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Instant Pot Yogurt could not be easier using the Cold Start Method! Ultra-Pasteurized milk, a starter and your Instant Pot is all you need to make delicious, creamy homemade yogurt.

Instant Pot Yogurt (Cold Start)

Instant Pot Yogurt could not be easier using the Cold Start Method! Ultra-Pasteurized milk, a starter and your Instant Pot is all you need to make delicious, creamy homemade yogurt.

What is Cold Start Instant Pot Yogurt?

There are two methods that one can use when making yogurt. The boil method and the Cold Start Method. We will be talking all things Cold Start today.

Creamy, Thick homemade yogurt made from an Instant Pot

The Cold Start method was given it’s name by Freida over at Freida Loves Bread. It is called the Cold Start method because it uses ultra-pasteurized milk so you don’t have to boil the milk like you would a regular gallon of milk.

What is cold start vs warm start yogurt?

The main difference between cold start and warm start yogurt is the method used to prepare the milk before adding the starter culture. Cold start yogurt skips the heating step by using ultra pasteurized milk and is made by directly mixing the milk and culture (fresh yogurt with live cultures), while warm start yogurt requires the milk to be heated and cooled before adding the culture.

Instant Pot Yogurt Cold Start ingredients

  • 1/2 gal ultra-pasteurized milk like Fairlife
  • 2 tbsp new, unopened yogurt with active cultures
  • 16 oz Vanilla Natural Bliss Coffee Creamer, optional

How to make Cold Start Instant Pot Yogurt

First you will need ultra-pasteurized milk. The most common brand of ultra-pasteurized milk is Fairlife. Whenever I make yogurt, I use Fairlife Whole milk. Skim, 1% or 2% would work well too.

Next, you’ll need a yogurt ‘starter’. When I was new to the Instant Pot, this really confused me. ‘I need yogurt, to make yogurt?’, I thought.  Yes, you do.

The yogurt needs to be NEW, unopened yogurt that has ‘live’ or ‘active’ cultures in it. It will be written on the back label. Two tablespoons will be whisked into the milk, those active cultures are what will change your milk into yogurt.

The milk and yogurt starter are incubated in the Instant Pot on the Yogurt NORMAL setting for 8 hours. The yogurt will be thick by the time the 8 hours are up.

Put the Yogurt directly into the fridge without stirring for 3-4 hours. I have this nifty silicone lid that fits onto the inner pot that I always put on and then stick the entire inner pot into my refrigerator.

Once the yogurt has been refrigerated, it is ready to flavor and eat!

If you’d like the yogurt thicker, you can strain the whey out of the yogurt. You know the liquid that is sitting on top of store bought yogurt? That is whey. You can take the liquid out by straining it.

A lot of people like to use coffee filters inside of a mesh strainer. Strain as long as you need to get your desired thickness. You can always mix back in some whey if it ends up too thick.

Thick Creamy Greek Style Yogurt made in the Instant Pot

How to sweeten and flavor Instant Pot Yogurt

When the yogurt is plain, it will taste tangy and like sour cream almost. It will not be sweet at all. In fact, you can substitute this plain yogurt for sour cream in recipes!

There are many ways to sweeten and flavor the yogurt. Honey, jam and adding a touch of vanilla are very popular options. My Instant Pot Strawberry Jam is delicious with yogurt!

My personal favorite way to sweeten and add a vanilla flavor to my yogurt is by adding a splash of Torani’s Vanilla Syrup. I personally think that it tastes just like Yoplait Vanilla Yogurt. They have all different flavors and even have a Sugar Free Syrup!

My kid’s favorite way of flavoring the yogurt is by adding some Jello powder or drink mix powder. This really flavors the yogurt and is very comparable to the kid’s flavored yogurts that can be bought at the store. I even make my own Go-Gurts now! I wrote all about it in this post.

Get creative with flavoring your yogurt! I have even made frozen yogurt with mine!

How to use Instant Pot Yogurt

There are many different ways you can use Instant Pot yogurt. Here are a few ideas for you:

  • Top with granola and fresh fruit for breakfast.
  • Add into your favorite smoothie
  • use in dips or spreads such as ranch
  • Use in salad dressing
  • use as a substitute for sour cream or buttermilk
  • Use it to make frozen yogurt or popsicles

How to store Instant Pot Yogurt

  • First, transfer the yogurt to a clean, airtight container with a lid. You can use glass jars or plastic containers that are airtight.
  • Next, label the container with the date that the yogurt was made.
  • Store the yogurt in the refrigerator immediately after making it. Make sure the fridge temperature is set to around 40°F (4°C) to ensure that the yogurt stays fresh.
  • Yogurt can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, but its quality may start to degrade after about a week. Always check the yogurt for any signs of spoilage before consuming it, such as mold, off odors or sour taste.

Instant Pot Yogurt FAQs

Can I use Chocolate Fairlife Milk?

You can certainly try, but chances are you will end up with warm chocolate milk in the morning instead of yogurt. There is just too much sugar in chocolate milk. All the sugar kills the active cultures, which are required to make yogurt.

Why do you use the Whole Milk instead of Skim, 1% or 2%?

My kids are mainly the ones that eat the yogurt and they could use a little meat on their bones. 🙂

What is the difference between Fairlife milk and a regular ‘ol gallon of milk?

Fair life has be ultra-pasutrized, which basically means it has been boiled already which is why the cold start method works.  Fairlife milk also has 50% more protein, 50% less sugar, 30% more calcium than regular milk. Fair life milk also has added the Lactase enzyme which makes this milk LACTOSE FREE!

What is Whey?

The liquid that strains off of yogurt.

Can I use some of my homemade unsweetened, unflavored yogurt as a starter for my next batch?

You bet!! Freeze 1 tbsp globs on parchment paper. Once frozen, gather the frozen yogurt and place them in a freezer safe container or bag. When you want to make yogurt next, pull two tbsp portions out and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so.

Is it worth it to make yogurt in an Instant Pot?

I certainly think so! It is a cost effective way to get a large quantity of thick greek yogurt at home plus it is so easy to do! I love that you can customize it to your individual taste and you can control the ingredients that go into the yogurt.

What temperature is the yogurt function on Instant Pot?

The yogurt function on an Instant Pot is designed to maintain a consistent temperature range of around 110°F-115°F (43°C-46°C) during the yogurt-making process.

How much Greek yogurt does 1 gallon of milk make?

this is dependent upon the fat content in the milk you are using, but you can expect to get around 32-48 oz of yogurt from 1 gallon of milk.

Why didn’t my cold start yogurt set?

Most commonly, it is because your yogurt culture was not active or viable. Make sure you use fresh yogurt or yogurt that was fresh when it was frozen to make your yogurt.

Cold Start Yogurt topped with Strawberry compote and granola
7. After the yogurt has incubated for the full 8 hours, transfer the yogurt and the inner liner to the fridge. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
 
8. If you’d like to strain your yogurt, now is the time to do so. You can strain by placing the yogurt in a coffee filter that is inside of a mesh strainer. Set over a bowl in the fridge for as long as it takes to get to the consistency you are looking for.

PIN ME!! Instant Pot Yogurt could not be easier using the Cold Start Method! Ultra-Pasteurized milk, a starter and your Instant Pot is all you need to make delicious, creamy homemade yogurt.-Cooking with Karli- #instantpot #yogurt #coldstart #homemade #easy

More Breakfast Recipes to Enjoy:

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

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5 from 9 votes

Instant Pot Yogurt (Cold Start)

Instant Pot Yogurt could not be easier using the Cold Start Method! Ultra-Pasteurized milk, a starter and your Instant Pot is all you need to make delicious, creamy homemade yogurt.
Prep Time: 2 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 1/2 gal ultra-pasteurized milk, like Fairlife
  • 2 tbsp new, unopened yogurt with active cultures
  • 16 oz Vanilla Natural Bliss Coffee Creamer, optional

Instructions 

  • Pour 1 cup of the milk into a small bowl. Pour remaining milk into the Instant Pot Liner.
  • Whisk 2 tbsp of yogurt into the 1 cup of milk thoroughly.
  • Pour the milk and yogurt mixture into the Instant Pot.
  • Add in the coffee creamer if desired, stir well.
  • Cover the Instant Pot with a glass lid (or take the seal out of your regular lid!).
  • Press the Yogurt button and hit adjust until the ‘NORMAL’ light is on. The display should read 8:00 hours. Incubate for 8 hours.
  • After the yogurt has incubated for the full 8 hours, transfer the yogurt and the inner liner to the fridge. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
  • If you’d like to strain your yogurt, now is the time to do so. You can strain by placing the yogurt in a coffee filter that is inside of a mesh strainer. Set over a bowl in the fridge for as long as it takes to get to the consistency you are looking for
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

About Karli Bitner

This blog is a little glimpse into my kitchen, family & life. I hope you’ll giggle the days away with me and enjoy the craziness that goes on at my house. If you are Cookie obsessed like I am, check out my Sister Site, Cookies for Days.

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Recipe Rating




73 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This turns out so amazing! I made one batch to start with because I wasn’t sure how we’d like it, I put it on before bed Tuesday night so that could go in the fridge when I was finishing up getting ready for work and about to leave the house at 5 am. I was thrilled to see it looked and smelled like yogurt so I covered it and put it in the fridge. Got home at 4 stirred it up and put some in a bowl put a little Torrani sugar free vanilla and salted caramel coffee syrup on in it, then some honey to sweeten it and delicious.
    My husband got home I made him some like mine he loved it, but then tried your suggestion in the Gogurts about the water flavor packets, they turned out awesome. The first batch didn’t hardly last a day, I took 2 small containers to work 1 for breakfast and 1 to go with lunch and had ate the same the day before all the rest he ate. LOL
    I just made my 2nd batch a double batch which just went in the fridge and we’ve decided 2 things 1 no more store bought yogurt and 2 because of this we need a 2nd Instant Pot. I made your Alfredo before starting the yogurt last night and it was delicious and the 5 Cheese Ziti last week which is so much better than OGs!
    Love your recipes!

  2. Tricia! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Waking up to this comment has completely made my day!! I’m so glad you’ve loved everything so far. Keep on coming back- new recipes go up daily! ? hope you have an awesome day!

  3. Question: Do you sanitize your liner before making the yogurt? My recipe is identical to yours except for that step:1 cup water on the steam setting for 5 minutes with QR. I also add 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and 1 tsp vanilla with the starter. But then I’m limited to just sweetened yogurt. Can’t use if I need place of sour cream, etc.

  4. I am new to the Instant Pot adventure. I don’t have a glass cover. As I read this recipe, I see you take the seal out of the Instant Pot cover and then place the cover on the Instant Pot and lock in place. Is that correct?

  5. Yes, that is one way to do it! Make sure that it is set to ‘venting’. I usually just use a glass lid, as the pot doesn’t need to come to pressure at all to make the yogurt. Either way will work. ?

  6. Can I leave the pot in the fridge an extra hour over four since I am making it overnight?
    Wish me luck…

  7. My mom just gave me an instapot (unused) today and I LOVE strawberry yogurt. The thought of being able to make my own big batch with fresh strawberry chunks in it has me drooling right now but I can’t find a recipe for it. Anybody got one for strawberry or any other fruit flavors I can try?

  8. Hi Albus- there isn’t a recipe that will give you strawberry yogurt right out of the pot. You’ll just flavor the plain yogurt, does that make sense? So make the yogurt as stated here and then to flavor it strawberry I would suggest stirring in some strawberry jam. ?