Crock Pot or Slow Cooker Yogurt
on Sep 17, 2017, Updated Apr 17, 2025
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It’s so easy to make silky smooth Slow Cooker Yogurt at home with just two ingredients and prep time of only 5 minutes! This simple recipe saves money, reduces waste, and delivers fresh yogurt without any additives or preservatives.
🥛Just 5 minutes of prep, and then slow cooker does the rest while you sleep. Such an easy way to get another option for homemade breakfast or snacks into your meal rotation!
My 2 Best Tips For Making Slow Cooker Yogurt
- Temperature Matters: The first time you make this recipe, use a thermometer to verify your slow cooker’s heating pattern. The ideal temperature for yogurt cultures is 110-115°F (43-46°C). Too hot and you’ll kill the cultures; too cool and they won’t activate properly.
- Quality Starters Make Quality Yogurt: Choose a high-quality plain yogurt with live active cultures for your beginning starter. Brands like Mountain High, Fage, or Chobani work well. Then you can start saving your own starter from each of your homemade batches. After a few batches, you may notice your yogurt becoming less thick—this is the time to introduce a fresh commercial starter.
🩷 Melissa
I like to start this in the afternoon so that it’s ready to sit for its long 8-12 hour warm resting period overnight. We then wake up to fresh yogurt, and I’ll serve it with fresh fruit and some homemade granola.
This is a great way to to get organic yogurt on the cheap. You can buy a carton of organic milk and turn it into yogurt for about half the price of organic yogurt.
It is plain yogurt, but you can add honey, jams, fresh fruit, and just about anything else you like. I also use it in place of sour cream in most recipes.
Slow Cooker Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk (you'll get a thinner product with a lower fat content milk)
- 1/2 cup commercial plain yogurt that says “Live and Active Cultures” on the tub, I have great success with Mountain High yogurt for my culture.
Instructions
- In a large crock pot, add the milk. Add the lid. Turn it on low for around 2 ½ hours.
- After that time has passed, unplug the crock pot and let it sit for 3 hours. I always set a timer for these or I don’t remember.
- After the 3 hours has passed, stir in the ½ cup of yogurt. Replace the lid of the crock pot and cover with two big towels or a blanket. Let rest for 8 to 12 hours (overnight works well). In the morning you'll have yogurt!
- Place it in a half-gallon mason jar and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. It will thicken up in the fridge. Keep a ½ cup of this yogurt for your next batch and say goodbye to buying yogurt!
- You can also let the yogurt strain in cheese cloth in the fridge for a few hours and you'll get a thicker Greek yogurt.
Video
Notes
- I highly recommend getting a little instant-read thermometer to make homemade yogurt since it’s all about the temperature.
- The goal is to scald the milk which takes place around 180°F. Check it with a thermometer the first time to see if the “warm” setting is warm enough or if maybe an hour and 45 minutes would work on low. Once you figure it out, I don’t think you would have to use the thermometer every time.
- After the milk is scalded, the waiting time is meant to bring the milk down to around 110-115°F so it’s still warm but won’t kill your yogurt culture.
- Serve with fresh fruit and granola
- Make yogurt bowls: 5 Easy Healthy Yogurt Bowl Ideas
- Homemade Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt Cups
- 4 Ingredient Healthy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt (5 minute recipe!)
- It also goes great in smoothies like my Key Lime Pie Smoothie, Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie, or Avocado Smoothie.
- Or try it in these amazing Soft and Puffy Greek Yogurt Sugar Cookies!
Nutrition
Recipe FAQs
Homemade yogurt typically stays fresh in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks when stored in an airtight container. The flavor may become more tart over time as the cultures continue to slowly develop.
Several factors can affect thickness: using ultra-pasteurized milk, milk with lower fat content, culture that wasn’t active enough, or temperature issues during incubation. For thicker yogurt, try using whole milk, ensuring proper temperatures are maintained, or strain the finished yogurt through cheesecloth.
After your yogurt is made, simply line a fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth, place it over a bowl, and pour in your finished yogurt. Allow it to drain in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours for a thicker Greek-style yogurt. The longer it strains, the thicker it becomes.
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What did I make? Cheese? Or just sour milk? I must have gotten cocky because on my third try —after two great, creamy, white yogurts— I didn’t use my timer (actually accidental—there was a lot going on) and the milk got a film at the scalding and cooling point. After the 12 hour rest it looked yellow and separated with a lot of whey.
Any idea what went wrong or what I have now?
I still put it into jars and left it on the counter for now, and am hoping for the best tomorrow!
It’s just processed a long time and that’s the whey on top. I’d just strain it off, it’ll be fine!
AH! I was making this and when I unplugged the pot and put towels over it at 110*, I woke up 12 hours later and checked the temp only to find it had gone up to 174*!!!!!
What the heck would cause that? Too much warmth from the Mexican blanket and towel I used?
I’ve never heard of that happening! You much have a very strong slow cooker or a liner that is extra thick, doesn’t make a bit of sense to me.
How long should I let the milk scald in my crockpot? It finally hit 180*F at the 2.75 hour mark. Should I let it sit longer, or should I remove it from heat to let it start to cool back down to a safe temp for the yogurt?
Once it reaches the temp, it doesn’t need to hold it.
The first time I tried this, I made the loveliest, small curd cottage cheese/tangy ricotta. Trying again this time, following the temp instructions EXACTLY. Now I know how to make TWO dairy products on my own. 😉
You’re not heating the milk high enough in the first step to get the protein to firm up. You need to get it to 200, then cool to the 115 or so to add your culture. You’ll get the right thickness doing it that way. Works every time.
I just made this for the first time, and I was impressed with how easy it was and that it actually worked! I ended up using a strawberry yogurt for my starter and whole milk – there’s a little strawberry flavor which is tasty! I then strained it with a dish towel and colander to make it more like Greek yogurt – so good! Thank you for this recipe!
Hello do you strain before putting the yogurt?
You can strain this after it has sat overnight with the yogurt in it 🙂
I;m allergic to dairy. Will this work with Soy Milk?
I haven’t tried it, has anyone else had success?
I’ve been using this recipe for a long time and have tried it with soy milk, almond milk, and most recently with a pea protein milk. The almond milk didn’t work very well (it worked, but way too runny and I felt like I wasted so much with straining to get to the consistency I liked). Soy worked decently well and worth the try if that’s your preference. It thickens up better than almond milk, but still required a lot more straining than with the pea protein.
My favorite by far is the pea protein milk (I use Bolthouse Farms plant protein milk). Its delicious, and I’ve definitely had the most consistent success with this type of non-dairy milk that I’ve tried and will be sticking with it for the time being. I actually have a batch in the slow cooker right now.
I can’t explain any of the science behind my various success rates of these non-dairy milks 🙂
THANK YOU! This was so so helpful!
I have 4L of milk that just passed the bb date. Im going to make it all. Can I double the time for it since its double the recipe?
No need to adjust times, just double the amount of culture you are using.
Hi! I’m attempting this recipe for the 2nd time. First time was a complete failure. We live in upstate NY and it’s still really cold here and the house is old and can’t get it warm, I just don’t think my yogurt stayed warm enough in the crock pot overnight (wrapped in a towel, in my oven). So, I’m trying again – this time there’s a film layer on the top of my milk in the crock pot (after heating to 180 – haven’t put the starter in yet, its still too hot). Do you think it will be ok? What could cause this? I know I need to get a better thermometer. I also used a crock pot I don’t use as much and I don’t think is as consistent, it’s just smaller and I didn’t want to bring out my big one.
Yes, the film happens to me and I take it off before adding my yogurt culture, no issue there! It’s a scalded milk thing. Keep us posted! I’d like to know how it works for you!
Thank you! I am impressed with how it came out. I had taken some of the film off, as much as I could, but I know I didn’t get it all. The yogurt came out a bit stringy – is that normal for you? It’s more of a drinkable yogurt consistency, ideally I’d like it a little firmer, but I can eat this with no problems. Would letting it sit longer help to firm it up?
It’ll get over the stringy when it’s cold and it’ll thicken up a bit when cold too. That being said, you can strain it to make it thicker if you like. I almost always strain mine as we like a Greek yogurt style textures, there’s notes in the post but I normally just line a colander with dish towel and set it in a large bowl and let it drain for a few hours. Straining out the whey makes it thicker! Congrats on the yogurt!
I have yet to make this yet, but could you add sugar or a fruit mixture so this doesn’t have the taste of plain yogurt?
I just tried it with adding a can of sweetened condensed milk and it worked fine. We normally just sweeten our plain yogurt with jam or honey when serving but it was fun to try something else and of course the family cheered!
Perfect, thanks for the tip!