How to make Yoghurt

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Create delicious creamy yoghurt at home that you can keep on hand for yummy desserts, dressings, popsicles and more with this easy Instant Pot Method, the second in our Simple Swaps series.

Don’t have an Instant pot? No worries, use your oven, dehydrator, or even certain types of air fryer! Keep reading to see how…

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I’ve made homemade yoghurt before many years ago, using a pan, some jars and my oven light. It was not flashy but it worked. I loved this yoghurt but having young children who preferred a sweeter nectar meant it didn’t get used. So I stopped making it.

Fast forward 10 or so years and it’s back on the menu!!

And now I have found the easiest hands off way to make it, so let’s add homemade yoghurt to our Simple Swaps series: things to make, not buy.

What is an Instant Pot?

The Instant Pot is a multi cooker that combines a rice cooker, a pressure cooker, a slow cooker, a soup maker, an air fryer in some models, and, for our purposes, a yoghurt maker.

If you’ve been around here for very long, you’ll notice I use mine all the time, multiple times a week. His name is Stan Stan the Instant pot man.

(In fact, as I write this, I have beef stock simmering away in it!)

I’ve raved about it so much that my mum bought one, which she uses to make her weekly yoghurt stash, and I use mine so much, I bought a second and got rid of my slow cooker!

Why You’ll love the Instant Pot

I have seen other multicookers but here’s why I like the Instant pot over them

• The inner pot is made of stainless steel, not coated in non stick material. This helps in two ways.
  • Firstly, I don’t have to worry about any chemicals potentially leaking into our food from flaky non stick (which never stays non stick have you noticed..)
  • Secondly, if anything does stick to it, I can give it a really good scrub without having to be careful from some coating! All of this means it lasts much longer, while being healthier all around
• Another reason I love the Instant pot, is the ‘sauté’ function. This allows you to brown meat and veggies much as you would in a pan, but directly in the pot. Save me getting another pan dirty, so truly is a one pot meal, that can cook your rice or potatoes right in with your meat and veggies!
• The release valve on the lid is simple and easy to use, it’s either on or off.
• The functions are easy to use and understand, especially on the older model. (I have an older one and a newer one with a screen, and I use the older button one much more)
• An instant pot is very economical to use, using less electricity than cooking on a stove or in an oven, because it is cooked so much more quickly on pressure cook mode, and retains the moisture especially in meat. (Once you’ve had instant pot beef stew, you’ll never go back)

If you are interested in the Instant Pot, you can find it here

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still make Yoghurt at home if I don’t have an Instant Pot?

Absolutely you can. You can use a pan to boil the milk, let it cool until luke warm, then add the live yoghurt, place into a clean bowl or mason jar and place the jars/bowl into an oven with a light on overnight and it would still work. A dehydrator with the trays removed or even an air fryer with a dehydrate function would work. The yoghurt needs to be at around 43c/110f for the bacteria to grow and culture the milk.

Do I need to keep buying yoghurt from the store to make my own?

No, it’s only needed for the first time as it already contains the live bacteria needed to turn your batch of milk into yoghurt. After that, you can just use your last batch of yoghurt to inoculate your next batch for an endless supply! If you know someone who makes their own, you can use theirs and not buy any at all! (I would just add that when dealing with ferments, because they are live bacteria, cleanliness is so important. Use scrupulously clean equipment and ensure anyone providing you with it does too)

How can I use my finished yoghurt?

Oh my, in so many ways!! Add to cereal or granola at breakfast, add into smoothies for a probiotic boost, top with fruit and honey for a delicious dessert, mix with blended fruit and freeze in moulds for a summer popsicle treat, mix with oil, lemon juice and mustard for a yoghurt dressing, marinade chicken in it overnight for a juicy chicken bbq dish.. so many things!

Can I use semi skimmed or skimmed milk?

Technically you could use semi skimmed, but it makes for a very watery consistency in the finished product, and skimmed milk will just not set.

How to make Yoghurt in the Instant Pot

Things you may need:

An Instant pot (obviously) 🙂

Whole milk

Measuring spoons – these are my favourite because they fit in any jar, including spice jars!

a small pot of live yoghurt from the store, (a one time purchase because you will use a few spoonfuls of your homemade yoghurt to inoculate the next batch and so on)

Mason jars or a bowl to store the finished yoghurt in

Method

• Start with a super clean Instant Pot

• Measure milk into the pot, cover with a lid. (i have an old glass lid from a slow cooker that I use for this as it doesn’t need to be sealed but your instant pot lid with a fresh seal works fine)
• Push the yoghurt button until it says boil and then leave to heat up.

• Once the milk has boiled, it will beep to say that function has been completed.
• Let the milk cool down to luke warm (43c/110f)

• Add in the live yoghurt and stir
• Replace the lid and press the yoghurt button until 8:00 is shown

• Now you leave it to do it’s thing!

• Once the Instant Pot beeps again, you know the yoghurt is set and ready.

• Give the yoghurt a stir and transfer into clean jars or a bowl

• Place the jar/bowl into the fridge to chill and then enjoy! (Don’t forget to keep a couple of spoons back for your next batch)

Tell me your favourite way to eat yoghurt in the comments! Don’t forget to share this recipe. Thanks friends x

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