Look out Instant Pot Greek Yogurt! There’s a new kid in town! Insanely thick, smooth, creamy Icelandic, Instant Pot Skyr Yogurt that can be made with skim milk! Read on to discover the secret ingredient that makes this all possible!
If you’ve been around here awhile, this cute little bowl of yogurt is probably familiar, but I couldn’t possibly do a Yogurt Button week without showcasing this beauty. So I’m bringin’ it back to make sure little miss Skyr here doesn’t get forgotten.
I’ve made a TON of yogurt in the past 2 years, yet still, that moment when you take the lid off and see that beautiful, thick creamy yogurt . . . it never gets old, right? If you can relate, I’ve got something super awesome and new for you! Skyr! Have you heard of it? Well let me tell you all about my new obsession!
Skyr (pronounced skeer) originated in Iceland, is made using nonfat milk, and is technically a type of cheese. Which might seem strange, but keep reading!
Siggi’s is the most common brand of Skyr you’ll find at your local grocery stores, but it can be tricky to find, it’s pricey, and quite honestly, it was a bit more tart than I was used to. Still, I was intrigued. Could I make a fat-free yogurt at home that was smooth, creamy, and worth my time?
In the past, my attempts at making fat-free yogurt left me with a grainy, off tasting yogurt with 3 times more whey than yogurt. Well, no more!
Before we get to the recipe, I’ll quick break down why I make it, and why you might want to as well. Here we go!
FAT FREE
I’m not against fat in my diet by any means, but if I want cheese everyday, butter on my toast, lots of olive oil on my roasted veggies, and scoops of almond butter when I feel stressed – so somethings gotta give. Fat-free yogurt it is! Which means everything I use it for from dressings to smoothies, is also saving me extra fat grams.
NUTRITION
If you compare the label of Skyr yogurt to Greek yogurt, skyr packs in more protein with less sugar. Which sure makes drizzling Raspberry Infused Honey all over it a super awesome idea! Look at the color! Look at those thick, curvy lines! That is breakfast people! My kids were fighting over the leftovers because they thought it was whipped cream ????
COST
Siggi’s and other Skyr yogurt brands are close to the most expensive yogurt on the shelf. But if you make it at home, you’ll get 6-8 cups (depending on how much you strain it) of yogurt for $4 or less. Now that’s a steal compared to store prices that range from $1-$2 per 5 oz cup.
THICK AND CREAMY
Fat free store-bought yogurt uses thickening agents to make it creamy. Not so with homemade Skyr thanks to one magic ingredient – rennet. Yes, that is usually an ingredient you see when making cheese, but it also makes very thick, fat free yogurt! I mean seriously, look at that picture. Again, that is not dessert my friends, that there is breakfast. Shout out to that glossy dreamy Healthy-ier Chocolate Syrup, hey there beautiful ????
VERSATILITY
Because of how thick it is, Skyr yogurt works perfectly for dressings, dips, and even frosting! Skyr Yogurt Cream Cheese is one of my favorites!
FASTER
Yes! It’s faster to make! 5 hours vs 8 hours which means I haven’t been setting my alarm for midnight to put my finished yogurt into the fridge lately. I couldn’t possibly be the only one that makes that mistake over and over!
TASTE
This is debatably the most important part, right? Everything I read about Skyr said it was more mild than greek yogurt. Which quite honestly, when I first tasted store-bought Siggi’s, I found it to be very tart with a bit of a chalky aftertaste. In my opinion, this homemade version is silky, thick, and mildly tart. To get an unbiased opinion, I called upon 3 highly intelligent children and scored a 3 out of 3 on my Skyr compared to 5 other types of yogurt. And believe you me, these children have no hesitations sharing their food opinions (even after a billion discussions on how moaning, spitting, and fake gagging is not appropriate at the table). That being said, I will warn you, when eaten plain, there is still a hint of that chalky aftertaste in the homemade version. But with the addition of fruit and granola, It doesn’t bother me a bit and quite honestly, I’ve grown to prefer the taste of it.
Do I have you curious yet? Would you like to attend my next blind taste testing?
A couple of very important notes before you proceed on this new exciting yogurt adventure.
First: Some will say that Skyr yogurt isn’t Skyr yogurt unless you use a Skyr starter since the cultures are what makes it in fact, Skyr yogurt. My experience with using Siggi’s as my starter was that my yogurt turned out beautifully thick, but very tart and bitter. I went back to my go to, Fage 2%, and it worked perfectly.
Second: Ultra-pasteurized milk doesn’t work well with this yogurt. In fact, I was even having a hard time with the plain ol milk I typically buy. Then I ran into this article which talked about how even the regular pasteurized milk is sometimes heated more than it should be. I decided to try the yogurt with Winder brand milk from this list, and it was a big success! So I would suggest that if the yogurt isn’t working for you, refer back to this list.
Third: I stuck with a 5 hour incubation for this yogurt. At 8 hours it wasn’t any thicker, but it was A LOT more tart. So feel free to experiment for your ideal time.
Phew! I think that covered everything! I do hope you’ll try my new obsession! I’m in love with this yogurt and am so excited to finally share it with you all. Get your rennet ordered today and give it a go. Enjoy!
Finally, be sure and enter the giveaway for my favorite Instant Pot model, the DUO60 7-in-1, generously gifted to one of you by Instant Pot. I will announce the winner on a post October 30th. To enter simply
Subscribe to this here blog for updates on new recipes. When you do, you will also get a pretty little yogurt recipe printable. Win Win!Leave a comment below answering the Question of the Day
Question of the Day: Chocolate . . . Dark, Milk, or White? For a chocolate lover like myself, this is a pretty important poll here. And if you have a favorite brand, I’m gonna need that info as well! Serious stuff here.
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In case you’re just joining this Yogurt Button Lovin’ series, make sure you check out Instant Pot Mozzarella, Burrata, Ricotta, Crusty Bread, and Yogurt.
Also check out this how-to on making a beautiful Yogurt Parfait Bar spread.
P.S. The support you have showed Sara of Crunchy Cove Artisan Granola has been incredible! It makes me so happy! Her granola truly is the best I have ever tasted and I’m so excited for so many of you to experience it! For more details on that, check out the Instant Pot Yogurt post.
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PrintInstant Pot Skyr Yogurt
Insanely thick, smooth, creamy Icelandic Skyr yogurt that can be made with skim milk! Skyr yogurt also packs more protein and contains less sugar when compared to regular yogurt.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 12 hours
- Yield: 6-8 cups of Skyr yogurt
- Category: Yogurt
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 gallon nonfat/skim milk
- ¼ cup plain yogurt with live and active cultures (I suggest Fage 2% for mild yogurt, Siggi’s for tart)
- 7 drops liquid animal rennet (single strength)
- ¼ cup cool-ish unchlorinated water
- 1-2 tablespoons vanilla (optional)
- ½ cup sweetener i.e. pure maple syrup, honey, agave, etc. (optional)
Instructions
- Add milk to a clean/sanitized pressure cooker pot.
- Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Press the yogurt function button. Press adjust until display reads “boil”. For pressure cookers that don’t have the automatic boil function, simply use the slow cook or saute function to warm the milk to 190°F.
- When boil cycle is complete (this takes about an hour), use a thermometer to check that the milk has reached 190°F. If it’s not to temperature, use the saute function to warm milk to 190°F.
- Remove pot from cooker and place on top of a cooling rack. Stir milk occasionally, until it cools to 105°F (this takes about 2 hours). To hurry along the cooling process, put the pot in a sink full of ice water. This will cool it in 10-20 minutes. (note: I feel like the end product is smoother with the gradual cool down, but in a pinch, this works). While milk cools, take the yogurt starter from the fridge and allow it to sit on the counter until ready to use.
- When milk is 105°F, ladle 2-3 scoops into a bowl, add the yogurt starter and whisk until smooth. Pour back into the pot and whisk until well incorporated.
- To a small bowl, add ¼ cup of cool-ish water and 7 drops of liquid animal rennet. Swirl to combine. Pour water/rennet mixture into the pot of milk while whisking. Stir for at least 30 seconds to make sure the rennet is well incorporated.
- Place pot back inside the base, secure the lid, press the yogurt function and adjust to incubate for 5 hours.
- After 5 hours, the yogurt will be firm and there will be a definite border of whey around the outside edge of the yogurt. Cover and place the pot of yogurt in the fridge to chill-about 6 hours or overnight.
- When chilled, spoon or scoop yogurt into 2 yogurt strainer bowls (like the Euro Cuisine Greek Yogurt Maker). Could also use 2 nut milk bags hung over a large bowl to collect the whey. Strain yogurt in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours (or even overnight) until it reaches desired thickness.
- Pour yogurt into a bowl and add vanilla and sweetener, if using. Reserve whey for another use if desired. Use an electric hand mixer to whisk until smooth, this can take about a minute depending on how thick it is. If a thinner yogurt is preferred, stir in some of the leftover whey.
- Store in a yogurt strainer bowl (like the Euro Cuisine bowl) or in quart size Mason jars topped with a white Mason jar lid. The yogurt will stay good in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- Serve cold topped with fruit, honey, jam, granola, chia seeds, nuts, etc, etc. The topping possibilities are endless!
Notes
- I use the leftover whey as a buttermilk substitute in baked goods, pancakes, and waffles or as a water substitute in yeast breads. When using it in baking, I like to add a little yogurt to the whey to make it a thicker consistency like store bought buttermilk. A quick google search will reveal many other uses for that leftover whey!
- Skyr is so thick it could be used to make pipeable muffin or cupcake toppings!
- Make sure and read important notes in post!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 8 cups
- Calories: 229
- Sugar: 33.9g
- Sodium: 261mg
- Fat: 1.4g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Protein: 17.6g
Keywords: yogurt, homemade yogurt, skyr
I can’t wait to give this a try!
Barbara, Let me know if you do!
This looks wonderful. We have a hard time finding Icelandic yogurt and my husband loves it. I have a couple of questions that are beginner-level. First, how do you know a water is not chlorinated? The other is…is it possible to make a lactose free version? My daughter had had to give up anything containing lactose due to her newborn’s intolerance. Would love to be able to make an acceptable yogurt, if there is such a thing.
Anita, I’m so glad you can enjoy it again! You’ll have to tell me what he thinks in comparison to what he already loves so much. I like the homemade version much better than Siggi’s. As far as the water goes, I have some bottled water that I use sometimes. But honestly, laziness often takes over and I just use it right from the sink. It’s seemed to work perfectly well, but I’ve seen sources insist on non chlorinated, so I felt I better heed their professional advice. I don’t think this would work in a lactose free form. I could be wrong, but I’m not sure how it would work. I’ve seen many recipes for coconut yogurt around, I would try that if I were you. I hope your family loves it!
Get kefir grains and make kefir. The grains eat the lactose. The consistency is more of a drinkable yogurt but it’s still delicious and offers more probiotics than regular yogurt. Kefir has 30-70 strains vs yogurt’s 7
Oh my goodness, Marci, I can’t wait to try this! I have learned so much from you. As soon as my time in the kitchen starts getting a little boring, you come up with another brilliant idea. Here’s to you keeping it fun and exciting in the kitchen!
Lyn, That was the most uplifting and wonderful thing to read ever. Thank you Lyn!
My Instant Pot does not have the “yogurt” setting. Is it still possible to try this? If so, what would you suggest for the setting? I’m excited to try this!!
Kathy, I have seen recipes for making yogurt in jars inside the pressure cooker so it could potentially work. Perhaps divide the rennet between the jars? It might work great but I’m not entirely sure. Meanwhile, put “pressure cooker with a yogurt function” on your Christmas list!
Glad someone asked about the water! Is the best place to purchase rennet off of Amazon? I live in Wisconsin, so you would think it would be easy to find! Thank you for sharing this!
★★★★★
Darci, I found rennet for a dollar cheaper at a kitchen supply store in my home town. But it wasn’t easy to find. I’m pretty sure they were they only place that carried it in my entire valley!
Can you use vegetable rennet or must it be animal rennet?
Elsie, I used vegetable rennet once and for whatever reason, it turned out really grainy and off tasting. It’s very possible that there may have been another factor, but since the animal rennet had worked so well for me, I went back to it. If you try it let me know!
I used vegetable rennet and it had absolutely no grainy texture whatsoever. It also had no odd aftertaste. It was delicious. My only issue is that it was a little bit thinner than my typical Instant Pot Greek yogurt .
Lisa, that’s good to know. I’m gonna give it another go with the vegetable rennet then!
After several skyr batches in the Instant Pot, I think the secret to a thicker yogurt when using vegetable rennet is that it needs at least a 12 hour drain ( whey separation) time. That seemingly fixed the problem. And I tried a Fage starter and a starter from my previous batch of skyr and both were equally delicious.
Lisa, I’ve been meaning to get back with you on using vegetable rennet. I tried again last week to see how it would turn out, and while the texture was perfect this time, it was so very tart, with more of a chalky after taste then I get with the animal rennet. Is you’re single or double strength? How many drops did you use? I’d Love to get this figured out!
Can you use some of this competed skyr yogurt for the next batch like you would making regular yogurt?
Kathy, technically yes, but just as personal preference, I like the taste and texture that a fresh starter brings. I know there are a lot of people who always use their own yogurt as a starter, but I feel like mine gets a little grainy and more sour. But from what I’ve read, you can absolutely use your own skyr as a starter.
Marci, thank you. I did some googling after I posted the question and others commented on the strange aftertaste from vegetable rennet. I ordered single strength animal rennet from Amazon and received it today. It is from the New England Cheesemaking Company. I have a couple more questions:
Will the rennet keep for longer than the 8 months suggested on the bottle? Can it be frozen?
I make 1 quart, not 1 Gallon of yogurt at a time. Would I use 1 drop of rennet or two?
I have been making regular yogurt in the IP for a while now and love it but i adore Skyr and am keen to make it.
Thank you for your help.
Elsie
Elise, from what I’ve read, it’s best not to freeze rennet. As far as the use by date, I typically go by that with most foods. I would try 2 drops of rennet. Let me know how it works with the quart at a time. I love Skyr too!
I must tell you how happy i am with my sky!!
I only made 1 litre of SKIM pastruized milk and used the tablet rennet..
So..I had to use less than 1/8 of a tablet..tricky but worked perfectly when put into 1 ounce of the water and dissolved
I used the pot in pot method..
Steam heated the milk to 190C..3 minutes
Then followed your directions of letting cool to 105..and incubating for 5 hours
Over night in fridge and drained with coffee filters back in fridge
Used my immersion blender and voila..a lovey consistency..
Next time round I will try the boil cycle on Yoghurt instead of the steam for 3 minutes..
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
<
Great tips! Thank you. I’m so excited you like it. It’s my new favorite!
This looks delicious! I just ordered my Rennet from amazon, so I’ll be making this in two days when it gets here! Thank you for experimenting and creating these delicious recipes!
Yay! Let me know how it goes!
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. I have been making Greek yogurt in the Instant Pot food for my family and we all love it. I recently discovered Icelandic yogurt at a café near us, and I have seen it at Whole Foods but in both of these places the price tag is quite high. I followed your recipe yesterday and the end product is really delicious. My only question is that after I whipped it, it seemed to become considerably thinner. I had drained the whey for almost 9 hours, and it had thickened up but not as thick as my Greek yogurt usually gets. I use the Euro Cuisine strainer and it works beautifully . I do not have a handmixer so I did use the KitchenAid. Maybe I should try to blend it on a lower speed next time? Just curious if you have any pointers here.
★★★★★
Lisa, I beat it quite a bit because it’s quite thick coming out of strainers. I’ll try it with vegetable rennet this week or next and see if that’s what it is.
Thank you for this recipe! This was the first yogurt I’ve made in my new instant pot. I love Siggis and wanted to make my own. However mine did not turn out as thick as Siggis. I only let it drain for 2 hours though. Is that why? I only have one strainer so I could only strain half the batch at a time. I will strain the second half longer.
★★★★★
Jenna, I often times let it strain overnight just because I’m busy with other things. So yes, try straining it longer to get it really think. The pictures I took were an overnight strain.
Question of the day….. Ghirardeli dark & sea salt caramel chocolate. It’s like taking a mini vacation 🙂
Dark Chocolate. Aldi’s carries Schogetten Dark Chocolate from Germany. Try it!
White chocolate is my choice!
Dark Chocolate. Ghirardeli dark chocolate chips for baking and sneaking a small handful as a snack. My kids caught me, so much for being sneaking!
Dark chocolate ❤️
I love chia pudding made with hot milk, ground chia seeds, at touch of vanilla and cocoa! So I guess chocolate.
Dark chocolate for sure 🙂
My favourite is dark Belgian chocolate.
Milk chocolate all the way! Where do you buy your rennet?
Dark, the darker the better though I won’t turn up my nose at ANY chocolate. And I love the Lindt Dark Chocolate with Orange bars. Really good!
I am obsessed with a local chocolatier, Wilbur, and their Wilbur Buds! I’m the biggest fan of their milk chocolate, but honestly would eat the dark too!
Kelsey, Haven’t heard of that one! I’m checking It out right now!
I make yogurt every week, and my husband loves it with fresh fruit!
As for the question, dark chocolate is my choice every time!!
Dark and more Dark!!
★★★★★
Not a white chocolate fan at all. Love both dark and milk. Can’t choose! If forced, perhaps milk!
Dark chocolate for sure! I just got my instant pot and can’t wait to try your yogurt recipes!
I will have to say white chocolate (which really is not chocolate)
For me, it’s a tie in between dark chocolate and milk chocolate because sometimes milk chocolate is just to sweet and I need something a little bit more bitter.
Dark chocolate!
I’m a toss up of Milk and Dark depending on my mood.
My favorite chocolate is Ghirardelli. I like to use their chocolate chips in baking, and I love all of their chocolate confections.
White Choc
★★★★★
I don’t love chocolate. When I make it I make a mix between dark and milk chocolate.
A note about chlorine in the water. I make beet kvass-fermented beet juice for the liver. One of the instructions was to leave the water out overnight for it to evaporate. I live in a high chlorine area and the one time I didn’t do that the results weren’t great.
Can’t wait to see what else you’ve got up your sleeve!
Dark all the way – we’re serious chocoholics in this house. 🙂
Dark Chocolate for health reasons. Tested dozens of chocolate bars and honestly the best was Trader Joe’s 72% Dark Chocolate.
Milk chocolate please???? Except in a chocolate chip cookie…then it must be semi-sweet❤
Dark chocolate for sure! Milk chocolate is hardly even worth the calories to me haha 🙂
Excited to try this skyr! I have rennet in my fridge from a mozzarella experiment so I don’t even have to wait for that!
I prefer dark chocolate but have grandkids that only eat white chocolate; others r only milk chocolate fans.
U mentioned an after taste. When I made cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, etc I had to use aluminum pots not stainless steel like in the Insta pot or it had a definite bitter after taste. Other cheese makers in town also told me to watch out for this. Just thought I’d share that concern. I’ve looked at the Insta pots and they have the stainless steel pot so a bit confused but obviously works for you.
I prefer dark chocolate but have grandkids that only eat white chocolate; others r only milk chocolate fans.
U mentioned an after taste. When I made cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, etc I had to use aluminum pots not stainless steel like in the Insta pot or it had a definite bitter after taste. Other cheese makers in town also told me to watch out for this. Just thought I’d share that concern. I’ve looked at the Insta pots and they have the stainless steel pot so a bit confused but obviously works for you.
Wait it was an enamel pot not aluminum pot – been too long since I did it.
Again so informative!
Milk chocolate for me!!!
Dark Chocolate Bark by Thindulgent
Favorite chocolate? Belgian any kind. And I have my brewed Crio Brü every day. I use my Instant Pot to make it ahead and then pour out what I need – so much more economical than my French press!
★★★★★
Dark chocolate…always…no matter what <3
★★★★★
My chocolate preference is Baker’s Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate straight out of the box and next is Lindt Dark Chocolate.
To your yogurt post I will add; when my kids were still at home I made yogurt. This was back in the early 80s. When I started I bought the usual 8 glass container yogurt maker which made enough yogurt to last 10 minutes. My 3 teenage girls would devour it like ice cream, by the quart. I eventually was making 2 gal at a time which only lasted a couple of days. How did I make that much all at once? Well, there has never been a yogurt maker on the market for that amount so I just used a very large stainless steel bowl to heat the milk in on the stove, stirring constantly till at temperature then added the culture and incubated it overnight in the cold oven with the light on. This can be done with any amount you wish to make and it works very well.
So what has that got to do with the IP? Oddly enough the ‘Less’ temperature in the Yogurt setting on the IP is 86-92.3 deg F. Why is that odd? Well, you asked if there was anything you might have missed in your ‘yogurt button’ posts this week. I’m not saying you ‘missed’ anything but that temperature in the Yogurt function is close to the cold oven with just the light on, right? Not only is this the desired temperature for incubating yogurt but It so happens this is also the desired temperature for proofing bread dough. See where I’m going?
The ‘Yogurt Button’ set to ‘Less’ can be used to proof bread. The IP is about one quarter the price of a Proofing Oven and is just one more thing your IP can do. There are very few appliances that can do this and those that do can be used to make yogurt or to proof bread.
A word of caution when proofing bread dough in the IP: USE A REGULAR LID. You can do this because the ‘Yogurt’ function is not a pressurised function. The proofing stage of bread dough the goal is to proof your dough till it’s about double in volume. The length of time this takes depends the the ambient temperature so when the temperature is controlled your proofing time will be always be the same length of time, every time, making the process more predictable.
Also NOTE: the volume of your dough BEFORE proofing should never be larger than half of your inner pot. You don’t want that dough to rise up over the top of the inner pot or up in the grill and valves of the pressurising lid (used for pressurised functions).
Now you have just one more thing your amazing IP can do.
★★★★★
Shelia, You read my mind ;). Check out tomorrows post!
Dark chocolate!
Sweet yummy melt in your mouth Milk Chocolate!
★★★★
I like dark chocolate in small amounts…but can tolerate a large piece of that chocolate chocolate wonderful Costco cake with the chocolate shavings curling off the sides. I really like white chocolate, even if it isn’t really chocolate. I love peppermint bark with both dark and white chocolate with peppermints\. Loving your posts. Have 3 electric pressure cookers, but no Instapot. Have been electric pressure cooking for 10 years but not as much as you. I thought you were from near Meridian because of your zip code…found you are on the border of Utah/Idaho.
Would love to try making this yogurt. Off to buy my rennet.
Dark chocolate, mostly. But Lindt’s Hazelnut milk chocolate is fabulous!
I much prefer milk chocolate.
Dark chocolate, the darker the better – till it reaches ultimate nippiness!
Did someone say Chocolate? YES to ALL! would grab the milk chocolate first though.
★★★★★
I prefer dark chocolate. And I will definitely try skyr.
White chocolate is my favorite and second is dark chocolate.
I like milk chocolate! My recent discovery is the Cadbury Dark Milk Chocolate – smooth and creamy like milk, but not so sweet. yum!
Love dark chocolate with almonds. Will be sure to try this new yogurt recipe. Tried soy yogurt and taste is weird.
It has to be the dark for me; the darker the better. In fact I am eating some right now! (Lindt)
★★★★★
** a note ** I have filled out the subscription thing twice, but I haven’t gotten one of those confirmation things in my box yet.
It looks like you’ve been added. Check your spam folder and if you still can’t find it, shoot me an email and I’ll get it sent to you.
Hi Marci! I got your email today, so somehow it must have all worked out.
★★★★★
Dark all the way!!!
Oh my goodness, can’t wait to try making yogurt. 🙂 As for the question of the day, I prefer milk chocolate, but dark and white are good for certain things. Like peppermint really NEEDS dark chocolate. As for a brand, well, most times I don’t care. I just NEED chocolate. LOL
Subscribed!
I always go for Dark chocolate!
Subscribed. I go for milk chocolate 100%! Can’t wait to try making yogurt.
I usually prefer Milk Chocolate.
Favorite brand: Dove or Endangered Species.
Yum that looks so good! For chocolate I like dark but not too dark haha I like the richness of the chocolate flavor balanced with a bit of sweetness. I love guittard
My dad taught me that chocolate is its own food group and make sure to have some every day. ????
Dark is my preference, but my husband prefers white.
Kate, your dad must certainly be some great philosopher;)
Milk chocolate is my favorite type of chocolate.
I would say white… but did someone say that isn’t even chocolate???!!! If that is the case I will go with milk chocolate!!!
All of these yogurt recipes sound so intimidating!!! But nothing that I am not willing to try!! The pressure cooker I just got does not have the “Yogurt Button” what will I do in that case?
Dark chocolate from Trader Joe’s is my go to.
It has never occurred to me to add chocolate to my yogurt, but your picture has convinced me that I must try it. Rest assured, it will be happening soon! As for my favorite chocolate, I love milk chocolate when I’m craving chocolate, usually Hershey’s (but I adore the premium brands like Lindt); Trader Joe’s is really good, when I can get it. I’ve recently begun shopping at Aldi, and I’m told their chocolate is top-notch, so I’ve put it on my shopping list.
Dark chocolate! Lindt is good. Especially the chili flavor!
Chocolate depends on mood – Trader Joe’s brand is awesome!
I love Green and Black’s organic dark chocolate. The mint one is my favorite, but any good quality 80%+ cocoa is so yummy.
Dark chocolate all the way! Some favorites are Chocolove with cherries and almonds and Lindt 70%. 🙂
Milk chocolate – Cadbury 🙂
Fresh berries are my favorite yogurt topping. I think I would also like granola. It would be great to see your granola recipe on your blog sometime.
Since doing the Go Sugar Free course, dark chocolate is hands down my favorite
Dark is yummy. My husband recently returned from from Greece and Italy and brought home some chocolate from there. Oh my heavens, I was in love. So rich and creamy and just different and better than any American version I’ve had. Don’t even get me started on the Italian “Nutella.” Heaven on a spoon.
Dark! I haven’t been able to successfully make non-fat yogurt yet so I’m excited for this.
Dark, dark, dark. And this recipe looks very intriguing!
Dark chocolate with milk chocolate a close second. Not a fan of white chocolate.
Love all things chocolate and it just depends on my mood. I saw a quick dessert for melting white chocolate chips with a little heavy cream, then pouring it over a bowl of frozen cherries. Yep, that’s gonna happen soon!
I’m going with dark chocolate!
Depends on the day and brand, but either dark or milk chocolate makes me happy!
Dark for baking, milk for snacking. White chocolate isn’t really chocolate.
Soooo, this didn’t work at all. I ended up with slightly thickened warm milk.
Any thoughts? Needed longer?
★
Caroline, 5 hours should be plenty for the Skyr version of yogurt. What temperature was your milk at the end of the boil cycle? What temperature did you add your yogurt starter? Was your starter fresh? Did you use animal rennet? Is it single or double strength?
Can you use this method with whole milk to copy the siggi’s 4% whole milk skyyr?
Kayla, yes I believe that would be amazing!
Have you tried making this with Ícelandic Provisions yogurt as your starter?
Cassy, I haven’t, but if you have access to it, I definitely think it’s worth a try. I would love to know how it turns out too! Using Siggis made it so sour and grainy
I think I’m in yogurt heaven! A bowl of Skyr, mixed with Homemade Vanilla Extract, and sugar that’s had vanilla beans in it. OMG, so good!
I love siggis and so does my baby! If I want this yogurt as full fat (important for a baby), do I still need the rennet and water? Seems counter intuitive to add water to make the yogurt even thicker! Thank you ????
Elaine, if you don’t want to mess with the rennet, I would just make the regular Instant Pot Yogurt recipe from my blog and use whole milk, it is absolutely dreamy!
I was thrilled with the thickness of the skyr yogurt I made with Trader Joe’s fat free milk, but it definitely had a chalkiness to it that I didn’t care for. Could it be the brand of milk I used, or the rennet?
Debbie, The brand of milk did seem to make a difference to me. I settled on Winder skim being my favorite and Fage 2% being the best for a starter. However, as I studied Skyr and tried a lot of store bought samples, they all seem to have a bit of a chalky after taste which after trying every brand of milk and yogurt I could think of, I got that to be very mild and even completely unnoticeable once I added fruit and granola to it.
Making for the first time. Which yogurt setting on the IP? There are three.
Susan, Medium, good luck!
Turned out beautifully and so smooth, creamy and mild. Thank you!
Susan, I love hearing that! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
What about using a flavored yogurt for a starter? My store had Icelandic Provisions but not plain. I bought a vanilla one but if there’s a reason not to use it as a starter, I’ll just eat it and not.
Susan, I would never use any that has fruit bits in it, but the vanilla flavored yogurt may work just fine. I always use plain but I’ve read in several places that vanilla works as well. Let me know if you try it!
For toppings, diced banana and strawberries with a drizzle of chocolate syrup – banana split style!
Also, I’ve been reading that you can actually use whey as your starter, at least for a batch or two. What do you think of this? Ever tried it?
Susan, Yum! I’d throw a dollop of Almond Butter on there as well. Yes, you can use the whey, but I haven’t ever tried it so I can’t give you much of an opinion on this. Let me know if you try it!
Marci – tried it with Icelandic Provisions vanilla bean (all my store had) and it turned out great! Not sour or grainy at all. It looked more foamy at the end of 5 hours and I was afraid it hadn’t set properly but under the surface were soft curds and whey so I strained and perfection!
Susan, Good to know! Thanks for letting me know, that’s great info to have for others. I sometimes get that foamy look on top when I over whisk it when I’m stirring in the starter.
Marci…I’m obsessing over Icelandic Privisions Coconut Skyr. Do you have any suggestions for flavoring an entire batch of skyr?
Emily, I’ve actually been researching that lately. I’ve seen people flavor their yogurt with jello powder, but that doesn’t really appeal to me. I like the idea of using unsweetened store bought jams, but I haven’t tried it yet. What flavors are you wondering about specifically?
Hi Marci! Specifically I’d like coconut. I’ve seen recipes using coconut milk, but I’m not sure how it translates. I’d also love lemon!
Emily, Coconut yogurt is a whole other animal. If you want coconut I would go with coconut extract and add shredded coconut to the yogurt if you don’t mind the texture. Yum! That sounds good!
Any thoughts on how much extract to use with a gallon of milk? This is where I get stuck. I’ve never used coconut extract and don’t know where to begin.
Emily, I’ve never tried it but I would do 1 teaspoon vanilla extract plus 1 teaspoon coconut extract. Or because I typically tend to go overboard, I would add 1 tablespoon of coconut extract and see what happens. But for fear of ruining your yogurt, I would start with a teaspoon 🙂
I have successfully made this twice with whole milk (my preference) and I have a third batch in the Instant Pot as I write this. It is amazing. I just use store brand milk from Pick ‘N Save (I may have also used the store brand from somewhere else – I can’t recall), which I can get for $2 a gallon. Mine turns out very mild and I can eat it plain (but sometimes I don’t, haha). This is my favorite now! I like Siggi’s, but I prefer my own because it’s a lot less tart. The texture, after whipping, wow. Gorgeous. I’m still making regular yogurt, but only because I like to make a savory yogurt drink popular in the Middle East (in Turkey they call it ayran) and I’m not using any kind of strained yogurt for that, considering it needs to be thinned with cold water as it is. For eating, this is my go-to. I’ve considered sharing my skyr, but haven’t yet! So yummy. Thanks SO MUCH for this recipe!!
★★★★★
Robin, I love homemade Skyr sooooo much more than store brands! I’ve never heard of Ayran, I’m gonna have to check that out, sounds amazing! Thanks for your comment!
Ayran is basically yogurt, cold water (to desired thickness), and salt (optional, to taste). Mint is often added, but no sugar, and still the salt! I thought it was horrid for the first swallow or so because it wasn’t a taste I was expecting, but then I realized I loved it. Ha. It has different names, but ‘ayran’ is the one I found most of the recipes for. My Iraqi friend calls it ‘shanineh’ and my Saudi friend calls it ‘lebben’…and my Persian friend…I forgot what she said it was. Ha. ‘Ayran’ is the Turkish word for it.
I actually started making my own yogurt because I wanted to make more of that drink cheaply! And that’s how I ended up where I am, making multiple dairy products just about every week. Ha!
Robin, I am so intrigued by this. If you have a go to recipe you’d be willing to share, I’d love to try it!
I actually just kind of use a fork to whisk however much yogurt I’ve put in a tall cup and then I slowly whisk in cold water until I’m happy with the consistency. Then I add a little salt and mix, and taste it to decide if that’s enough or if I should add more. I did look up some recipes initially, but I think I followed one once only. I’ll see if I can find the one I used and if I do, I’ll come back and post the link. Me, I usually a 16 oz cup, add roughly a cup of yogurt (I just guesstimate), and like I said, I whisk in cold water and salt to my liking. It’s probably a good idea to do a recipe first, though, to get an idea of how it typically tastes. I bought some in a store out of curiosity, so I already knew what I was looking for. 😉
After I finished making this last batch of skyr, I decided to make Greek yogurt with the skyr culture (I used it to make regular yogurt last time and I didn’t think it taste it any different than any other yogurt I’ve made) and also whip it to see what the difference is in between using rennet and not. I did culture it for about 18 hours because initially I was just going to try to reduce the amount of sugar left in the yogurt. So it is a bit more tart than usual. But then I decided to hang it in the nut milk bag just like I do for the skyr. Initially it seemed even thicker, but I think I hung it longer than I hung the skyr. After whipping, the taste didn’t seem as tart as it did before I whipped it, and it really looks and tastes the same as the skyr.
The main reason I wanted to try this is because I read an article in which Siggi himself said that you shouldn’t need rennet if you have a really good culture. The person that wrote the article indicated that the main brands that are sold in the US don’t use rennet. Of course, I think this would not work as well with skim milk! Perhaps at some point I will try it, in the name of science. Probably not until the summer, and that is if I can figure out a place that is cold and uninhabited by cats to hang the bag. Right now I am putting it out in the enclosed porch because it is cold enough in Wisconsin yet.
I basically have a gallon of skyr now and I don’t have any regular yogurt to make ayran…seems like sacrilege to add water to this stuff!!
Robin, I’m so curious if I would like that drink so if you nail down a recipe, let me know. And what great insight into your process! I appreciate that so much. It’s hard to experiment in so many different ways so I love that you filled me in on what you did. Thank You!
I just started the process. I can’t wait.
Leah, I love making yogurt! It’s exciting to see it transform so much.
I have never used the rennet even though I purchased some of the vegetable version (Just in case!). For me, it’s all about straining it to nearly a cheese state and then whipping it. The yogurt loosens up a touch and is just smooth, thick, creamy, and DELICIOUS!!! I’ve never used the Instant pot since I don’t have one. I need to make bigger batches of yogurt now and am trying to decide between investing money into a larger pot for my stove or into an actual instant pot. (I have an induction stove so pots are pricey!)
Kati, using the rennet mostly makes it so you can get yummy, thick yogurt without the fat. It also means less sugar and more protein. But I make yogurt with or without all the time! I can’t even eat storebought yogurt anymore!
Thank you for this … I’m currently enjoying a bowl right now! Just wondering if you can overstrain it. I’ve been storing mine in the straining bowl but should I first remove the basket since it’s still straining out the whey? Thank you!
Christy, Isn’t it amazing!? I’ve strained it too long before and I just ended up adding some whey back so it wasn’t cream cheese 🙂
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who has been doing a
little homework on this. And he actually bought me lunch due to the fact that I stumbled
upon it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!!
But yeah, thanks for spending some time to discuss this matter here on your
blog.
★★★★★
Haha, that’s so great! Thanks for sharing, I’m glad it got you fed 🙂
Why do you write in this recipe, “Secure the lid and turn pressure release knob to a sealed position. Press the yogurt function button”? You’re simply heating the milk, right, and there is no pressure cooking going on at all. Just wondering why you included that detail.
Bob, I find that the milk heats up more efficiently if the knob is closed is the only reason. You’re correct, no pressure being built up here!
Another question (and thanks for the response to the first one.). Your recipe calls for animal rennet. I went to a store today and bought rennet, only to find just now that it is vegetable rennet. Does this make a difference? Thanks.
Bob, I’ve had a few people comment to say the vegetable rennet worked great so I would say it’s worth a try. My experience is that it kept turning grainy and a bit chalky tasting in comparison to the animal rennet. If you have it though, I’d say it’s worth a try.
Have you tried using Almond or Coconut milk to make this? I made it with Skim milk and a vegetable rennet and there was no graininess to it but it is tart 🙂 turned out perfect.
★★★★★
Tina, I haven’t, but I’m curious. If you try it, let me know!
Are your calorie counts, etc., with the 1/2 cup of sweetener? Do you have a count without them?
I’m making this now! I’m so excited to give it a taste.
Thanks!
Kristi
Kristi, I just checked and it looked like the facts included the syrup. I went ahead and removed the syrup from the nutrition facts since it is an optional ingredient. So what you see now is with just milk and the starter. Keep in mind that doesn’t account for the whey that gets drained off though, that’s kind of hard to measure!
You are awesome! And so is the yogurt. Made my first batch yesterday. Delicious!
What happens if I prepare my milk the regular way for making yogurt, and then instead of putting a yogurt starter in it, I use some skyr from the Icelandic Yogurt I bought from Trader Joe’s? I wouldn’t be using the rennet etc. Would it still work?
Forget my question above about not using rennet. I read the recipe over again and decided I have what I need to do the skyr recipe. A mind is a terrible thing to lose.
I gotta tell ya, it worked. I had two half gallons of milk in the fridge, one 2% and the other skim. I mixed them together in the Instant Pot. I heated and cooled. I added starter from the Icelandic Yogurt I had purchased at Trader Joe’s. I added rennet. I had vegetable rennet double strength, so instead of 7 drops I dripped in 3. When the 5 hour marked came I decided it didn’t feel as thick as I would like it, so I left it to incubate another 3 hours. Set it in the fridge over night and the next day strained it for about 7 hours. What did I get? Some of the thickest, creamiest, delicious yogurt I’ve had. A huge success despite some variations in ingredients.
Bob, thank you for letting me know! I’m so glad the rennet worked for you and it makes me want to give it another go. You make it sound so yummy too 🙂