Greek yogurt is a creamy, thick yogurt, which is slightly tangy in taste, made by removing excess liquid called whey from regular yogurt. It is high in protein and can be used to make Greek yogurt fruit bowls, smoothies, desserts, and much more.
This is an easy recipe to make homemade Greek yogurt. Yogurt can be made in the Instant Pot or in the oven.
Ingredients
The main ingredient to make Greek yogurt is milk and yogurt culture. I have used low temperature pasteurized, non homogenized milk to make yogurt. However, homogenized milk works well too.
Yogurt from previous batch, or store bought yogurt with active live cultures works well as a starter. I have also used Yogourmet yogurt starter to make yogurt at home.
Instructions
To make yogurt in Instant Pot, pour the whole milk in the Instant Pot container and lock the lid. Press the yogurt button until it shows "boil".
Once the milk is boiled, allow the milk to cool down for about two hours until it gets to about 115°F. If you want to speed up the process, you can give it an ice bath by placing the container in ice.
Stir in the yogurt starter or yogurt from a previous batch and mix it well. Place the container back in the instant pot and lock the lid with release valve in venting position. Press the yogurt button until it shows the time, set it for 10 hours on normal mode.
If you do not have an Instant Pot with yogurt button, you can boil the milk on the stove in a heavy bottom pot on medium high heat. It can take about 15-20 minutes to boil half a gallon milk. Once the milk is cooled down to 115°F, mix in the yogurt culture. Transfer the milk to glass jars or stainless steel container. Place it covered in the oven for about 10 hours with oven light on.
Refrigerate the plain yogurt for about 6-8 hours before making the Greek yogurt. To make Greek yogurt, line a strainer with a cheesecloth or place a nut milk bag and pour all the yogurt in it. Place the strainer on a bowl to collect the greenish liquid (whey) separating out from the yogurt. You can also use a Greek yogurt maker.
Cover the yogurt and let it strain for about 12 hours in the refrigerator. After straining the yogurt and when no more whey is separating, you have a perfect creamy homemade Greek yogurt with thick texture. You can whisk it or mix it with a spoon and store in batches in small Mason jars.
Serving suggestions
Homemade Greek yogurt can be used to make smoothies, yogurt fruit bowls, and Indian dessert like Shrikhand. It is also uzed to make Mediterranean side dish, tzatziki.
After making Greek yogurt you will have a lot of whey. Here is a great post of how to use whey obtained as a by product of making yogurt.
Storage
Homemade Greek yogurt can be stored in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks. It can also be frozen for upto 3 months. When you are ready to eat, simply place the container in the fridge overnight and it will be ready to eat. Ensure to use it up thawed frozen Greek yogurt within a week.
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like these recieps
Don't forget to rate the recipe by clicking the stars. Also, pin the recipe by clicking the "Pin" button, for your future reference.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Greek Yogurt
Equipment
- Instant Pot 3 qt ( or heavy bottom pot safe for stovetop )
Ingredients
To make yogurt
- ½ gallon Whole Milk
- 2 tablespoon Yogurt (or yogurt starter)
Instructions
Option 1: Make yogurt in Instant Pot
- Pour milk in the instant pot container and lock the lid.½ gallon Whole Milk
- Press "yogt" mode until it shows "boil".
- Once the cycle is complete, open the lid and remove the container and allow the milk to cool down for about 2 hours until it reaches 115 °F.
- Whisk the yogurt and add it to the milk and mix well.2 tablespoon Yogurt
- Place the container inside the instant pot and lock the lid with release valve in venting position.
- Press the "yogt" button until it shows the timer. Adjust it to 10 hours on normal setting.
- Yogurt will be ready after 10 hours. Cover and chill the yogurt in the fridge for 6-8 hours.
Option 2: Make yogurt in oven
- In a heavy bottom pot, pour the milk.½ gallon Whole Milk
- Heat it on the stove on medium high heat.
- Bring the milk to a boil (it can take 15-20 minutes).
- Once milk is boiled, turn the heat off.
- Allow the milk to cool down for about 2 hours until it reaches 115 °F
- Whisk the yogurt and add it to the milk and mix well.2 tablespoon Yogurt
- Pour the milk with yogurt culture into glass jars or stainless steel containers.
- Place it covered with a lid in the oven with lights turned on.
- Yogurt will be ready after 10 hours. Cover and chill the yogurt in the fridge for 6-8 hours.
Step 2: Making Greek yogurt
- Pour all the yogurt in a nut milk bag or a cheesecloth and line it in a strainer.
- Place the strainer on a bowl, whey will start dripping in the bowl.
- Place the yogurt along with cheesecloth and strainer in fridge and ley whey drip for another 12 hours.
- Thick strained or Greek yogurt is ready once no more whey is dripping.
Donna says
Hi. Can I make this with 1% milk?
Thanks.
Alpa Jain says
Hi Donna,
It should work, however using 1 % milk will result in much less quantity of Greek yogurt. There will be much more liquid (whey) and less Greek yogurt compared to using full fat milk.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Alpa
Donna says
Thank you. It did work, but although it was smooth on top, once I started transferring it to the milk bag, I could see that it was not smooth underneath. it was sort of chunky, but very small chunks. It tasted great, though! I used an immersion blender after it drained, and that worked. I'll use whole milk next time. Thanks again.
Anonymous says
WOW. Very Good.