How to Make Yogurt in an Instant Pot
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Yes, you can make yogurt at home! It’s cheaper and 100x creamier! You’ll never want to buy store-bought yogurt again!
What? Yogurt in an Instant Pot?! Um, yes, 10000 times yes!
The process sounds like it’ll take for-ever, but really, this recipe is so stinking easy with like 4 minutes of hands-on time (legit, 4-5 minutes) – it’s basically effortless. And fool-proof.
Now why bother making homemade yogurt? Well, for starters, it’s 100000x better than store-bought. Seriously. It’s creamier and substantially less tangy. With zero-sweetener.
Plus, you know once you go homemade, you can NEVER go back to the store-bought version. NEVER EVER EVER.
And for that, I’m truly sorry.
Well, not really.
How to Make Yogurt in an Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 8 cups whole milk*
- ¼ cup plain whole milk yogurt
Instructions
- Add milk to a 6-qt Instant Pot®; close and lock the lid. Select yogurt setting; adjust pressure to boil. This can take up to 1 hour.
- Working carefully, cool the Instant Pot® insert in a bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until the milk reaches 100 to 110 degrees F, about 15- 20 minutes; set aside 1 cup milk.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt and reserved 1 cup milk. Stir into remaining milk, being careful not to scrape the bottom of the insert.
- Return insert into the Instant Pot®. Select yogurt setting, set automatically at 8 hours.
- Transfer to storage containers; cover and chill until cold, about 6-8 hours, or up to 10 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I am hoping that if any of your commenters tries this recipe in a dairy-free form they will share their results. My husband is lactose intolerant but can drink goat milk. Just not sure whether dairy-free yogurt would work in place of cow’s milk yogurt.
I don’t know about goat milk, but it doesn’t work with the non-dairy ‘nut milks like almond, coconut, cashew, etc. I tried with SILK brand coconut milk. Stayed the same consistency as the original coconut ‘milk’, even with live culture of regular Greek yogurt. I am also lactose intolerant but have no problem with any yogurts. I would think that goat milk is too expensive to experiment with this recipe.
There are recipes online for making coconut milk yogurt in the instant pot. Most say to use the full fat canned coconut milk or coconut cream, along with a couple of other things you need to add to make it work.
Also recipes online for making a soy milk yogurt.
HTH someone that might be looking for an answer as to how to make a dairy-free yogurt.
Any “animal” milk works fine. If you use other milks such as coconut, soy, almond etc you need to buy a powdered “vegan” starter instead of using the regular live culture milk yogurt. You can buy it on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Cultures-Health-Starter-delicious-nutrient-dense/dp/B012PNMB7O/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1539568455&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=vegan%2Byogurt%2Bstarter&th=1
My wife is lactose intolerant, but can eat my yogurt. The longer you incubate, the less lactose there is.
I always incubate 12 hours, sometimes longer. That was difficult to maintain temperature with the slow cooker method, but with the Instant Pot, it’s just a matter of adjusting the time.
Can this recipe be made with goats milk?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Yes! It’s amazing and thick and creamy with goats milk!
Do you have a recipe for reduced fat or nonfat yogurt in the Instant Pot?
Yes, you can substitute 2% milk for the whole milk. 🙂
Can I use vanilla soy milk to make the yogurt?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Does not work with non-dairy product. T tried with SILK brand coconut milk, but used the live culture as required with regular Greek yogurt. Consistency stayed the same as regular coconut milk. FYI.
To make yogurt with alternative “milks” like almond or coconut you need a different “vegan”
culture. I ordered mind off of Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Cultures-Health-Starter-delicious-nutrient-dense/dp/B012PNMB7O/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1539568455&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=vegan%2Byogurt%2Bstarter&th=1
I think there may be information missing between steps 4 and 5. I understand that the yogurt setting will automatically go for 8 hours but after 8 hours, then what? Remove pressure lid? Cover with plastic wrap? Keep in insert in fridge until chilled then, can the chilled yogurt be put in another container so I can use my Instant pot for other things? Seems confusing at the end. Love your recipes and want to try this one too.
LuAnn, you can transfer the yogurt to a container(s) (of your choice) to chill, covered, or you can use the Instant Pot insert to chill if you prefer. It’s what works for you! 🙂
I have the bigger 8 qt Instant pot.
How would I adjust the recipe ?
Thanks
Anna
The 8qt Instant Pot will take longer to come to pressure but cooking time should stay relatively the same.
This can be even easier it you use a milk like Fairlife whole milk. It is specially pasturized. I have used just ultra-pasturized in other brands of milk, but Fairlife gives the creamiest. No need to boil milk first! Just pour in a quart or half gallon, add 2-3 T. of a plain whole-fa, live-“active” cultured, non-added sugar yogurt and stir well. Put lid on, set to vent or set lid ajar, or use the Instant Pot glass lid or any you have that fits, and hit Yogurt function. Ultra owners don’t forget to hit “start” as well. Ta-dah! Done, no fuss, no mess, no waiting or testing! You can let it drain afterwards for Greek yogurt, or it is very good just as it is. Be sure you like the taste of the starter you add first because that is the “tartness” when it will have finishes. You can also save some of your own homemade yogurt for your next batch, no more buying it!
I just got my first instant pot and tried making yogurt following the no-boil method with Fairlife 2% milk and Oikos plain yogurt. Put it in the pot at 11pm, went to bed, had great yogurt by 8am. Easy peasy. Thanks for sharing the tip about using ultra pasteurized milk! For comparison, I will also try the boil method, but I’m a fan of easy so I’ll see if the cost savings of boiling less expensive milk over Fairlife outweighs the time saving benefits.
The down side to Fairlife is the cost. For me, it is $4 for 52 oz ($10.25/gallon), compared to Clover (not quite Organic, but close) at $5.59 per gallon.
I totally agree with you, I have not purchased yogurt since I started making it in my Instant Pot a couple of years ago. I just wanted to mention that I purchased an extra Instant Pot – stainless steel inner cooking pot, glass lid (for cooking) and silicone lid (for cooling) and only use them when I make yogurt. This way everything is super spotless and ready to go when I want to make yogurt, which is usually about once a week. Plus, when the yogurt is cooling I can still use my Instant Pot to cook something else. Prior to that, I used to sanitize it through the steam cycle but, that takes time and I still didn’t like that stinky gasket around the perfectly fresh yogurt. Happy yogurt making!!!!! Maybe we can discuss flavoring yogurt in the future!!!
Thank you, Mary Beth – love your feedback!
I made yogurt today with an easier method than this, ( sorry, I don’t mean to be rude to you!) Using a Thermos flask.
It’s so easy you’ll wonder why you’ve not been making yogurt this way for ever.
Here’s how.
500ml of any milk, I used skimmed milk.
Place in a saucepan & bring up to 85c
Add 25g milk powder (Optional. I add it because the powder thickens the yogurt & makes it lovely & creamy)stirring occasionally.
Once up to 85c, take it off the heat & let it cool down to 45c.
Meanwhile warm a thermos flask.
Add 3tbsps natural yogurt to the milk & stir in then pour into the warmed flask & secure the lid tightly.
Leave alone for 8hrs.
You have now made natural yogurt!
Pour into a suitable container & refrigerate.
At this stage, fruit can be added if preferred.
I find it keeps fresh for 5 days refrigerated.
Don’t forget to keep back 3tbsps of the natural yogurt for the next batch.
Enjoy!
I’m off to make one of Chungah’s delicious receives for dinner.
Doesn’t the yogurt you add need to have live cultures?
Yes, that is correct. What makes yogurt actually “yogurt” are the live cultures and the simplest way to get those active cultures is to buy them in yogurt form (like the 1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt that the recipe calls for). You can, of course, use a yogurt starter instead if you prefer!
I am going to try this but do you think it would also work with other ‘milks’, like coconut milk, almond milk, cashew milk, etc.? I might try doing this to experiment. I love all your recipes!!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I didn’t think my post had gone through, so I sent a second one, which you can obviously ignore. LOL If I try it with another ‘milk’, I’ll let you know the results.
Please do! 🙂
I tried this with SILK brand coconut milk. It did not work, so most likely won’t work with any non-dairy product (soy, almond, cashew, etc. ‘milks’) I did add the required culture of Greek yogurt as required in recipe. Followed the instructions but it was just the same liquid at end of process, no thickening at all. Obviously needs a dairy product only. I will definitely try it with milk. I just wanted to let you know the results.
I know a lot of readers were wondering if this would work with a non-dairy milk so thank you for sharing your experience with us, Bev!
Bev, you probably need to try the canned coconut milk as it is much thicker. And adding in some of the probiotics. You can check out a recipe here that might be more helpful for what you’re trying to achieve: https://detoxinista.com/how-to-make-vegan-coconut-milk-yogurt/
Downsiftology.com has a recipe using canned coconut milk. To get the thickness, she uses gellatin.
Would you be able to do the same thing with non-dairy milk? Such a great and easy thing to do!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
For soy milk yogurt, you have to make sure your soy milk only contains soy beans & water. Absolutely no sweeteners or gums, or it won’t work. There are several recipes online explaining it all.
Coconut milk yogurt requires either full fat coconut milk or coconut cream, or a combination of the two, plus a few other ingredients to make it work. Also some recipes online for that.
HTH
Hi, I love your recipes. Especially the Asian inspired ones. We really don’t buy Chinese takeout anymore because of them.
I am a long time cook, and making yogurt in my InstaPot is intriguing. I’m finding the instructions a little spare. Between Step 1 and Step 2, does the milk come to a boil? Is the lid on or off? How long should it boil?
Maybe I’m just missing something. Thanks for any help. I’d love to try it, but I don’t want to waste 8 c. of milk.
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Kristl
Great questions! The lid should definitely be used and locked. The milk will come to a boil, and this can take up to 1 hour. The Instant Pot will beep, notifying you that it is done. You can double check that the milk has been boiled as it should reach 180 degrees F. Hope that helps!
Actually, I heat my milk using the saute setting and a digital thermometer to monitor it. It can be covered with any lid. It takes about 15 minutes to heat 1/2 gallon of milk to 185°(turn pot off at this pointl. … and about 10-15 mibutes to cool to 110° (monitoring with a digital thermometer)when starter is tempered and added to warm milk. Return pot to outter pot and reset for yogurt to your desired time of incubation. I cover with a kitchen towel and a glass lid.
I have used the saute-less setting, but I scorch some milk on the bottom of the pot.
Using the slow-cook setting might not do that. I haven’t tried.
I am disappointed with the “boil” setting on the Instant Pot, with a temperature range of 160-180°F. I don’t think that’s hot enough.
I absolutely love your recipes and use them all the time. I have two electric pressure cookers but don’t have an Instant Pot. My electric pressure cookers do not have a “Yogurt” setting so what can I put it on to make yogurt? My cooker has Pressure Cooker, Slow Cook, Brown, Steam and Rice.
Linda, this recipe has only been tested using the Instant Pot DUO60 6qt so I cannot say with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when using an electric pressure cooker.
How do I do this with the Lux model without a yogurt setting?
Susie, this recipe has only been tested using the Instant Pot DUO60 6qt so I cannot say with certainty. However, there are many Instant Pot Lux yogurt recipes available online that may be more helpful. 🙂