Homemade Yogurt has NEVER been easier than with this Cold Start Instant Pot Yogurt. Two ingredients and time is all you need to have perfect, creamy, thick yogurt.
If you are looking for making yogurt without ultra-pasteurized milk, be sure to grab my recipe for Instant Pot Yogurt. If you are looking for more Instant Pot Recipes, please check out all Instant Pot Recipes.
One of the biggest reasons I love my pressure cooker is for Homemade Yogurt.
It was one of the first recipes I mastered and I make it on a weekly basis.
But a lot of people have been asking how to make Cold Start Yogurt, and I am here to say, Instant Pot Cold Start Yogurt is so much easier than my original Instant Pot Yogurt Recipe.
Cold Start Yogurt
It could not be easier to make yogurt using cold start yogurt, and it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to mess up–the same can not be said about my traditional Instant Pot Yogurt.
There are no thermometers needed, no boiling of milk, no wondering if your milk didn’t reach the right temperature to achieve perfect yogurt. Plus cold start yogurt comes out thick, just like Greek yogurt–no need for straining!
Just two simple ingredients and a pressure cooker is all that is needed for this cold start yogurt.
Ingredients for Cold Start Yogurt
- Ultra Pasteurized Milk or Ultra Filtered Milk
- 2 tablespoons plain yogurt with active cultures or a yogurt starter
Ultra Filtered or Ultra Pasteurized?
Cold start yogurt works using milk that is ultra-pasteurized. That said, for the creamiest, thickest yogurt, ultra-filtered milk works best.
Ultra-Filtered milk is still pasteurized, but it also goes through a special filtration process. The result is ultra-filtered milk with 50% more protein, 30% more calcium and half the sugar of regular milk and lactose free. Which yields a yogurt that is creamier and thicker. It also is higher in protein and calcium and lower in sugar–perfect for anyone watching their sugars.
You can look for a brand, like Fairlife brand for ultra-filtered milk.
How To Make Cold Start Yogurt
Step One: Clean your Instant Pot
- Be sure your pressure cooker is clean and you use a clean inner ring when making yogurt–no one wants yogurt tasting like Instant Pot Chili!
- I wipe my inner pot down with vinegar and then rinse well and dry.
- I also recommend a separate sealing ring to use for yogurt–not necessary but it does help!
Step Two: Add Milk and Starter to Pressure Cooker
- Whisk 1 cup of the milk with the starter until well combined.
- Pour remaining milk into inner pot of pressure cooker.
- Whisk in starter mixture.
Step Three: Incubate Yogurt
- Place lid on pressure cooker.
- Hit “Yogurt” and it should read 8:00. Be sure NORMAL is lit up. If LOW is let up, you must change to normal heat for incubation to occur, by hitting yogurt again until normal is lit up.
- Let it begin to incubate.
Step Four: Refrigerate Yogurt
- After 8 hours, remove inner pot from pressure cooker.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for another 8 hours.
- Place yogurt in glass jars to store in refrigerator.
Tips for Making Cold Start Yogurt
- There is NO substitution for ultra pasteurized milk. If you do not use ultra pasteurized milk, you need to follow these instructions for Instant Pot Yogurt. Most Organic Milks are Ultra-Pasteurized as well–but be sure it is labeled “ultra-pasteurized”
- Use any percentage fat milk you like for this cold start yogurt, the higher the fat percentage the creamier the yogurt. I prefer 2% Ultra Pasteurized Milk.
- You can cut this recipe in half, or if you have an 8 quart pressure cooker, you can also double this recipe for homemade yogurt.
- For homemade yogurt, you must, use either use a yogurt starter or plain yogurt with active live cultures. I like to use plain Greek yogurt–Chobani or the store brand.
- Feel free to sweeten yogurt with vanilla extract, honey, maple syrup, or fruit AFTER incubating.
- A huge tip for making yogurt in the future, is to FREEZE your starter immediately after fresh yogurt is made. I recommend using an ice cube tray. Each ice cube holds 1 tablespoon of yogurt so you will know exactly how much yogurt to defrost when making a new yogurt batch. Just be sure to thaw your yogurt cubes in the fridge to not alter the cultures in the yogurt.
- If you would like tangier yogurt, set incubation period to 10 hours instead of 8 hours.
- Homemade yogurt should last for up to 10-14 days in your refrigerator.
More Instant Pot Basic Recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Stock
- Instant Pot Spaghetti Sauce
- Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
- Instant Pot Beans
- Perfect Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs
- Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
Instant Pot Cold Start Yogurt
Ingredients
- 52 ounces Ultra Pasteurized Milk Ultra-Filtered is BEST--see notes
- 2 tablespoons prepare yogurt with live cultures or yogurt starter
Instructions
- Whisk 1 cup of the milk with the starter or prepared yogurt until well combined.
- Pour the remaining milk into the inner pot of pressure cooker and then whisk in starter mixture.
- Place lid on the pressure cooker. There is no need to seal.
- To set the incubation time, hit yogurt function and then adjust function until the time reads 8:00 (be sure pressure is at normal and not low--if at low hit yogurt again.)
- After the 8 hour incubation period, remove inner pot from pressure cooker. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 8 hours.
- After refrigeration, store yogurt in glass containers for 10-14 days.
Equipment Needed
Notes
- Fairlife milk is also ultra-filtered, which means it has more protein and less sugar, meaning it will produce a thicker yogurt than just ultra-pasteurized milk. If you use ultra-pasteurized milk, not ultra-filtered milk, you may want to strain your yogurt for super thick yogurt.
- Ultra-filtered milk does seem to be more foolproof than ultra-pasteurized milk--as a couple of brands have not set up as well for readers.
This instant pot yogurt method was named “Cold Start” by Freida Loves Bread to the best of my knowledge.
My instapot yogurt button has a low medium and high setting. Do I set it at medium? it doesn’t say normal.
Can I ask what model you are using Taylor? That will help me correctly answer that question for you.
How many OUNCES are each SERVING, when considering the “70 calories” etc? Also, are you basically calculating the info on the milk, and the ‘whopping’ 2 tablespoons of starter, combined- or, how did you gather this info? My daughter needs to know, closest that we can, what the carbs, proteins & sugar fibers… etc are. We have been trying to calculate it by combining all of our ingreds, but then- because quite a bit of liquid is absorbed by paper towels (what we use) at the end- how are we to KNOW what is in THAT liquid? lol, I told her “THAT is ALL of the BAD stuff, like calories & carbs- we can eat this all and fee good about it” – she laughed and said “I don’t think so”
help.
Hi Nonni! Calculating how many ounces would be in 70 calories after you drain off yogurt will vary from person to person based on the length of straining time and milk used. In my best estimate, for strained Greek style it would be 4 ounces for 70 calories.
I am trying to use the cold start method in a 6 at Duo without a yogurt button. What exactly does the yogurt button accomplish if you skip the boil step?
Hi Heather! The yogurt function hold the temperature at about 115, which is needed for incubation of yogurt. The other functions are much higher temperatures.
I made this recipe, but it did not “set” properly; when I opened it after 8 hours, it was still liquid like milk. I used 1/2 gallon, not 52 ounces – I wonder if I needed to adjust the yogurt/starter to 3 TBS??
I cleaned the pot with vinegar first, rinsed, and then cleaned with boiling water on both the pot and sealing ring. I used the yogurt setting with normal and 8 hours. I have an Instant Pot Duo.
Any suggestions for what may have gone wrong? I’m bummed, because I used a $5 half-gallon on Trader Joe’s Ultra-Pasteurized milk and Greek Yogurt with live/active cultures, that I had to throw out.
Hi Kathy! I am so sorry you did not have success, I understand your frustration. A few things: Be sure your yogurt setting was on “normal” and not low. Your yogurt WILL set up more after being refrigerated for 8 hours. And I have never personally used that brand of milk for this yogurt, in theory, it should work fine, but utlra-filtered milk does seem to be more foolproof than ultra-pasteurized milk.
Just wanted to post the successful results using Fairlife, since my email replies don’t show up here! Thanks for all the quick replies and helpful suggestions!
Another question: If I’m straining my yogurt after refrigeration to make thicker Greek yogurt, do you think it’s okay to refrigerate for a shorter time (say, 4-5 hours), and THEN strain the yogurt 3 hours for Greek? So, the total would be 8-ish hours before it’s “done”.
Seems like it would be okay but thought I’d get your input! I plan on making this regularly so I want to make sure it doesn’t become so time consuming that I stop doing it!
Yes absolutely Kathy! With the quick start method, that is plenty of time to wait. So happy you have had great success.
Trying this for the first time!!!! I did half batch (not because the milk was used before i got to it!!! Wink wink!)
Have tried this twice with 2% fairlife and bow when I opened the IP yogurt is really watery 🙁 not sure why is this, I hope it thickens in the fridge. So dissapointed
Hi Michelle! I am so sorry you have had issues. My best guess is that your yogurt setting was on low and not normal. Be sure when you hit yogurt that the light under normal is lit up, not low. If is on low, hit yogurt again until normal is lit up. If that is not the issue, it could be your starter is not good. I would be happy to help you troubleshoot that. Just let me know what you are using.
When I push the yogurt button it says boil but that will kill the yogurt starter bacteria. A time never appears! Help?
Hi Marla! Press cancel. Then press the yogurt button again and then hit the adjust button until screen reads 8:00.