Homemade Yogurt Recipe (Plain & Greek Style)

You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own yogurt at home, and this recipe allows for both plain regular yogurt or creamy greek yogurt.

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I’ve known that making your own homemade yogurt was “a thing” for a long time. I always considered making it myself, but it was never really at the top of my list of skills to learn, for a few reasons.

Number one: we don’t have a dairy cow or even goats yet. They’re definitely on the dream list for when we get a bigger property someday, but for now all we have are a few laying hens, some pet rabbits, and a couple of freeloading cats.

Number two: I figured you would need raw milk to make your own yogurt (which is illegal where I live) and I figured even if I could get it, it probably wouldn’t be cheaper than just buying regular yogurt from the grocery store, so I figured, why bother?

I quickly learned that you don’t need your own dairy animal or even a raw milk source in order to make your own homemade yogurt. I also learned that it’s possible to make it with the best quality, whole, local, non-homogenized milk, and still have it come out cheaper than it would cost for me to buy a comparable quality and quantity of plain yogurt at the grocery store.

While this is a bit more expensive than just using regular store-bought milk (about $3.50/litre for the whole milk vs. about $2/litre for regular store-bought milk), I’ve evolved in my thinking about food over the years, and I’m now willing to spend a little bit more for a superior product (ie. whole, non-homogenized milk from a local dairy where the cows are grass fed and are raised out on pasture).

Your choice will depend on what your goals are with making your own yogurt at home. If your ultimate goal is to save as much money as possible, you might just want to use regular milk from the store.

If you do opt for regular store-bought milk, my suggestion would be to go with the highest fat content milk you can (in Canada, regular homogenized milk, aka. “homo milk,” is probably your best option). While I’ve seen a few recipes for yogurt made with cream, usually there’s some type of lower fat milk added as well, presumably because the cream is a little too thick on its own.

Ideally, whole fat milk is what you want. Again, here in Canada, the closest thing we have to whole milk at most grocery stores is homogenized milk, although it’s still got a slightly lower milk fat content compared to whole milk. Try to avoid using ultra-heat-treated or ultra-pasteurized milk (aka. “UHT”); while it’s possible to make yogurt from UHT milk, you can’t always guarantee a good set or consistent results.

If you do happen to live nearby here on Vancouver Island, I get my whole milk from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks. I really love their cheese and fresh milk, and I love that I can get refills in my Mason jars from my Local Refillery, which also helps me cut down on waste. (I used to buy 4 litre plastic milk jugs from the grocery store and hated the amount of plastic waste, so being able to refill my jars with fresh milk is another reason I’ve made the switch).

Another benefit to making my own yogurt is that I can control what’s in it. I usually do a pretty good job of reading labels at the grocery store and avoiding fillers, additives and excess sugar, but every now and then something gets by me.

As my knowledge of food and my understanding of the relationship between our health what we eat evolves, I find myself making more and more food at home in order to avoid unhealthy additives and use the healthiest and highest quality ingredients I can find.

Plus, with your own homemade yogurt, you’re also getting a whole bunch of healthy probiotics that will support your gut health and microbiome, which is a pillar of good overall health.

Again, you can purchase good quality yogurt from the store with live bacterial cultures, but it usually costs more and you really do have to be diligent about reading labels to ensure you’re getting something that’s actually healthy, and not just something that looks healthy.

Anyway, I’ll step off my soapbox now. Like I said earlier, the choices you make will depend on your own unique goals and what’s important to you. Now back to the yogurt-making process…

So as it turns out, it’s really easy to make your own homemade yogurt at home, especially with good ol’ whole milk. Here’s what you do…

How to Make Homemade Yogurt From Scratch

Warm milk up in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it reaches 180ºF. (A kitchen or candy thermometer is definitely helpful here). It can take up to around 15 to 20 minutes for the milk to come to temperature. Stir it every few minutes to distribute heat evenly and prevent a thick skin from forming on top (I usually just form any skin that forms during the heating process right back into the milk).

Once the milk reaches 180ºF, turn the heat off. You can either take it off the heat right away or let it sit on the burner and slowly let the milk cool down to 110ºF.

Once the milk is at 110ºF, it’s time to mix in your yogurt culture.

You’ll need a starter culture (ie. yogurt with live active cultures) in order to start your first batch of homemade yogurt. You can purchase a yogurt starter culture here (use coupon code HOMESTEAD10 for 10% off your order) or use plain yogurt from the store, just make sure it has no added ingredients, fruit, sugar, etc., and that it has live bacterial cultures. Or you can purchase a starter culture.

Add your starter culture to a a clean, sterilized Mason jar. I add one tablespoon of starter for every cup of milk (usually I do 1/4 cup of starter yogurt to 4 cups of milk).

Add your milk. You may want to skim off any skin that has developed on top of the milk at this point before you add it the Mason jar.

Give everything a stir and then place a lid on the jar. I just use old Mason jar lids that I keep, or you can use plastic lids for your Mason jars. I don’t use new canning lids as I like to save those for my canning projects in the summer.

From here, you’ll need to keep the yogurt in an incubation period at around 110ºF to 115ºF for about 6 to 8 hours. There are a few ways to do this. I like to use my dehydrator.

I have an Excalibur dehydrator that comes with a built-in yogurt setting at 115ºF. I simply place my Mason jar on a rack on the very bottom of the dehydrator and turn it on the yogurt setting. If you have an Instant Pot, it also has a yogurt function. I do have an Instant Pot that I love, but since I can make my own yogurt right in the jar and pop it in my dehydrator without having to dirty another pot, I prefer this method.

If you don’t have a dehydrator or an Instant Pot, you can put your jar in the oven with the oven light on. You can also keep your yogurt warm in a slow cooker. Just fill the slow cooker halfway with warm water and put your jar(s) of yogurt in. Turn the slow cooker to low and keep the lid off.

After 6 to 8 hours, you should have a fairly thick yogurt. You may have a layer of whey on top (thin, yellow-is liquid). You can either leave this or stir it in.

* If after 6 to 8 hours your yogurt is still quite runny, keep it warm for a bit longer (you can even let the incubation period go for up to 10 to 12 hours, or even longer. The longer it incubates at that 110ºF temperature, the thicker it will become, but the tangier it will become too. So this depends on your tastes.

To make a thick greek yogurt, strain your yogurt through a fine mesh strainer lined with a couple layers of cheesecloth, or use a Greek yogurt strainer and strain until all of the leftover whey drains out and the  yogurt reaches your desired consistency.

Once you’re satisfied with the consistency of your yogurt, place it in the fridge to cool and enjoy. Well, actually, before you enjoy it all, remember to reserve a bit of the yogurt mixture to start your next batch!

I reserve about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of of my own homemade yogurt so that I can start a new batch without having to buy it from the grocery store. I just pop it in the freezer if I’m not going to use it within a week or so. Then when I’m ready, I bring it out and let it defrost and then use it to start a new batch.

Enjoy your homemade plain yogurt as-is (it’s full of tons of probiotics, so it’s a fantastic health food to enjoy all on its own!), or add it to smoothies, serve it with some frozen or fresh fruit or even mix in a drizzle of honey, maple syrup or homemade jam to sweeten it up. Top it with granola, hemp hearts, almonds, etc. Ok, you get it… Enjoy it like you would any other regular yogurt:)

Your yogurt should store in the fridge for around one to two weeks. If you leave it too long, you’ll see mold growing on top. At this point, discard and start a new batch. You can also freeze your yogurt and then defrost and mix well to enjoy at a later date.

Remember to reserve at least 1/4 cup to start your next batch!

If you follow all the directions carefully and your yogurt still won’t set or you prefer a thicker yogurt, you may either need to use a milk with a higher fat content, or you may need to keep your yogurt warmer while during the incubation period. If you’ve been incubating it in the oven with the oven light on, try turning the oven on to the lowest setting and then turn the heat off and put your jar in the oven with the oven light on and the door closed.

You shouldn’t have a problem with temperature if you use an Instant Pot, a dehydrator or a slow cooker.

Otherwise there’s really not all that much that can go wrong with your own homemade yogurt (not that I’ve come across anyway), which is why it’s such an easy skill to learn and to add to your arsenal of homestead kitchen skills!

Whether you have a dairy cow (or goats or sheep, etc.) of your own or you’re using regular ol’ whole milk from the grocery store, I can now officially assure you that learning how to make your own homemade yogurt is definitely worth the small bit of time and effort that it takes, for more reasons than one:)

P.S. If you’re ready to jump-start your home fermentation journey, head over to Cultures For Health for everything you need. From cheesemaking kits to kombucha scobys to sourdough starters and more, they have you covered. Use code HOMESTEAD10 for 10% off your order!

 

 

 

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