How To Make Homemade Yogurt (+ video)

Homemade yogurt/yoghurt has only 2 ingredients and is super easy to make.  Once you have mastered this you can make all sorts of great larder basics.

I remember many, many years ago making jokes about hippy types who could knit their own yogurt. You know, you’d see someone in open sandals in midwinter swathed in layers of cheesecloth with a multitude of love beads.

Maybe they were even sporting a dreadlock or two and you just knew they were deeply veggie and embraced the yogurt culture in a big way.

That was then, this is now and friends I make my own homemade yogurt with not a love bead/dreadlock or sandal in sight, but I do use a bit of cheesecloth now and then.

I buy yogurt every week, always plain yogurt and most often high-quality somewhat expensive Greek yogurt. I eat it for breakfast, stir it into soups, make dips with it and toss in a few berries and have it as a quick and easy healthy pudding when I can’t be bothered getting too creative in the kitchen.

Last year I thought I’d have a go at making my own and found it to be so darn easy, it had me kicking myself for a fool to have been forking out so much for this stuff for so many years.

Now I make my own Greek style yogurt too.

2 ingredient yogurt

There are only two ingredients in this recipe, it is seriously simple.

You want to start with good quality milk, I like goat’s milk, it is easier to digest than cow’s milk and I love the taste. You’ll need 800ml (about 1 1/4 pints) of your chosen milk plus four tablespoons of plain live yogurt.

How to make your own yogurt

Pour the milk into a saucepan and gently heat it to 85c/185f which is the sterilising point. Make sure you have a good thermometer for this – I use my trusty jam thermometer.

When the milk has reached this temperature remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool to 43c/110f by which point a skin will have formed on top.

Scoop off the skin and discard.

Now put your yogurt into a jug and pour in a little of the cooled milk and stir well to combine thoroughly. Add the rest of the milk and stir well.

Pour this mixture into a jar and pop on the lid. Wrap the jar in a tea towel and put it somewhere warm like the airing cupboard or near a heater for 7 hours or overnight. I leave mine on top of the Aga overnight.

You can achieve a firmer and more tart yogurt by leaving it for 24 hours.

Your yogurt is now ready to use and can be stored in the fridge. If you want a thicker consistency you can line a sieve with cheesecloth (see, told you I had a use for it here!) and allow the yogurt to drain through.

If you let it drain completely you end up with cream cheese. What I do is let it drain for about an hour. Check the resulting yogurt in the sieve and scoop it into a jar, I will then stir in a little of the liquid I drained off if I feel it has become too thick and cheese-like.

Save some of the yogurt

Now don’t go polishing it off to the last drop super tasty as it is. Make sure you hold back those all-important 4 tablespoons so that you can make your next batch of homemade yogurt and that way you only have to buy the milk.

How long does homemade yogurt keep

Your homemade yogurt will keep in the fridge for up to a week.  You can also freeze your yogurt for up to 2 months.

Serving suggestions

To add flavour to your yogurt just stir in a little vanilla extract, your favourite jam/jelly or fresh fruit etc.

Use homemade yogurt in curry and chilli recipes to cool things down a little if you’ve made them too spicy.

Make simple dips out of yogurt like my homemade Greek tzatziki or Indian raita dip.

So there you have it homemade yogurt and not an open-toed sandal or love bead in sight. Image intact, tummy satisfied, what more could you ask.

Looking for more super easy larder basics to make yourself? Then check these out before you go;

How to make homemade almond milk

Make your own pasta from scratch

How to make simple Labneh, yogurt cheese

The easiest foolproof homemade mayonnaise

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.