Simple Homemade Yogurt

Acres and Aprons

Delicious homemade yogurt is a staple in our household and it's so simple to make! This recipe can be for raw milk yogurt, or pasteurized.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 15

Fermentation time 8

Servings 1 quart

Using an Instant Pot, crock pot or dutch oven, heat your milk to 120 degrees for raw yogurt, or 180 for a pasteurized yogurt. *See notes on choosing your heating temp
Immediately cool it down to 110 degrees. Using an ice bath helps speed this process, but you can also just set it on the counter and wait.
Add 3 tablespoons of a previous batch of yogurt, per half gallon of milk. Can substitute a yogurt starter here.
Then set your Instant Pot to the yogurt setting for 8-16 hours (the longer it sets, the tangier it will be). The key here is holding that temp of 110 degrees. My instant pot has a yogurt setting to hold the temp. If using a crock pot or dutch oven, you can place it in the oven with the light on to hold the temp, or place it in a warm spot and wrap it in a thick towel!
Once it's set, strain to your desired consistency using a yogurt strainer or cheesecloth. Then whisk your yogurt to make it smooth and store in the fridge!
Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or a handful of berries.

If you want thick greek yogurt, you have two options. You can heat the milk to 180 degrees in the first step, then follow the rest of the steps as listed. This will result in a very thick yogurt, but it will not be raw. Or you can strain your raw milk yogurt until it reaches your desired consistency. This will result in more whey, and less yogurt.
If you want raw yogurt, you can only heat it to 120 degrees in the first step. This will ensure the milk will still be raw. It's important to note that if you do it this way, you will NOT get a thick consistency. Raw yogurt is much thinner. We still do this often, and love it!
If you're using raw milk, for a cream top yogurt, use raw whole milk. For a regular yogurt, skim the cream off and save that for raw milk ice cream (or butter!) and use the skim milk.
I highly recommend having an extra seal to switch out if you're using an instant pot. This will ensure your yogurt doesn't pick up any of the other flavors from other things you cook in your instant pot. I have one seal for savory meals, and one seal for sweets!
There are various preferences when it comes to yogurt consistencies. The important factors to remember here are the temperature (the higher the temp, the thicker the consistency of the final product) and straining to your desired consistency using a yogurt strainer or cheese cloth as the second to last step in the process (just before whisking or blending)