Homemade Instant Pot Yogurt

Since being pregnant I’ve been craving homemade yogurt with granola and raspberries on top! So I thought I’d share with you guys how I make homemade Instant Pot yogurt.

Homemade yogurt is so much better than store-bought, and even though Little Miss doesn’t like milk she loves yogurt. I’ve been making this recipe almost weekly for her since she loves it so much and I’ve been craving it.

Homemade yogurt is also great if you want to control what products go into your food, if that’s the case then this recipe is for you! It’s so much easier to control how much sugar is in your yogurt when you make it yourself.

Download The Recipe!

    Sample homemade Instant Pot yogurt recipe pdf
    Sample Homemade Yogurt Recipe PDF

    Homemade Instant Pot Yogurt Video Instructions:

    Ingredients & Cooking Supplies

    • 1/2 Gallon of Milk of your choice (I use whole milk)
    • 2 tbsp. Oui Yoplait Yogurt in Vanilla
    • 2 tbsp. Vanilla Extract (more or less to taste)
    • 1/2 Cup Sugar (more or less to taste)

    Step 1 – The Milk

    Instant Pot yogurt boil setting

    Pour 1/2 gallon of milk into the Instant Pot bowl, hit the yogurt function, then hit adjust where you want it to say boil. What this is going to do is pasteurize the milk even more than it is and get it to the temperature it needs to be. Put the lid on the Instant Pot, make sure the pressurize is on the sealing setting, and then let the milk boil.

    Step 2 – The Temperature

    Checking the texture of your yogurt

    Your Instant Pot will then beep letting you know that your milk is done. Open your Instant Pot, take a thermometer and make sure the temperature is between 180-185. Make sure you have a good thermometer, there’s been a few times that my milk hasn’t gotten up to the 180-185 degree temperature that is needed. Normally, I have to turn on the saute feature on the Instant Pot and stir the milk a bit for it to get up to that temperature range. Personally, I like to hit 182 degrees to be in the middle of that range. Also, check a couple of different spots in the mixture.

    Step 3 – The Cool

    Letting your yogurt cool down

    Next, take the Instant Pot bowl out of the pressure cooker and let it cool off on your stove. Taking it out of the Instant Pot allows the mixture to be just at the right temperature. Let the milk cool to between 105-110 degrees, once again I like to shoot for 107 degrees since it’s about in the middle of that range.

    Step 4 – The Start

    Adding in the yogurt start

    Once the milk reaches the temperature range, take a ladle of milk out of the Instant Pot bowl and put it into a smaller bowl. Next, take 2 tbsp. of your yogurt starter (any yogurt will work but I use Oui by Yoplait) and put it into the bowl with the ladle of milk. Mix it up really well and then transfer the small bowl back to the Instant Pot bowl and again mix it up really well.

    Step 5 – The Tang

    Next, move the Instant Pot bowl back to the Instant Pot and put the lid back on, and change the valve to seal. Hit the yogurt button, then the adjust button twice. The Instant Pot should have a time setting displaying for 8 hours. Normally, the main yogurt time will be 8 hours to make but the longer it sits the tangier your yogurt will be. I like to do my yogurt time for 6 hours because I don’t like tangy yogurt. Feel free to adjust the time to suit your preference.

    Step 6 – The Strainer

    Checking the consistency of the yogurt
    A yogurt strainer

    When the Instant Pot is finished open it up and your yogurt should be set up! You’ll know it’s ready by if it looks thick, you can also put a spoon or a fork in the yogurt and it should stay upright.

    The next step is to strain the yogurt through your strainer! This allows you to control how thick (like greek yogurt) or thin (like Gogurt) you want your yogurt to be. This strainer separates the yogurt from some of the liquid. I like to strain my yogurt overnight.

    Step 7 – The Homemade Instant Pot Yogurt!

    After the yogurt has been strained

    Next, pour the yogurt from the strainer into a bowl. Add your 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tbsp. vanilla extract to the yogurt and mix it together. If the yogurt is too thick I add a bit of the liquid at the bottom of the strainer to get the consistency that I like. You can alter the amount of sugar or vanilla to your desired taste.

    And there you have it! This homemade Instant Pot yogurt really is the best and Little Miss asks for it absolutely all the time. Overall, it does take a long time to make but I think the reward is worth it! If you liked this recipe check out some of our others over on the rest of my blog. Let me know what you think!

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