Easy Homemade Yogurt Recipe: Stovetop Method ~ Texas Homesteader (2024)

by Texas Homesteader
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I love my morning yogurt, y’all. But several years ago I thought to myself “I wonder if I can MAKE yogurt?”

A quick search of the internet showed that I could indeed, and there were several recipes. I’ve never looked back!

I’ve made 1/2 gallon of yogurt about every other week for decades now & it’s shamefully easy!

Plus I make my yogurt in single-serving 1/2 pint glass canning jars so other than the milk jug itself there’s NO TRASH, recycling or otherwise.

I’m happy to share my method with you – the recipe will be included at the bottom.

(Note: Some links in this post are for further information from earlier posts I’ve written. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click them and buy something (almost anything, not just the item noted) I could receive a tiny commission. But the price you pay will NOT change. It’s an easy way to support this blog without anything coming out of your pocket. So click often! Thank you!)

It all started several years ago when I first became aware of my eco-friendly side. I became very interested in both recycling and conservation.

My suburban city had just started a recycling program and I was all over it! As a result I began to also look for ways to reduce the volume of my family’s trash that was sent to the landfill.

I started being very mindful of what I purchased, shunning it if I felt it was overly packaged.

One place I felt I didn’t have control was with yogurt. My city’s recycling program didn’t accept the kind of plastic that these yogurt containers were sold in.

Although I was all fired up over recycling, I’d sigh and throw these containers in the trash feeling I had failed in my environmental quest.

And so it was then that I began making my own yogurt.

Homemade Yogurt Is EASY!

The abbreviated instructions are as easy as this:

Heat milk & powdered milk to 180 degrees, cool to 105 degrees, stir in yogurt starter & incubate in warm place undisturbed until thick.

Whaaaaat? Can it really be this easy? YES, Really!

Update: I recently purchased an Instant Pot. If you’d rather make your yogurt in an Instant Pot instead of stove top, you can see my step-by-step instructions to
Instant Pot Yogurt Here.

Getting Started With Stovetop Yogurt

I start with 1/2 gallon of 2% milk and stir in 2 cups instant powdered milk. This makes the yogurt a little thicker and I believe it also adds protein.

I’ve tried this recipe with skim milk but wasn’t happy with the texture of the yogurt. RancherMan loves the texture of whole milk.

But the 2% milk is a happy balance. It results in a nice silky-thick yogurt with less fat. But feel free to use whole milk if you like.

Gently Heat The Milk

Then I heat the milk to 180 degrees stirring often. I often abbreviate this step by pouring my milk & adding the powdered milk in my pan, then covering it and setting it aside while I enjoy my morning coffee.

Since that short period on the counter means it’s closer to room temp when I start heating it, that also means less time standing at the stove stirring and less propane is used too.

Y’all know I’m a big fan of Shortcuts In The Kitchen. So this easy shortcut is certainly something that works for me.

Cool The Milk

After the milk has reached 180 degrees it’s time to cool it down to a safe temperature for the yogurt cultures. That’s about 105-110 degrees.

You could leave the pan on the stove with the heat turned off. But I found a milk skin always formed on top of the milk when I cooled it that way.

I’d try to remove it or stir it back into the yogurt. But I could never remove or dissolve it all. And I just wasn’t fond of that texture in my yogurt.

So instead I fill a bowl with ice and water and set the pan down into the ice bath.

The temperature is monitored until it reaches about 105-110 degrees.

During the heat of summer when our crappy ice maker can’t keep enough ice to keep RancherMan & me in cold beverages after a hot day in the pastures, I started using this Homestead Hack so I can reserve ice for RancherMan & me.

I’ll use frozen water bottles to cool the milk instead of ice.

Adding The Active Culture Starter

When my milk is cooled to a safe temperature I stir in about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of my own homemade yogurt to act as a starter. These are the active cultures needed to make your milk into yogurt.

I use my own homemade yogurt for starter but for your first batch you can purchase plain unflavored yogurt. Just make sure it contains active yogurt cultures – not all yogurts do.

Two good ones to use are Braum’s and Dannon yogurt. But be sure to check your labels and buy only yogurt with live active cultures.

I stir my starter into the milk, making sure everything is fully incorporated.

Reusable Single-Serve Containers

When my starter is fully incorporated I pour my yogurt/milk mixture into 1/2 pint canning jars and place a repurposed metal lid on the jar.

By using those small jars and repurposed lids I’m getting convenient single-serving yogurt with no waste. Some people make their yogurt in larger sized jars up to about quart sized and just spoon the yogurt into bowls whenever they want. Either way – no waste!

But if you’re making your yogurt into single-serving jars like me be sure to leave enough space to stir in something sweet when you’re ready to eat it.

I like to sweeten mine with honey & fruit or homemade Blueberry Jam or a chunky Pear Preserves.

If desired you can plop about a tablespoon of jam into the bottom of these jars before you fill it up with the warmed milk for a fruit-on-the-bottom style.

Just remember to leave at least one of your jars unsweetened so you can use it for starter next time,

And also perhaps for a lower-fat substitution for a dollop of sour cream from time to time. 😉

Time To Incubate The Yogurt

My yogurt is now ready to incubate for about 6 hours. The longer it incubates, the thicker and more tart it will be.

To give my yogurt a warm environment to do it’s yogurt thaaaaang, I heat my oven for about 60 seconds then turn it back off.

This brings the temp inside my oven to a low-heat warm environment – perfect for yogurt cultures to multiply!

I place my jars into the oven and turn on the oven light to maintain a little heat.

With my oven I often turn the heat back on about after 3 hrs incubation time for ONLY 1 minute, then turn it back off. This seems to keep the temps perfect for my yogurt to incubate.

My previous oven didn’t require that since I guess the bulb itself burned hotter than the bulb in my new oven. Gently bumping the heat like that seems to keep the temps where my yogurt cultures are happy. But be sure you don’t allow it to get too hot & kill your cultures!

Of course you can buy an automatic * yogurt maker that keeps the proper temperature for you throughout the duration of your yogurt incubation. Just set the timer and walk away.

The yogurt is usually ready after 4 hours incubation, but RancherMan likes me to leave it 6-8 hours.

When the time is up I simply remove the yogurt from the oven, allow to cool a bit and place the jars in the fridge.

Enjoy Homemade Yogurt

I often make plain yogurt and leave the sugar and vanilla out until I’m ready to eat it. That way I can use the non-sweetened yogurt for other things as well such as low-fat sour cream substitution in both cooking and on baked potatoes.

And I use our homemade yogurt in many different homemade recipes here on the Homestead. It’s an important ingredient in RancherMan’s favorite Country-Style Biscuits and my favorite one-minute Creamy Salad Dressing. Heck I even use it for my Chocolate Fudgesicles.

But when I want to eat sweetened yogurt I’ll either stir a spoon of my favorite jelly to sweeten or a squeeze of local honey with a spoonful of fruit or berries.

And I love to sprinkle some Homemade Pumpkin Granola on top for a little crunch too.

All that’s left to do is enjoy!

Are you ready to make your own homemade yogurt. Yea! It’s easy! Here’s the recipe:

There ya go – 1/2 gallon of homemade yogurt! I share lots of fun stories & recipes on our facebook page, so c’mon by & follow us on Facebook.

~TxH~

Related Links Contained In This Post

• Homemade Yogurt: Instant Pot Method
• How We Reduced Our Landfill Contributions
• Using Frozen Water Bottles In The Kitchen
• Homemade Meals Everyday The EASY Way
• Where To Find FREE Canning Jar Lids
• Homemade Blueberry Jam
• Pear Preserves From Scratch
• *Electric Yogurt Maker
• Homemade Country-Style Biscuits
• Creamy Salad Dressing In 1 Minute
• Chocolate Fudgesicle Recipe
• Pumpkin Granola Recipe

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