Homemade Yogurt Recipe from Scratch – Fruit Yogurt from Scratch
Making homemade yogurt from scratch uses only two ingredients and it’s not just simple and easy but also healthier because it contains an active bio culture that plays an active part in helping your digestive system. Add fresh fruits to make homemade fruit yogurts or try simple honey and granola with homemade yogurt for a quick breakfast parfait.
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Today I share with you a recipe that my mom and grandmom have been using for years. If you are from India then your mom and grandmothers probably have been making yogurt in this way as well.
My mom made homemade yogurt almost every day of her life. To her, it was a daily part of her routine. She did not use any special equipment or thermometers. Back in those days people did these things quite simple and made it a routine in life.
I clearly remember my mom’s routine
- The milkman would bring milk at 7 pm every day.
- Mom would take it to the stove and bring it to a boil – leave it to cool.
- She’d divide the milk into three portions and she had specially designated milk pots for milk – one especially for yogurt.
- She’d use yesterdays’ leftover yogurt to make fresh yogurt at night before she went to bed and leave it by the stove top.
- Morning she’d wake up at 6 am to make our lunch boxes and she’d put the prepared yogurt in the fridge so it would be cold for breakfast.
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You Don’t Need Any Special Equipment – No Yogurt Makers
A neighbor recently decided she wanted to start eating healthy and bought this special Yogurt Maker.. she went and purchased a thermometer, a double boiler and some sachets of yogurt bacteria culture online.
Have you ever seen a Yogurt Maker? I saw this for the first time.
The Homemade Yogurt is Natural and Healthy With Active Bio
Have you have ever read what it says on your yogurt containers? here’s an example –
Nonfat yogurt (cultured grade A non fat milk, modified food starch, fructose, kosher gelatin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3), water, blueberry puree, fructose, contains less than 1% of modified corn starch, natural flavor, blue 1, red 40, aspartame, potassium sorbate (to maintain freshness), acesulfame potassium, sucralose, malic acid, sodium citrate. I got the above on a blog post by The delicious truth. Her blog has some good info on his blog.
Honestly, I started paying more attention to these labels ever since I had kids. I won’t lie – I often make homemade yogurt but we still do buy store bought yogurt.
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Active Bio Culture in Homemade Yogurt
The irony of making yogurt is that you need to have a little yogurt with (active culture) to make more yogurt. Yes, a tablespoon of yogurt has enough bacteria to reproduce a whole jar of more yogurt bacteria. BUT you do need that initial bio-culture.
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Do You Know You Can Make Yogurt at Home Without any Special Equipment?
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Let’s Talk Ingredients and Substitute (save/pin)
- Milk – I prefer to use at least 3% milk -this will make a thicker and nicer yogurt than the skimmed version. I find that with the 1% there is not enough milk fat for the bacteria to work on.
- Active Bio Culture – I know you can find these are sachets on Amazon – they are calledActive Yogurt Culture but I strongly suggest you go to the nearest supermarket and look in the yogurt aisle. There will be a yogurt that contains Active Bio Culture. Usually, they are labeled as BIO. The difference is these sachets make yogurt much quicker – I think as less as 30 to 45 mins while using my method with the yogurt – it takes 3 1/2 to 4 hours. I’m old-school so I stick to the old method I know works for me every single time.
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Temperature is Very Important
Temperature is very; very important when making yogurt. You do not need any thermometer but you have to be conscious of it.
- The milk before you adds the culture has to be slightly warm – almost like yeast! If it’s not warm the culture won’t stay active.
What is the right temperature? – usually the same temperature you would use to feed baby milk. If you stick a clean finger in – it should feel warm, not hot / not cold. - Below you will see that I bring the milk to a boil then cool it to the temperature of just warm. Don’t ask me why but this is one full proof method that works every single time. I notice when I boil the milk and then cool it – the yogurt never ever fails. Trust me.!!
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Tips – For Yogurt to Set Two Things are Important (Save/Pin)
- Warmth – you have to keep the jar in a warm place.
Once you add the culture to the milk – you need to keep it a warm place – no moving no shaking. I find a warm oven switched off works best for this.
So what I usually do is I turn the oven on at 30 C / 70 F for five minutes so I know it’s warm. I switch it off and I place the yogurt jar in the oven overnight. - Do not disturb – do not touch the jar while the bacteria culture is doing its job. Leave it alone.
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How to Use Homemade Yogurt From Scratch? (Save/Pin)
- Fruit yogurt – to every cup of yogurt add two tablespoons of fruit puree.
For example – 2 tbsp strawberry puree to one cup plain yogurt makes strawberry yogurt. - Honey Granola – Add plain yogurt to your granola and add a tbsp of honey.
- Cooking – you can use it to any recipe that calls for plain yogurt.
- Make yogurt drinks – similar to my upcoming post Mango Lassi or Strawberry Yogurt Popsicle
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How to Make Homemade Yogurt From Scratch (Save/Pin)
Tools
Ingredients
- 4 cups milk
- 4 tbsp plain LIVE active yogurt
Method
- Ensure milk is at the right temperature (read above).
- Pour approximately 3 1/2 cups milk in a glass jar or stainless steel boil – never use aluminum.
- Take half cup milk into a small separate bowl to help mix the yogurt properly.
- Add your active bio yogurt to the 1/2 cup milk.
- Use a whisk to ensure no lumps.
- Now pour this into your jar of milk that’s ready to make yogurt.
- Again use a whisk and mix the milk well to ensure it’s all mixed well.
- Cover the jar with a lid and store in a warm place, untouched for 6 to 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, the milk has caked up (see image above).
- That’s homemade yogurt !!
- Place it in the fridge and let chill for a couple of hours.
- Enjoy!
Notes:
- Yogurt formation depends on the weather and climate conditions.
- In summer yogurt can be ready in as little as 4 hours while it winters it can take 8 to 10 hours.
- When done – the yogurt formed can be very milky not sour. Milky yogurt is still young and over time it will continue to mature making it sourer.
- When yogurt is ready, it’s best to let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours more to let the bacteria mature.
- After 3 to 4 hours in the fridge, you will see that the yogurt has a nice creamy and a slightly sour texture.
- This yogurt now has active live culture and can be used to make more yogurt.
Progress Pictures for Homemade Yogurt from Scratch with just two ingredients
While it’s really simple to make homemade yogurt I thought a few progress pictures might help if you have any questions.
How to make Homemade Yogurt from Scratch – just two ingredients
One of my favorite yogurt breakfast is a delicious Yogurt Parfait
Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
Homemade Yogurt from Scratch with just two ingredients, DIY homemade yogurt recipe, How to make yogurt
Homemade Yogurt from Scratch Just 2 ingredients
Instructions
Method:
- Ensure milk is at the right temperature (read above).
- Pour approximately 3 1/2 cups milk in a glass jar or stainless steel boil - never use aluminum.
- Take half cup milk into a small separate bowl to help mix the yogurt properly.
- Add your active bio yogurt to the 1/2 cup milk.
- Use a whisk to ensure no lumps.
- Now pour this into your jar of milk that's ready to make yogurt.
- Again use a whisk and mix the milk well to ensure it's all mixed well.
- Cover the jar with a lid and store in a warm place, untouched for 6 to 8 hours.
- After 8 hours, the milk has caked up (see image above).
- That's homemade yogurt !!
- Place it in the fridge and let chill for a couple of hours.
- Enjoy!
Chef's Tips
- Yogurt formation depends on the weather and climate conditions.
- In summer yogurt can be ready in as little as 4 hours while it winters it can take 8 to 10 hours.
- When done - the yogurt formed can be very milky not sour. Milky yogurt is still young and over time it will continue to mature making it sourer.
- When yogurt is ready, it's best to let it set in the fridge for a couple of hours more to let the bacteria mature.
- After 3 to 4 hours in the fridge, you will see that the yogurt has a nice creamy and a slightly sour texture.
- This yogurt now has active live culture and can be used to make more yogurt.
Nutrition Information
Master the Basic and Dominate the Kitchen
One way to improve your cooking or baking skills is to get a grip on your basic recipes. Often it’s more easy and quicker than you think it is.
Simple things like making homemade caramel or butterscotch take five minutes but are so much better homemade.
Baking the perfect pie or pastry crust from scratch can make a huge difference to your homemade pies and desserts.
Did you know homemade buttermilk or condensed milk take less than 5 minutes as well? Yes!!
See some of my Basic Recipes with details or check out my Recipe Index for a list of all my recipes.
A collection of basic recipes by Veena Azmanov on veenaazmanov.com
My mom made yogurt using this method for years. Old school but so organic. Thanks for sharing Veena
Thank you, Jayla. happy to hear the recipe worked out well for you. Thanks for coming back to write this feedback. Love to hear from people who try my recipes. Have a nice day. Thanks
I did not know it was so easy to make homemade yogurt!! Was so intrigued I tried it last week.!! OMG!! Thank you ! It worked.. There is nothing like fresh yogurt and I tasted it for the first time. Thank you for sharing all amazing recipes on your blog in such details.
Thank you Shaun – So happy to hear that you had great success with this recipe. Homemade is always the best of course. Glad you like my blog – thanks !
I stumbled upon your post while pinning your yogurt to one of our boards on Pinterest. Thank you for sharing this information. I had no idea you could make yogurt at home. I know it sounds silly, but where I grew up in the U.S. making homemade yogurt is not common knowledge. My wife and I will start making yogurt at home very soon. We will be sure to use the links (affiliate) in this post when we buy the products. Thanks again for sharing this excellent process!!
You are very welcome John. I do make this at least once a week if not more. I love that it has the natural of active culture which is actually very good for your stomach and for loosing weight too. The homemade is of course not sweet like the super market brands so I add a bit of honey and my kids love it. Let me know who yours turns out. Just make sure to keep in a warm place untouched preferably over night.
Hello veena
Can you tell me the ingredients that i should ask wen i go to buy them
Mirembe.. you just need to look for a yogurt that says it has active bio culture in it. Thanks
thank you, i’ll try
greetins from México
Thank you !
Veena
I love making homemade yogurt but I haven’t made it in a long time. I am going to have to make some very soon. I have made it both ways. Using a store bought yogurt with live cultures and by buying the live yogurt cultures online. I have had better luck making homemade yogurt with store bought yogurt than with a live culture packet. And the yogurt turns out so much thicker with the store bought yogurt as the starter.
I have always made yogurt with the store bought never with the started. So wondered how the started worked.. Now I know. I think I’ll stick to what I know works foolproof for me.
What an interesting read. I am into “homemade”, but will admit I have never tried making yogurt. We eat it all the time, so perhaps I should give it a try. I used to say the same thing about cranberry sauce….what’s the deal with homemade. Once I started making it….I NEVER went back to the bought stuff again.
It’s really addictive Gloria.. I got it from my mom and my kids love it too.
I’ve made some non-dairy yogurt in the past and I’ve had mixed results. Homemade dairy yogurt definitely is easier to make than non-dairy! But I need to try making some again since it is so good for my digestive health
You must try again Sarah
Great idea to use live yogurt instead of sachets, I never even thought of that. Thank you!
Absolutely Julia.. has always worked for me.
Hello veena.Can one use powder milk.
fATIMA, You can but it doesn’t work as well. It’s better to use “real” milk and add in powdered milk if you want to have a higher protein (but really, there’s plenty of protein already.) Also, if you are using skim or 1% milk, it is recommended to add in powdered milk as well (not made up! just the powder added to the skim milk). But tastewise, I don’t think you can beat making it with fresh, whole milk. Good luck!
Thank you Celeste
Hi Veena, amazing how something we all take for granted as part of our daily routine. .setting curd for the next day' meal is considered a skill. Must start this again …living in the Gulf have stopped setying yoghurt at home. TThank you
I never thought this was possible… making homemade yogurt. But I have made it four times very successfully. The yogurt is so fresh. You can actully feel the taste is unique… thank you so much.. Nice blog.. I will come back for more..
Adriane
Very touching, no woman can read this and not understand her feelings…. I am glad you have recovered your self worth again Zoya. You are special, unique and a mother. You are valuable to your children, and I know they surely love you although they might not have been brought up to say so. Above all, God loves you and I pray He reveals His GREAT love for you. Keep being a great supportive wife and mother. God bless you.
Hello Veena,
My name is Zoya. My English not very good. I am first of three wives to my husband. I marry 24 years ago when I was only 15 years age and I don’t know to cook. My kids all big now. So I feel very lonely at home. My daughter show me some nice things some time on the internet, and one day I find your blog with all cakes and recipes. I like very much, so I try my first cake. It was very good, everybody enjoy. My husband and kids praise me so I do more cakes. For my daughter birthday I make a simpe barbie cake with buttercream, not as nice like you but everybody like it very much. My husband business not doing well last year so I make some cake to sell, people like my cake taste so I get more oder from friend and far away family. Because I help with money my husband also come close to me and appreciate me.
Now you start new blog and I try almost all recipe – now a days kids more modern so they like modern food. My kids enjoy your quiche, bread and rice I make. I also make the ice cream and they like very much.
Veena I want to say thank you to you so much. You bring lite to my life. I only 39 of age but my husbadn was busy with new wife/ my kids all big so I feel my lie all over and no one want me. you show me a way to be happy again. you bring my husband and kids close to me again. I read about you and your family and I am happy you have loving husband and beautiful kdis. Your daughter very lucky to be born to you. You show her self respect.
I pray every day to Al-lah for you. I know that some day you become very successful. You share with open heart and don’t ask any in return. I see people write mean comment and breaks my heart. I want you to shae this on your facebook so people can see that what you do make a difference to peopel life.
Love to you from my family. Thank you for helping me support my husband.
Zoya
Than you Zoya. I replied to you privately already so will not repeat here. Thank you so much for this comment. Really means a lot to me.
Hi Veena,
I think you mean 4 cups milk in the ingredients, not 4 cups yogurt. Ya, I think making yogurt everyday is common in most Indian homes.
Swarna.
That’s true..Thanks Swarna.