Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe
The Best Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe
If you’re looking for a simple and delicious way to make your own yogurt, look no further than this Homemade Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe. Learn how to make Instant Pot yogurt from scratch, including the tips and tricks for getting the perfect consistency every time. It’s easier than you think!
You know what goes well with homemade yogurt? Our mom’s Chewy Peanut Butter Granola!
Healthy and Creamy Homemade Yogurt Made Easy with the Instant Pot
Ingredients & Supplies
- milk
- sugar (Ashton’s version)
- vanilla (Ashton’s version)
- gelatin (Ashton’s version)
- yogurt with live cultures
Le Creuset Toughened Stockpot
Candy Thermometer
Instant Pot
Glass Yogurt Cups with Lids
Cheesecloth
Tovolo Stainless Steel Colander
Tips & Tricks for the Creamiest Instant Pot Yogurt
Making yogurt in an Instant Pot is a great way to enjoy homemade yogurt without having to invest in expensive equipment.
Tips for making delicious and creamy Instant Pot yogurt:
1. Use whole or 2% milk: For the creamiest, thickest yogurt, use whole or 2% milk instead of skim or low-fat milk.
2. Heat the milk on the stove first: a lot of recipes suggest that this step can be done in the Instant Pot; however, we’ve found the best results occur when the milk is brought to 180º on the stovetop first before pouring it into the Instant Pot for incubation.
3. Cool down: Once heated, remove the pot from the stove and let it cool to 110°F before adding a starter culture (the 1/4 cup of yogurt).
4. Add starter culture: Add your starter culture (store bought yogurt works just fine, but make sure the container says “contains live cultures”) to the warm milk and whisk well until fully incorporated.
This is Ashton’s version (pudding-like consistency). Keaton’s version yields a much thicker consistency.
5. Incubate: Pour the milk into your Instant Pot and incubate on Yogurt mode for 8-12 hours or until desired thickness is achieved.
6. Strain depending on desired thickness: There is no one-size-fits-all with this step. The first couple of batches may be trial-and-error. But if you stick with it, you’ll know exactly how long you like to strain your yogurt soon enough!
As a starting point reference, here’s what we like:
Keaton: likes his yogurt strained overnight, extra thick consistency, full-on Greek yogurt
Ashton: likes hers thinner than Greek yogurt, but still thick and creamy, strains for 30 minutes to 3 hours (TOPS!)
7. Sweeten as desired: Once strained, add sweeteners such as sugar, honey, maple syrup or fruit preserves according to taste preference before serving.
With these tips in mind, you will be able to make delicious and healthy homemade yogurt right inside your own kitchen with an instant pot!
Instant Pot Yogurt Two Ways
Our Step-by-Step Recipes
Ashton's Version: Instant Pot Yogurt
Thick and creamy pudding-like consistency with a sweet, vanilla bean flavor. Only strained for 30 minutes to 3 hours (tops)!
Ingredients
- 8 cups milk (whole or 2%)
- 1/2 cup sugar*
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- 1 packet unflavored gelatin
- 1/4 cup yogurt with live cultures
Instructions
- In a large stockpot: whisk together the milk, sugar, vanilla, and gelatin.
- Clip on a candy thermometer and turn the heat to medium-high. Stir constantly until milk reaches 180ºF.
- Remove milk from the heat and let cool to 110ºF.
- Whisk the yogurt into the cooled milk.
- Pour the milk mixture into the Instant Pot. Press the YOGURT button and adjust the time to 9 hours (the release valve position does not matter).
- Once the yogurt has completed it incubation cycle, it's time to strain! Line a colander with the cheesecloth, and place it in a large bowl**. Pour the yogurt into the lined colander.
- Strain for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours depending on desired consistency (this step may take some trial and error to get just right).
Notes
*You can add more or less sugar, according to your taste. Alternatively, you can sweeten with honey or maple syrup!
**Amazon has these cool yogurt strainer containers that are perfect for this step. Probably worth snagging if you'll be making yogurt regularly!
Keaton's Version: Instant Pot Greek Yogurt
Get ready to taste the creamiest and most delicious Greek yogurt you've ever had with this easy Instant Pot recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon milk (of your choosing)
- 3 Tbsp greek yogurt (of your choosing)
- Food or Candy thermometer
- Instant pot (with yogurt function)
- Colander (or if you’re fancy, greek yogurt strainer)
- Fine, mesh strainer (I bought mesh paint strainers from home depot)
Instructions
- You’ll see a lot of recipes out there telling you to use your instant pot > yogurt > boil function to get the milk to proper temperature. The milk never got hot enough for me in my instant pot!
- Place a pot over the stove over low-medium heat and pour a tiny bit of water in bottom to help prevent milk from burning.
- Pour in half gallon of milk (we’ve used skim to whole spectrum with great results).
- Once warm, turn heat up to medium-high (closer to medium) heat stirring every few minutes
- Start measuring temperature once you start to see milk bubble. Once milk reaches 200ºF remove from heat
- Turn instant pot onto the yogurt function and place the timer anywhere from 9-15 hours
- Let cool down to 110-115ºF stirring occasionally (takes approximately 30-40 minutes)
- In separate bowl add a cup of the warm milk to the 3 Tbsp of greek yogurt and stir until combined
- Add small bowl to pot and stir until combined
- Pour pot contents into the instant pot, place lid on and let sit undisturbed for between 8-14 hours
- Place colander in a large bowl or pot it fits into. Place mesh strainer over colander and pour instant pot contents into colander
- Place in fridge and let whey (yellowish liquid) separate (this is what makes it greek yogurt) for at least an hour and up to overnight. The longer you leave it, the thicker your yogurt will become!
- Then you have greek yogurt! ENJOY!
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