Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe (Step-by-Step)

Making yogurt at home is easier than what you think. This instant pot yogurt recipe is easy to follow and gives you the creamiest yogurt. 

Many of us own at least one instant pot at home. What I love about instant pot is that it makes the process of cooking very hands-off and that's why I love making yogurt with it. Other favorite instant pot recipes are instant pot white rice recipe, instant pot brown rice recipe and instant pot lentil soup. 

Why make yogurt at home? 

Yogurt has a special place in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines and is usually served at meals alongside main dishes. While it might seem that making yogurt at home could be a difficult and risky task, it's good to know that if you use your instant pot to make it, it's actually pretty simple and straight forward. You can make your own yogurt at home with no hassle and very minimal hands-on time using your pressure cooker. 

Now, why would anyone want to make yogurt at home? Well, here are a few reasons:

• Flavor: The flavor of homemade yogurt is sweeter and less tangy compare to store-bought. 
• Cost: The cost of making yogurt in your instant pot is half of what you pay to buy yogurt at a store. 
• Texture: Instant pot yogurt is so creamy and much smoother than the store-bought version.  

Even though the process of making yogurt in the instant pot is quite long, but it has no more than 5 minutes of hands-on time. This is a fool-proof instant pot yogurt recipe that turns out perfectly every time. 

What do I need to make yogurt in my instant pot? 

All you need to make instant pot yogurt is an instant pot, whole milk, some yogurt and an instant-read thermometer. Making instant pot yogurt recipe is so easy and not overwhelming at all. 

What kind of milk to use?

We have tried making instant pot yogurt using milk with different fat content and the result is that you can make the best instant pot yogurt using whole milk or 2% milk. Please don't use skim milk as it will result in yogurt that's not flavorful and has a pretty runny texture. 

Do I need a yogurt starter? 

Yes! You always, always need a started to make yogurt at home. The starter is added directly to the heated milk to form the yogurt. 

What should I use as a starter? 

The most common started to use in instant pot yogurt recipe is store-bought yogurt that contains active bacterial cultures. When buying yogurt, check out the ingredient list to make sure it contains active bacterial cultures. The yogurt you're using as a starter should be plain, meaning vanilla yogurt or any other flavored yogurt won't work. 

Once you make your first batch of homemade instant pot yogurt, you can keep ¼ cup of that yogurt to use as a starter for the next batch. 

How to make yogurt in instant pot 

It's so easy to make yogurt at home using your instant pot because you can simply use your instant pot yogurt setting. There are four main steps to make instant pot yogurt at home: 

• Clean your instant pot: This is an optional step but if you cook a lot of chili and stews in your instant pot, I strongly advise you to take this step. To clean the inner pot of your instant pot, simply wash it in the dishwasher (separate the plastic ring and wash it separately). Once the pot, the ring and the lid are dry, place the ring in the lid again and wash the pot once more only with hot water. Dry the pot and put it in the instant pot. 
• Heat the milk: Pour the milk into the pot and seal the lid on the instant pot. It doesn't matter if you set the valve on sealing or venting since the instant pot won't be using pressure. Press the yogurt function on the instant pot until the screen shows "boil". Let the instant pot do its work and heat the milk. This will take about 60 to 90 minutes. 
• Cool the milk and add the starter: Once the milk is heated, your instant pot will beep. Take the inner pot out and immediately put it into an ice water bath (a large bowl filled with ice water) and place an instant read thermometer in the milk. Slowly whisk the milk until the temperature reads at 110ºF. If the milk has formed a "skin", remove it. Take out ½ cup milk and stir it into the starter yogurt. Add the starter and milk back to the pot and whisk gently without touching the bottom of the pot. 
• Incubation: Return the pot into the instant pot and press the yogurt button again. Adjust it to 8 hours and let the instant pot start the incubation process. After 8 hours, your yogurt is set and ready to be stored. 

Instant pot yogurt temperature

You absolutely need an instant read thermometer to make the best instant pot yogurt at home. This is because the temperature of the milk should reach the temperature between 105ºF and 110ºF and that's exactly when you should add the starter to the milk. 

How long does yogurt take in instant pot?

It takes about 90 minutes for the yogurt to warm up and then cool down to add the starter. And then another 8 hours is required for fermentation. Therefore making yogurt at home is a 10-hour process which is almost completely hands-off. You will know the yogurt is done once it's a whole mass in the instant pot and it's dense. The texture of a ready yogurt is dense and not runny. 

Instant pot Greek yogurt

The yogurt you make at home might be a bit runnier and smoother than store-bought and the reason is that homemade yogurt does not contain any kind of stabilizer such as pectin. Now if you'd like your homemade instant pot yogurt to have the same texture as Greek yogurt, here is how to do it:

• Place a strainer on top of a bowl. 
• Line the strainer with two layers of cheesecloth.
• Pour the yogurt into the strainer and let the whey drip out for at least one hour. If you like a denser yogurt, you can leave the yogurt and strainer with the bowl in the fridge for the whey to drip for up to 8 hours. 
• Once the yogurt has reached your desired consistency, whisk it and store it. This yogurt is going to be smooth and quite dense.   

Can I use non dairy milk to make instant pot yogurt?

I have not tried using non-dairy milk to make yogurt. However, after some research I figured out that people have found success using coconut milk to make yogurt in instant pot. Here is a recipe on Epicurious on how to make instant pot cultured coconut milk yogurt. 

How to use homemade instant pot yogurt 

There are so many ways to use your homemade yogurt. You can top it with some strawberries and blueberries, granola and honey to have a nice breakfast. Or you can blend it with fruit to make smoothies. If like me, you like to make savory recipes using yogurt, you need to check out these recipes: 

• Ayran (Yogurt drink)
• Tzatziki
• Borani (spinach yogurt dip)
• Cacik (Turkish yogurt and cucumber)
• Cilbir (Turkish eggs)
• Mast o khiar (Persian yogurt cucumber dip)

How to keep yogurt 

Yogurt is alive and needs immediate refrigeration. The longer the yogurt stays, the tangier and looser it'll become. Homemade instant pot yogurt keeps for about ten days in the fridge. Make sure to store your homemade yogurt in glass jars or containers for the best result. 

Can I freeze homemade yogurt?

Many say it's possible to freeze homemade yogurt. However, just because it's possible, doesn't mean it's a good idea. When yogurt is frozen, it develops an acid like flavor that's not pleasant. Moreover, the texture changes and it becomes grainy. 

Notes and tips to make instant pot yogurt recipe

• My yogurt is not set, what has gone wrong? There could be a few reasons that the yogurt didn't set. One could be that the starter yogurt you used didn't contain active bacterial cultures. Another reason could be that the yogurt didn't heat enough in the instant pot or got too cold before adding the starter. 
• Do I need to strain the yogurt? Not necessarily. Straining is only required if you're looking to have Greek style yogurt that's pretty dense. 
• How can I sweeten the yogurt? The yogurt you make in your instant pot tends to be sweeter than store-bought yogurt so you probably don't need to sweeten it at all. However, honey or maple syrup can work very well if you would like to sweeten the yogurt. 
• What if I like my yogurt to be tangier? Simply adjust the yogurt button to 10 hours instead of 8 hours. The longer it incubates, the tangier the yogurt will be. 
• What's the white/clear water that my yogurt keeps releasing? It's called whey. It's very normal for homemade yogurt to release that. Some use whey in place of buttermilk in baking but I've never tried it myself. 
• Can I use my homemade instant pot yogurt as a starter? Absolutely. Your homemade yogurt makes the best starter. 

Tools used to make instant pot yogurt recipe: 

• Instant pot 
• Instant read thermometer