How to make Greek Yogurt at home? Sometimes also called Yogurt Cheese

If you are like me and have fallen in love with Faye’s Greek yogurt, you will appreciate this recipe as it will save you quite a bit of money! Homemade Greek Yogurt here we go.

Greek yogurt is simply put, strained yogurt. The idea is to strain the whey out of the yogurt so it gets thicker and creamier. So how to do it? Well, it all start with your own normal yogurt (follow my homemade yogurt recipe here).

Homemade yogurt (regular type)

Once your yogurt is done, you will have to strain it. For that, you will need a deep pan or container, a sieve or colander (small meshed) and some cloth (cheese cloth will do but you will need several layers of it so the yogurt will not go through the wholes). I am using a small clean baby blanket with a tight knit.

Place your colander on top of the pan, and the cloth on top of the colander.

Add the yogurt in the middle of the cloth (I am doing 1liter).

Take all 4 corners of your cloth and hold them up, and then carefully close them on top – like making a parcel. Attach a rubber band to the cloth so it stays wrapped up.

Gently squeeze some of the whey out – you will see it pouring out. Do not squeeze too hard as the yogurt may come out.

Put your parcel back on top of the colander, put in the fridge and leave there for as little as 1 hour to a day! You can squeeze a little every so often. How long to leave it for depends on how thick you want your yogurt to be. I am leaving mine a full day as I want it very thick.

After 24 hours of draining

Note that you will have about half or less of the amount of yogurt than you started with (this is why it is so much more expensive!). The good news is that you will also have the whey – it is full of nutrients.

Whey - Use it for cooking

Once you have the right consistency for you, you will simply open your parcel and scoop out your yogurt. My one is so thick I can stand a chopstick on it!

Wondering what to do with your whey? cook with it or drink it! I made mami Mac & cheese twice with mine.

I started with the 2 containers on the left full of regular homemade yogurt, and ended up with about 1.5 cups of Greek yogurt and a lot of whey!


Enjoy your homemade Greek yogurt!