There's a great recipe for a copycat Noosa Yogurt out there, and everyone who has made it seems very happy with it. Unfortunately that recipe, like the yogurt, has more sugar than I can eat. It's also for a very large portion size and I wanted something smaller and less sugared. Additionally I wanted all the fat and protein I could squeeze in there. So I whipped up this delicious Smooth Cardamom Yogurt recipe as a result.
Smooth Cardamom Yogurt | Noosa Copycat Recipe
So I decided to try with Fairlife whole milk and half and half, use Splenda for sweetening, and to add a sweeter and slightly different taste, flavor it with powdered cardamom. The second time I made it I used apple pie spice, and that was delicious too. But the cardamom certainly adds a very Indian flavor to the yogurt and my family seems to like that quite well.
I let it set in my Instant Pot on the yogurt setting for 8 hours. I also added 1/2 teaspoons of honey per cup for flavor, but you could omit this if you prefer. You'll notice I don't follow the "heat to 180 degrees and then cool" steps that most Instant Pot yogurt settings ask for. It still works for me.
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Okay y'all, let's be honest. This Smooth Cardamom Yogurt recipe doesn't taste exactly like Noosa to me. It's not as rich, it's not as tart, it's not as sweet. So perhaps I should call this my " I can TOTALLY believe it's not Noosa" recipe?
But I tell you what, it's pretty dang fantastic. We like it better than Greek yogurt eaten plain, and it has a wonderful creamy, smooth texture that I would think kids would love. We've been eating this Smooth Cardamom Yogurt every night, and the protein and touch of sweet are very satisfying. Do let me know how it turns out if you make it!
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (488 g) Whole Milk
- 1/2 cup (119 g) Heavy Whipping Cream
- 5 tablespoons (5 tablespoons) Splenda, or sugar substitute of choice
- 1/2 tablespoon (0.5 tablespoon) Unflavored Gelatin
- 2-3 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) Full-Fat Greek Yogurt, as starter
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Ground Cardamom, cinnamon, or apple pie spice or other sweet seasoning of your choice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) Honey, (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the milk and cream in the microwave for two minutes.
- Put some of the warm milk in the gelatin and mix until smooth, and then add this mixture to the milk and cream.
- Add the starter yogurt and the powdered cardamom and stir or whisk until everything has been well-incorporated.
- Set your Instant Pot to its Yogurt setting, which may be 8 hours by default.
- Once it's done, add in the Splenda and honey, stir everything together. Don't add the sweetener before it's set, as it tends to make the yogurt less firm.
- Let it sit in the fridge for 6-8 hours otherwise it will be runny. Gelatin needs to be cooled before it will set so do not be in a tearing rush to eat it. It's totally worth the wait.
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Nutrition
Lise
Hello Urvashi, I'm still loving your Indian Instant pot book - it's stained on every page, and may soon come apart!
However, I'm unsure about the yoghurt process, and have googled many IP yoghurt recipes.
I have been following the book instructions, but when it comes to the 8-hour cycle, nowhere can I find any temperature instructions.
I have the Ultra (I live at nearly 8,000ft), and when I use the Yoghurt button and set the time to 8 hours, it's expecting a temperature selection out of: High, Medium, Low, Custom.
I've been guessing and using 'Low', but in spite of using whole pastuerised milk plus half and half, I'm getting runny yoghurt. Thicker than milk, but so runny that it goes right through the sieve and cheesecloth!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
A B
Aren't you supposed to add water to the pot? More details would be good for us beginners.
URVASHI PITRE
So I don’t always add water for PIP yogurt. The pot gets hot enough and since you’re not cooking this under pressure, just creating a warm environment, then you don’t need to ensure there is water for steam etc.
A B
Thanks for the reply! Since all the other yogurt recipes that I saw used water, I went ahead and added it (2 cups). It turned out great, but it's good to know what variables I could change when experimenting. No more store bought yogurt for me!
Shelly
Swerve granular and powdered work great and so does fiber yum for recipes calling for honey, maple syrup, maple syrup etc..
I like making yogurt with fresh Thai coconuts we get at our local health food store by the case.
I freeze the water in larger silicon cubes
And freeze the coconut meat and pull it out when needed. I tend to alway have water kefir in the fridge for my smoothies and also use the meat and water to add to soaked but to make coconut almond ( or whatever nut) fermented yogurt. You can find recipes at Lou Coronas website and the live regenerator on YouTube and Dr. Burgs yourube channel.
URVASHI PITRE
is Fiber Yum a brand? I may need to look into that.
Shelly
I bought mine from amazon and learned about it on YouTube watching one of Dr. Berg and his wife Karen’s cooking video
Susan
I love all things cardamom! Put it in my yogurt with blueberries and honey this morning and in my coffee everyday! Haven't made yogurt yet but plan to start soon!
Two Sleevers
This is an easy way to get started 🙂
Teechur
I'd suggest a few changes from someone who has been making her own super awesome yogurt for years.
1. Lose the gelatin, you don't need it for thick yogurt. Instead, strain the yogurt and use the whey left over for either bread making, ricotta cheese (super easy, and with high fat yogurt you will get good ricotta out of it), or if you don't want to mess with that, it actually makes a good natural fertilizer.
2. Lose the Splenda. Sweeten after. It impacts the "yogiing" process. I'd sweeten only with honey as it's natural (go with raw for the anti-oxidants) and awesome.
3. You need to do the 180 degrees in order for the yogurt to work. It is part of the science of yogurt. It kills off the bad bacteria so the good bacteria you reintroduce doesn't have to compete. I know it's an extra step, but it's essential and worth it. I just set a timer on my phone or kitchen timer and check after an hour, then another half hour, with an immersion thermometer, until it hits between 90-100 degrees. Then I add the starter, which is usually just yogurt from my last batch or FAGE yogurt (plain only) because it seems to be the best. I buy starter sometimes, but often it makes it even more tart than I like and I loves me super tart yogurt.
I also do more than 8 hours, and when I strain, I strain for 4-6 hours on the counter which gives it more tartness. It isn't going to hurt the yogurt or make it unsafe to eat, it just keeps the bacteria doing their thing munching on the lactase and breeding and making more probiotics. I wouldn't go longer than that by much, but it's perfectly fine to do that.
I have yogurt every evening as a dessert. In 2002 I lost 100 pounds using a popular weight loss program that gave me good boundaries but not "rules" (can't eat this, must eat that). I've kept it off by slowly moving my diet towards a more clean way of eating. I just got an Instantpot and have started making yogurt that way. I had been using a crockpot for years. LOVE using the Instantpot. I can't WAIT to do it with Cardamon! I have some seeds in my spice cupboard!
Two Sleevers
I love your points. I too love the Greek yogurt when strained. I have a saffron scented yogurt dish I made with that posted on the blog. I definitely plan to try it without Splenda and we will see if it gets better.
You've given us all a lot of great tips. So appreciate your taking the time to do that.
Anysia
I love your recipes, but I'm puzzled by the gelatin and the previous poster's suggestion to strain the yogurt to make it thicker.
I make yogurt in the Instant Pot and get thick, hold a spoon up, yogurt every time. The thickness of your yogurt is determined by the fat content of your milk products. I use 1L whole milk (3.5% fat or so) and 1L Half'n'Half (10% fat).
I also incubate on 'Normal' setting for 24hours, but that's because I don't get up early enough to do a shorter cycle and I want as much lactose used up as possible.