Sundays In The Kitchen – How To Make Greek Yogurt
We have been going through greek yogurt like crazy around here! The husband is completely addicted and has been eating it daily for the past couple of months. And you guys know how I love my yogurt bowls when the warm weather hits! Although, I’ll gladly pay for a “good for you” food, a household of greek yogurt fanatics equals mucho dollars spent!
After an email from blog reader, Nadine (Hi Nadine!) telling me about her homemade yogurt and a little more research on my part, I decided to give the “make your own” process a try. The result was a smashing success! The process is time intensive (about 12-14 hours), but with very little hands-on time. Most of it is waiting time. Best of all, my HUGE batch of yogurt (I made about 55 ounces of yogurt after some spillage 
) cost less than $5 to make!
Ingredients:
- 1 gallon fat-free milk (use regular pasteurized milk only. do NOT use ultra-pasteurized – it won’t work!)…
- 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt with live active cultures (such as Chobani) at room temperature…
That’s it!
Here’s the how-to:
In a large, heavy bottomed stockpot, pour in milk …
Turn the heat to medium and bring milk to a slow boil. You’ll have to watch this carefully, so the milk doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. Stir periodically to keep that from happening. When it’s there, it will look like this…
Check the temperature and make sure the milk has reached 180 degrees ( I used a digital cooking thermometer). This is important for the magic to happen! At this temperature, the milk proteins prepare for culture time.
When the appropriate temperature is reached, remove pot from heat and place on a cooling rack. Let milk cool until the temperature reads 110 degrees (around 30-40 minutes of cooling).
Remove about 1/3 cup of warm milk. Place the 1/2 cup of prepared yogurt in small bowl …
Whisk until combined…
Add yogurt mixture back to remaining milk in the pot and whisk gently…
Place lid on pot…
Then wrap the entire pot in a heavy bath towel. This traps in the heat, allowing the culture production team to have its party …
And now…. we wait! Hang the “Do Not Disturb” on this baby. The recommended time is 8-10 hours. I let mine go overnight so I wouldn’t be tempted to check on it 
Nighty nite …
Mornin’! Lookie here…
It’s yogurt!
But, it’s not quite “greek” yet. Now you need a BIG colander and bowl…
Line the colander with a couple of damp, heavy duty paper towels (or cheesecloth…but who ever has cheesecloth???) …
Place colander over bowl and pour yogurt into the lined colander. My colander wasn’t quite big enough, so I had to use an additional small one…
Carefully, place in fridge and allow yogurt time for the whey to drain. This is what makes greek yogurt more thick and concentrated than traditional yogurt…
Let yogurt strain until desired thickness. Mine took around 4-5 hours. I ended up with this much whey liquid (x2!) …
Don’t let it strain too long, though or you’ll end up with yogurt cheese! Not a bad thing, but just not the result you were looking for!
However, this is…
Creamy, mild, homemade Greek yogurt …
Well worth the wait!
** If a vat of yogurt is too much for you, you can easily halve the recipe by using 1/2 gallon of milk and 1/4 cup of starter yogurt. The process remains the same and will yield around 30 oz. greek yogurt.
** If you’re not into the fat-free version, you can make the yogurt with whatever fat content you desire. It works with 1%, 2% or full fat milk,
** You can also save 1/2 cup of your homemade yogurt to use as the starter yogurt for the next batch.
** Homemade greek yogurt should keep in the fridge for 7-10 days.
Enjoy!
Check out these other Sundays In The Kitchen Posts:
Fire Roasted Peppers
Chicken Cacciatore
Gram’s Green Beans
Have a great day, everyone!
Are you a greek yogurt fan? What are your favorite yogurt toppings?
Questions? Email me! aloserforlife@gmail.com
23 comments
What a great project! I want to give this a try soon!
I eat Greek yogurt almost ever morning with my oatmeal. I also often add Greek yogurt to my banana/berry soft serves. Fruit/yogurt/granola parfaits are also always fun.
Have a great week!
Congrats on stepping into yogurt making and greek yogurt making ! Before I discovered my dairy allergy I was making a gallon of yogurt twice a week and dripping it into greek yogurt. They whey is actually very useful if you get into lacto fermented foods or soaking grains before cooking. The idea is that the whey helps to break down the phytic acids in grains, making them more digestible and easier to cook. For brown rice you would put it in a glass container , pour in double the volume of water, add 2 T whey and let it sit on the counter for 24 hrs . Then pour off the liquid, rinse the rice and cook as normal. The whey can also be added to soups for an extra nutrition boost.
It is so bizarre to me that you can leave milk out for hours and get something edible at the end! As you know I eat a ton of Greek yogurt – I may just have to give this a try!
Thank you for the recipe. Going to try this one for sure
I have always wanted to try this. Greek yogurt is ridiculously expensive but I like it so much more than regular yogurt. Thanks for sharing.
wow….I don’t think I have enough patience for that process. lol But I did buy a container of Fage 0% yesterday that Sean asked why it was WAY more $$ than the regular yogurts. lol
I have made my own yogurt before but not recently. I did it a few times and should start again – such a money saver!
I didn’t realize you could do that! Neat! I love oat bran and berries on mine!
Wow, pretty cool. Not sur I’d have the patience either , but it looks good.
Oh very cool!!! I had no idea making your own yogurt was that easy. Have a great day Marisa!!
oh that is so cool and no, no one has cheesecloth! I can’t believe that much liquid came out – the final product looks perfect!
I am ridiculously excited at the thought of trying this. It’s just me eating it so I will try the half batch. Any idea how long it’s good for?
I have got to try this! It looks pretty simple. Thanks for sharing it!
I’ve made yogurt before, but just find it easier to buy it LOL! I did make a maple yogurt, though, and it was very good.
Hi Marisa!
So glad it worked for you! Yummy isn’t it!! FYI-that “yogurt cheese” you were talking about is another one of my familie’s makes. Just like you said hang yogurt in cheese cloth and let drip until cream cheese consistency! We call it Lebne -Lebanese cream cheese! It is yummy on pita bread!
Wow, that looks great – and I am with you on the $$ of Chobani – not on sale each one is $1.59 by me, which adds up.
I remember my Mom having a homemade yogurt kit when we were little, she would keep it on top of the refrigerator while it did its magic, although after a few attempts, I think she decided it was just easier to buy it at the store.
seriously bows in awe.
we buy our yogurt in the misfit household
[...] 1 cup homemade greek yogurt [...]
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OH Man this is so easy! Thank you for sharing this – we are definitely a Greek Yogurt lover (daughter likes it too but with fruit mixed in to “cut” the tartness). This will be great … bet it can sub for sour cream in lots of things without anyone being the wiser. And saving me beaucoup money on yogurt.
I will be getting a pen to keep this for me … and then make sure I add a little extra milk and a small container of yogurt to my grocery list for this weekend. Thanks
[...] of course, stuck with a yogurt bowl (4 PP). Made more homemade greek yogurt this [...]
I love your ‘Sundays In The Kitchen’ series! Thanks for all of the yummy inspiration.
I plan on making this tomorrow!
I made a “half” batch (half gallon fat free milk), as this was my first attempt. I just love this! I had to split into two batches – one larger than the other. Well, the smaller batch became yogurt “soft cream cheese”. This was a successful two-fer. I will be making this again, and again. Thank you for the recipe