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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?
What You Will Love About this Homemade Yogurt
- 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
Yogurt 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!
How to Make Greek Yogurt (overview)
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!
Top Yogurt 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.
Yogurt variations
Once you’ve got a batch of homemade yogurt, it’s easy to make it your own.
Add fruit. Stir in fresh or frozen berries, sliced peaches, or a spoonful of jam once the yogurt is strained and chilled. Adding fruit before fermentation isn’t recommended, the sugars can interfere with the culturing process.
Add a sweetener. Honey, maple syrup, or a sprinkle of sugar all work well stirred in after straining. Start with a small amount and adjust, since homemade yogurt is naturally tangier than store-bought and a little sweetener goes a long way.
Add vanilla. A splash of vanilla extract stirred in after straining gives the yogurt a more rounded, dessert-like flavor without any added sugar.
Adjust the thickness. Strain longer for a thicker, more spreadable Greek yogurt, or strain less for a looser, drinkable consistency closer to traditional yogurt.
How to Serve Homemade Yogurt
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 at Home (Just 2 Ingredients)
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 is calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist, and should be taken as an estimate. For the most accurate nutritional information, calculate it using the actual ingredients in your recipe.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what you’ve made!
it’s very good and easy to prepear!
thank you
Please I don’t still understand does two ingredients needed for Greek yoghurt and wer to get it……
You just need store bought milk and yogurt 😀
I just boiled the milk n waiting to reach to 110f. Thank u 4 sharing
Amazing!
I make Yougurt at home for a while, as described above regarding temperature to prepare milk and mix with old yougurt. I ferment in serving size glass pots that could be closed airtight after fermenting is done with plastic lids.
BUT I keep fermenting it in oven set to 40 degrees celsius for 3 hours, than turn heating off. After that I leave half of batch in te oven to cool down slowly, and half of them I put directly to refridgerator.
Why? My wife loves a bit more fermented yogurt that is a bit more sour; so I leave her batch to cool down slowly and put it in the fridge only after (several hours or overnight). That gives more “grainy” and firm texture with more yogurt like taste.
But I like more creamy, soft and sweet taste, so I put my half of servings into the fridge straight after 3 hour fermenting time. That gives me consistency of a PVA wood glue, but thicker and very balanced taste of sweet/sour. I like it better.
There is really only trick in TIME. Experiment.
Just putting it in te oven and leaving at gradually lowering temperature gives bad result in our experience. It is sticky consistency like slime. (sorry for only comparison I can find) Sometimes also like jello or plain sour milk, with non consistent fermenting throughout te jar, some part particularly grainy, some parts still half liquid and very “slime” like. Taste also something “not finished”. Our yogurt is better, less sour, more thick and creamy than any industrial yogurt I could find. Regardless we make it from industrial milk and use industrial base yogurt as starter. Funny.
Hi made this and it was a success! Will this work as a starter to contaminate the next batch? And will it work with low fat milk?
Yep you can use this to start the next batch! But I wouldn’t recommend low fat milks, which could impact the texture.
The first time I made this it worked but the second time it didn’t set. The only difference is that the second time I didn’t leave the oven light on for a few hours. Any suggestions?
I think it probably just wasn’t warm enough without the oven on!
I want to make a large batch of Greek yogurt for my family. We typically eat five 32 oz containers a week. Can I follow the recipe the same but multiply the ingredients?
Yep! 😀
Is there any problem using lactose-free whole milk in this recipe/process?
I have not tried making yogurt with lactose-free milk but I’m not sure it would have the same effect, as the bacteria and yeast in the yogurt are eating those lactose sugars to make the yogurt. And to that same effect, this reaction does make Greek yogurt lower in lactose the milk is.
How long will this last? Can this be frozen? Thank you!
This should last about 1 week! And yes, yogurt can be frozen (the texture may be slightly less great when thawed though).
Any tips for flavoring? Such as vanilla extract for vanilla, banana, etc…?
Go crazy with it! If using vanilla extract, I would just start small and perhaps add a little honey or sugar to enhance the vanilla flavor. As for fruits, I might blend them up first into a puree and then stir them in.
Can I get detailed information on the preparation of Greek Yogurt
Instructions are all above! Let me know if you have an specific questions about the process.
how long can this greek yogurt be refrigerated? how many days does it expire in?
About 4 to 5 days!
This is so amazing. Thanks for the simplicity. It always seemed like a big deal for me. Thank you!
I didn’t read this before I made mine–I was trying to go by memory from years ago. All I did was fill up a quart mason jar with whole milk, stir in a few heaping tablespoons of plain greek yogurt, cover and set on the top of my stove by the pilot light. When I checked afew hours later it was warm and then after that, it got really thick! I didn’t even have to heat my milk first!