How To: Homemade Greek Yogurt

If you’re like me, you like thick and creamy Greek yogurt.  Also if you’re like me, you despise the price.  There is no reason that 32oz of Greek style should cost upwards of $5 when 32oz of the regular stuff costs only $2!  Fed up with the money discrepancy yet still desirous of that awesome texture one day, I decided to strain my own yogurt.  Essentially, the reason why regular yogurt is so much thinner is that it has more whey in it.  You have probably seen the accumulation of it when you open up the large yogurt containers and you see that watery layer on top.  The goal of straining is to get rid of some of that whey so that the yogurt becomes thicker.  So here’s how to do it –>

Step One: Buy a container of regular yogurt.  I always get nonfat plain but you can get whatever you want: full fat, flavored, whatever as long as it is regular/not already Greek.

Step Two: Assemble your drain apparatus.  Place a colander on top of a pot or measuring cup capable of holding at least two cups if you’re planning on draining 32oz of yogurt.  Inside the colander lay a few layers of cheesecloth or a very thin dish towel.

Step Three: Drop your yogurt into the strainer and tie up the extra towel or cloth on top (mostly to conserve space).

Step Four: Place in fridge for 4-6 hours depending on how thick you want the end product to be.  4 hours should get you the consistency of Chobani or Dannon Greek while 6 hours essentially forms cream cheese.  Take your pick.  I prefer about 4.5 hours.

Step Five: Carefully remove the straining apparatus from the fridge (don’t spill the whey!) and scoop out the newly Greek yogurt.  I put it back in the original container that I washed while everything was draining.  You can see the total amount roughly halves in size.

When all is said and done, I usually end up with just over a cup of whey which you can discard or repurpose for other uses.  I throw mine away most days but I think next time I will try to use it for something else.  Experiment, people!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I sincerely encourage you to try it out.  I absolutely love doing this because, in a silly way, I feel like I’m kind of cheating the system in.  I pay only $2 for regular yogurt but I end up with thick Greek yogurt with all of five minutes of effort and five hours of waiting.  Awesome, right?  Let me know if you try this out.  =D

Questions: Which brand of Greek yogurt do you prefer?
What is your favorite flavor of yogurt? (Yes, plain counts!)