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Soy Yogurt

Soy yogurt

Sometimes we buy packaged food for convenience, and sometimes we believe that prepare them ourselves have to be difficult and expensive. This homemade soy yogurt is a clear example of how easy it can be to prepare food at home and in addition, we can save money.

To make homemade soy yogurt you’re gonna need only two ingredients: soy milk and a starter (you can use store-bought or previously homemade soy yogurt or a yogurt starter powder). So simple and cheap.

Soy yogurt

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I used to buy organic soy yogurt and it was quite expensive, but now I only need homemade soy milk and a homemade yogurt. That’s all!

Soy yogurt

You only need to buy a store-bought yogurt or a yogurt starter powder for the first time, then you can use your own homemade soy yogurt as a starter.

You can also make homemade yogurt with others plant milks, we also make yogurt with coconut milk and a yogurt starter powder (we couldn’t find coconut yogurt), it’s really creamy, sweet and delicious.

Soy yogurt

We’ve used homemade soy milk, it’s so cheap and easy to make, and it tastes so much better than store-bought, you should try! We’ll share the recipe soon. Use not transgenic or genetically modified soy milk and with no additives, preservatives or sugar, you can add healthy sweeteners such as dates, stevia, coconut sugar, maple or agave syrup, etc.

Soy yogurt

We’ve used a teaspoon of agar agar powder for a thicker yogurt, but you can use other thickeners such as tapioca flour, carrageenan, corn starch or corn flour, xanthan gum, flax seed, etc. You can add more or less thickener, it depends on the consistency you want.

Soy yogurt

I have good news for you, you don’t need any equipment, if you have an oven, you can make homemade yogurt! You only need to preheat the oven at 50 º C or 120 º F for a few minutes, turn off the oven and place the yogurt inside for about 8 hours.

Soy yogurt

You can add fruits, seeds and nuts to your yogurt, so it will be even healthier and more nutritious. This time we’ve added nuts, sesame seeds and goji berries, we love them!

Soy yogurt

We recommend you to make homemade soy yogurt, it’s cheap and easy, and also it’s healthy, creamy and it tastes amazing! If you don’t like the soy flavor you can make homemade yogurt too, you only need your favorite plant milk and a yogurt starter powder and you’ll make the best yogurt you can imagine. Seriously, it’s awesome!

Soy yogurt

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Soy Yogurt

★★★★★ 4.4 from 19 reviews
  • Author: Minimal Eats
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 mins
  • Total Time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 8
  • Category: Breakfast, Dessert
  • Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-free

To make homemade soy yogurt you’re gonna need only two ingredients: soy milk and a starter. So simple and cheap.

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups soy milk (1 liter)
  • 1 teaspoon agar agar powder
  • 1/2 cup soy yogurt (125 grams) or yogurt starter powder (the amount may vary, follow the package instructions)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven at 50º C or 120º F.
  2. Pour the soy milk in a saucepan, add the agar agar, stir and heat the mixture to 90º C or 195º F, but be careful because it shouldn’t boil. You can use a thermometer, but it’s not necessary.
  3. Pour the mixture in a bowl and let it cool to 40 or 50ºC (105º F or 120º F). If you don’t have a thermometer you can put your finger in the mixture and when it’s hot but not burn it’s ready.
  4. Add the starter (soy yogurt or yogurt starter powder), stir and pour the mixture into glass jars or containers.
  5. Turn off the oven, place the glass jars or containers (without lids) inside and let stand for at least 8 hours. You mustn’t open the oven during this process.
  6. Now you can cover the jars or containers and keep the yogurt in the fridge.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 yogurt
  • Calories: 52
  • Sugar: 4.3 g
  • Sodium: 45 mg
  • Fat: 0.8 g
  • Carbohydrates: 8.8 g
  • Fiber: 1 g
  • Protein: 2 g

 

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  2. Hi there,
    really nice recipe, I need o try this 🙂 I only wonder, how long can the yoghurt be kept in the fridge, without getting bad?

    Best regards, Nikki

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Jenn! I live in Spain and I bought here the starter powder (I used a Spanish brand), so I can’t help you, I’m sorry! Although you can use soy yogurt too 🙂

      Reply

  4. Hi I just finished making your yogurt r eceipt. This is my first time making yogurt. Can it be sweetened and fruit put.in after the cooldown before putting it in the jar? Or should I wait until it finish the thickening?

    Reply

  6. Hi, can you get a non dairy starter powder? One of my clients is gluten intolerant AND lactose intolerant, so my co-workers and I are researching how he can still have yummy stuff like yoghurt.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

      • I’m a little late to the thread, but I was trying to find a soy yogurt recipe and ran across this. The problem with yogurt starters is most of them are grown on barley and are therefore NOT gluten free. I tried them, on the mistaken assumption that the minuscule amount wouldn’t be an issue. NOPE. Was sick for days.

        So, if I’m using a store bought yogurt, as that seems to be the only option for starting, how do I find one that is unsweetened? Or does that matter? The closest I’ve found so far was Nancy’s Cultured Soy, but it has agave in it.

        You think a couple of probiotic pills would work as a starter? 🙂

        ★★★★★

        Reply

        • Hi Selenie! I use unsweetened soy yogurt, but I live in Spain, soy I don’t know what brands you can find in your country, I’m sorry! You can try to use sweetened yogurt, I don’t know if it works. I’ve never tried probiotic pills, sorry! Have a nice day 🙂

          Reply

  8. To all who want to save money and not buy a starter you can use the tops of hot chillies to ferment yogurt. Just pop them in and toss in the oven the usual way over night and the next morning it has fermented. It many have a tad bit of heat the first time but the next batch you make with a few TBLS will have non at all. Check out Sandor Katz web site very cool. I have made an amazing cashew and coconut yoghurt this way. Make sure the chillies tops have no mold on them,

    Reply

      • Thank you for your quick response, but I was wondering why the milk needs to reach 195 F in the heating process before fermentation?

        ★★★★★

        Reply

        • The milk is heated to about 195ºF to denature the milk proteins so that they set together rather than form curds 🙂

          Reply

  10. Hey there! Thank you for the recipe! I habe to questions though: the pakage of the agar agar i have at home says to boil the liquid for about 2mins. You mentioned in the rexipe NOt to boil the milk – does this just differ from the sort if agar agar you used or is it impirtant for the yoghurt not to bring the milk to boil al all?
    Second, my yoghurt is in the oben now for 7 1/2 hours and a bit firmer (no I coulnd’t wait any longer 😉 ) but quite “bubbly/foamy” from the mixin process – is that normal or did i overdo it when whisking the agar agar and yoghurt in? Also the taste did’t really change yet.. Thanks! Nina

    Reply

    • Hi Nina! I suppose I use other type of agar. You could try to boil the milk, but it has to be at 40 or 50ºC (105º F or 120º F) before you add the starter. I don’t know if it will work. Another alternative is to use other type of agar or add the agar before boiling. The yoghurt don’t have to be bubbly or foamy, but if the final yoghurt tastes good and have a good consistency, it doesn’t matter 🙂 Have a nice day!

      Reply

  11. Hi
    I am just starting to make my soymilk and to culture for soy yogurt. I have been using agar to thicken but have been told thAT YOU can’t cuture from soy yogurt in which you have used a thickener. my second batch using my own yogurt was ok though not so tart after 12 hours. any information on how to culture soy yogurt when using a thickener?

    Reply

    • Hi Annette! I’m sorry but I can’t help you. I’ve always made my homemade yogurt using agar and it always worked., so it’s okay for me!

      Reply

  12. It worked!! I’m a mediocre cook, but this worked wonderfully well. I used flax and chis seed as thickener, and had a fresh bowl of yogurt this morning. Onto cheese!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  14. Can a counter top oven with a transparent glass door be used, or will it not contain the temperature long enough? Thank you.

    Reply

  15. Can I use soy yogurt as a starter and Almond milk? I noted that you did not use soy yogurt with coconut milk.

    Reply

  16. Hi, I’m Rajesh from Jalna, Maharashtra. I’m interested to know more about how to make SOYABEAN based all Healthy eatables, Milk, Yogurt, Oil, etc. Please send me the details.

    Reply

  17. Hola! Muchismas gracias por la receta y las respuestas a los comentarios anteriores! I have another question… if you please, could you just put the yogurt in one large glass jar (like a mason jar) and put in the oven, instead of several smaller jars? Or do you think the yogurt would not ferment as well in one container?

    Reply

    • W.P. says: I used to make dairy based yogurt all of the time using a recipe which SAID to put the mixture all in one big bowl. It worked just fine!

      Reply

  18. I tried it twice using Vanilla Silk soy milk and it didn’t work. I tried some regular soy milk and it worked. I used the vegan starter from a health food store, but it’s very expensive. I’m going to try a batch with the probiotic capsules next. Did not use a thickener on the batch that worked and it was fine. I think I’ll try the thickener just to see what the texture will be. Don’t know why they Vanilla Silk didn’t work, but lesson learned. I’m giving 4 stars for now, because I didn’t use the agar agar, but will try it and update the results. In addition, I used a yogurt maker for some of it and the oven for part of it. They came out the same on the successful batch.

    ★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Kathi! I’ve read that it’s better to use the most natural soy milk you can find, I don’t know exactly why… Hope the agar agar will work well for you!

      Reply

      • silk has thickeners and other products that prevent the fermentation. Just add vanilla once it’s done, and use the HIGHEST protein natural (beans + water) you can which optimizes texture

        Reply

        • I don’t use any thickener and I use shelf stable soy milk with only soybeans and filtered water. I’ve had great success with unsweetened Westsoy and Edensoy brands. I ‘ve used Cultures for Health as a starter as well as using saved yogurt from a previous batch to make my unsweetened yogurt. I also make my yogurt in my instant pot now and strain half of my yogurt to make very thick Greek-style yogurt.

          Reply

  19. This morning I discovered my container of Vita soy had turned into yogurt. I tasted it and it was so delicious that i ate a small quantity and await results. I have had the soy milk stored in the fridge since opening it two weeks ago. I have been using a little with my muesli every day and had not read any fine print about length of storage time. Would it be dangerous to continue consuming the yoghurt if I experience no bad symptoms from my experimental testing on myself this morning? It did taste delicious.

    Reply

  20. I know I’m really late but I came here to learn about soy yogurt specifically. I normally make dairy yogurt.
    I wanted to add, for those that it’d be easier for, that yogurt incubation is completely anaerobic and you can use a sous vide bath. I’ve nearly pulled my hair out over the years with the fluctuations of temperature when using the oven method and have tried many methods… (since 2003 actually lol)
    Once I started sous vide cooking in 2014 I tried diary yogurt with the bath right up to the edge and it worked perfect. I then put the lids on air tight (I use mason jars) and that actually worked nicer for me. I’ve been making my yogurt like that since 2014, beautifully. That’s how I do it now with diary, and since it’s the same principle with soy I’d imagine it’d work the same!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  21. Thanks for the recipe. I will try it!
    Have to comment on your use of the word “cheap.” I think you mean
    inexpensive instead of cheap. “Cheap” implies it is of lesser quality; “inexpensive”
    simply means it doesn’t cost very much. (Sorry to be a pain in the rear but maybe
    this bothers other readers, too.) I imagine your inexpensive soy yogurt is excellent!

    Reply

  22. Hi,

    I just tried making my first batch with unsweetened coconut milk and tapioca flour but it didn’t work out. I think Norman is right in that yogurt incubation has to be completely anaerobic to really succeed.

    But thank you for catching my interest in the subject. This starts my search for finding a right way and recipe 🙂

    And thanks for all the commentators. I’ve gotten valuable insights from you.

    ★

    Reply

    • Hi Mar! I’m so sorry the recipe didn’t work for you! You need to use a coconut milk that only contains coconut and water, nothing else, or the recipe won’t work. Have a nice day!

      Reply

  23. Hola Iosune,

    I am so grateful for this low ingredient recipe and your beautiful photos!
    I love the look of the yoghurt in glass. I still have my yoghurt maker from when I would make dairy yoghurts. Do you know if I can use that machine to make this type of yoghurt? Gracias!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  24. Someone suggested using chili pepper to ferment the yogurt. Be aware that chili peppers are, surprisingly, grown with a huge amount of pesticides and can have large amounts of pesticide residue, so if you are going to use chillies, use organic chili peppers. Here are two articles where chillis are mentioned, one from 2013 (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3255435/Deadly-pesticides-plate-Ministry-Agriculture-reveals-samples-fruit-veg-organic-food-India-high-level-contamination.html)
    and one from 2016 (https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=6392389). The latter in in Swedish but you can easily read the numbers (chilifrukt=chili pepper). Here, some chili pepper samples had up to 13 pesticides (in the same chili).

    There is also a report released by Greenpeace in 2012. It’s called “Essen ohne Pestizide.” They analyzed more than 22,000 samples of produce purchased in Germany between the years 2009 and 2010 and it can be seen that chili peppers (from India and Thailand respectively) were highly contaminated. You can read about the report here: https://vegetarische.wordpress.com/2014/03/30/finally-found-pesticide-data-for-europe/

    Reply

  25. You need to fix the ads on your site. I wanted to use this recipe but if I’m on the site for an extended time period it switches to one of those scam Facebook virus ads.

    ★

    Reply

  26. Hi, Iosune
    I’ve been making my own soy mild yoghurt for some time now (after having made it with cow mild for years the time I was only vegetarian). To begin with it was wonderful – taste and consistency, with only soy milk and 200g bought yoghurt and after that with my homemade one. But from one to the next time it was liquid. Even when I bought some as a new starter it wasn’t any better – I don’t know why. I still make it because I love the taste (it still tastes lovely) and as I add chia seeds to take it with me to work it is just fine. But it is weird nevertheless. How many soy beens do you use for the milk? Perhaps this is a reason. Do you use your homemade yoghurt WITH agar agar as a starter for the next one? If so, I’d have to try it out. Do you think guar flour might be another option? I’d prefer it without any additions though…
    Thanks for your blog with all the delicious recipes – I love it! Liz

    Reply

  27. Hello,
    Replacing the soy yogurt starter with a store bought soy yogurt, how much would I need to put?

    Thank you

    Reply

  28. I don’t have an oven…is it possible to just leave it at room temperature, or will it get moldy or just not grow at all? Also, is it possible to use soybean powder, and if so, should it be raw (uncooked) or cooked? I’m living in Korea where soybean powder is readily available in both forms, but I heard that raw is dangerous (actually mildly poisonous) so I’m wondering if the yogurt bacteria would change it to a safe form? I understand that the bacteria eat and digest the milk…so what do you think? I’d rather use raw because the cooked soybean powder has a flavor that doesn’t match what yogurt should taste like.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  29. What do you do with the soy whey you get after straining your yogurt? There is so much and I hate to throw it away, but am not sure what to do with it. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  30. Hello!My mom makes a delicious version of this. Unfortunately, her last batch came out with pink hue on top and an “off” smell.
    What is this and can we still eat it??
    No ingredients changed from her normal process.
    Thank you!!

    Reply

  31. How many times can yogurt be used as a starter? For my first batch, I used plain soymilk and a store bought starter. Though the yogurt was a little runny, the taste was good. I don’t want to keep using the store bought starter because it was rather expensive, but I don’t know if I can keep using the yogurt itself.
    Thanks!

    Reply

    • Hi Nancy! You can make the yogurt and use it to make your next yogurt. Then you can use it again and repeat this process forever. Have a nice day!

      Reply

  32. Hi, how do I re-culture using the previous fermented yogurt? What’s the ratio to fresh soy milk?

    Reply

    • Hi Chua Xuan Yi! As you can see in the recipe you need 4 cups soy milk (1 liter), 1 teaspoon agar agar powder and 1/2 cup soy yogurt (125 grams). Have a nice day!

      Reply

  33. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve used it for a few weeks now. I made my first batch using a sachet of probiotic powder for my health food shop and a few tablespoons of each batch to start the next. I just use a large bowl with a lid on and pop it into my steam oven on the yogurt setting overnight. It has worked perfectly every time. I have also tried it in the dehydrator for a perfect result. I enjoyed reading all the comments too.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  34. Hola! Muchas gracias por la receta. Quería saber como puedo hacer yogurt de frutas. En que momento se echan y que fruta queda bien para darle sabor. La idea es que el yogurt tenga algún sabor que le guste a mis niños como fresa o mango. Gracias de nuevo!!

    Reply

  35. Hello ! I tried making a soy yogurt with a regular cows milk culture powder, and this morning it looks really good and thick but the taste is totally not like other soy yogurts i’ve tasted. I’m afraid to eat it because it tastes so weird. Have you ever tried to make soy yogurt with a milk yogurt culture?

    Reply

  37. I’ve never commented on a recipe before but I just had to this time. Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I live in Greece and in the area where I live it is hard to find soy yogurt plus it is expensive. The recipe was easy to follow. The yogurt is delicious – better than store bought. I eat it with fruits and sugar on top. I save half a cup to use as a starter for my next batch.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  38. Hi. Just made it last night and ate 1 this morning. Looks legit. Thanks for the easy recipe! I made it using store bought yogurt as the starter. I find that my home made yogurt isn’t sour at all. I like sour yogurt. Do you have any idea why it wasn’t sour? If anything, thanks so much for the easy to follow recipe!

    Reply

    • Hi Magda! I don’t know, but you could leave the yogurt in the oven for 12 or 24 hours, maybe it works 🙂

      Reply

  39. Hello Iosune,
    Made this recipe today and it’s still in yogurt maker since 11 hrs, checked still not set?. Followed exactly you have written. Any thoughts.
    Thanks,
    Raj.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  40. Can I use lemon/lime in place of the starter culture when making this recipe? I have been looking to make my own dairy-free yogurt (being gluten and lactose intolerant), but I don’t want to spend too much money and I like to use natural ingredients.

    Reply

    • Hi Faith! I don’t think it’s going to work, but you could use some store-bought soy yogurt instead of the starter culture 🙂

      Reply

  41. Dear Iosune – It has been suggested to use soy milk that contains only soy beans and water. But my wife needs a vegan source of calcium [she is post-menopausal]. She would rather get calcium form her diet than take a supplement. Can any fortified soy milks be used for making yogurt? Thank you. – Tom

    P.S. – Thank you for the work you put into this blog.

    Reply

    • Hi Tom! I’ver never made yogurt using fortified soy milk, so I’m not sure, but I think it could work. When I said it’s better to use milk that only contains soy beans and water I was talking about avoiding other additives or preservatives. Hope it works!

      Reply

  42. Hi, I’m really fed up! I’ve bought Soya beans. Made 2 lots of milk and tried to make yoghurt with a newly purchased maker. It’s been a disaster both times. No yoghurt just a yellow water. It takes ages to make the milk and I’m really disheartened – what am I doing wrong!

    Reply

    • Hi Andrea! Is your milk only made with water and soy beans? Maybe it’s because of the starter, I’m not sure, sorry!

      Reply

  43. Hi Iosune, thank you for this simple recipe. I’ve just made it and I used one 50-million-strain probiotic capsule for the starter. It tastes fine but the texture isn’t creamy, it’s more like a flummery or jelly and breaks into segments when I serve it. Can you suggest how I can make it creamy?
    For your information, I left it in the oven for longer (9 hours & 15 minutes) because I fell asleep 😕 so perhaps this made a difference. Also, when I turned the oven off I left the oven light on – should it be on, or off?
    Thanks for your help.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hi Sue! I’m not sure, did you added the agar powder? You should try the recipe following all the steps. About the light, it doesn’t matter. Hope it helps!

      Reply

      • Hi again Iosune, I tried the recipe again and left it in the oven for the 8 hours without the oven light but it still came out like a junket (better description than the flummery or jelly that I said earlier), breaking into pieces, not creamy.
        Perhaps I should use only half a tsp of the agar agar powder – do you think this might help? Thanks for your time.

        Reply

        • Hi Sue! I’m so sorry it didn’t work. You could try… I would also use another brand of soy milk (mine is made with just 2 ingredients: soy beans and wate). Hope it helps!

          Reply

          • Hi Iosune, I tried again with half tsp of agar agar but it didn’t thicken enough. I have tried 3 different brands of soy milk but unfortunately where I live in rural Australia I cannot buy one with only two ingredients (soy beans and water) – they all include additives such as corn maltodextrin, cane sugar, acidity regulators, minerals, vitamins, etc, etc.
            Do you think that the soy milk might be the reason I’m not getting the right consistency?
            Thanks again for your time, Sue

          • Hi Sue! I’m not sure, but I’ve read it’s important to use a milk made with only soy and water…

  44. Maybe you can answer…

    When one makes plant milk, the solids get strained off…

    What if you make yogurt from milk that HAS NOT been strained? I hate to get rid of the nutrients.

    Must say, I have not made yogurt or milk.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  45. Hi. I enjoyed studying your recipe and I have a question for you please. I am particularly interested in your mention of using homemade soymilk for your yogurt. I tired this once and it didn’t work. I did some research, which led me to the Vegan Under Pressure cookbook by Jill Nussinow. She writes that homemade soy milk isn’t successful to make homemade soy yogurt. I wrote a comment/question on her blog and she responded that she doesn’t really know why but she uses store-bought soymilk to make it. She suggested that perhaps commercially made soymilks are prepared differently. Which brings me to my question. How does yours turn out? Do you do anything special? Thanks.

    Reply

    • Hi Elizabeth! I usually use store-bought soy milk because it works great and is also more convenient. I didn’t do anything special, just followed the recipe 🙂

      Reply

  47. I’ve made yogurt from cow’s milk (powder) for many years using the previous batch as starter each time I made a new batch. It worked very well, so I was confident that I had enough experience to try almond milk yogurt (store bought, ready-to-drink). It didn’t work. I ended up with a layer of sediment in a jar of water. I continued with the cow’s milk powder for a few more years. Then I saw a pack of organic soy milk powder and I tried again making yogurt, but again with the same result. My understanding is that the yogurt bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus) I’ve been using is very specific to real (cow’s) milk (hence the name ‘Lacto’) and may be unable to ferment whatever sugar is present in soy milk. I read somewhere to add ordinary sugar as a energy source for the bacteria, so I did, but without success. What’s you thought on this? Are there specific strains of bacteria that can convert the sugars naturally present in soy milk to produce yogurt? Or is the thickener perhaps the secret that takes over the function of the lactic acid to give it a yogurt-like texture?

    Reply

    • Hi Rouke! I don’t know, sorry… I just added regular agar powder. It’s also important to use a soy milk made only with soy beans and water. Hope it helps!

      Reply

  48. I made soy yogurt so many times without using agar agar but it never becomes sour as animal curd. Have any idea how to make it sour?

    Reply

    • Hi Chetan! My soy yogurt wasn’t as sour as regular yogurt either, but for me it’s okay. I’m so sorry, but I can’t help you… Maybe you could add some lemon juice, but I’m not sure if it will work. Have a nice day!

      Reply

  49. Hi
    I’m a huge yoghurt fan and letting it go after veganism was a “sacrifice”.
    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
    Just a question: how do they last in the fridge?

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hola Judit! Lo compré hace años en una farmacia y no recuerdo el nombre, lo siento! Ahora prefiero usar yogur de soja 🙂 Un saludo!

      Reply

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