Easy Homemade Greek Yogurt with No Special Equipment

If I have Homemade Greek yogurt in my refrigerator, I find so many ways to use it.  It makes a lovely breakfast with blueberries, maple syrup, and granola, or topped with a spoonful of fruit preserves.  My daughter loves to add it to her overnight oats so that they end up with the most creamy texture.  Additionally, homemade yogurt can substitute for sour cream on top of enchiladas, or in salad dressings.  There’s no end to its contribution to my weekly food plan.  On top of all that, homemade yogurt is loaded with calcium, protein, and probiotics.  So, you can feel really good when you or your children are eating it! Once you start making your own homemade Greek yogurt, you’ll find it’s hard to keep around and one batch quickly turns into two turns into three!

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Why make Homemade Greek Yogurt?

As a menu staple

 Twenty-four hour fermented creamy homemade Greek yogurt is an easy way to have a food staple that everyone enjoys!  It has its place at the breakfast, lunch, or dinner table, and it makes a great midnight snack. It can also serve as dessert with sweetened fruit on top. If, like me, you love feeding your family foods that are made from scratch, creamy yogurt is the ultimate convenience food and I love knowing I have a large batch in the fridge waiting for the next person who walks in the door hungry!

Health benefits 

 Twenty-Four hour fermented yogurt is loaded with probiotics, or good bacteria, which is so good for gut health.  It seems that so many people suffer from tummy problems these days, and 24-hour yogurt may be a part of the solution.

Calcium is so important for good bone health and I always feel that I’m chasing enough calcium in my diet.  This delicious Greek yogurt helps me meet that requirement while also getting so many other good things!

During the 24 hour fermentation process, the “happy bacteria” digest the sugars in milk, otherwise known as lactose.  The end result is a yogurt that is often better tolerated by those who have lactose intolerance.  Now, if you’re ALLERGIC to dairy, no amount of fermentation will change that!

Economical

I can make a lot of Greek-style yogurt for significantly less than I can buy it in the store.  In addition, once I’ve made my first batch, my homemade yogurt from the previous batch serves as the starter for the next several batches.  More importantly, having this food staple in my refrigerator gives me so many options for breakfast and lunch that I run to the grocery less often. 

Knowledge of what’s in your yogurt

Some store-bought yogurts have fillers, artificial flavors and sweeteners, sugar, and even preservatives that I don’t want in my yogurt.  When I make my own homemade yogurt, I know exactly what’s in it and what is not.  

Taste

I LOVE this creamy yogurt!  The taste is wonderful, the texture is perfect for all the ways I use it.  In classes, when students are served this with fresh fruit, granola, and maple syrup and you would think they were eating a pure delicacy. A drizzle of honey is also so delicious! Sometimes it’s the simple things that really taste special.  

Different Ways to Use Homemade Greek Yogurt

For breakfast or lunch, I like to keep it simple by adding fresh berries and maple syrup or honey.  Granola can also be added for some good crunch.  My grandchildren love to eat plain yogurt with fruit preserves or jam.  No need to add maple syrup or honey with this as there’s enough sugar in the preserves.  They like to watch the yogurt turn pink or blue as I stir in the preserves.  

I always strain my yogurt to have a Greek style yogurt, which works as a sour cream substitute so well.  Not only is it healthier than sour cream, but it’s really tasty as well.  You can also make salad dressing that you would normally make with sour cream or mayonnaise.  Again, this makes an added trip to the grocery unnecessary when you’re having tacos and need some sour cream!

Added to baked goods, this 24 hour Greek style yogurt takes muffins, cake, and scones to the next level.  Not only does it enhance the texture of baked goods, but its acidity adds to the flavor in a way that just balances everything out.  

Smoothies can be a part of everyone’s diet.  They’re convenient, nutritious, and a good way to “disguise” healthy ingredients from our children.  This 24-hour yogurt is a wonderful base for the best smoothies!

Tools

Large stainless steel stock pot:  I use a six-quart size, but it just needs to hold one gallon of milk, comfortably. Or..

4 or 6 Quart Dutch Oven:  This will also work for the process of heating, cooling and incubating the yogurt.

Food thermometer:  I use a candy thermometer because I can clip it to the side of the pot and keep an eye on it, but you can also use a thermopen, and just check it occasionally.  

Cooler:  Just needs to be big enough to house your pot of yogurt and a gallon of hot water.  

Colander:  You only need this if you plan to strain your yogurt.  Having one with handles like this one makes it handy to sit on top of the pot it’s draining into.

Larger stainless steel stock pot:  Again, you only need this if you’re straining the yogurt.  The colander will sit on top of this in the fridge and whey will collect in the pot.  I use a 12 quart pot like this one simply because it fits my colander well.  

The Ingredients

Milk:  Using whole dairy milk is my favorite way to make yogurt with a full-bodied texture and flavor.  Lower fat such as skim milk can be used, but it just won’t be as thick and creamy.  Store brand yogurts with lower fat content often use thickeners to create the texture of thick Greek yogurt that full fat milk just gives naturally.  In addition, I want to be able to use this yogurt as a substitute for sour cream–because we use a lot of it–so I want it to be thick and creamy.

Yogurt starter:  The first time you make homemade yogurt, you will start with a small amount of store-bought yogurt that contains the live cultures needed to inoculate your milk and create a completely different final product! The active cultures will spread through the warm milk, creating a tangy yogurt with a creamy texture. Chobani or Fage plain Greek yogurt are my go-to for a starter culture. After my first batch, I can use my own yogurt to serve as the starter for the next several batches. Make sure you use plain yogurt, as the flavor from the starter will translate into the yogurt you’re making.  Any fat content will work for the starter.  I often use the nonfat Chobani yogurt because it’s always available, and it works really well as the starter.  

The Process of making Homemade Greek Yogurt

Heating and Cooling

I’ve used this same process for many years, and it never fails me.  It’s simple and uses “equipment” you probably already have.  In a Dutch oven or stainless-steel pot, bring one gallon of whole milk up to 190 degrees over medium heat.  Raising the temperature of the milk the milk does a couple of things.  First, it kills any unwanted bacteria that might compete with our starter culture bacteria.  More importantly, the high temperature changes the protein in the milk which creates the smooth thick Greek yogurt we’re shooting for! 

 Next, allow it to cool down to 110 degrees.  If I’m in a hurry, putting it over an ice bath will cool it down more quickly.  But most of the time I just find other things to do while I wait.  

Inoculation and Incubation (Big words for something so simple!)

Once the milk is cooled, in a small cup, mix one half of an individual Chobani Plain Yogurt into 1/2 cup of the cooled milk.  Next, add the mixture back into the rest of the warm milk.  Stir it gently into the milk.  Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and place in a cooler. 

I always nestle a gallon of hot tap water next to the yogurt pot, down in the cooler.  The container from the milk you used works great–just fill it with hot water, and it will help the cooler stay nice and warm.  Twenty-four hours later, my yogurt is nice and thick and ready to strain.  If it’s a cold winter day and your kitchen is extra chilly, you can change out the water before you go to bed that night.  Just empty the gallon of water and fill it with fresh hot water.  Don’t disturb the yogurt; just let it work quietly in the cooler.

Relaxation

I have never obsessed over keeping my cooler at a magical temperature, and it always seems to work out.  Sometimes I remind myself that yogurt was discovered thousands of years ago, accidentally, when herdsmen stored milk in primitive ways in warm climates. That knowledge keeps me relaxed when making homemade yogurt!

Straining

After 24 hours, remove your yogurt from the cooler and see the magical transformation!  The curds (the creamy white yogurt) have separated from the whey (the yellowish free liquid) and it’s ready to strain.  If you don’t want Greek style yogurt, you can stop right here, and the yogurt just needs to be chilled.  But I want thicker yogurt so that when I mix maple syrup or honey with it, it’s not too thin.  For best results, line a colander with food-grade cheesecloth and set that over a large stock pot (I’ve included a picture of my set-up). 

The whole thing goes in the fridge for at least four hours and up to eight hours.  It will drain off the extra whey that has separated and become very thick.  Once it’s the desired thickness for you, transfer the yogurt to a storage container and enjoy for up to 10 days in the fridge.  I feed my yogurt to a lot of toddlers who are just learning to navigate a spoon, and I’ve found that keeping the yogurt nice and thick makes it much easier for them to eat.

Helpful Hints

• Leftover whey:  I have never been able to use all my leftover whey, but the internet offers so many ways to use it! These include using in smoothies, bases for dressings and sauces and even as a meat tenderizer. 
• Storage container:  You can use a plastic storage container, but I feel this glass storage container with its airtight lid has worked well for me for many years.  It also holds exactly one batch of this yogurt once it’s completely drained and it will keep your yogurt fresh and free of refrigerator odors.
• Keeping starter for the next batch:  One Chobani will work as the starter for two batches, so I always put the remaining starter yogurt in a freezer bag and freeze it until I need a starter again.  When I’m starting the next batch, I get the bag out of the freezer and by the time I need it, it’s at room temperature and ready to use.
  • You can also use two heaping tablespoons of your homemade yogurt as your next starter.  Just make sure you keep some back, or you’ll go to the fridge for it one day and find that someone already ate it! 
• Straining Process:  If you don’t have cheesecloth laying around, you can always use a clean cloth napkin or kitchen tea towel to strain the yogurt.  Just make sure it’s clean and lint-free.  
• Freezing your yogurt:  If you’re leaving for vacation and you don’t want your yogurt to go to waste, you can always freeze it!  The texture changes slightly, but it’s still very good. Remove the yogurt from the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw. I love keeping a small amount of yogurt in the freezer at all times to make sure I always have a starter culture available to make my next batch.

Our Favorite Recipes Using Homemade Greek Yogurt

Homemade Popsicles with Greek Yogurt

Homemade Frozen Yogurt

Blackberry Compote

Homemade Creamy Greek Yogurt

Time:

Active time:1 hr. Wait time: 30 hours

Difficulty:

Simple

Ingredients

• One gallon whole milk
• One small container Chobani plain yogurt (or your preferred yogurt)

Directions

1. In four-quart Dutch oven, heat milk to 190 degrees Fahrenheit over medium heat. 
2. Then allow to cool to 110 degrees. 
3. Once cooled, mix 1/2 of the yogurt into 1/2 cup cooled milk. Add mixture back into the remaining milk, stir gently, cover, and place in cooler. Place one gallon of hot tap water in the cooler beside the yogurt pot.
4. Allow to ferment for 24 hours. (You can put yogurt in refrigerator at this point, chill, and enjoy, but I go a step further.)
5. To drain, spoon yogurt into cheesecloth-lined colander and allow to drain over a stockpot in the refrigerator for at least four, and up to eight hours. Store your strained yogurt in a container with air-tight lid. Enjoy for up to 10 days in refrigerator.