The Best and Easiest Homemade Greek Yogurt
Probiotic-Rich, All-Natural, and Effortless — Greek Yogurt Made Slow.
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There is no yogurt on the market that tastes better, or is better for you, than homemade Greek Yogurt. It’s rich and creamy, high in probiotics, preservative free, and has the purest taste.
I can’t stand plain yogurt generally, without some sort of sweetener in it. My budget-friendly homemade Greek yogurt on the other hand, I can eat no problem without a sweetener. I will usually add a little flavour with cinnamon and vanilla, but that’s it.
When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, and researching natural treatments and diets for it, one of the big suggestions was making your own yogurt, and starting your day with it. It’s protein and probiotic rich, and easy on your stomach.
For it to work, it needed to be probiotic rich, have no added sugar or any other additive. I remember thinking to myself, there is no way I will ever have the energy to make my own yogurt. It wasn’t until years later, and hundreds of dollars on store-bought yogurt, that I learned how to make this healthy homemade slow cooker Greek yogurt.
Now that I’ve discovered how incredibly easy it is to make DIY Greek yogurt in a crock pot, I will never go back to buying it at the store.
It saves so much money as well!! Especially once you’ve made your first batch, you can use yogurt from your last batch, to start the new one. So all you need to buy is the milk. Starting with a really good, high quality organic Greek yogurt to make that first batch, will ensure many successful consecutive batches.
Only two ingredients are needed, a yogurt starter and whole milk.
Effort-wise, it’s super easy — it just takes time. The good bacteria need several hours to ferment the milk’s natural sugar (lactose) and turn it into lactic acid, giving your yogurt that classic tangy flavor. So you need to be around the house to make sure you move onto the next step, at the right time.
How to Make Greek Yogurt in a Slow Cooker
I’m going to give you the 4 basic steps in the process, and then we’ll break them down a bit further with specifics.
- Step 1: Pour milk into slow cooker and set to low. Bring temp to 180°F.
- Step 2: Turn heat off and let milk cool with the lid on to 110°F.
- Step 3: Add 1/2 cup yogurt starter to cooled milk, wrap crock pot in towels to keep warm and place it in the oven with the light on to let it ferment for 12-18 hours.
- Step 4: Strain yogurt through cheesecloth 2-3 hours in the fridge to thicken it and turn regular yogurt into Greek yogurt.
Step 1 – Pour milk into slow cooker and set to low
You’ll want to use whole (homo) milk for this recipe — it’s the key to getting that thick, creamy texture we all love in homemade Greek yogurt. The amount you use really depends on how much yogurt your family will eat within about two weeks. Since slow cooker yogurt doesn’t contain preservatives like store-bought brands, it stays fresh for roughly 10–14 days in the fridge.
I usually use a 2 liter carton, which makes around 5-6 cups of Greek yogurt. If you don’t strain it to make it into Greek yogurt, you’ll get around 7-8 cups of yogurt.
So, you are going to pour your milk into a crock pot, turn the heat to low, and let the milk slowly heat until it hits 180°F. For 2 liters of milk, in my crock pot this usually take 3-3 1/2 hours to heat.
180°F is the temp you need to heat it to kill off any bad bacteria in the milk so it will ferment properly. It also helps to create a thicker and smoother texture. Don’t go much higher though, or it will kill off some of the healthy beneficial bacteria needed in the yogurt.
If you don’t have a thermometer, I highly recommend this SMAK digital meat thermometer (buy in the USA). It works fantastic for yogurt making, as specific temps are needed to be checked. But you will use it all the time when cooking meat! Never will you have over or under cooked meat again.
Step 2: Turn heat off and let milk cool
Once the milk has heated to 180°F, simply turn your crock pot off, leave the lid on, and let the milk cool on your counter until until the heat comes down to 110°F.
Step 3: Add yogurt starter to cooled milk and place in oven to let ferment
You will need 1/2 cup of an organic plain Greek yogurt for this step. The ingredients must state that it has active bacterial culture in it (I really like the Olympic Greek Yogurt Plain full fat, most grocery stores carry it).
This is only for the first batch, the next batches you will use 1/2 cup of your last batch of yogurt, assuming it has not been contaminated in any way.
About half an hour before your milk hits 110°F, pull your yogurt starter out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. This ensures that once it’s mixed with the milk, it doesn’t lower the temp too far. Between 100°F to 110°F the bacteria are highly active, ensuring good flavor and structure development.
Once the milk has hits 110°F or slightly above (for 2 liters this takes 3-3 1/2 hours), add 1 cup of the warm milk to your yogurt and mix together. Then pour it in with the rest of the milk and stir to combine.
Now you need to keep the yogurt in that 100°F to 110°F range while it ferments. To do this, leave lid on the crockpot and wrap it in a couple of really thick towels. Once wrapped, place the crock pot in a room temperature oven with the oven light on. I like to put mine right under the light.
Let it sit and ferment in the oven for 12-18 hours depending on how tangy you like it. I usually leave mine around 15-16 hours. The longer it ferments, the thicker and more probiotic rich it will be.
After it’s done fermenting, it will look similar to the below picture. There will be some separation between the yogurt and whey water, and it will have a yogurt texture.
Step 4: Strain yogurt through cheesecloth to thicken it
Take a large soup pot and put a pasta strainer in it, then add a cheesecloth over the strainer. Scoop the yogurt from the crock pot into the cheesecloth. Cover it with a lid and place it in the fridge for 2-3 hours, depending on how thick you want your yogurt. The longer you leave it, the thicker it will be.
This step is to remove extra whey water from the yogurt and turns it into Greek yogurt. If you just want a regular yogurt, instead of Greek style, simply skip this step and you are done. You can stir the separated whey water back into the yogurt.
After the yogurt is the correct texture for you, scoop it into an air tight container and store in the fridge for up to 14 days. Stirring the yogurt will smooth out the texture.
In the soup pot, you will have a bunch of really good whey water that separated from the yogurt. This water is full of protein, minerals and nutrients. There are many uses for this, such as fertilizer for plants, making ricotta cheese, or even just adding extra nutrients to baking but substituting if for water/milk in your recipe. If you put it in a mason jar in the fridge, it will last for around 2 weeks as well.
And that’s it, after these 4 simple steps you will have the best budget-friendly homemade Greek yogurt you can have. Enjoy!
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