If you’re tired of paying for expensive yogurt, this is a super simple easy economical way to make your own yogurt! With just two ingredients you can have your very own Crock-Pot Homemade Yogurt! Flavor the yogurt with your favorite fruits or extracts for a healthy breakfast or snack!
Slow Cooker Homemade Yogurt
Making your own homemade yogurt in your slow cooker is super easy and a so frugal too! All you need is two ingredients (milk and some plain yogurt with live active cultures) and some time.
And once you have made your first batch of yogurt you can reserve half a cup to use as a starter culture for your next batch of home-made yogurt.
The key to making your own yogurt is starting with a good quality plain yogurt (no sweeteners, flavorings, or fruit in the store bought yogurt). The yogurt needs to have live active cultures.
You can find out if the yogurt you are buying has live active cultures by looking on the side of the container on the ingredients list. You should see it listed as something along the lines of “Live Active Yogurt Cultures” and then may list out the specific types of cultures in the yogurt.
These cultures are what makes yogurt…well yogurt and are wonderful gut healthy probiotics.
The other thing you will need is milk. I personally used 2% cows milk from the grocery store (and that is what the nutritional information is calculated based on). But, you can use any percentage fat (skim, whole, 1%) cow milk, sheep milk or goat milk.
Your milk can be store bought or fresh raw or pasteurized milk from a farm.
The only kind of milk you don’t want to use is any milk that has been highly pasteurized. This process is used to heat the milk up to a higher temperature to make it more shelf stable.
The process is quite simple and the flavor is SO good!
Equipment Needed For Crock-Pot Homemade Yogurt Recipe:
- 6 Quart, 6.5 Quart Or 7 Quart Slow Cooker
- Instant Read Thermometer OR Candy Thermometer
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Whisk
- Bath Towels
- Colander
- Cheesecloth, Clean Flour Sack Kitchen Towel OR Coffee Filters
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use any type of raw or pasteurized milk from goats, sheep or cows. You can even use a combination of milks.
This recipe for yogurt should yield about 4 cups of finished strained yogurt. Four cups equals 2 pints or 1 quart. If you opt to not strain the yogurt you will get more.
Some people toss the liquid from the yogurt after they have strained it. But if your motto is u0022waste not want notu0022 you can use to cook with. I have used it to replace some of the water or milk in homemade bread, pancakes, waffles and oatmeal. I am sure there are other uses too (leave a comment below!). If you have farm animals some folks like to feed it to their pigs or chickens.
Special Diets
Gluten Free | Keto | Low Calorie | Low Carb | Low Fat | Low Sodium | Vegetarian
This recipe for Crock-Pot Homemade Yogurt is Weight Watchers Friendly on the new Personal Points plan. You can see the WW personal points for this recipe here on the Weight Watchers website. Click here for MORE of our Weight Watchers Recipes
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Recipe Collections:
- 6 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
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- 7 Quart Crock-Pot Recipes
- Breakfast Recipes
- Kid Friendly Crock-Pot Recipes
Crock-Pot Homemade Yogurt Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ Gallon Milk (*See note)
- ½ Cup Plain Yogurt (With Active Live Cultures)
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a 6 quart or larger slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours or until the temperature of the milk reaches 180° F (82° C) on an instant read thermometer or candy thermometer.
- Unplug the slow cooker and let the milk sit with the lid on undisturbed for 3 hours.
- Remove lid from slow cooker and gently whisk in the 1/2 cup of plain yogurt with live cultures
- Place lid back on slow cooker and wrap the entire slow cooker with heavy towels to insulate the slow cooker.
- Let sit unplugged on the counter for 8 hours or overnight.
- For a thicker yogurt (Greek style) set a colander over a large bowl and line the a colander with several layers of cheesecloth, clean tea towel or coffee filters and place the bowl with colander and yogurt in it in the refrigerator and strain the whey off the yogurt until the yogurt is as thick as you like it. 2 to 3 hours should be sufficient.
- Serve yogurt with fresh fruit, yogurt and sweetener of your choice.
Notes
Nutrition
Can this be canned in a canner or water bath? How long will it keep as you show it here in the jars?
Thank you.
Yogurt cannot be canned, neither Water Bath Can or Pressure can, however the small jars make great containers for them. It will keep 1-3 weeks.
Hi,
If I choose not to strain it, just add the gelatin then, right?
Yes you can then add the gelatin. If it still seems a titch runny for your taste, I would strain it for an hour or so, but hopefully the gelatin would absorb most of the whey.
Hello,
I love making my yogurt like that. Really yummy (although I haven’t tried adding gelatin; might just give that a try).
I was also wondering where you got those jars from. All I’ve found over here are canning jars/mason jars (with lid and ring) and I definitively prefer one-piece lids.
Thanks.
Those Jars and rings were a Better Homes and Gardens product via Walmart.
The ones I used were not one piece lids, the ring was separate from the lid. I just used regular Ball lids. Occasionally you may be able to find a screw on lid from another food product that will fit those jars.
Hi, I love the idea and am trying to cook healthier for my family and cut out all the preservatives by making most things from scratch. very excited for this one!
How many cups would you say this makes?
THANKS!
It makes about 32 ounces or 4 cups, 2 pints or 1 quart
Hi, I have made this before and really like it. I was wondering though if using the gelatin for thicker yogurt when do you put it in? Also do you need to mix it with some warm milk first? Thanks.
When you add the already made yogurt (as the culture) to the milk in the crock, add the gelatin at the same time. I would do it the same way as the yogurt.
I am looking for ways to help my family eat better while keeping in budget. This looks great but I was wondering if this recipe also works with goats milk or a mix of the two.
I am pretty sure you could use goats milk or a combination of the two to make your yogurt!
I use this method for yogurt and love it! The only change I make is to use liquid whey to start my next batch. But don’t throw away the whey you strain off! Whey is rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes. There are plenty of good uses for it. I use it as a replacement for buttermilk in pancakes, muffins, etc. and to replace water in pizza dough and breads. It can also be used for cooking grains, potatoes, noodles, etc., to feed your plants, to ferment vegetables, to make ricotta cheese, to add to smoothies or protein shakes… it has so many uses! I even give my dog a few tablespoons in her food every day. Do an online search for “uses for liquid whey” and you will be blown away.
Thanks for the tips on using whey leftover from making yogurt Penelope. And thanks for the kind review of our slow cooker yogurt recipe! Always appreciated!