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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This was my third try and it turned out to be the charm. The first two recipes resulted in a delicious yogurt but with a grainy texture. This time is was creamy and smooth. I used a slow cooker on low but after 2.5 hrs, the very cold whole milk temp had only reached 175 degrees. So I gave it another 30” and then let the milk cool to 110 degrees. My cover has a small opening in the cover for my thermometer, so I just left it in the whole time for both heating and cooling.
I did mix very well six ozs. of whole yogurt with two cups of the 110 degree milk and mixed that well into the other six cups of milk.
Then I poured the mixture into 12 6oz jars and cooked it an additional five hours in an inexpensive yogurt maker bought on Amazon for $30.
Look for Gourmia GYM1710 Yogurt Maker With 12 Glass Jars. It was a real winner!
Thank your for the tips!
Thanks for sharing this! I’m making it right now 🙂 can’t wait to see it in the morning!
I love this yogurt! I make a gallon every week or so—I need plenty to share with friends and loved ones who also love it! Thanks for sharing.
I would like to know if yogurt can be made from chocolate milk?? I have tried a recipe with cocoa, etc to make it chocolate but I didn’t care for taste the closest I found wad adding meanwhile or Swiss miss to flavor but that adds calories and chemicals. If’m made with chocolate milk would be better but wondered if anyone had tried.
That is such a great question. I haven’t tried it but I really think it would work! If you do try, will you report back and let me know. Great idea!
How long does this keep in the fridge and how long does your fruit on the bottom version keep in the fridge before they mold
A week or so most of the time, it depends on how it’s being stored and temperatures but it lasts pretty well.
This is THE best crockpot recipe for yogurt!
About to try this recipe – thank you so much for sharing! I happened to be strolling through my local farmers market this morning, and I picked up some local yogurt to use as my starter (in addition to all the fresh berries and honey I’ll be dressing it with after its finished). Can’t wait to try it! I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Making my second batch today and decided to infuse the milk with vanilla bean pods while warming.
hi melissa ive just started a batch. couple questions.
do i leave the lid off for first step?
do you think i could freeze this is squeeze pouch for frozen yorgurt effect?
Nope, put the lid on in the first step, and I’m not sure about the freezing. I haven’t tried it, but if you do I’d love to hear how it turns out.
Please tell me there is a way to sweeten this homemade yogurt! We need a little something to make it taste good.
https://www.blessthismessplease.com/2014/02/homemade-fruit-on-the-bottom-yogurt-cups.html
That’s what I do most of the time and it’s great. You can use jam too. I’ve heard of people even putting Jello packets but that’s not something I would do, but it doesn’t mean you might not want to try it.
I love this yogurt recipe. For reducing calories, I use 1/2 gal fat free milk and 1/2c fat free plain Greek yogurt “starter”. Then at the end, after the whey is drained completely, I add and stir in a box of Jello Sugar-Free instant cheesecake pudding (powder form) to the remaining yogurt in order to thicken and sweeten. Chill. Serve over fresh strawberries or blueberries. Other flavors such as Banana cream, vanilla, white chocolate, work, too. Delicious!
Love the substitutions! Thanks for sharing.
I like to sweeten the yogurt with honey. I added some instant coffee too, cause that’s the kind of person I am. I give the yogurt to my dogs (no coffee of course). I add small amounts of honey, chia seed, flax seed, hempseed, and a small dash of cinnamon. I freeze it in a small portion silicone mold. I can not wait to make a pup friendly version of ice cream too with frozen banana and frozen yogurt. I am rambling, cause the possibility of this recipe is endless. I am making ricotta cheese with the whey. So many things to do with yogurt. Yes could be here all day. Great recipe, with detailed instructions. Love it
So many great ideas. Thank you for sharing!