Learn how to make homemade yogurt in your oven, no special equipment needed. It’s super easy and delicious and will save you money too!
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You all, I’m so excited to finally show you all how to make homemade yogurt from scratch! So many of you have emailed me or messaged me asking for my easy homemade yogurt recipe after seeing it on my menu plans. And if you are one of the people waiting for me to post it…thanks for your patience! 🙂
I’ve been making homemade yogurt for at least 8 years now and we eat so much of it that I cringe to think how much it would cost us if we started buying store bought instead of using homemade!
The thing I love about this recipe- besides that fact that it’s super cheap and saves us money- is that the method used for the yogurt making process is very simple and basic. You don’t need any fancy equipment and there’s a good chance that you already own all the things that you need to get started making your first batch of homemade yogurt!
Yogurt Making Tips
Making homemade yogurt isn’t difficult, but there are a few things that are helpful to know before you get started.
MILK
You can use any type of dairy milk to make homemade yogurt (including raw milk!), although whole milk will produce the thickest, creamiest yogurt.
YOGURT FOR THE STARTER
To get your milk to culture and become homemade yogurt, you will actually need to add a bit of yogurt to it. You can use regular or Greek yogurt as long as it lists “Live Active Cultures” in the ingredients or on the container. That culture is what will make the milk turn into yogurt. It’s best to use unflavored yogurt for this, although I have occasionally used vanilla flavored yogurt and it’s worked okay too.
GELATIN
You can actually make homemade yogurt without adding the gelatin if you want. Adding it just thickens the yogurt a bit and makes it less runny and we prefer the consistency of the yogurt with it in.
CULTURE TIME
My recipe says to culture the yogurt for 8 hours. You can actually adjust that time if you prefer. Basically, you need to let it culture for at least 4 hours for it to become yogurt.
The longer yogurt sits and cultures, the thicker and tarter it becomes. We love the taste and tartness of 8 hours, but feel free to play around with it. And if you are like me and put the yogurt in the oven to culture overnight while you are sleeping and you happen to sleep longer than 8 hours, stay calm- it will still be good! It just might be a bit more tart than usual!
GREEK YOGURT
If you are a fan of Greek yogurt, you can make yogurt using this recipe and then just strain it. Straining it will drain off the whey, leaving you with a thicker, denser Greek style yogurt. (Most people like to use cheesecloth to do the straining.) If you strain it, you’ll obviously end up with less yogurt as well as whey. If you aren’t sure what to do with the whey, Google it! There are lots of great uses for it!
Alright, are you ready to get started? Here’s my easy step-by-step process to make yogurt!
Super Easy Homemade Yogurt (made in the oven)
Super Easy Homemade Yogurt (made in the oven!)
Ingredients
- 2 qt. milk
- 1/2 c. sugar*
- 1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin
- 2 Tbsp. (heaping) unflavored yogurt** (must contain Live Active Cultures)
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla
Instructions
- Mix gelatin into 1/3 c. cold water. Let set.
- Using medium heat, heat milk to 190 degrees, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and add gelatin, sugar and vanilla. Whisk well.
- Cool to 130 degrees.
- Add commercial yogurt and stir well with a wire whisk.
- Pour into 2 quart jars (or whatever containers you want to use); screw on lid.
- Place in oven close to the oven light. Turn oven light on and close the oven door. Let set for 8 to 10 hours.
- Remove from oven and refrigerate.
Notes
To add flavor, stir in fruit (whole or blended), jelly, pie filling or dry flavored jello.
PIN IT FOR LATER:
Kimberly J Catlin
I understand that this recipe is only with no flavor but have you ever make it alike “strawberry ” yogurt or any flavor by real fruit into this recipe?
Lydia Beiler
Good question, Kimberly! Just to clarify, this technically is vanilla flavored since you add vanilla extract, so it’s not “plain” yogurt if that makes sense. But if you are wanting a fruit flavored yogurt you can stir in fruit, jelly, pie filling or dry flavored Jello. (This is all in the Notes section at the bottom of the recipe card in case that helpful to know.) You can also use flavored yogurt for the 2 Tbsp. unflavored yogurt in the recipe (just make sure it has live, active cultures) but I’ve found that it barely flavors the final yogurt because it’s such a small amount, so just be aware of that.
Judith Humphrys
You really don’t want or need to put gelatine or sugar in the mix . The reason I don’t buy most yogurts is that they have additives that you don’t need! When I make yogurt I don’t put additives in with it, you can drain the whey off the yogurt and it will get thick which is what gelatine would do!
Lydia Beiler
Yes, you can do that too if you like. I don’t prefer that method for several reasons, but it’s definitely an option!
Adrianna
How long will the yogurt last in the fridge? We love yogurt and I’d like to give this a try. I don’t normally buy yogurt because of its price tag.
Lydia Beiler
It should last around 2 weeks, Adrianna! I hope you can make it and enjoy some inexpensive, delicious yogurt. If you have an Instant Pot, you can also make this recipe using that. Let me know if you’d like to know how to do it.
Rick
I’ve been looking for things that are easy to make and save a lot of money and wow! Yogurt costs way more than milk! Thanks for sharing the recipe so we can start making yogurt at home!
Lydia Beiler
You are so welcome, Rick! I’m really glad that this can help you cut costs. If you have an Instant Pot, it also is easy to make this recipe in that. If you want to know how, let me know and I can explain.
Beth
Are you able to use non dairy milk? I typically drink almond milk.
Lydia Beiler
I’ve never done it, but my understanding is that it works well.
Beth T
I would love your Instant Pot recipe – I do not have a yogurt button on my Instant Pot so am not sure how to proceed. Many Thanks!
Lydia Beiler
I’m sorry, Beth, but I’m not sure how you’d do it in the Instant Pot without the yogurt button. Basically the yogurt needs to be kept warm and the yogurt button allow it to stay at a nice warm temp.
Abbee
It turned out great, thanks! Can I use some to start the next batch or does the gelatin interfere?
Lydia Beiler
Yay, I love hearing that, Abbee! Yes, you can definitely use some of your homemade yogurt to start the next batch. I find that over time, it seems like the yogurt doesn’t culture quite as well for whatever reason and when it starts to lose some of it’s tanginess, then I buy some store-bought to use as fresh starter for one batch. Then I’ll use the new batch of homemade yogurt as starter for a while until it seems like it’s needing fresh storebought again. I don’t know if that will be the case for you or not, but that was just my experience.
Teresa
What is another way than placing the yogurt in oven with light on? Our oven doesn’t have a light.
Lydia Beiler
Do you have an Instant Pot? If so, you can make it in that and then use the yogurt setting for a minimum of 8 hours and up to 24 hours. You can also fill a cooler with warm water and put the jars in that (water up to the neck of the jar) for 8 to 10 hrs. I have also heard of people putting the pot of warm milk on a heating pad set to low, and then covering it tightly with a blanket or towel. I hope you are able to give it a try!
Julie
Another yogurt warmer? Use a large ceramic bowl or a canister. Gotta be ceramic to hold the heat.
Simply submerge ceramic bowl/ canister in a sink filled with boiling water. Do this while making your yogurt. Remove your hot ceramic, dump out water, and fill with new warm yogurt. Cover with plastic and a plate. Then…
Wrap the whole thing in a thick quilt blanket. 6 to 8 hours later it’s perfect!