If you’ve ever wondered how to make kefir, it’s the easiest fermented food you could try! Here’s the full tutorial on how to make kefir with grains, why you want to drink it, and even how to make kefir dairy-free!

Dairy kefir is hands down, no doubt about it, the EASIEST fermented food you could EVER make on the entire planet.
But it’s possible that many of you haven’t ever tried it.
I think there are some (or several) of you who are nervous about milk sitting out on the counter.
I was too – until I actually tried it myself!
Take comfort in knowing that while the milk is sitting, it’s fermenting. Fermenting is not the same as going bad. Fermenting is a very good thing, and milk kefir gets better as it sits and ferments.
WHAT IS KEFIR?
The short answer: kefir is a fermented drink. The end.
The long answer: kefir is a fermented drink that is traditionally made by taking kefir grains and placing them in mammals’ milk (cow, sheep, goat, etc.) for a period of 12 to 24 hours, depending on the environment and the grain to milk ratio.
- The cooler the temperature, the slower the fermentation process is (kefir thrives in temperatures between 68-77 degrees).
- The more kefir grains you have, the quicker the fermentation process (the quantity of kefir grains can range from 2 to 10% of the milk).
The kefir grains themselves are a combination of probiotic (good) bacteria and yeast, as well as various proteins, lipids, and sugars. The grains kind of resemble cauliflower, are yellowish/whiteish in color, can be as small as a pin head, and can grow to be as large as walnuts or even golf balls.
Kefir has a tart, sour-like taste. At first sniff, one would think that it was milk gone bad. But those who are seasoned in the kitchen (or simply know what kefir is) can relate it to yogurt or buttermilk. It’s a clean sour, not a rancid sour. If the kefir tastes rancid, it’s gone bad.
WHY MAKE MILK KEFIR
KEFIR HAS GOOD BACTERIA
If you thought yogurt was health-benefitting, check this out: Yogurt has 1.5 trillion healthy bacteria while dairy kefir has nearly 5 trillion healthy bacteria! That’s over three times as much of the good bacteria that line our guts, helping digest food and keep our systems moving. And making kefir is way less work than making yogurt (although this yogurt-making method is pretty simple too).
WHY FERMENTATION?
Fermentation in milk kefir allows good bacteria to enter your digestive system to help it work better. Our bodies need bacteria to process the food we eat. We do consume bacteria in the foods we eat, but not nearly as much as we should to make our bodies efficient, and if we consume more fake food than real food, our bacteria levels will be even lower.
The good bacteria and enzymes in kefir kick-start your digestive system by helping to break down other foods, stimulating your system to produce its own enzymes better, and can even help those suffering from serious digestive issues. Kefir helps to keep things moving, which is imperative to good intestinal health – clean pipes are happy pipes!
KEFIR HAS VITAMINS AND MINERALS
Kefir is a lot like oatmeal – it’s a powerhouse of a huge variety of vitamins and minerals. Calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, folic acid, nicotinic acid, iron, B2, B12, Vitamin K, Vitamin A, and Vitamin D are all in abundance. In addition, kefir also has tryptophan. Yep, the same amino acid that puts us in post-dinner Thanksgiving comas is found plentiful in kefir.
For those who may be wondering, drinking kefir will not put you in that same Turkey Day coma. At least drinking it in ½ – 1 cup servings (each day in my morning smoothie) hasn’t done me in yet.
KEFIR HAS GOOD YEAST
In addition to being good for your gut and good for your nervous system, kefir can also help treat candidiasis (commonly referred to as yeast infections). It may sound strange to treat a yeast infection by consuming more yeast, but kefir is good yeast that helps to bring the bad yeast under control.
HOW TO MAKE KEFIR WITH GRAINS
#1 GET SOME MILK KEFIR GRAINS..
Milk kefir grains are not the same as the powdered starter culture. The kefir starter culture can be reused only a few times and is heavily dependent on the cleanliness and contamination of the culture. You want indestructible, super-resilient grains. (The grains really aren’t invincible, but they are pretty tough.)
Kefir grains can be purchased (I recommend Cultures for Health via Amazon), or a generous friend can pass some on to you.
Purchased kefir grains come in a very tiny package, sealed with organic powdered milk. It will honestly look like nothing of importance, which makes the kefir-making process even more exciting!
#2 CULTURE YOUR KEFIR GRAINS
Place your kefir grains in a glass jar and add approximately one cup of organic whole milk. Cover the jar with a coffee filter and let it sit on your countertop.
The filter is so debris and other food particles don’t interfere with your kefir-making process. The kefir grains need air to breathe, so do not put a lid on your jar. Besides, the fermentation process will create pressure in the jar. If you seal the jar instead of using a filter, your jar may explode when you try to open it. Is anyone volunteering to clean soured milk off your ceiling?
Live kefir grains thrive best in a warm place, between 68 and 77 degrees, so you may have to find a more suitable spot if your kitchen is especially warm or cold. Don’t feel discouraged when nothing magical happens during the first fermentation. It will, just not yet…
#3 STRAIN YOUR HOMEMADE KEFIR
After 24 hours, use a strainer to pour the milk down the drain or into another vessel, but not the kefir.
Note: You may use this milk if you’d like, so long as it doesn’t smell sour. Room-temperature-possibly-soured-milk does not sound appetizing to me, but it may be suitable for pancakes, waffles, or biscuits.
Your strainer should be plastic, if possible, but stainless steel is sufficient. You may use a plastic or wooden spoon if it’s necessary to help drain the milk from the kefir. Moving the kefir and curds from side to side will help the milk drain. This may not be an issue yet, but it will be later.
#4 REPEAT STEPS 2 AND 3 FOR 10 DAYS.
Yes, 10 days. This process is called rehydrating the kefir – you’re essentially bringing the dried kefir grains back to life. Some grains are ready after 7 days, and some take as long as 14 days. Use your best judgment, but I’d personally rehydrate for 10 days.
#5 KEEP MAKING KEFIR
After the kefir grains are “alive,” you’re ready to keep making kefir.
Want to know how? Repeat step 2. No joke. Once your grains are active, you’re making the good stuff!
Depending on the environment and the quantity of grains you have in your milk, the jar may only need to sit for 12 hours, or it may need to sit for 24. After one month of making my own kefir, my grains grew from a teaspoon of powder to one full tablespoon. In one cup of milk, these grains make kefir in about 18 hours.

HOW TO USE HOMEMADE KEFIR
If you aren’t sure if you like drinking kefir straight, you can use it in smoothies, batters, and other baked goods where ingredients like milk, yogurt, or buttermilk is called for. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Replace the yogurt in this Blueberry Cheesecake Smoothie
- Use it as the liquid in this Soaked Whole Wheat Bread
- Make this Overnight Kefir Einkorn Coffee Cake
- Use in place of the yogurt in this Banana Nut Muffins recipe
- Replace some or all of the milk in these Strawberry Pancakes
- Make Easy Dinner Biscuits with kefir instead of milk
- Substitute kefir for buttermilk in Ranch Dressing

Use a clean jar for each new batch of kefir. I like to keep a couple of these jars on hand and just rotate to a new one each time.
You don’t have to make big batches of kefir at one time. You can make as little or as much as you’d like. Making one pint (two cups) at a time works well with the quantity of kefir grains I have.
I make a batch, pour half (one cup) for a smoothie, and refrigerate the other half. The grains are given fresh milk and put into the fridge. They get moved to the counter when the second cup from the first batch is pulled out. They then come to room temperature and ferment overnight, and the kefir milk is ready the following morning.
Kefir should last at least a week or two in the refrigerator. In general, as long as you drink it by the expiration date on the milk that you used, you should have no issues. Use the sniff test if you’re not sure!
If you have other ferments going in your kitchen, like kombucha, be sure to keep them at least a few feet apart. They won’t kill each other, but over time the fermenting cultures can weaken if they’re too close together.
The longer you let kefir grains ferment, the more acidic and sour the kefir tastes. If you are just beginning, you may want to strain the kefir grains after a shorter amount of time than a longer amount of time.
What if you want a break from making kefir? Since low temperatures render the grains dormant, you can store grains in milk safely in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you want to store them longer, it’s recommended that you rinse, dry, and freeze the grains. I haven’t done this personally, but it is an option.
NON-DAIRY KEFIR
You can use milk kefir grains with non-dairy milk, like using coconut milk to make coconut kefir. You can also use another animal’s milk, like goat’s milk, if you like.
Milk kefir grains need healthy bacteria to thrive and grow, and while the grains will ferment almond, soy, or other milk, they will not grow. Rehydrate your grains in mammal’s milk every few batches for maximum long-term potential.
Here’s what you do:
- With active grains, make a batch of regular kefir. Donate the kefir to your friends or other family members and keep the kefir grains for yourself.
- Make kefir using your choice of almond milk, hemp milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, peanut milk, or rice milk.
- Make 1-2 batches of non-dairy milk kefir.
- Make another batch of regular dairy milk kefir to keep the grains active.
- Repeat steps 2-4.

CAN YOU RUIN KEFIR GRAINS?
There’s nothing worse than trying something new in the kitchen and failing miserably. Especially when everyone else is saying “Oh, it’s just SO easy!”
As your friend, let me assure you – making kefir IS easy.
Plus, kefir grains are known to be very resilient. I’ve starved them, rinsed them, touched them with metal, frozen them, and neglected them. But so far, they’ve survived just fine.
BUT – you can kill your grains if you go extreme on them.
Here are a few practices that you should avoid, just to be on the safe side.
- Don’t store or keep them in the fridge often. Kefir grains thrive best when they’re fed (i.e. given new milk) every day or two days. While keeping them in the fridge while you’re out of town for a couple of weeks once a year seems fine, you can damage the grains if you keep them in the fridge for 6 out of 7 days every week.
- Possible solution – blend up some of your grains with your smoothies in order to keep the ratio of grains to milk low or give some grains to your friends and introduce them to real food!
- Don’t cook the grains or allow them to get hotter than 100F. Those in warmer climates (or those in cold climates, using their oven to culture!), beware. Extreme heat will kill your grains.
- Possible solution – Make a test batch of kefir to see if it cultures. If it does, you’re safe. If it doesn’t, you need new grains.
- Don’t rinse them if you have poor-quality city water. I’ve read multiple bloggers who are against rinsing their grains, but my counterargument is that I’ve been rinsing them nearly every use and they haven’t died yet. And it’s been several years now. The only explanation I can think of is that those who rinsed and killed their grains had bad city water.
- Possible solution – Either don’t rinse your grains, or only rinse with filtered water.

KEFIR GRAINS FAQS
My grains are yellow. Is this normal?
Yes. Kefir grains can be anywhere along the white-to-yellow color spectrum.
My grains are super tiny. Is this normal?
Yes. Grains can range in size from a pin head to a golf ball.
Do I have to stir the kefir in the process?
It’s not required, but I’ve found it helpful.
Do I need to rinse the grains between batches?
No, but I usually do because yeast and curds build up on the grains. There’s also something kind of funky about putting soured milk curdles into fresh milk and then drinking it. It is recommended to use filtered water, but I use tap water without any problems.
My kefir separated into curds and whey. Is this normal?
Yes. This happens when the milk is over-cultured. Reduce the culture time or use a plastic spoon to help strain the curds through the strainer.
My grains don’t look any different after the rehydration process. Is this normal?
Yes. Grains may grow, but they may not. They may stay yellow; they could turn white. Don’t give up. Give it a max of 14 days before thinking the grains are bad. Even after 14 days, the grains are probably doing what they’re supposed to; they just don’t look any different.
EASY PEASY, RIGHT? ARE YOU READY TO START MAKING YOUR OWN KEFIR?
Ready to give your gut all the beneficial bacteria it needs to be healthy? Then, try whipping up a batch of this delicious, fermented drink! You’ll be glad you did!

I am going out of town for 17 days. How do I preserve my grains so that I can start back making kefir?
Feed them right before you leave Sheila, and then store them in the refrigerator. You’ll be fine!
I’ve not made any yet.
When I’m away at the weekends, can I put the grains in milk, in the fridge, Friday evening, then get them out Sunday evening to produce Kefir on Monday evening when I get home from work?
or would I have to throw that milk away and start new from Sunday?
Deane – your time frame should work if your grains are fully active. You won’t ever have to throw milk away and start over if the grains are active, that’s ONLY if you’re hydrating them for the first time. And even then, you an re-purpose the milk for biscuits or pancakes or waffles or something.
Hi Tiffany, thanks for the information.
I also have a few questions. To prepare kefir means to make it ALWAYS?. I have to make it every day?.
I mean, I would like to prepare for example 1 liter, and take a rest for a few days :).
Preparing kefir sounds like have a baby at home!. There is any way to prepare a batch for a few days (4 or 5 days), and then start doing that again?.
Hi Edith! Absolutely, kefir is ONLY an everyday thing when you’re first rehydrating the grains. Once your grains are producing kefir, you do exactly as you mentioned – a big batch every few days. You can even ferment it in the fridge to slow the process and make it less frequent. Or you can use less grains to slow the process too. It’s definitely flexible!!
Thanks for your time to answer Tiffany :).
Well, I am going to look for the grains as soon as possible, and starting making my keffir. I will tell you about my expierience :).
I really want to make it because I use to have digestive problems 🙁
Thank you again!
Can I use organic goats milk to make the kefir? I have a local source and love goats milk over cows milk. Thanks!
Yes you can!
I want to make sure I’m reading this right. The grains can only make 1 cup a day? Thanks!
Hi Melissa! No, the grains can actually make much more on a daily basis, but they need to be re-hydrated first. When you only have a small amount of grain (1 T or less), it’s best to use around 1 cup of milk. Over time, they’ll grow and multiply and you can use more milk (because you have more grains). Until the grains are fully hydrated, it’s just a waste of milk to use much more than one cup. 🙂
My son has a heart condition and receives WIC because he needs special high calorie supplements. He never gets through all of the milk he receives and have been looking for a way to make use of the extra. It’s not organic. I’m wondering if it will work. May be a good way to make this milk more nutritious?
Absolutely, Melissa!! Organic or raw is always best, but any kind of whole milk can be used.
I received grains from a friend, didn’t realize how much money I saved. I am only a little scared now, because I have been using UHT milk. I hope I haven’t killed them. I live in Belgium and that is the norm here. I’ll have to go to a dairy to get some fresh stuff.
You think what I have been drinking has been safe or kefir at all? It wasn’t rancid, but wasn’t delicious either.
Was the milk kinda tart, slightly sour? If so, that was kefir. UHT doesn’t make the best kefir, but you probably haven’t killed them. They won’t necessarily grow as fast or as large as those fed regular milk though. Given the choice, a dairy would be the better option. 🙂
Can I use raw milk instead of processed organic?
Yes absolutely!
I received my grains from someone who used regular 2% cows milk from the grocery store… I am wanting to switch them to raw cows milk . What kind of procedure will I need to go through?
Hi Becky! No special procedure – just use your raw milk going forward!
My main question is, can I use regular milk instead of organic? If we are fermenting them for possibly 2 weeks, using 1 c of milk a day, it seems like it could be expensive to get started. Also, how do you know when to actually save the strained milk after the 10 days or so of fermenting? I’m sorry I’m just confused.
Thank you for all the hard work you put into this website to help us go through the stages. I have only heard of you in the last 4 days, but you are the 1st to actually help me understand meal planning as I never saw how to growing up. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, experience and faith.
Hi Heather,
Yes, you can use regular milk instead of organic. I would not recommend UHT milk though – I did that recently and damaged my grains (I’m on cycle 4 or 5 now to get them healthy again). Yes, it does seem expensive to start, but you can alleviate that by using that milk for what you’d ordinary use it for, i.e. baked goods, waffles, pancakes, etc. Just keep it in a separate jar in the fridge and note not to to drink it. 😉 Another option is starting with only 1/3 or 1/2 cup of milk for days 1-3. They’ll likely revive just fine using less. You’ll notice the smell of the fermented milk to be a bit “off,” or tangy/sour. That’s when you can start using it as kefir. Actually, you can treat all of the milk as kefir from day 1, except don’t use it to ferment other items (like soaking grains or sourdough) until after day 10.
You’re so sweet Heather! I’m glad we’ve found each other! 🙂
This may seem like a silly question..(I have only bought kefir in the store) so steps 1-5 are just for preparing the kefir grains…and you pour the milk out. Then in step 5 after it has sat for 24 hours this is the milk/kefir (like what I buy) to be used??? And then you keep adding milk to the grains to keep them alive or store them in the fridge???
Maybe once I try this it will seem less complicated!
Thanks!
No question is silly 🙂 Yes, #1-5 are to prepare the grains, give them ‘life’ so to speak. When you get them, they’re usually freeze-dried or frozen and are not active to culture anything. They need to be revived in order to properly culture. You can pour the milk out or use it in a smoothie or even cook with it but I wouldn’t drink it. It’ll be warm and may have a not-milk or not-kefir taste. Just my personal preference there. Once the grains are alive, and you’ve cultured milk for roughly 24 hours, you’ll have what you used to buy at the store. Strain out the grains and put them in new milk – they won’t survive alone. Either make more kefir on the counter, or keep the new milk w/grains in the fridge for a slow ferment.
I’m sorry it sounds complicated – it really isn’t! The reviving period (day 1-5) is no different than culturing, except you’re not making kefir yet and you don’t drink the milk.
Once the grains are ready, always keep them in milk. Either fermenting on the counter for 12-24 hours (depending on how warm your house is), or in the fridge for several days. Let me know if that doesn’t help Melissa!
I have been brewing kefir for five months. Now, a teaspoon of grains have bloomed to a full cups worth! I am wondering if making kefir with all of these grains in a half gallon jar with 2% milk is how one uses them.
Thanks.
There are a ton of ways to use it and in milk is one of them.
Shoot. I can’t tell my grains from the curds. Last night I decided it was time to just make a quart of kefir because evey time I did it with one cup of milk, there was a section of white something (curds, kefir grains?) floating on top of the whey, completely separated. SO I strained the white stuff, started over with a cup of milk. Anyway, I can’t tell them apart.
Hi Nan!
I strain my grains with a fine mesh sieve, causing the milk to be filtered through. I also use a spatula to move/separate some curds from the grains. Once I’ve gotten as much as I can, then I transfer to a new jar. If you find whey at the bottom, you’ve over-cultured the milk (which I do ALL THE TIME, and it’s no big deal). It just means your milk will be extra tangy. 😉 Using more milk will help, or straining the grains sooner. In either case, grains are somewhat firm. They will not squish completely in your hands like a curd will.
My suggestion would be to try a lesser culture time and strain so you can see what the grains look like without the curds getting in the way. Then when you know what they look like, over-culture like crazy! 🙂
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back tomorrow when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts! 🙂
Just got some kefir grains from a friend, so this was really timely 🙂 Thanks! PInning.
You’re welcome! Lucky you to skip the rehydration part – you’ll have kefir tomorrow!
Thanks for the step by step! You make it look so easy.
You’re welcome – and it really is super, super easy!