Yogurt

Making homemade yogurt on the stovetop is simpler than you might think, using just milk and a small amount of starter culture. The process begins by gently warming the milk, then stirring in the starter before letting it rest in a warm place to thicken naturally. The result is fresh, creamy yogurt with a wholesome taste you won’t find in store-bought versions. With simple ingredients and a little patience, this recipe brings the comfort of homemade goodness right to your kitchen—perfect for breakfasts, snacks, or baking, and a wonderful way to nourish your family from scratch.

Printing the recipe below in the recipe card is an option, or I have included my favorite way to write out recipes in a PDF, feel free to download using the button below!

Yogurt

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

3-4 quarts skim milk or whole milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt yogurt from previous batch of homemade yogurt or store-bought that has 'live and active cultures' on the ingredients list.

Method

Heat milk to 181℉, remove from heat and wait for temperature to drop to 112-118℉.
When your milk has dropped to required temp, add the yogurt.
Now it is time to incubate the yogurt, wrap in a towel and set into and oven that is still warm from making something. If using the Instapot select the amount of time for incubation and close the lid.
Yogurt will set up in 3-4 hours and you can call it done anytime after its set. The longer you allow it to incubate the more tart it will be.
The more often you use your own homemade yogurt as a culture the more tart your yogurt will be because the cultures become more active and numerous.
We like a thick yogurt so we strain some from whey our warm yogurt through a cheese cloth before refrigerating it.

2 Responses

Holly Griffith says:

September 7, 2025 at 8:50 pm

RuthAnn,
My yogurt is turning out great, however, it doesn’t have any sweetness or fruit, as soon as I add it the yogurt gets “bally” like little curds. And it never resets as firm as it first was. I’ve added sugar and fruit before I incubate and after incubated and refrigerated. And it never seems sweet enough, I’m putting 1/4 C per quart along with strawberry puree boiled down bit to reduce liquid.
Thanks
Holly Griffith
PS I pre-ordered your book but are you signing any copies?
1. RuthAnn Zimmerman says:
  
  September 13, 2025 at 1:58 pm
  
  This is typical of homemade yogurt because it doesn’t contain stabilizers.
  We add sweetner or fruit right before we serve or eat it. We store it plain in the refrigerator!
  I hope this helps!