Making your own creamy yogurt is not as difficult as you might think, on the contrary! You need very few ingredients, 2 to be exact, and a little time and love. It really is that easy and so delicious…
Different ways to make delicious homemade yogurt
Today I’m going to show you 2 ways to make your own homemade yogurt. I’ll share with you both the method for the instant pot and the method without because you don’t really need it. It just makes it easier. If you have one, use it. If you don’t have one, just make sure you have a kitchen thermometer.
It’s so nice to make this kind of product yourself, no matter how easy it is to get store-bought yogurt . The taste is really better when it is homemade! You just need two ingredients; whole milk and a tiny bit of yogurt with live cultures. This can be saved from your previous batch or from a (store-)bought jar.

Making your own thick yogurt
Personally, I always used to find the yogurt a little thin when you make it yourself. I prefer a thicker consistency. So, I always drain the yogurt for a while by placing a cheesecloth or clean tea towel in a colander over a bowl and letting it drain for about 2 to 3 hours. I do this in the refrigerator on warm days, but you can definitely place it outside of the fridge on colder days.
Creamy homemade yogurt
What you are left with is whey and thick yogurt (by the way, it will continue to thicken in the refrigerator, so keep that in mind if you need to). You can use the whey for everything from smoothies to soups to risotto. Just like using water, it seems to be very healthy and it doesn’t add any flavor!

Different flavorings and styles
You can alternate between different styles of yogurt, for example you can use Greek yogurt or Turkish, organic or non-organic. Always make sure that there are active cultures present and that there are no flavorings or added fruits, except for vanilla extract. You can add fresh fruit or jam when it is ready.
It will keep in the refrigerator for about a week in glass jars. You can continue to make more from your homemade batch, but at some point you will need to add another spoonful of other “fresh” yogurt to keep the good bacteria in the yogurt culture alive. This homemade yogurt recipe is very versatile, eat it for breakfast, in between meals, with a snack, or use it in baked goods. Let’s get cooking!


Ingredients
- 1.5 liters fresh whole milk
- 1.5 tbsp yogurt (with active cultures!)
- Optional: flavorings such as vanilla extract, honey, fresh fruit, etc.
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Instant pot
- Glass jars
INSTRUCTIONS (how to make this recipe):
- Bring your milk it to a boil in a saucepan or instant pot. Turn of the heat.
- Let the milk cool to 42 degrees Celsius / 107 Fahrenheit using a kitchen thermometer.
- Add the yogurt and stir well with a whisk or fork.
- Optional: You can add honey or vanilla to taste.
- If using an instant pot, close the lid (make sure the valve is open) and set it to the yogurt setting for 8 to 10 hours.
- If you don’t have an instant pot, put the lid on the pan and cover the warm pan with a thick blanket or an old-fashioned hay box to keep the milk nice and warm and allow the yogurt bacteria to do their work.
- After about 8 hours, the yogurt is ready. I often do this at night and the next morning you have delicious yogurt. Note: It really doesn’t matter if you leave it an hour or two longer. Enjoy!
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