Well, I was hesitant and nervous, but I did it! I made Greek Yogurt in my Instant Pot…and it is AMAZING!! Oh my goodness! I will not buy store-bought yogurt again (ok maybe if I’m on vacation or something I will, lol). This process is added to my Friday “to do” list and as I type this, I’m on my 4th batch of yogurt (in 3 weekends) so I feel I’m cutting my prep time down and it’s pretty simple now. I absolutely love making the yogurt…ok yes and eating it too haha. It only stores approximately 10 days…and no I haven’t eaten all that I’ve made…I made some for friends and I’ve actually sold a few containers too.

So, if you have an Instant Pot (if you don’t, click here and get one!!)…you should definitely set aside some time and make a batch of Greek style yogurt, along with some fruit compote to blend in to the yogurt. If you haven’t had homemade yogurt, you’re missing out!!

Ok, here’s the process I used…

In this batch of yogurt pictured, I used 1% milk…I previously used whole milk and that is my favorite. I prefer and recommend using a good quality whole milk.

Start by adding 1 half gallon of whole milk to the clean Instant Pot liner (the removable pot).

Press “Boil”, put the lid on and walk away…not too far, just so you can hear the pot beeping to let you know it’s finished.

You’ll want to have a food thermometer handy to check the temperature of the milk. The temp needs to be at 180 – 182 for about 2-3 minutes. Mine didn’t quite reach 180 degrees with the first “boil”, so I hit saute and continuously stirred the milk with a Pampered Chef Small Mix N Scraper (don’t use metal!)…until the milk came up to temp and stayed at temp for approx 2 minutes.

The next step is to cool the milk down to 112 degrees. I place a container of ice cold water in my sink and set the pot (liner! not the actual Instant Pot!) inside the water. I stir the milk a few times and change the ice water in the container once or twice. Usually, the milk comes down to the 112 degree temp in about 10-15 minutes. Again, use your thermometer to check the temp 🙂 It was a little difficult to get a picture of 112 degrees, it changed to 111 degrees as I was taking the picture. It’s ok if it’s slightly lower 🙂

Wipe off the outside of your liner and place back inside the Instant Pot shell. Next you’ll add 2 Tbsp of a good quality yogurt or yogurt starter. I prefer Fage’ greek style yogurt, so that is what I used. You could use your preferred yogurt, just make sure it is all-natural and has live cultures. I used a plastic ladle and scooped out about 1/2 cup warm milk into a glass measuring cup, added the 2 Tbsp yogurt and stirred to mix well. Pour the mixture back into the Instant Pot liner.

Once you have the liner back inside the Instant Pot, press the yogurt button until it shows 8:00. Place a lid on the pot (it can be a glass lid, does not have to be the original lid).

Ha! I just noticed my shadow in the picture above. I’m not a professional photographer by any means…my daughter usually takes the pics but she was busy 🙂

Ok, so on to the next step… Don’t be alarmed when the 8:00 changes to 0:00… the pot will count up from 0:00 to 8 hours.

I like to start my yogurt process in the early afternoon so that I’m not up too late waiting for the process to finish 🙂

At the end of the 8 hours, remove the liner (keep covered) and place in your refrigerator overnight or up to 12 hours.

This is what it will look like after coming out of the fridge (I guess I forgot to take a pic of it before the fridge)…

You can see that is thick but you can also see some of the whey. You could stir and place in containers now if you don’t prefer thick Greek style yogurt. I prefer thick Greek style, so the next step is to strain the yogurt…

I use this bag…Pro Quality Nut Milk Bag – Big 12″X12″ to strain the yogurt.

I fold the top of the bag down a little and set inside a large metal container. I don’t know that the container matters, except that you want it to be large. Pour the yogurt from the Instant Pot liner into the bag, pull the strings to close the bag.

You’ll want to hang the bag so that it isn’t touching the bottom of the container. My contraption seems to work for me…improvise right?!

I let my yogurt strain for approximately 2 hours. I like a good thick yogurt. At the end of 2 hours, turn the bag inside out over an empty large bowl and scrape any excess yogurt from the bag.

Do you see the watery mixture in the bottom of the bowl? Do NOT throw this away!

This is whey and it has many nutritional benefits. I’ve read that you can make ricotta cheese from whey but I’ve yet to try that…it’s definitely something I’d like to try though!

So, how do I use my leftover whey? I’ve not been too creative as of yet but for now, I save it in a quart sized Ball jar and then I “marinate” or soak/brine my chicken in it for a couple of hours before I cook the chicken. If I do decide to experiment with the cheese making process, I’ll be sure to put it on the blog 🙂

As your yogurt is straining…it would be a great time to whip up some apple compote or a yummy blueberry pie filling to go with your yogurt. I made a basic recipe that I had in an old cookbook but if you need a recipe, feel free to message me and I’ll add it here 🙂

I use Kerr/Ball 8 oz glass jars with these plastic lids. I also purchased these deli containers because I’ve had friends ask to order/purchase yogurt from me. I personally love the glass jars for myself but they’re not cost effective to “sell” yogurt 🙂

I add about 2-3 Tbsp fruit compote or homemade pie filling to the bottom of an 8oz. container and then scoop the yogurt on top. Place lid on container and refrigerate until ready to serve. I have not personally had any of my yogurt past 10 days because I eat it daily, so it’s gone in 8 days…but I’ve read many articles saying this yogurt should be stored only approx. 10 days.

I hope I’ve made this process seem simple and fun.

It really is fantastic and the cost is minimal if you already have an Instant Pot.

 

Please share this recipe with your friends and family. If you make this recipe, please comment below and/or add your own pictures. Thanks for stopping by!

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