Easy Instant Pot Yogurt
Learn to make simple and nourishing yogurt in your instant pot! I make this a few times per week and our family loves it. Yogurt is a staple around here: perfect for quick breakfasts or lunches topped with fruit and honey, or granola if we have it on hand!
I usually make it early in the morning so it can ferment for 8 hours and I can put it in the fridge before evening. I also make it in the evening so it is ready when we wake up.
For years, I have referred to a stove-top method and fermentation in a cooler - however, this is so easy to do that it's my go-to method.
Using the instant pot is much less time-consuming than the stove-top method, is less to clean, and I love that I can make it and walk away.
Yes, you can make yogurt in your sleep! :)
What you will need:
Makes 2 quarts of yogurt
- Instant Pot with the Yogurt setting
- whisk
- kitchen thermometer
- sink with a stopper to fill with cold water
- pot holders and kitchen towel
- Half gallon grass-fed, raw, Jersey cows' milk
- 1 cup plain yogurt (see*) or 1 packet of yogurt culture (*Maple Hill, Stonyfield, Seven Stars, etc have live cultures. A good brand lists the live probiotics on the label).
If you want to make vanilla yogurt, you will also need:
- 1/4 or 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract (I like to use a good quality, non-GMO extract)
The four steps to yogurt:
1. heat milk
2. cool milk
3. add culture
4. let it ferment
Prep: Sterilize your equipment.
If you use your IP for lots of dinners like I do, you will want to make sure that the scent of spicy chili isn't to be found on your equipment. :)
Boil water in a kettle on the stove and very carefully pour into your IP pot sitting in your sink. Using mitts or pot holders to protect your hands, swish gently and discard the water.
Dry the outside of the pot if it got wet in the process.
Place your IP pot into the Instant Pot.
1. Heat the Milk
Pour 1/2 gallon of milk into the pot, secure the lid on, and push the Yogurt button.
Push the Adjust button to set the IP to "boil" and let it heat up. It will beep when it's completed.
Once the boil setting is completed, remove the lid. *This is very hot!
Add sugar, if using.
2. Cool the Milk
Run cold water into a sink and fill a few inches deep. Using pot holders, carefully lift your pot out of the Instant Pot and place in the cool water.
Gently whisk the milk and watch the temperature using a thermometer. You want it to be between 110 - 120 F. It doesn't take long to lower the temp. Once it reaches 110 - 120 F, carefully remove from the sink, dry the outside of the pot with a towel and place back in the Instant Pot.
3. Add the Culture
Whisk in your 1 cup of plain yogurt. Add vanilla, if using.
4. Ferment for 8 hours
Place the lid on, push Yogurt, and push Adjust until it is on the 8:00 hour setting. Come back in 8 hours to warm, thick yogurt!
This photo below is what my Instant Pot yogurt looks like after fermenting for 8 hours and being chilled in the fridge for 12 hours (overnight). It's so thick that I can tip it and it doesn't lose it's form!
We scoop the finished yogurt into glass jars to store in the fridge and enjoy for breakfast and snacks! See the lovely yellow creamline from the Jersey cows? :)
Good food made simple.
Happy Yogurt Making!