The Simple Method I Use to Make Homemade Yogurt

Are you looking for a simple way to make your own yogurt? Today I am sharing the easiest method I’ve found for making homemade yogurt.

Right after I felt I had mastered homemade bread, I decided it was time to expand my collection of things I made from scratch. Yogurt was the second in line. I still remember the “mind blown” feeling I had when I realized it COULD be made at home. My very first homemade yogurt attempt used the crockpot, and a bath towel. I was so excited when it was successful, but the process took a long time. After a while, I started looking for a quicker method. Over the years I’ve made it using a crock pot, the instant pot, raw milk, pasteurized milk, store bought starter, homemade starter, powdered cultures, and everything in between. I always go back to the easiest method for me though. The good old-fashioned stove.

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What you’ll need:

Digital Thermometer – This is the exact one I have and love it.
1 quart size mason jar
Stock pot
Small cooler
4 cups whole milk ( if you’re using store bought, just be sure it isn’t ultra-pasteurized)
2 Tablespoons of plain yogurt with live active cultures

I apologize for the grainy picture. I took a screenshot from an old video I made!

How To Make Yogurt

First of all make sure your jars are nice and clean. You can sterilize them in the dishwasher. Fill the jar with whole milk, leaving about 2 inches from the top. Place the filled jar into the stockpot.
Now you will fill the pot with cool water. Stop when the water level is about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the jar.
Bring the water to a gentle boil and simmer until the milk inside the jar reaches 180 degrees F.
Next, carefully remove the jar of hot milk from the water and loosely cover with a lid. (Don’t toss that hot water. You’ll need it in the next step!) Periodically stir the milk and check the temperature. The milk needs to cool to 110 degrees F. (You can put the milk in the fridge to cool, just be sure to keep checking it frequently!)
Once the milk is cooled to 110, add in 2 tablespoons of yogurt. Stir gently. Place lid on the jar.
Put the jar in the cooler and fill the cooler with the leftover warm water from the stockpot. (The water should be fairly close to 120. If it’s cooled down too much you can reheat it, but it’s usually not necessary for me.) Close the lid. Allow the yogurt to incubate about 8 to 10 hours. The longer it incubates the tangier it gets.
Lastly, refrigerate the yogurt for about 24 hours before you enjoy it. It should keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks. (Be sure to save at least 2 tablespoons for your next batch!)

I love this method. Mostly because it’s faster than the crockpot, gives me more consistent results than the instant pot, and I can make as much or as little as I want depending on how much milk I have to use. If I want to use up a gallon of milk, I simply add three more jars to the stock pot, and add 2 tablespoons of starter yogurt to each jar. Simple as that!

Topping Ideas

Homemade yogurt is delicious topped with maple syrup, honey, nuts, fruit, jam, a little vanilla, or homemade granola. Our favorite is a little honey and a dash of vanilla. Yum!

A Few Tips

Heating the milk to 180 is very important. The heat changes the protein in the milk to create a thicker yogurt. On the other hand, cooling it down to 110 is just as important because if the milk is too warm when the starter yogurt is added it won’t set up properly.
Be sure to look at the back of the carton of yogurt you buy at the store. Most brands will say if they contain live, active cultures.
If you don’t have a cooler to incubate your yogurt in, you can use the oven. Simply wrap the warm jars in a bath towel and set in the oven overnight. Or you can heat the oven briefly, turn it off, turn your light on, and incubate the jar that way.

Good food doesn’t have to be hard.

Once you get the hang of it, homemade yogurt is really quite simple to make. It is also much more economical to make it at home. I think one of the most common misconceptions about cooking from scratch is that it’s hard. It doesn’t have to be. I shared not very long ago how I made cooking from scratch a priority even though I don’t love to cook. You can read that here if you’d like: How To Cook More Meals From Scratch (Even when you don’t like to cook!)

As always, thanks so much for spending a tiny part of your day with me!