Yes, it’s true I said Homemade Crock Pot Greek Yogurt. I never would have thought making your own yogurt could be so easy and not to mention using simple everyday kitchen tools and appliances to make it.
Our house goes through yogurt pretty fast. We eat it plain, with fresh fruit or jam, for breakfast with granola, make yogurt pops or use it in a multitude of recipes. When I saw the recipe from Shannon’s Kitchen Creations, I couldn’t wait to try it!
There are so many benefits to making your own. I love the taste and creaminess of greek yogurt but it can be expensive if it’s not on sale or you don’t have grocery store coupons. When I was first introduced to Chobani Greek yogurt, I was in heaven. But paying over a $1 for one single yogurt on a family’s budget to me is unacceptable. Especially now that I can make my own for less…$0.30. How’s that for starters?
You can throw it in the crock pot overnight and when you wake up in the morning, you have a delicious and creamy yogurt. My kids said the kitchen smelled like homemade bread and yogurt. It will also have a lot less sugar. Flavoring yogurt yourself, allows you to control how much sugar you add. You can flavor it with fresh fruit, honey, Agave syrup, Maple syrup, cinnamon, add granola or simply eat it plain. Try adding it to your favorite fruit smoothie recipe.
My first attempt at making it, the milk looked like I just poured it into the crock pot. It’s wasn’t the thick consistency that I had hoped for. That didn’t get me discouraged. I’ve had my crock pot for over 10 years and I realized that the low setting isn’t bringing foods to the right temperature. So the next batch I tried, I turned it on the high setting then down to low after an hour. The second batch turned out perfect!
- A creamy and delicious Crock Pot Greek Yogurt!
Crock Pot Greek Yogurt
Servings: 4 cups
Ingredients:
- 8 cups milk
- 1/2 cup store-bought natural plain yogurt (you can use Dannon, Chobani, Fage etc. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter)
Note: (whole, 1%, 2% or skim Pasteurized Milk, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized it won’t work.) You can also use 1 gallon of milk and 1 cup of yogurt, just heat the milk for 3 hours instead of 2 1/2 on step 2. The rest of the steps are the same.
Cooking Tools:
- 4 quart Crock pot
- Wisk
- Measuring cup
- Paper towels or cheese cloth ( I agree with Shannon and prefer the paper towel method.)
- Ladle
- Containers to put yogurt in
- thick bath towel
- a timer
Directions:
1. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor. (After the 3 hour mark, you can go to bed.)
2. Plug in your crock pot and turn to low. Add a half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.
3. Unplug your crock pot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.
4. When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crock pot. Wisk to combine.
5. Put the lid back on your crock pot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.
6. Go to bed or let it sit for 8 hours.
7. In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened to the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.
8. Place Cheese cloth or paper towels into a colander and ladle the yogurt into it, place the colander into a big bowl or in the sink.
9. Let it sit for 1 hr until thick and creamy.
10. Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.
11. Flavor to fit your taste, you can also use this in place of sour cream.
June 28th, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Amazing! Need to try this out.
June 28th, 2011 at 5:32 pm
I thought so too. And it’s so easy to make.
June 30th, 2011 at 11:06 am
Mmm, I’ve got to try this! Thanks for sharing!
June 30th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
You know your one of my best food critics,
Hope you are doing well!
November 18th, 2011 at 7:48 am
Have you made the greek yogurt with soy? I read somewhere that there should be a thickning agent added to soy because of the protein difference. Is this true in your experience?
November 18th, 2011 at 9:12 am
I’ve read about different ways to make soy yogurt. It’s on my “to do” list. As far as a thickening agent, I’ll try a batch with 1 cup pre-purchased soy yogurt from the grocery store first, then research others ways like corn startch, tapioca starch or Agar powder.
January 5th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Can you use flavored yogurt? All I have right now is Vanilla.
January 5th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
Yes, you can use flavored yogurt. Your batch should have a slight vanilla flavor to it. Let me know how it turns out if you try it.
January 9th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Can you use raw goat milk?
January 10th, 2012 at 6:35 am
Pat,
Yes, yogurt can be made with any type of milk; goat, cow, sheep, 2%, 1%. You can also use powdered milk or even soy milk.
January 11th, 2012 at 10:35 am
thanks for your recipe. i’ve been making yogurt for a while now and love it. last week my yogurt did not strain well with the cheesecloth and i ended up with very soup-y yogurt. i have never thought to use paper towels instead. is it better to use a good quality paper towel than a generic brand, or does it really matter? i think i may try this for my next batch.
January 11th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Hi Julie,
When I use store brand paper towels, I cross them like an “x” because they are thinner than Brawny type paper towels. This helps to avoid tears in the paper towel as I’m straining the yogurt.
The longer you let the yogurt sit while staining the thicker it should become. This is also a beginning to making yogurt cheese. What type of milk did you use and what temp was your crock pot at?
January 15th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
thanks for your post
January 29th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I can’t have dairy except for yogurt and sour cream and heavy cream because the process is not the same as pasteurized dairy products, it uses a fermentation process. However the milk is in the recipe is store bought and went through the pasteurization process so I am not sure I can eat it. Do you think unsweetened vanilla almond milk would work?
January 29th, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Great question. It just might. I’ve read that you can also make homemade yogurt with soy or almond milk–same procedure even down to wrapping the slow cooker in towels; however I haven’t tried using this type of milk yet.
February 15th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Hi!
I love your website! I am on my 2nd batch trying…and it has come out runny again.
I even put it on high for the 1st hour. Any suggestions? It was still warm after the 8 hours and bubbly; but not yogurt. I love greek yogurt and am excited to make it work.
Thank you!
Karin
February 15th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Thanks Karin! First, let me start off by saying there’s nothing wrong with runny yogurt. Stir in some unflavored gelatin and use it anyway or be creative with runny half-milk, half-yogurt. Smoothies, anyone? Use it in baking like you would milk, or make cream of vegetable soup. If your yogurt incubated WAY too hot, it’s pretty much just milk. Make hot chocolate and try again tomorrow!
Now to answer your question, it could be the milk is too hot when starter stirred in (bacteria dies). Or weak starter, try buying new yogurt at the store. The milk shouldn’t be bubbly after sitting overnight. It should look thick with a slight creaminess once stirred and the “film” over the top should be a watery yellow. (This is basically what you’re draining off the yogurt when you strain it.)
Don’t give up, it’s well worth it!
February 27th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
I love this site, I just found it. I’m curious if you can freeze the yogurt, does it do ok? I don’t think we would eat that much in 7-10 days, but love the idea of knowing exactly what is in it. Plus the cost savings would be wonderful.
March 10th, 2012 at 9:47 am
This is soo easy and soo delish.I added homemade caramel syrup as a late nite treat!!!