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Now, I realize making your own homemade yogurt could very well put you in the ranks as being superwoman, but let me assure you…
I am not superwoman.
In fact, once you see how easy this homemade yogurt is to make, you will wonder why you haven’t made it yourself.
I am all about easy and tasty!
When the two combine, BAM, I love the results!
Before I share the steps to make homemade yogurt, I think I should settle something first. While I do make yogurt, I regularly buy it.. Gasp! I know.
Sometimes life pulls in too many directions and I just don’t have the time to spend an extra 15 minutes in the kitchen. I found a brand that is hard to find at big conventional grocery stores, but many health food stores carry it. I would love to share the brand, which reminds me most of homemade yogurt, however, I am concerned my readers may wipe me out.
Okay, okay, I will share.
I love Seven Stars.
But, you must promise to leave some if you go out and buy this yogurt.
While most weeks I buy (in bulk through my food co-op) a case of Seven Stars Plain Whole Milk Yogurt, there are times it simply isn’t available or cost-wise I need to cut down on my food spending. Perfect time to make my own.
A few years ago, as our family decided to start eating real food and started reading food labels in the store, I realized the yogurt in the grocery store just wasn’t going to cut it! Talk about scary ingredients.
I switched over to Stoneyfield Whole Milk Yogurt, but the cost for our family was just too much for the amount we consumed each week. I tried many homemade recipes online but none really turned out well. One day I found a crock pot recipe featured on Keeper of the Home. I eagerly tried it out and guess what?
I successfully made yogurt!
I tweaked a few components of the recipe and soon found I could make great, real yogurt full of nutrients with just a few minutes of prep time and some planning.
If you are going to make this yogurt you will need to plan ahead. While this yogurt only requires 15-20 minutes of active kitchen time, it does need to sit for around 8-12 hours in a crockpot to allow it to culture and turn into creamy yogurt. I have found it works best to do all the prep work before I go off to bed and leave it out all night while I sleep. When I wake up, I have yogurt. Viola.
6 DELICIOUS
Yogurt Recipes
Homemade Yogurt in the Crock-Pot
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt this is called your “starter”. Read the ingredients on your store-bought yogurt to be sure one of the ingredients is ACTIVE CULTURES. In order to make yogurt, you need these cultures or good bacteria. In the future, you can save a 1/2 cup of homemade yogurt as your starter
- 1/2 gallon whole milk I have a difficult time getting my raw milk to always set properly. Please avoid using ultra-pasteurized milk.
Instructions
- Turn your crockpot on high. Be sure to do this first, as your crock pot needs to warm up properly before you place the milk inside. Now is also the time to take out your yogurt starter and let it sit on the counter, to warm up a bit.
- Pour all the milk into the pan (I use this) stirring occasionally until it begins to bubble and get frothy (around 185° if you would like to use a kitchen thermometer). Watch your milk to be sure it doesn’t bubble over or burn the bottom of the pan. While you are keeping a close eye on your milk, now is the time to get a cold ice bath ready for your pan. Fill your sink with some water and ice.
- Now that your milk has started to bubble, turn off the burner and transfer your pan to the sink full of cold water. Place the pan in the cold water, but don’t allow any of the water to enter the pan and touch the milk. Keep the lid on the pan. Allow, the milk to sit around 10 minutes. You want your milk to cooler, but not cold. You need to have warm milk for the crock pot.
- While the milk is cooling, scoop out a 1/2 cup of yogurt starter. Once the milk has cooled (but is still warm…10 minutes) turn off your crockpot (which is now nice and toasty warm). Place your yogurt starter and 1 cup of warm milk in the crock pot and gently whisk together. Now, add the rest of the of the warm milk to the crockpot and stir.Note to self: The baby will try to eat all your yogurt starter. Next time, make yogurt after bedtime.
- With the milk and yogurt starter in the crockpot (now turned off), place the lid on. Now wrap up your crockpot with a couple large towels. Tuck your milk and yogurt into bed, all nestled in to keep nice and warm. Let that bacteria get to work making fabulous, creamy yogurt!Leave your crockpot alone for 8-12 hours. The longer you let it sit, the tangier your yogurt will taste. I like the taste at 10 hours. I know you may be tempted to take a peak and spy on what’s happening under those towels, but don’t! Your milk and starter need time to culture.Relax!
- After 8-12 hours, remove the towels from the crock pot and you will find–yogurt! Before you stir or shake the yogurt, place your crock pot in the fridge and allow the yogurt to set. I usually allow it to set a couple hours. I’ve even neglected it all day in the fridge.
- After your yogurt has spent some time setting in the fridge you can now scoop into the containers of your choice. I use quart mason jars (like these).
- Store in the fridge and enjoy.
Nutrition
We like to drizzle raw honey in our yogurt. We also berries or homemade jam to sweeten it up. I occasionally semi-defrost strawberries and blend with a little honey in the food processor and mix into the yogurt for a fruity twist. Pure vanilla extract (learn how to make your own) and raw honey can be combined for a french vanilla twist.
Way to go superwoman!
Kristin,
This will be my third batch like this. I love this recipe!! Unfortunately the 12 hour mark to put it in the fridge was 2 am and I slept past it to 6 am. I quickly put it in the fridge. Any chance it spoiled or get ruined?
Hey Jennie, It will probably just be a bit more sour (cultured) than usual. Other than that, I think it should be safe :). I’m so glad you’re enjoying the yogurt and recipe.
Is there anything flavor-wise I can do to help the sourness? I feed this to my kids and don’t want them to turn their nose up on yogurt. I usually stir some grape jelly into their yogurt anyway to add flavor and sweetness
You could probably add some honey to it, or maple syrup, or cane sugar. That should help balance out a bit of the sourness.
I started with this recipe 2 years ago — – I wrapped my crockpot in two large towels and put in the oven with the light on (this was in the winter and we keep our home very cool). But about 1 year ago I got an Instant Pot, with the yogurt function button. I use this recipe except now in the Instant Pot. I make it with a full gallon of whole milk. The secret to the best least runny, most “greek” type yogurt is to drain the whey. Yes you have to drain it and that’s MUCH more effective than chilling. You may not realise the difference between the greek style and regular yogurt is the amount of whey left in the yogurt. The greek is more expensive because it takes more milk to make it — since some of the volume is drained out.
So I began draining. At first I had to drain in stages, using a super-cleaned white T-shirt (from a used torn-white t-shirt) inside a colander over a bowl, but I couldn’t fit all the yogurt inside. My local restaurant store to the rescue. I bought a square 6 quart cambro-type container and drilled about 16 holes in the bottom with a 3/8″ drill bit. Then put a square of the T-shirt material on the bottom, and nested the 6 quart container inside an 8-quart cambro I already had and put it out in my garage extra fridge (this is a tall contraption, I have to remove one half-shelf to get it to fit). After 24 hours in the fridge I have about 2.5 to 3 quarts of yogurt and about 1.5 quarts of whey.
DO NOT put your whey (a yellow-ish colored liquid) down the drain. Save it for substituting for buttermilk in biscuits or cornbread or pancakes and for water in cake mixes — it keeps for about 3 weeks in the fridge. After that pour into your garden. Don’t waste that good stuff on the sewer or septic system!
Awesome, Heather! Thank you for sharing!
This is hands down the easiest yogurt recipe I have ever made. My daughter helped, and now she is actually excited to eat homemade yogurt. Thank you so much. We will be doing this often and experimenting with different milks. I’m so happy I found your site. Thanks for the great instructions.
That’s so great, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing!
I would like to try this. I have a crockpot that the “crock” comes out. Do I leave it in and then wrap the towels around it and stick in the fridge?
Hey Sandra, You’ll want to leave the crock inside the base (heating element), and then wrap the towels around the entire crock-pot.
My 3 sons are dairy free and gluten free, I have successfully used this recipe for close to a year now, using dairy free yoghurt starter and lactaid whole milk! Works wonderfully!!
Thank you so much for sharing, it saves us a FORTUNE! Each of their organic lactose free yoghurts costs $2 each (on sale!) and with just the boys eating 1 a day we spend close to $100 a month on yoghurt! Madness.
Thanks again!!
That’s so great, Rose!! I’m so glad this recipe has been helpful for you!
What fat content should the milk be?
Preferably full-fat, Jorene.
Has anyone tried to make a double batch? I find I go through the 1/2 gallon/1 1/2 cup recipe quite quickly and i was wondering if it would still turn out if I used 1 gallon to 1 cup?
I do this all the time — I use about 1 cup of saved yogurt from my previous batch for a gallon.
Can I use Greek yogurt as my starter?
Hey Tessa, As long as the yogurt has the good bacteria cultures listed on the ingredients, then you may use it! The bacteria is the important part.
First of all, I was terrified to try this on my own, as I am not what one would call “gifted” in the kitchen…BUT!!! I DID IT!!!! AND IT IS AWESOME!!!!! Followed your recipe to a T and I am obsessed with my finished product! One question, do you know the nutrition facts and serving size for this recipe?
That’s so awesome, Katie!!! Congrats on a job well done! I’m not sure about the nutrition facts for the yogurt. I would think they would be about the same as the milk used, of course, with the additional bacteria benefits.
I make this yogurt all the time and absolutely love it! It’s so simple! ???? I am going to go dairy free for a month to see if it helps balance my hormones but I really love yogurt. Haha. I followed your link for the coconut yogurt in the comments which led me to her cashew milk yogurt and the directions are so similar to yours that I’m thinking it’s worth a try to use cashew milk and maybe a store bought almond milk yogurt with active cultures as starter and your crockpot method? I’ll let you know how it goes! Thanks again for all that you do!
Hey Brandi, I’m so glad you love this recipe :). I would love to know how the dairy-free yogurt turns out!
I have been wanting to try making yogurt for a long time… do you just strain the yogurt (cheese cloth?) to achieve greek yogurt? Also, where did you get those adorable jars in all your photos!?
Hey Heather, Yep, you’ll just want to hang the yogurt in a cheesecloth for several hours over a bowl. The result will be a nice Greek-style yogurt in the cheesecloth. The leftover liquid in the bowl (whey) can be used in smoothies or tossed. The jars in these photos are called Weck: http://amzn.to/24UYTTO. I absolutely love them!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! My children are allergic to dairy and I limit their sugar, their normal yoghurt is over $2 a container and with 3 little ones that adds up fast by the end of the month.
Using their lactose free whole milk I made this recipe, followed it exactly and it turned out amazing! They devoured it!
My hubby is delighted as it only cost $3 for the whole crockpot full of yoghurt.
This is a huge blessing- being a stay at home mom every cent counts to allow me to stay at home.
Thank you!!!
It worked wonderfully! Thanks for the recipe Kristin.
Awesome, Jessica! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the yogurt!
This sounds amazing! I’ve been wanting to make my own yogurt for quite some time. I do have a couple of questions though. First off, my crock pot has warm, low, and high options. Is using the high-turn off-towel wrapped options essential or can I just place the crock pot on low or warm? Secondly, have you tried placing the ingredients in jars prior to placing them into the crock pot? I wonder if this will change the chemistry, but I also feel like this will come in dandy as far as cleaning and single servings goes.
Can’t wait to try this out, and thank you for sharing this with everyone. 🙂
Hey Lena, Awesome! I think you’ll really enjoy the experience and yogurt!
I would go with the high option, then turn it off, and wrap the towel around the yogurt. The crock-pot won’t heat up for very long, so the high setting should create a nice, warm environment for the yogurt. I haven’t tried placing the jars in the crock-pot, but I’ve read blogposts recommending this method. I would probably add a bit of water to the bottom of the crock-pot and the jars during the heating process. Then add the yogurt to the warm water/jars/crock-pot. I’ve never tried this method, but just thinking through it at the moment, that’s what I would attempt.
Let me know how it goes!
Hi! If I were to freeze the yogurt, would that kill the good bacterias? Thank you!
Hey Jessica, I don’t believe so. 🙂
Once again, thank you for being a source of healthy change in my life! About how long does this yogurt last do you think?
Hey Maurianna, Due to the cultures yogurt will last longer than a standard bottle of milk. I’d recommend eating the yogurt within a month of making it.
Did this last night exactly like you said and it turned out AWESOME! I was kind of worried that it wouldn’t turn out since there were a few people on here that said they had troubles, but when I pulled the towels off my crock pot this morning it already looked thick like yogurt before I put it in the fridge so I was a happy camper. I used a fresh tub of Stoneyfield whole milk yogurt for my starter. My one year old loved it and she’s the ultimate taste tester, so when I say that, you know it’s good 😉 Thank you!! Will be making this regularly.
That’s awesome, Cheri. Congrats on making amazing yogurt!! And I’m so glad your one-year old liked it…my kids are my ultimate taste-testers, too. 😉
You can use the crock pot to do the whole process if you wanted to! Put the milk into the crockpot and leave on low for 2 hours. Unplug and leave to cool for 3 hours and then add your culture and whatever else you want to add.. I add powdered milk as I like it thicker and I also add honey cause I dont really like tart yoghurt and neither do the kids. Wrap in towel for 6 – 12 hours depending on your environment and also your taste as the longer you leave it the tangier it gets. Thanks for the read, always love seeing what others are doing, I dont feel so weird for doing it! lol
That’s great, Aroha! Thank you for sharing your method…I’m going to give it a try next week.
Hello. This question is to Aroha or Kristin. You say that you added powdered milk and honey I’m just curious to know the measurements of those for the half gallon of milk?
Thanks.
Thanks for the recipe! I am always looking for new ways to make yogurt. Just one tip that I found very helpful when making yogurt and I know that it requires a bit more time. When your yogurt gets to temperature, 180, the longer you keep it at that temperature the firmer it will get. Not by a whole bunch but enough to make a difference. I stir mine at that temp as close to 30 minutes as I can. just a little tip that not a lot of people know.
Thank you, Becky! That’s a great tip!!
my yogurt is chunky and didn’t set well. It’s thick, but still liquidy. I stirred it after pulling it out the fridge and it tastes okay, except for the little chunks. Feeling very defeated over here.
Oh no, Danielle. I’m not sure what might have caused the little chunks…possibly something during the culturing stage. Are they similar to cottage cheese chunks? I would try whisking the yogurt to see if the chunks easily dissolve.