Crockpot Yogurt
🥛 How (and Why) We Make Our Own Yogurt and Yogurt Drinks at Home
Yogurt is a staple in our house—whether we’re spooning it into bowls with fruit and granola or blending it into creamy yogurt drinks on the go. So when we brought home our dairy goats, one of the first things I got excited about was making homemade yogurt. And let me tell you—it did not disappoint.
Not only is homemade yogurt delicious and nutrient-dense, but it’s also simple to make, saves money over time, and lets you skip the unnecessary additives often found in store-bought versions.
🐐 Why We Love Making Yogurt at Home
We eat (and drink) a lot of yogurt in our house, and making it ourselves just made sense—especially once we had fresh goat milk available. Yogurt is one of the easiest dairy products to make at home, needing only a half gallon of milk per batch, which means you don’t need massive amounts like you would for cheese or butter. That’s especially handy during the slower winter months when milk production naturally tapers off.
And the best part? Once you’ve made your first batch, you can save a bit to use as a starter for the next one—so it just keeps going!
🌿 Natural Ingredients, Real Flavor
Homemade yogurt has just two ingredients:
- Milk (goat, cow, or even plant-based alternatives like coconut milk)
- Live active cultures
For your culture, you can use a half cup of plain, unsweetened yogurt from the store (make sure it lists “live and active cultures” on the label), or go with a specially made starter culture, like the ones from Cultures for Health – linked here. These can give you a more consistent result and come in varieties tailored to different textures and flavor profiles.
Once you have a batch going, you only need to save about ½ cup of yogurt from each batch to start the next. That means less waste and no need to keep buying new cultures every time.
💰 Cost-Effective and Customizable
Making yogurt at home is surprisingly affordable, especially if you already have access to fresh milk. Even if you’re using store-bought milk, the cost per cup of yogurt drops dramatically compared to buying individual servings. Plus, you can:
- Skip artificial thickeners and sweeteners
- Control sugar content
- Flavor it your way—fruit compote, vanilla, cinnamon, honey, or plain and tangy
🥤 Yogurt Drinks: Quick, Nutritious, and Kid-Approved
Once you’ve got a fresh batch of yogurt, it’s easy to turn it into homemade yogurt drinks. Just blend your yogurt with:
- A splash of milk (to thin it)
- A bit of fruit or jam
- Optional extras like honey, vanilla, or chia seeds
Pour it into reusable jars or drink bottles, and you’ve got a healthy, probiotic-rich snack that travels well and tastes way better than store-bought yogurt drinks with mystery ingredients. The jars we use and my kids love are linked here: Reusable glass jars with lids.
✅ Final Thoughts: Healthy, Homemade, and Totally Worth It
Whether you’re homesteading with dairy goats or cows, or just looking to cut down on grocery bills and additives, homemade yogurt is one of the easiest and most satisfying kitchen projects you can take on. It doesn’t require a lot of special equipment or milk, and the results speak for themselves: creamy, tangy, nourishing goodness you can feel good about feeding your family.
Once you start, you may never go back to buying yogurt at the store again.
Equipment Needed
Crockpot or other yogurt making device
Easy Crockpot Yogurt
Ingredients
Method
- Add 2 quarts milk to crock pot or slow cooker with lid and turn on low. Heat to180 degrees F (about 2 hours) Check with a kitchen thermometer at 1 hr 45min the first time as some crock pots heat differently.
- Once the milk reaches 180 F turn the pot off and let sit for another 3 hours tillit cools back down to 105-115 degrees F.
- Mix in 1/2 cup yogurt, cover, and wrap with a towel to keep warm. Make sureto unplug your crock pot or slow cooker. Let sit for 8 to 12 more hours. Thelonger it sits, the more tangy it will be. Try not to move the crockpot or disturb. After 8-12 hours, check to make sure the yogurt has set. For a thicker yogurt, place the whole pot in the refrigerator, undisturbed, for 12 hours to chill and thicken. Then add mix ins.
- If you'd like a thinner more drinkable yogurt you can add your mix ins right after incubation, and then pour into glass jars to refrigerated and store for up to 2 weeks.REMEMBER to save enough plain yogurt for your next batch!!
- To make the Strawberry mix in:Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. If you use frozenstrawberries thaw until they are soft enough to blend.Mix into yogurt with a spoon or hand mixer.
Notes
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