Making Lactose-free Yoghurt at Home

This is something many people do already but I thought it was worth a post on the various options, simplifying things and especially making lactose-free yoghurt.

Yogurt is nutrient dense, packed with essential nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins B2 and B12. It contains lots of probiotics – beneficial bacteria that can improve gut health and digestion. And it is a great source of protein that can be used in many different ways.

I have made yoghurt at home for most of my adult life and for much of that I used unsweetened Easi-Yo Greek Yoghurt sachets – very simple and convenient. You could just make it as needed and not have to worry about keeping a culture going if you were going to be away. They always have good reviews about the probiotic cultures in them too.

Then when Long Covid (and treatments) completely disrupted my gut microbiome, I needed to find lactose-free options and avoid any ingredients such as emulsifiers. I did try coconut yoghurt but it has very low protein levels and I was advised to try to increase my protein to 30g per meal.

I discovered that you can buy lactase drops to add to milk. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down lactose and is lacking in people who are lactose intolerant. If you can’t break down lactose effectively then it can lead to digestive cramps, gas and diahorrea (which is obviously not desirable). So I decided to try making my own lactose-free yoghurt by treating the milk first and then making yoghurt.

You can purchase yoghurt starter cultures in sachets (which can also be stored in the freezer to extend shelf life) so that gives you some freedom to make yoghurt as required. However the process is a bit more complex and time consuming: you need to heat the milk to 85-90C, then cool it to 40-45C and add the starter culture before keeping it warm in a yoghurt maker for 8 hours to ferment. It is not difficult but requires more equipment and a bit more fuss.

I used that method for a while but in order to make thicker ‘Greek-style’ yoghurt you need to strain the yoghurt, resulting in a smaller volume. My yoghurt maker could only manage 1L milk at a time so I was going through the fuss of making it fairly regularly – it would make more sense if I could make a larger volume.

About that time (and for a very different reason), I got introduced to the Instant Pot multi-cooker. I have the Instant Pot Duo Crisp with Ultimate Lid. It has lots of great functions from pressure cooker, slow cooker, and right through to air fryer, but the function I use most now is the ‘Yoghurt’ setting. You can put several litres of milk in (I generally put 2L in and end up with about 1L Greek Yoghurt). With the push of a button and no extra equipment, the Instant Pot heats the milk for 30 minutes to about 82C. It then beeps at you to open the lid and let it cool down. Once it has cooled down to about 42C (takes just over an hour), the Instant Pot beeps again to tell you to add the starter culture. You then close the lid and it ferments it for 8 hours.

I then put a couple of tablespoons of the yoghurt in a jar to store in the fridge as the starter for the next batch. The rest I strain to make a nice thick Greek Yoghurt. You can keep the whey that is strained off for use in smoothies or baking.