Crock Pot or Slow Cooker Yogurt
on Sep 17, 2017, Updated Oct 21, 2024
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Slow cooker yogurt is an easy, healthy and inexpensive way to make homemade yogurt without a yogurt maker. Prepare it in five minutes, go to bed, and wake up to a freshly made breakfast!
Yogurt can be expensive and often times it has a long list of artificial colors, flavors, and who knows what else. Here is a super easy recipe to make your own slow cooker 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. 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.
The recipe is so easy that it practically makes itself. You just have to commit a little time to the process! You essentially just use your slow cooker to scald the milk and then the heavy warm crock radiates heat all night long to help culture your new batch of yogurt. The hands-on time is about 5 minutes, though the waiting time is about 15 hours. 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.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Just 5 minutes of prep, and the slow cooker does the rest while you sleep.
- Homemade yogurt has live cultures, is fresh, preservative-free, and full of probiotics.
- Making your own yogurt is far cheaper than buying store-bought varieties.
- Customizable by adjusting thickness by straining for Greek yogurt, and flavor it however you like.
Recipe Ingredients
- Whole milk – You’ll get a thinner product with a lower fat content milk)
- Commercial plain yogurt – Must say “Live and Active Cultures” on the tub, I have great success with Mountain High yogurt for my culture
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Crock Pot or Slow Cooker Yogurt
Step #1. Pour milk into the slow cooker, cover, and heat on low for about 2 ½ hours.
Step #2. Unplug the slow cooker and let the milk sit for 3 hours to cool slightly.
Step #3. Stir in ½ cup of yogurt, cover with lid and towels, and let it rest for 8-12 hours.
Step #4. In the morning, transfer the yogurt to a jar and refrigerate or strain for thicker Greek yogurt.
Recipe FAQs
Homemade yogurt is generally good for eating for up to 2 weeks when properly stored in the refrigerator.
You don’t have to buy commercial plain yogurt every time. Just save 1/2 cup of your own yogurt for the starter for the next batch.
Use whole milk instead of 2% or skim. The higher milk fat lends to a thicker yogurt.
Stick it in the fridge. Your yogurt with thicken up some as it gets cold.
Strain your yogurt. By removing some of the whey, you are left with a thicker Greek style yogurt. Strain the yogurt through 3-4 layers of cheese cloth for a few hours, too. Simply set a large colander in a bowl, line it with cheese cloth, and then pour yogurt in from the slow cooker. Cover it with a clean dish towel and let it sit for a few hours until it’s the consistency that you like.
Expert Tips
- I’d highly recommend getting a little instant-read thermometer to make homemade yogurt – it’s all about the temperature! I use this $10 thermometer all the time.
- The goal is to scald the milk which takes place around 180 degrees. So you could 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 115-110 degrees so that it’s still warm but won’t kill your yogurt culture!
- You don’t have to buy commercial plain yogurt every time. Just save 1/2 cup of your own yogurt for the starter for the next batch.
- I really recommend straining this yogurt through 3-4 layers of cheese cloth for a few hours, too. This helps it to thicken up to a more “Greek yogurt” consistency which my kids prefer (and it’s easier to eat). Simply set a large colander in a bowl, line it with cheese cloth, and then pour my yogurt in from the slow cooker. Cover it with a clean dish towel and let it sit for a few hours until it’s the consistency that I like.
- Do note that the yogurt will also thicken some when refrigerated. Play around with it until you figure out how thick or how thin you prefer your yogurt and make notes.
How to Serve and Store Homemade Yogurt
Fresh fruit and granola make a wholesome breakfast, you can try my 5 Easy Healthy Yogurt Bowl Ideas, Homemade Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt Cups, or 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. You can bake with it in my Soft and Puffy Greek Yogurt Sugar Cookies!
Keep the yogurt in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. It will continue to thicken as it chills. Homemade yogurt can be frozen for up to 2 months, but the texture may become grainy when thawed so use the frozen yogurt for smoothies or baking instead.
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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 1/2 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 1/2 cup of yogurt. Replace the lid of the crock pot and cover with 2 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 1/2 gallon mason jar and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. It will thicken up in the fridge. Keep a 1/2 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
- *The goal is to scald the milk which takes place around 180 degrees. So you could 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 menat to bring the milk down to around 115-110 degrees so that it’s still warm but won’t kill your yogurt culture!
Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe! This was my first attempt at making yogurt and it was perfect!
I’ve tried numerous recipes for making Greek yogurt and this is one of the easiest and best tasting recipe one I’ve come across. I followed the instructions based on time estimation-did not use a thermometer just a timer. I also liked that this recipe was for 1/2 gallon. Thank you!
Hi Melissa! I made my first batch of yogurt this week and it turned out amazing!! Shared some with friends and they loved it.
I saved 1/2 cup for making a batch later… but I’m wondering if there is a specified time frame I have to use it within? Is it the same as the 2 weeks for eating purposes? Thank you!!
It’ll start to mold just like anything else after 10-14 days or so. I just freeze what I save in ice cube trays and then pop them out and store them in a freezer container. The frozen culture works great and then I know I have some ready when I need it!
Just a note, deticated should be spelled dedicated.
Don’t be that person.
Will this recipe work is you use a flavored Greek yogurt as the starter? (I.e. Chobani vanilla) Thanks!
I was just out and used some vanilla yesterday! As long as it has live and active cultures it should be ok!
Would this recipe work making it with soy milk?
What happens if your yogurt as is it cooling after scalding gets colder than the 115-110 range? Would you suggest I bring the temperature back up? I guess my house is cold and it cooled down quickly or maybe I was supposed to leave the lid on the crockpot? Help hoping I haven’t ruined this first batch.
How much lower did it get? You do want it to be a little warm so that the cultures have some warmth to inoculate in but it should be fine!
I cut the recipe in half, using only 4 cups of whole milk whole milk. Got confused with cooking and cooling times on my first attempt and it came out very runny—like thick kefir with chunks. On my second attempt, I made adjustments based on previous mistakes and it came out perfect! I still only made a quart but my crockpot took 3 hours to heat the milk to 180F and 2 hours and 15 minutes to cool to 112F.
Some tips I can impart especially for first timers, aside from obviously paying attention to quantity vis-a-vis cooking/cooling times:
1) Do not uncover the crock pot multiple times especially during heating. It will affect the temperature. If you absolutely must, put a thick towel over the cover while you check the temperature to let as little heat as possible to escape. This will take some maneuvering magic on your part.
2) Get a quick read thermometer.
3) Know your crock pot. I thought less milk would cook faster, but it ended up needing an hour more.
4) Keep crockpot in a warm-pleasantly warm environment. For reference, the house never went below 71F when I left the yogurt overnight.
Ive just started making this… im dairy free though so im using a mix of coconut and almond milk and then some left over store bought coconut yoghurt… im a little worried it wont work out but i really hope it does! Coconut yoghurt is very expensive and im hoping to save some money!
How do you calculate the nutritional facts based off the yogurt you start off with plus the milk brand/percentage? I will be starting with store bought greek yogurt (Fage 2% plain greek yogurt) with 2% milk (don’t know brand yet) but want to know how you determined the macros of your homemade yogurt!
I feel like I have this recipe down (almost) to a science now. The purchase of a thermometer was the key. Today I am eating the tartest and most delicious non-fat Greek yogurt I’ve ever eaten in my life because I use non-fat dry milk as the base ingredient and I double the dry milk to water ratio. I don’t know if the culture you start with has an impact on flavor but this time I had just enough Chobani non-fat plain greek yogurt left over to start this one. I actually like mine more than their’s because it is so thick.
so I followed the instructions other than I didn’t let it sit for the total 3hrs after it hit 180. The milk’s temperature was 110 at about 2 hrs. I added the started, wrapped it in a blanket. The next morning the yogurt had not set. I think my house was too cold. I put it in the oven wrapped in the blanket, turned the light on, warmed up the oven to 170 then turned it off. I let the yogurt sit for about 8 hrs and voila I had beautiful yogurt with 2% milk.