Yes, the Instant Pot makes yogurt! Learn how to make homemade Instant Pot yogurt in jars or individual cups using the Pot in Pot (PIP) method. This Instant Pot yogurt recipe is free of additives and preservatives and is full of healthy probiotics, vitamins and minerals.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
A favorite food of mine as a kid was just plain rice and yogurt – I just loved it! When I had an upset stomach, I was given yogurt. While growing up, I remember every Indian household made homemade yogurt every day, and that’s the case even today. My dad once told me that the yogurt active culture (starter) used in his childhood home was handed down through the generations!
So, I’ve pretty much felt like a failure (as far as yogurt goes!) my whole adult life because I bought my yogurt in the grocery store and I didn’t have much luck making homemade yogurt.
I was very intrigued when I learned that the Instant Pot makes yogurt and that was one reason I purchased my first Instant Pot. Almost all Instant Pot models make yogurt. The only Instant Pot without the yogurt function is the Instant Pot Lux.
If you own an Instant Pot Lux, you can try to make Instant Pot yogurt without the yogurt button. It’s a bit more work but this is how it can be done.
Instant Pot yogurt is smooth, creamy, all-natural and better than what I buy in the store. Another great thing is that I can use my own yogurt as a starter and keep it going for a few generations.
Homemade fresh yogurt is much better for you than yogurt that’s been on the shelves of the grocery store. You’ve probably heard about all the health benefits of yogurt. But in case you haven’t, here are some of yogurt’s health benefits:
- contains helpful bacteria (probiotics) for your gut
- aids your digestion
- helps to replace your gut bacteria after you’ve taken antibiotics
- is a good source of protein, vitamins (including B-12), potassium, calcium and more
My Instant Pot Yogurt recipe uses the pot-in-pot (PIP) method i.e. the yogurt is not made directly in the inner pot, but rather this Instant Pot yogurt recipe uses glass jars placed on a trivet in the inner pot.
[Read more: Instant Pot Pot in Pot (PIP) Cooking Method]
I like to use the PIP method because it frees up my Instant Pot inner pot/liner. If you make the yogurt directly in the inner pot, then while the yogurt cools in the fridge for 8 hours or more, you can’t use your Instant Pot.
Plus, I prefer to make my yogurt frequently, rather than make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for too long. The potency of the active cultures diminishes the longer you keep the yogurt. So the quantity of yogurt I can make using the PIP method in individual cups is just right for me.
Here are some other some of my recipes that use yogurt:
– Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
– Instant Pot Cashew Butter Chicken
– Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma
– Instant Pot Lamb Biryani
Tips and Substitutions
Yogurt Starter
For the yogurt starter/culture, I use my own yogurt. If I am starting from scratch, I use Fage brand of Greek yogurt. Fage has a mild taste, but if you like your yogurt tangy, try and experiment with other brands. I use full-fat yogurt.
Always remember to set aside a couple of tablespoons of yogurt so you can use it as a starter for the next batch.
I bring the starter yogurt to room temperature to allow the live and active cultures to flourish.
If the yogurt starter loses its potency over multiple batches, just add a tiny bit of lime juice to the starter and allow it to sit at room temperature for a while before adding the starter to the milk
For even better results, smear the yogurt around the edges of the inside of the jar.
Individual Cups vs Larger Bowl
For this Instant Pot yogurt recipe, I use separate jars, but you can just as easily use a larger oven-safe bowl that fits in the Instant Pot.
If you’re using the larger bowl, use about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of starter for 32 ounces (1 quart) of milk.
Make sure your canning jars or bowls are oven-safe. If you use something too thin, your milk can overflow or the container can crack.
The Instant Pot company offers yogurt maker cups as an accessory. These are convenient because they come in their own tray.
Milk
I use whole milk to make my Instant Pot yogurt recipe, and it comes out thick and creamy. You should be able to substitute 2% milk, but if you want to try out 1% or skim milk, make a smaller quantity (so you don’t waste milk) and see how it goes. You might need to add some nonfat dried milk.
Sealing Ring
If your sealing ring has a lingering odor, just remove the sealing ring during the Yogurt cycle. The Instant Pot doesn’t come to pressure in the Yogurt setting, so you don’t need it.
Greek Yogurt
I don’t normally make Greek yogurt because I like regular yogurt better. But if you want to make Greek yogurt, once the yogurt has completely chilled and set, strain it through a double-layered cheesecloth or coffee filter.
Accessories Required
Here’s the accessories you’ll need for this Instant Pot yogurt recipe:
- Mason jars or yogurt maker cups with tray
- Digital thermometer
- Steam rack or trivet
- Optional: Yogurt maker cups with tray
Common Problems
| PROBLEM | REASON |
|---|---|
| Yogurt is runny | – You didn’t use whole milk – Yogurt needs to ferment longer – Yogurt needs to be cooled completely after setting – Yogurt starter isn’t potent enough; get new started |
| Yogurt is sour | – Yogurt was fermented for too long – Yogurt starter is too sour – Milk was too hot when the starter was added |
| Yogurt never sets | – Yogurt starter doesn’t have enough bacteria – Jars or container wasn’t clean to begin with – Milk temperature wasn’t in the correct range when yogurt was added |
| Milk overflows | – Instant Pot runs hotter than recipe test model (known to happen in 8 quart). Try to steam for zero minutes. |
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- General Instant Pot Instructions for Beginners
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe – Ingredients
- Yogurt
- Whole milk
How to Make Yogurt in the Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Fill jars with milk and place in Instant Pot
- Steam for 1 minute
- Quick release of pressure
- Remove jars and add starter
- Return jars to Instant Pot
- Yogurt setting for 8 hours
Fill Jars with Milk and Place in the Instant Pot
- Fill four 8 oz. canning jars with milk up to ½-inch below the rim.
- Pour 2 cups of water into the Instant Pot inner pot and place trivet in the inner pot.
- Carefully place jars on the trivet and close the Instant Pot. You can choose to cover the jars loosely with aluminum foil.
- Close the lid.
Steam for 1 minute
- Press Steam and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads 1 (1 minute).
- Instant Pot display will change to On.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 1 to 0 and it will switch to Keep Warm mode and display L00:00.
Quick Release of Pressure
- Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to Venting.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
Remove Jars and Add Starter
- Carefully remove jars from Instant Pot. I just use the trivet to lift the jars. If you have trouble with this, use a mitt or towel to remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Or alternately, let the jars cool in the Instant Pot for a bit before removing.
- Let milk cool to a temperature of 110 degrees F.
- Remove skin or creamy layer (if present) from the top of the milk and discard.
- Add ½ teaspoon of starter yogurt to each jar and stir well.
Return Jars to Instant Pot
- Place trivet back in Instant Pot and carefully place jars back on trivet. The inner pot should already have water in it from the previous run.
- Place lids over jars ( but don’t screw in the covers.) This will prevent condensation from dripping into the jars. You can also use aluminum foil.
- Close the Lid. Steam release can be in Sealing or Venting position. It doesn’t matter because the Instant Pot is not coming to pressure in the Yogurt setting.
Yogurt Setting for 8 Hours
- Press Yogurt and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads 8:00 (8 hours).
- When the 8 hours are up, the display will read yogt. Open the Instant Pot and move the jars to the fridge for a few hours.
Add in Fruits or Toppings
- Add fruit, honey, cinnamon and brown sugar or any add-in of your choice. Remember to save a few teaspoons of your plain yogurt for the next batch.
Instant Pot Yogurt in Jars
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon starter yogurt (leftover yogurt from previous batch, or store-bought full fat Greek yogurt)
- 32 oz. whole milk
Instructions
- Fill four 8-oz. canning jars with milk up to ½-inch below the rim.
- Pour 2 cups of water into the Instant Pot inner pot and place steam rack/trivet in inner pot.
- Carefully place jars on the trivet and close the Instant Pot. You can choose to cover the jars loosely (with aluminum foil or jar lids without screwing them on).
- Set Instant Pot to Steam for 1 minute. If you don't have the Steam function, use the Pressure Cook function (High Pressure).
- Do a Quick Release to de-pressurize the Instant Pot.
- Open the Instant Pot and remove jars when cool enough to handle. Using a digital thermometer to measure the milk's temperature, let milk cool to 110 degrees F.
- Remove skin (if present) from the top of the milk.
- Add ½ teaspoon of starter yogurt to each jar and stir well.
- Place jars back on trivet.
- Place lids over jars ( but don’t screw in the covers.) This will prevent condensation from dripping into the jars. You can also use aluminum foil.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and set to Yogurt mode for 8 hours.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot and move the jars to the fridge for a few hours to chill.
Notes
- It’s best (but not absolutely necessary) to take your starter out of fridge and bring it to room temperature.
- I used the full fat variety of Fage brand of yogurt.
- I have not found a need to sanitize the pot before making yogurt. If you wish to do so, just run a water test like you did the first time you used your Instant Pot.
- It is important to use canning jars or an oven safe dish.
- Remember to save a few teaspoons of your plain yogurt for the next batch.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Tanya says
Hi Neena, I’m so glad I found your website! I’m new to instant pot and to yogurt making. I remember my MIL telling me she uses hers to make yogurt and wanted to give it a try. After a couple of fails (yogurt thin and runny) I looked for a good recipe and found yours. Such good instructions and your COMMON PROBLEMS section identified my issue with the runny yogurt! It turned out I was using too much starter and not heating the milk up high enough. After following your recipe I made my first batch of thick and creamy yogurt! I was like a kid at Christmas opening the instant pot this morning.
I wanted to tell you a couple of things that came up from other people. We used brand new ball canning jars because we were concerned that the commercial jars reused from other products might crack and we knew the Ball jars were thicker.
Also, do you have any experience adding additional probiotics like NOW’s capsules? I understand you can add a opened capsule to yogurt to give it an additional probiotic “boost”. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions about that?
Thank you so much for your ideas and recipes – we can’t wait to try more of them!!
Donna Ball says
Just before step 9, should I pour out the 2 cups of water?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I do not, but the water is not necessary since the Instant Pot is not coming to pressure.
NEELAM says
The best straight forward recipe. Thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Neelam, thank you so much – happy to help!
Christina Shih says
I have been using this recipe for months now to make yoghurt and have lost about 6 jars to cracking of the jars during the steaming process. It’s very frustrating to lose the jar, the milk, and the mess the milk creates in the IP. Do you have any idea why this is happening? I have now started placing chopsticks between the four jars in a x fashion to prevent them from bumping each other. Most crack at the bottom edge which leds to separation of the bottom from the sides. I understand this happens with thermal shock.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Christina, sorry to hear this. I have a few questions:
1. Are you using a good quality jar (e.g. Ball, Kerr)?
2. Are the jars cold or room temperature when you begin?
3. Did you buy these jars recently (maybe pandemic quality control issues?)
4. Do you scrub the jars with a scouring pad?
5. Are the jars sitting on a rack?
6. Are the jar lids screwed on?
7. Is the water level below the level of the jars?
8. Are you using the steam button rather than pressure cook? Steam heats the water up faster and maybe that’s the issue.
Laurie says
Hi, Neena
I have had the same problem with jars cracking many times (always at the bottom of the jar). These are always older Ball or Kerr jars, cold milk in the jars, water below the bottom of the jar, lids are not screwed on, simply placed on top without the ring. I’m using the steam function with low pressure for “0” minutes, at 9,000 ft elevation. I can try using the low pressure selection instead of steam, but I can’t imagine this will make much difference. The only other thing I may try next time would be heating up the milk more slowly with no pressure, but then I’ll have to babysit it a bit to see how long it takes to get hot. I really like making the yogurt directly in the jars, so I want this to work!
Neena Panicker says
Laurie, I’m sorry to hear that. I have a feeling that the newer Instant Pot models may be different from the model I tested the recipe on. I’m surprised that low pressure is also causing issues! I think your best bet is to heat the milk in the microwave, pour into the jars, and incubate. A little extra work, though.
Leslie says
I want to try making yoghurt with 2% milk, but most recipes suggest adding dry milk to keep it from being runny. How much dry milk should be added to each cup and at what point in the process?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Leslie, I would start with 1 heaping Tbsp powdered milk per cup of milk. You add it in before heating the milk. You could make the yogurt in a mason jar with a smaller quantity such as 1/2 cup, to test it out so you don’t waste milk.
Priya says
Hi ,
I am very with instant pot 🙂 I want to know whether can I use any stainless vessels for making yogurt ?
I mean, after boiling the milk using the inner pot and after cooling the milk to 110F , Can I transfer the milk to any other glass bottle or stainless steal cups and put it back to the instant pot to make yogurt ?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Priya, yes you can use a smaller container placed in the inner pot. I would place it on a trivet. You don’t need to add any water to the inner pot, but you can.
Colleen says
Hi, Neena. New to your site! Haven’t read all of the comments but wanted to mention Katie and Valerie’s Sữa chua (Vietnamese vanilla yogurt) recipe on Design Sponge that we have been making in the Instant Pot (with 12 hour culture). Uses 2 cups of plain yogurt with vanilla and sweetened condensed milk. We have also made it with canned dulce de leche (Nestle La Lechera).
Paint the Kitchen Red says
That sounds really yummy! I will check it out 🙂 Btw, have you made dulce de leche in the Instant Pot – so good!!
Debra says
Can you use goats milk for this recipe
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Debra, I can’t say for sure but the great thing about this recipe is you can just try one jar, so you don’t waste!
Janice Young says
Can I use milk starter and use almond milk?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Janice, I’ve never tried it but I did find a recipe that might work for you: https://www.everydayfamilycooking.com/almond-milk-yogurt-in-instant-pot/
Nancy Oley says
I used the duo evo plus steam for 1 minute with 2c milk in a mason jar. It didn’t heat the milk even close to 180. Please advise.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Nancy, you may be using the wrong mode for this model. When I wrote this post, this model wasn’t available. Try the “Yogurt” button and “Pasteurize” option or Pressure Cook for 1 minute, but cancel as soon as the display goes to 00:01 (i.e. you’ll pressure cook for 0 minutes). Do it with just one mason jar so you don’t waste milk. I’ll be trying it out soon and will update the post. Sorry you had trouble.
Amy hammoud says
I have the same inevitable duo plus I used sterlze button for one minute. It worked🙏🙏😊😊😊
Amy hammoud says
Replying to Nancy obey meant ip Duo Evo plus
K Bown says
My family LOVES key lime pie yogurt but it is very difficult to get the kind we like here so I want to attempt it myself. Can I add the key lime juice during the cooking process? If so when would I add it? I have an Instant Pot Ultra and Duo Nova. Not sure which I’m going to use for this yet. I did purchase the IP Yogurt cups and tray in preparation based on your suggestion. I also wanted to say that I love the recipes that you have on your site and I plan to try a bunch of them.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I’ve not done key lime juice before but you would add the flavorings after pasteurization but before fermentation. Try with a smaller quantity so you don’t waste time and materials. I’d love to know how it turns out if you don’t mind sharing.
Anne says
Please could you send a recipe for yoghurt made in jars in instantpot duo crisp, I changed my original instantpot duo with yoghurt setting, to the duo crisp
So I really do need some help please Neena.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Anne, although I’ve not tried it you might be able to do it using the sous vide button. Make sure you set the temperature such that the milk doesn’t go below 110 degrees. So that might mean doing a test run and measuring the jar temperature (maybe you can just try with water?) at periodic intervals to make sure the temp is staying between 110 to 115 degrees. Let me know how it works out 🙂
Rilla Longwell says
My Instant Pot does not have a Yogurt button. Can I still use the Pot to make yogurt?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
What model do you have? If it’s the Lux, you can’t make yogurt. If you have any model with the sous vide button, you should be able to make yogurt because you can customize the temperature.
Laurie says
I’ve done this many times and the yogurt always turns out great. One note for others at high elevation, since water boils at a lower temperature I’ve found that at 9,000 feet the milk will boil over and make a mess if using 1 minute at high pressure. After some experimenting, I’ve found that 0 minutes at low pressure is just perfect.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you, Laurie – a lot of readers will be happy that you shared your experience. Good to know that the right temperature can be reached with zero minutes at low pressure.
Nuno says
I’ve seen other recipes where they use the boil function instead of steaming.
Do you know if there is any advantage of one method over the other?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi there, the reason I use the steam or pressure cook is that the boil is meant for boiling milk directly in the inner pot, so the milk in jars would boil over. I’m not sure if there’s a way to adjust the time. You can use the boil function if you’re making a whole pot of yogurt instead of jars. Hope that helps.
Chad says
I’ve seen Kefir and ultrapasturized half and half…
Any thoughts on these?
Would 4oz jars be too small?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Chad, I’ve never used ultra-pasteurized milk but from what I understand, you would be able to do a cold start fermentation. So you wouldn’t need to heat the milk/half and half. I would try a small batch, add a couple of teaspoons of kefir and see how it works out. You might also need to do it for longer, up to 24 hours.
Lori says
Can I leave it in the instant pot for longer than 8 hours? It will be done at midnight?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Lori, you could but the longer you keep it in the Instant Pot, there’s a possibility it could become more sour than you’d like. You could try it out and see.