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.
More Healthy Snack Recipes to Consider
Breakfast Recipes
Protein Shakes
Snacks
Breakfast Bars
Breakfast Recipes
Chia Seed Pudding
From Scratch Recipes
Celery Juice
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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!
Second time making yogurt with your recipe. Simple easy and delicious! Thank you. I am going to drain it a few hours this time, but it was nice and thick last time, half way between regular and Greek style.
I wasted a whole gallon of raw milk on this . Ppl say not to cry over spilled milk . But I could’ve cried over this . It did not set up well at all . I was skeptical of a crockpot yogurt , but I couldn’t find my normal recipe and decided to give it a shot . Very disappointed. Gave it to our dog .
Did you scald you milk before? Raw milk, because it hasn’t been pasteurized has a different protein structure than pasteurized store milk. I have made this with raw milk before but did have to get it hot enough first. And that being said, you can also always reinoculated the milk and try again if it didn’t set the first time. Especially if you pasteurize it again first.
This recipe is WONDERFUL, I wasn’t expecting it to come out as well as it did. I have been using a yogurt maker for years, but wanted to make a bigger batch and try using my crockpot. This turned out great and so so much easier than heating the milk in a pan, cooling, pouring into small containers, etc.
Thank you for sharing!
If I’m using milk that is already pasteurized, do I still have to scald my milk, or can I just heat it up to 115-110 degrees, mix in my start culture, and then cover it overnight?
Heating up the milk higher than that doesn’t something to the milk proteins and I have found the yogurt will be thicker than if you skip that heating step.
If I double the recipe, and use a gallon of milk, will the cook times change? Thank you for the recipe!
It’ll be the same! You can always use the temperature cues to check on things.
Hi Mel i made this to the letter, but it is very runny, will this thicken once cooled? Thanks Roo
Like thin yogurt runny or still milk? You can always run it through the process again if it’s runny! But if it’s just thin yogurt runny, it’ll thicken up in the fridge but if it’s still like milk it didn’t inoculate correctly.
Hi, I have never made yogurt before and have two questions:
1. I may have missed this info on the site if so, I apologize. How long will it last in the fridge when done? I’m concerned that I will not be able to use it all before it goes bad, that’s one reason why I don’t buy yogurt from the store anymore.
2. Can I cut the recipe in half, so I don’t waste it? If so, do I change anything about the recipe other than the measurements?
Thanks so much!
It lasts about as long as store yogurt, so a few weeks. And you can cut the recipe in half you just need to note that it will take much less time for the temps to change and so I’d go off of temperature and not the timing.
When I make this the first time, can I use Greek yogurt cultures, or should it be just plain non-Greek yogurt?
I almost always use Greek yogurt, as long as it’s an active culture yogurt it shouldn’t matter if it’s Greek or not, that’s just how strained it is…
I have probably given this recipe to a dozen people because I love it. The difficult part about telling people about it is they can not get how simple it is. I use my jelly bag strainer and jar, it doesn’t quite hold oall of it at first but it only takes a few minutes to drain down. I like mine a little thicker than most.
So good! Thank you!!