If you’ve never heard of kefir, you may be wondering exactly what it is and how on earth to pronounce it. First things first, it’s pronounced like “key-fur.” Ok, now that you won’d spend the rest of the artilce mispronouncing it in your head, let’s talk about what it is.

A few months ago I posted about how you can built your gut health by eating probiotic foods. One of the best ways to do that is by adding kefir to your diet.

What exactly is kefir? Well, it’s a lot like yogurt…. with superpowers. It has 30 or so strains of beneficial bacteria and yeast. Consuming it helps to boost your immune system, boost beneficial but bacteria, and has even been said to help with pain from chronic inflammation. Take that yogurt!

So, a while back I purchased some kefir grains from a stranger on Amazon.com… I know… I’m brave. But I’m still alive, so they were legit. 🙂 If you’re not familiar with kefir grains, they look like little wet cauliflower heads.

Basic kefir recipe

Ingredients

All you need to make an endless supply of kefir are some kefir grains, some organic whole milk (or raw milk if you have access), a mason jar, and a nylon mesh strainer.

Directions

Place your kefir grains in the mason jar
Fill your mason jar with milk (1 to 10 ratio of grains to milk)
Cover the jar with a paper towel and the outer ring of the jar lid (due to fermentation, there needs to be a way for gasses to escape otherwise you’ll have a mess on your hands)
Let the jar sit on your counter for 24 hours and then check to see if kefir has formed ( the milk will resemble a runny yogurt)
Once your kefir is ready, use the nylon strainer to strain out your kefir grains.
Repeat steps 1-5 (you don’t even need to wash out the mason jar each time for a new batch)

Simple right? And, as an added bonus, your kefir grains will double every 10 days or so so that you can make more and more kefir, or you can give them to friends, or eat them, or even feed them to your dog.

Greek yogurt / sour cream replacement

To make a thick greek yogurt style kefir that can also be used as a replacement for sour cream, simply strain out your grains as usual, then line your strainer with a paper towel and strain the kefir over a bowl in the refridgerator over night. In the morning, the liquid whey will all be in the bottom bowl, and you’ll have a nice thick greek style kefir in the paper towel lined strainer.