This homemade Instant Pot yogurt recipe is the easiest way to make yogurt. Top this delicious creamy yogurt with crunchy granola and fresh fruit for a healthy and delicious snack or breakfast.
Here at the farmhouse, we use the Instant Pot for everything from hard boiling eggs to making homemade applesauce.
My favorite thing to make with an Instant Pot? Yogurt!
This recipe is so easy to make, is pretty hands off, and the minimal effort gives you amazing results! Once you have made your fresh yogurt, top it with crunchy homemade granola, a drizzle of honey and some fresh berries. It is absolutely delicious.
You can also use this yogurt in other recipes like strawberry yogurt popsicles, Greek yogurt cream cheese, and lemon sourdough pound cake. There are so many ways to use this recipe, and your family is sure to love it!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy -There is very little hands-on time with this recipe. The Instant Pot does all the work and keeps it at a steady temperature for however long you desire.
Delicious – There is nothing quite like a healthy bowl of delicious yogurt, drizzled with honey, and sprinkled with berries.
Inexpensive – You can make a full gallon of yogurt for about the same price as one quart at the store. Plus, I love that we have control over the quality of the ingredients.
Ingredients
Milk – Whole, 2%, skim, and even non-dairy milk like almond milk and coconut milk will work. Whole milk will give you a thicker and creamier yogurt compared to skim milk, and I think that it yields the best results. I also like to make raw milk yogurt, too.
Yogurt Culture – You can use a store-bought yogurt from the grocery store that has live cultures, yogurt starter cultures, or your own yogurt from a previous batch. If you are using yogurt from a previous batch, eventually you will want to start with new cultures again. Typically, I recommend about 4-5 times before starting with new cultures. While you technically can continue to reuse a yogurt starter indefinitely, I find that the results are not consistent and I like to start with a fresh culture after a handful of uses. I like to use these cultures from Cultures for Health.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Instant Pot Yogurt
Step 1: Pour a half gallon of milk into the Instant Pot, and press the “sauté” button.
Step 2: Whisking constantly, allow the milk to rise to 180 degrees. I use a small pocket thermometer to test the temp.
Press “cancel” to turn it off. Allow the milk to cool back down to 115 degrees.
Step 3: Whisk in 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. You can either use store bought, or start with a starter culture.
Step 4: Set Instant Pot for 8-24 hours on the yogurt setting. The longer you ferment the yogurt, the more sour it will become. If you have some issues digesting dairy, I recommend fermenting for 24 hours. Otherwise, 8 hours works just fine and isn’t too sour.
Step 5: When the timer goes off the yogurt is ready.
Step 6: Transfer to a storage container and refrigerate.
Tips
- Instant Pot models will vary. I have found using the sauté and yogurt function together work best for me. You can always refer to the model’s manual to see if there is an alternative option.
- If using yogurt from a previous batch of yogurt, only use about 4-5 times before replacing the culture entirely and using store-bought yogurt to culture your homemade yogurt.
- Don’t use the silicone ring in the Instant Pot, since it tends to harbor smells.
- Reserve some starter yogurt for the next batch of yogurt.
- If using store-bought yogurt as a starter, do not use yogurt that does not contain active cultures or yogurt that is flavored or sweetened.
Recipe FAQs
Milk is heated to destroy bacteria that are present in milk and could compete with the yogurt cultures, Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. If you see these on the label of the yogurt, you will know it has live cultures in it.
Heating changes the structure of the proteins in milk that gel, causing the finished yogurt to have a thick consistency.
You don’t have to heat the milk, but if you want to eat the finished yogurt with a bowl and spoon, it is a good idea. There is a way to make raw milk yogurt with the help of gelatin and some different cultures, not covered in this post.
As far as fermenting time goes, for bowls of yogurt I like to ferment 8 hours. Any longer and my kids say it’s too sour. For smoothies, they can tolerate the 24-hour tangy yogurt. I sweeten it up by blending it with frozen bananas and strawberries.
While you can use store-bought yogurt to make homemade yogurt, I find that commercial freeze-dried starter cultures give better, more consistent results.
If properly stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator, it will last 10-14 days. When my yogurt is all done, I store it in a half gallon mason jar with a plastic lid.
To make a Greek-style yogurt, place a strainer over a bowl and line the strainer with cheese cloth or a tea towel. Transfer the yogurt to the strainer, then allow the whey to strain from the yogurt until the desired thickness is achieved.
More Instant Pot Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Raw Milk Yogurt in the Instant Pot
- The Best Instant Pot Bone Broth
- Beef Carnitas – Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, Or Oven
- How to Make A Whole Chicken In The Instant Pot
- Easy Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
The Easiest Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon milk, we prefer whole milk
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt , or you can use a yogurt starter culture
Instructions
- Pour a half gallon of milk into the Instant Pot, and press the "sauté" button. Whisking constantly, allow the milk to rise to 180 degrees. I use a small pocket thermometer to test the temp.
- Press "cancel" to turn it off.
- Allow the milk to cool back down to 115 degrees.
- Whisk in 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. You can either use store bought, or start with a starter culture.
- Set Instant Pot for 8-24 hours on the yogurt setting.
- When the timer goes off the yogurt is ready.
- Transfer to a storage container and refrigerate.
Notes
- Instant Pot models will vary. I have found using the sauté and yogurt function together work best for me. You can always refer to the model’s manual to see if there is an alternative option.
- If using yogurt from a previous batch of yogurt, only use about 4-5 times before replacing the culture entirely and using store-bought yogurt to culture your homemade yogurt.
- Don’t use the silicone ring in the Instant Pot, since it tends to harbor smells.
- Reserve some starter yogurt for the next batch of yogurt.
- If using store-bought yogurt as a starter, do not use yogurt that does not contain active cultures or yogurt that is flavored or sweetened.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can I use kiefer instead of yogurt for the fermentation?
I think it needs to be yogurt for this recipe.
I don’t have an instapot but I’ve been making my yogurt in a crockpot via this recipe:
https://maysatro.blogspot.com/2024/02/creamy-delight-how-to-make-homemade.html?fbclid=IwAR3BoOZF9nSy15dDzFIlt-vOsgKjiPsgGhJ7PddhGZsXbIvJ0vuA7IbUT3c_aem_AS7BdFzrQOolK3q4iuee0cqkhwZndUd1KWlRmYjoMaeV-Vo4wlkmk_L9zs6jYsNLssw&m=1
after the incubation period I strain it using a cheesecloth lined strainer and let it sit in the fridge for another day… then after, the bulk of the yogurt falls out of the cheesecloth easily but there is still A LOT of yogurt still stuck and I have a really hard time getting all of it off.
I’m not very used to using cheesecloth so I didn’t know if there’s a trick to it or not.
Also… my yogurt is a pretty good consistency but I would definitely like it to be thicker.
I find that after sitting in the fridge for a little the top layer thickens up but the bottom is more soupy… is this normal?
Thank you for all your knowledge… I find it very helpful!
Liz Cutler
I’ve made this recipe several times and always get a great result, I love it! But this last time something must have gone wrong. My milk never turned into yogurt! I used the same method, heated my fresh raw milk, cooled it back down, added my started culture (I used a ¼ cup of store bought yogurt that has no additives), and let it incubate for 14 hours. When I pulled it out of the instant pot it was just the same consistency as regular milk. The only thing I can think of is I used a little more than ½ a gallon but used the same amount of yogurt starter. Could this have caused my flop? Any input is welcome! Thanks in advance!
Hi Lisa,
I’ve made this recipe several times and always get a great result! Except for this last time…something must have gone wrong. My milk never turned into yogurt! I used the same method, heated my fresh raw milk, cooled it back down, added my started culture (I used a ¼ cup of store bought yogurt that has no additives), and let it incubate for 14 hours. When I pulled it out of the instant pot it was just the same consistency as regular milk. The only thing I can think of is I used a little more than ½ a gallon but used the same amount of yogurt starter. Could this have caused my flop? Any input is welcome! Thanks in advance!
Did you use a greek yogurt as your starter? Homemade yogurt does have a tendency to be a little thinner, but it shouldn’t come back out looking like milk still!
Hi Lisa,
I’ve made this recipe several times and love it. But this last time, my yogurt did not thicken. I used the same method, fresh milk, fresh store bought yogurt as my starter culture, and I let it incubate for 14 hours. When I went to strain it to turn it into Greek yogurt it just went straight through my cheesecloth, just like plain milk. Any ideas? The only thing I can think of is maybe I used too much milk? I used a little over ½ a gallon but kept the starter amount the same. Could that have caused the issue?
Thanks in advance!
Can I use plain Greek yogurt as my culture?
Yes, as long as it is plain.
If I use store bought yogurt, can I use a vanilla flavored one?
I
Hi Lisa
I assume these temperatures are in Fahrenheit? I am in South Africa and we use Celsius. I believe the first temp is to pasteurise the milk and that is because you want to kill certain bacteria which would interfere with the yoghurt bacteria, am I right? If you want to preserve as much of the nutritional benefits of the raw milk as possible, can you use a lower temp so that some enzymes and vitamins don’t get killed off, would it still work? According to an article on Scientific American, you could either use low temp, long time at 145F for 30 min or high temp, short time at 160F for 15 seconds. I assume you are using the latter in this recipe. (For South Africa and UK the temps are: 180F = 82C, 160F = 71C, 145F = 62C, 115F = 46C, according to my calculator).
Yes, they are in Fahrenheit.
I am assuming I can use pastured whole milk?
Organic and grass feed, of course.
Yes, that is fine.
Do you know what temperature the yogurt setting is?
I do not have a yogurt setting on my IP.
I make my own yogurt but the “fermentation” process takes place in a 110° oven.
Is that a good temp for a 24hr ferment?
Yes, 110 is what it should be at in your instant pot too.