Easy Homemade Yoghurt Recipe (without yoghurt Maker) 

This is an easy to use step-by-step recipe (with photos) for making homemade yoghurt without a yoghurt maker. It is quick to make and tastes delicious. You need a digital thermometer or candy thermometer and a heavy-bottomed pot with lid, milk and half a cup of store-bought yoghurt as your starter culture. 

It was during a recent walking holiday that I met a wonderful woman who told me how she makes yoghurt. We were talking about all sorts of things to make with milk as she owned a farm and a few dairy cows. When she mentioned yoghurt, I couldn’t quite believe how easy it was to make! So, after the holiday I immediately set about to make a batch of plain yoghurt. I can’t believe I have missed out on this for so long – it is so easy and so much cheaper than store-bought yoghurt, and you don’t even need a yoghurt maker. Wooo hoo!

This recipes makes approx. 2 litres or 2 quarts yoghurt. 

Let’s go through how to make yoghurt in these step-by-step photos. Find the printable recipe at the end of the steps.

Pour the milk into a large Dutch oven (heavy, thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid) and heat over medium to medium high heat. Heat the milk up to a just below boiling point, approx. 200°F or 93°C. Start measuring the temperature quite early on.

I use a digital thermometer for this. Keep stirring the milk as it heats up so that the bottom doesn’t scorch. 

Keep an eye on the temperature, it goes up rather quickly!

The milk here is not at boiling point but is very close to it where it starts to look very frothy!

As soon as the temperature gets to approximately 200°F or 93°C. or close enough ie. the milk looks like it is about to go into a rolling boil, remove the pot from the stove.

Now you need to cool the milk. Place the pot into an ice bath – you can make this by adding ice and water to a large baking dish (this is optional but it does quicken the cooling process). Allow the milk to cool until it is just warm enough to the touch, between 112°F – 115°F (44-46°C). Stir the milk every now and then to prevent a skin from forming. Never fear though, if it does form, you can just peel it off and shout Tadaaa!

Now place the 1/2 cup store-bought yoghurt (with live active cultures) into a bowl.

Scoop out half a cup of the lukewarm milk from the large pot and add it to the bowl with the yoghurt. Whisk the milk and yoghurt until the yoghurt has thinned out and the consistency is smooth.

Now that the consistency is smooth, pour this yoghurt-milk mixture back into the large pot of lukewarm milk and stir to combine. You have now just added the live culture to your milk (soon to be called yoghurt!)

Cover the pot / dutch oven with its lid and place the pot in a warm place – I use a Wonderbag (as seen in photo above) but you could easily cover the pot with some towels and place it in a turned off oven. You can put the oven light on to provide a little extra warmth. The idea is to keep the milk warm whilst it sets, usually at around 110°F (43°C) although a little variation to this temperature is fine. You don’t need to measure this temperature, simply make sure that the pot is covered with towels or placed in a warm area.

Allow the yoghurt to set for at least 4 hours. I leave mine overnight or for at least 12 hours for a firmer yoghurt. The longer the yoghurt sits at the required temperature, the thicker and more tart it becomes. 

As you can see here, I have closed up the Wonderbag and now I will leave the yoghurt to set.

Once the yoghurt has set for the desired length of time, remove the lid and check for any watery whey sitting on the surface of the yoghurt. You can stir this into the yoghurt or drain the liquid off.

Stirring or whisking the yoghurt after it has set helps to give it that lovely, creamy texture. 

More Useful Tips for Yoghurt Making

• If you want a thicker yoghurt you can strain it using some muslin cloth. 
• Add flavours to your yoghurt by adding chopped fruit or fruit coulis, honey and chopped nuts. 
• Transfer the yoghurt into storage containers with lids and then store the yoghurt in the fridge for up to 10-14 days. 
• Remember to keep half a cup of this yoghurt to culture your next batch of yoghurt. The culture can get weak over time so if you notice that the yoghurt isn’t setting as nicely or it is not tasting as good as it usually tastes, then it might be time to purchase some more store-bought yoghurt. 

Why do you have to heat the milk?

Heating the milk helps to change the structure of the protein within the milk so it can set as a solid. 

What milk should I purchase?

I have made this recipe successfully with long-life and fresh milk and I find the best results are with fresh, full-cream milk. I just generally use what I have on hand. I used long-life milk for the yoghurt I made in these photos but generally if possible, I would choose fresh milk. I would experiment though until you find what is easiest and best tasting for you and your family. 

What is a Wonderbag?

A wonderbag is a non-electric slow-cooker – it is made out of fabric and you can use it to save on electricity and gas as they are able to retain heat and continue cooking your stew/casserole once the pot has been removed from the stovetop.  ie. After bringing a pot of food to the boil and placing it in a Wonderbag, the food will continue cooking for up to eight hours without any additional energy source. They are pretty cool and you can purchase them worldwide. I use mine to make rice in, cook stews and of course, make yoghurt! And no, this is not an affiliate advert, I just really find the product WONDERFUL!

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