a while I find the cultures get a bit weak.
Anonymous says
Thank you! How do I practically notice that? Does it not taste as sour or like yogurt anymore? Does it not have the firm yogurt consistency anymore?
Anonymous says
Worked out perfectly! I used a half gallon of store bought brand whole milk. 1/4 whole milk plain yogurt. It came out exactly like regular yogurt. LOVE this recipe and will be making so much more yogurt in the future for my family.
Holley Waller says
You did not add how long this has to cook in the instant pot
Callie V says
She has the time listed earlier in the post
Krista says
I think part of the recipe is missing on the printable version.
lorely says
Trying to trouble shoot. Followed the recipe and ended up with warm milk after 12hrs. Where could I have gone wrong? I let it go for another 10 hours and it firmed up but smells off.
Lisa says
Hmm. Did you use a starter culture? Was the culture still good?
Hélène says
Use a pot lid from ur cupboard for the IP.
Leave ur gasket in, glass will even let us see in thru the lid. Yay
Anonymous says
Hi Lisa,
Just FYI the printable version of your insta pot yogurt recipe is missing half of the instructions. It only has steps 1-3.
Thank you,
Simona
Lisa says
Fixed. Sorry about that.
Debbie says
I tried yogurt in the instant pot before and I left the gasket in. The whole gallon of yogurt tasted like chili. Ugh!
Not so good with granola for breakfast.I’d like to try this method, but had one other issue in the past I thought you might be able to help me with. For the life of me I cannot use a candy thermometer without breaking it. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you,
Debbie
Debbie says
Is there no way to keep the culture going longer? Part of the reason I want to learn to make yogurt is to be less dependent on the supply line.
Thanks,
Debbie
Jessuca says
Hi lisa!
Tried this recipe for the first time yesterday. Mine turned out great, taste is good but it seems slightly chunky, almost cottage cheese like, slightly runny. Any way to get a better consistency next time? I fermented 8 hrs. Thank you!
Lisa says
The consistency can really be dependent on the culture. If it is too thin, you could always strain it through cheese cloth. For chunkiness, run an immersion blender (or a whisk) through it to smooth it out.
Andrea says
My first try and it came out beautifully after 8 hours in the Instant Pot. Thank you!
Lisa says
So glad you are enjoying this recipe! Have a great day!