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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Shiva says
Worked liked a charm ! Thanks for sharing this !
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You’re very welcome, Shiva – I’m so glad it worked for you 🙂
Virginia Thompson says
What do you do if you dont have steam button
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Virginia, the Pressure Cook button should work just as well. Good luck.
Corinna says
Thank you for the recipe. It’s been a year since the original post. Have you been able to reuse the original starter for same results? Or better 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Corinna, I have had to start over for various reasons, so the answer is no 🙂 I would love to though!
Solana says
I tried this for the first time today, after carefully reading the directions several times. I couldn’t’ find any trivet with my Instant Pot, so I used one from my other pressure cooker. When I opened my Instant Pot, 2 of my canning jars had broken near the bottom and the milk poured into the Instant Pot as I lifted them carefully with my jar lifter. Any suggestions?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Solana – the trivet shouldn’t have been the problem. I’ve never had issues with canning jars breaking. It’s possible that your model of Instant Pot is a more powerful one than the one I use, and maybe that’s the reason? I’m sorry you had trouble 🙁
Solana says
Thanks!
Tamara C says
My ip doesnt have the yogurt button but I so desperately wanna try this. Do you think it is possible for the 2nd part????
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Tamara, you must have the LUX model. I don’t think there’s a way other than to put it on ‘Keep Warm’ every so often to maintain appx 100 degree temperature.
dee says
I couldn’t find this recipe on the web last year when I got my instant pot, so I made my own version using the boil mode instead of steam…but this seems better so I am trying it. It did boil over, and I might have the 8 qt – not sure. I saw many recipes that have you make it in the larger pan – which is a pain if you are just transferring it to a jar. Thank you for putting this up on the web. (I am an experienced yogurt maker – x 20 or so years – but was always using the oven or something else. This is nice, and you end up with nice pints. Have you ever tried the wide mouth (1 serving) 1 cups – and figured out a way to stack them in the instapot?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Dee, I have not tried them. I would place a round flat cake rack between the layers. Thanks so much for your comment! Next time try 0 minutes.
Kathi Shurow says
I’m trying to stack 2 levels of 1/2 pint jars with metal lids sitting on, alternating each level. Using sous vide button to control time and temperature. Wonder if 2nd level is getting same heat? Tried with water and infared thermometer showed good temperature. First attempt with half & half going now…
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Kathi, I’ve not had a problem with stacking. Hope it works for you.
Amanda says
I tried this, word for word, and after steam for 1 min, while venting, milk came out of the steam vent. Had to stop, clean out everything and start over. 0 stars.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Amanda, I’m really sorry to hear you had trouble. You said you followed the recipe exactly and I assume that means whole milk in 4 mason jars, and using the Instant Pot 6 quart. You may not be open to trying again, but if you are maybe you can try for 0 minutes.
Lindsay says
Will 8oz Ball jelly jars work? I’m concerned because I googled it and it says that ball and Kerr jars are not oven safe.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Lindsay, I can’t speak for other models than mine, but I use Ball, Kerr and Mason jars and have had no problems.
Sharon says
This rocks!
It was my first time trying to do something like this, and it turned out wonderfully as far as I am concerned.
Taste is amazing and so easy and cost effective to make as well.
Thank you for taking the time to share this with others, like myself.
I’m pretty sure that I will no longer buy yogurt again, and get to enjoy freshly made from now on.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Yesss! I hope you keep your starter going – I love that aspect of it. Thanks for your comment.
Robin says
I had the same issue like Summer… using an 8 qt IP, milk was boiled over, some lids were off and the water at the bottom was milky… to make things worse, one of the mason jars slipped out of my rather clumsy pot holder gloves and there was milk everywhere… Poor wife had to clean right after she had cleaned and mopped everywhere literally 5 minutes before…
It is in the Yogurt setting now… hopefully it will be worth the hassle. Will try the 0 minute steam next time. Milk was super hot too (more than 200 degrees) while I think the boiling point for milk is about 180.
I will post how it goes.
The thought o pre-sweeten has crossed my mind too so that I don’t have to mix after and ruin the consistency of the yogurt but if you do that, you won’t be able to save some Yogurt as starter for the next batch. I guess we can leave one mason jar unsweetened.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Robin, it’s a bit frustrating when different models work differently. I will put it on my list to try this out on my newer 8 quart. Give the 0 minutes a try next time and do let me know how it goes. Sorry for your troubles!
Raiko says
I can’t wait to try this! Simple and easy! Thank you!
Sonia Lunas says
I’m a bit confused. Twice you say the I-P doesn’t pressurize in the yogurt setting, yet on your instructions you also state “Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.” What am I missing?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Sonia, you’re referring to the instructions for ‘Steam’. That does require the Instant Pot to pressurize. The ‘Yogurt’ setting does not require pressurization. Hope that clears it up.
Sylvia says
I cannot have dairy do you have recipe for soy yogurt?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Sylvia, I don’t. I was able to see some recipes with a google search. Thanks for your question.
Joyce says
I have been successful making soy yogurt. I use a 1 quart septic box of organic soy milk with no additives – just water and soy beans. I just pour the milk from the carton into a pitcher and gently stir in the starter. I pour this into five one cup jars (which I have to stack the fifth jar on top. Hit the yogurt button and wait 8 to 12 hours. I like the 12 hours since it seems to be thicker and I can do it overnight. Good luck
Joyce
Jim says
Best and easiest recipe I have found.
Comes out perfect everytime.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for commenting, Jim. It’s always wonderful to get feedback 🙂
Francine English says
Can you put some fruit compote on the bottom first and go through your recipe above?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Francine, thanks for your question. I’ve never done it, but I think it can be done if the fruit is room temperature, maybe even slightly warm. I would try it with one of the containers and that way you don’t waste in case it doesn’t work for you. I’d love to hear back from you!
Sonia Lunas says
Personally, I only add fruit once it’s cooled. I wouldn’t try adding it during the cooking process. You don’t want to mess w/the cooking or culturing phase.
Meredith says
Was wondering if its really necessary to have the trivet at the bottom. Is it a problem if the steaming water is around the jars, or if the jars directly touch the metal bottom of the inner pot?
If it wasn’t there I could fit more jars more easily, or possibly put the trivet between the layers for easier removal.
Despite making lots of yogurt, in general I’m an instant pot newb so not sure what this would do.
Also, the jars are covered during the steaming phase to keep out condensation, but does this matter during the yogurt-ing phase? Since there’s no water needed and not pressurizing, is there water to get in there?
Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Meredith, I’m consolidating my reply into one comment 🙂 First of all, since these jars are glass, I wouldn’t recommend putting them in directly. I think it’s fine to keep the jars open while they are in the yogurt mode. I would be concerned about the jars going from cold to steaming – they might crack. Thanks for all your tips and info – they’ll be so helpful to others.
Meredith says
Thanks so much!
Ron says
Hi! I would like to try this recipe, but I have the 16 oz mason jars. Would I have to modify the recipe at all to accommodate the larger jar size?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Ron, you should be fine using the recipe as written, except for the quantity of starter. I would add extra starter to the containers, maybe a teaspoon. Good luck!
Ron says
Awesome! Thank you!
Summer says
My milk boiled over! I have an 8qt pot, filled the 4-8oz jars with a little more than 1/2” of room from the top, 2 cups of water, 1 min steam… all kinds of foam and milky water at the bottom when I opened the pot. Thoughts??
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Summer – I use a 6 quart older model. I’m not sure what could have happened, but my first thought is that your 8 quart runs hotter. I hear people get burn notices more often with the newer Instant Pots. Sounds like you either need larger containers or need to reduce cook time to zero minutes (you can set cook time to 0). Hope you have better luck next time.
Meredith Anderson says
I have the same issue. I’ve tried filling the jars less, bu t it still happens. Will try 0 minutes.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Meredith, different models can be different, so maybe 0 minutes is a good idea. Hope it works better.
Meredith says
Tried it, still got some overflow, but less. I’ve done many batches now and just learned to deal with it. 🙂
Poonam Pahwa says
HI Neena, I have made yogurt in the main pot several times and am interested in the pip method. However instead of individual jars I would lik to use a single steel container while doing pip and steam function. I have the 3qt mini
Any suggestions
Thanks
Poonam
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Poonam, you should be able to follow the same directions and use your one container but just add a bit more starter (maybe 1 tbsp). Good luck, and thanks for your question.
ericn1300 says
If you press the steam button twice it will turn off the keep warm cycle.