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This is your foolproof guide to making healthy homemade Greek yogurt. With just two simple ingredients and basic kitchen tools, you can enjoy homemade Greek yogurt that is healthier and more flavorful than store-bought versions.
save this recipe!Milk is made up of casein and whey. While whey is the watery substance left when the milk curdles, casein is what curdles and is used to make cheese and yogurt! And the best part? This process is incredibly easy to do at home!
Hundreds of people have used this recipe to successfully make yogurt in their kitchens—yours next?
- Control the ingredients: No thickeners or added sugars—just milk and live cultures (aka yogurt).
- Budget-friendly: A quart of homemade yogurt costs a fraction of the store-bought stuff.
- Double-duty: You also get whey (the leftover liquid), which you can use in smoothies, bread, or cooking grains.
Reader rating
“I just gave it my first go and it turned out perfect! Never dreamed making yogurt was so easy!” —Nicole
Just 2 Ingredients
Yogurt is a fermentation (just like kefir, kombucha, and kimchi), meaning it’s created by adding some bacteria (yogurt) to a sugar-containing substance (milk) and letting the bacteria eat up the sugar. So to make yogurt at home, you’ll just need 2 ingredients:
- Yogurt: Use a good-quality yogurt with live or active cultures listed on the label. (After this first batch, all future batches can use what you made as the yogurt starter. You’ll never need to buy it again!)
- Milk: Whole-fat milk produces the best texture for homemade yogurt.
This is just an overview; jump to the recipe card for measurements!
The process is simple
This is just an overview; jump to the recipe card for full printable instructions and step-by-step photos!
- Heat the milk: Warm milk to 185–200°F. This changes its proteins so the yogurt thickens properly.
- Cool it down: Quickly cool to 100–110°F. This is the ideal temp for activating the yogurt cultures.
- Add the starter: Whisk in live culture yogurt to introduce the bacteria that make yogurt.
- Ferment: Cover and let sit in a warm spot (like the oven with the light on) for 4–8 hours to thicken and develop tang.
- Strain (optional): For Greek yogurt, strain in the fridge until it reaches your preferred consistency.
- Store and enjoy: Chill and use as you would store-bought yogurt—sweet or savory!
Tips For Success
Keep it warm: The oven light should be enough, but if your kitchen’s cold, turn the oven on for one minute every few hours to gently rewarm.
Tanginess depends on time: A 4-hour ferment makes mild yogurt. Closer to 8 hours = tangier.
Save some as a starter: You can use a few tablespoons of your homemade batch as a starter for the next one.
More than just for breakfast
Use your freshly made Greek yogurt to whip up Spinach Artichoke Dip or Healthy French Onion Dip. And my favorite way to use Greek yogurt? In this quick and easy tzatziki sauce!
How to Make Greek Yogurt (No Special Equipment)
Equipment
- Medium pot with lid, aim for the heaviest/thickest pot you have
- Kitchen thermometer
- Quart-sized jar or bowl
- Mesh sieve
- Cheesecloth or thin dishcloth, coffee filters, paper towels etc. placed inside a mesh strainer
Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk, 960 mL
- ¼ cup plain store-bought yogurt, ensure the container says “live” or “active” cultures, 60 g
Instructions
- Heat Milk: Place 4 cups whole milk in a medium pot and heat to 185-200°F (85-93°C), stirring frequently to preventing a skin from forming.
- Cool Bath: Transfer the pot with milk to an ice bath (I filled my sink with ice and water), to cool milk to 100-110°F (37-43°C).
- Mix: Add ¼ cup plain store-bought yogurt to the cooled milk and whisk well to combine.
- Ferment: Cover jar or bowl with a lid, wrap in a moist, warm towel to keep in heat, and place in oven. Turn on oven light to keep warm, and let the bacteria do its yogurt making magic for 4 to 8 hours (or overnight).*
- Strain: You can eat the yogurt like this, or strain it to make Greek yogurt. To strain, line a mesh sieve with cheesecloth (or paper towels, coffee filters etc), and pour yogurt in. Place over a large bowl and let strain in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight), until it’s reach a consistency you like.
- Serve chilled with your favorite yogurt toppings, or use it in a recipe as you would store-bought yogurt!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
Thanks to your very awesome tutorial I am now totally inspired to make my own Greek yogurt. Pinned for future reference.
wait what? they stored milk in animal stomachs? am off to learn more about this, then maybe i will make some yogurt. but you need a thermometer right? you can’t just set the temperature in the oven and keep it in there?
Apparently! The stomach was used as a bag (fashionable, right?), so they stored milk in it. And I’m just imaging one day they looked inside and discovered the best thing on Earth, cheese! But yes, it’s best to use a thermometer to ensure you hit the 2 major temperature points in this process, 185ish for heating the milk and 100ish for incubating. If your oven goes as low as 100 F, by all means set it at that. Most ovens won’t go below 140 F though, which is too hot for the bacteria to make their magic happen.
You could, if you don’t have a thermometer, still try. Heat the milk until it is frothy, like milk for a latte, but not boiling. Cool until it is warm enough to touch. And use the oven light method for the rest. More chance that it may be a flop but worth a shot!
I’m nuts about Greek yogurt. It is an essential part of my daily diet. Wallaby Organic Aussie Greek is my favorite, and it costs me plenty. I also worry about all those plastic tubs that the local recycling entity might collect but not actually recycle.
I’m going to do this. I hope I can start with a quarter cup of Wallaby Organic and go from there.
thanks.
Have fun!! And let me know if you have any questions 🙂
I did this, and it worked out so well. The whey will keep on dripping as long as I have the yogurt suspended. I just add some back and stir until it gets to the consistency desired.
So happy to hear, Jeffrey! 😀
Will this work using Kage instead of yogurt. Also, what’s the estimate of Probotics?
Hi Eva! Sorry, but I’m actually not sure what Kage is? And the amount of probiotics will really depend on the yogurt you use.
Eva, do you mean Kefir, or do you mean the brand Fage?
Oh good point, could have been Fage (I was down a rabbit hole of Danish foods called kage and I’m not sure that’s what she meant, lol). Fage would work!
I love this post and excited to try but hope much does one recipe make? Should I assume it makes a quart or just over being that 32oz of milk is used plus a 1/4 cup of starter yogurt. This will be my first attempt at home made yogurt.
Hi Renae! A lot of the water will be drained out, so you can expect about 2 cups of yogurt in the end 😀
Thank you for the tutorial. I will definitely try this in the near future. I just have one question… Once I use the store bought yogurt to make my own yogurt, can I use my freshly made yogurt make my next batch or should I continue buying the store bought yogurt?
Cheers,
Great question, Joseph! You can use the yogurt you made to start your next batch! 😀
U are amazing, going to try it out.
Enjoy! 🙂
It is delicious! Thanks for the clear directions for my first attempt at yogurt. I whisked after straining, but I’ve been told to whisk after adding culture for a smoother texture. I’m researching what to do with the whey now. Having fun experimenting!
Enjoy, Gina! 😀