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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
Ingredients
- 4 cups soy milk
- 1 teaspoon agar agar powder
- ½ cup soy yogurt, or yogurt starter powder (the amount may vary, follow the package instructions)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 50º C or 120º F.
- 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.
- 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.
- Add the starter (soy yogurt or yogurt starter powder), stir and pour the mixture into glass jars or containers.
- 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.
- Now you can cover the jars or containers and keep the yogurt in the fridge.
Andrea says
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/
Iosune says
Hi Andrea! Thank you so much for the info 🙂
Tess says
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!
Iosune says
Hi Tess! Thanks a lot 🙂 I've never used a yoghurt maker, but I think it should work. De nada!
Mar says
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.
Iosune says
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!
Linda says
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!
Iosune says
Hi Linda! English is not my first language, I'm so sorry! Thanks for your help 🙂
jeff says
Cheap has both meanings, don't nitpick.
Iosune says
Hi Jeff! Thanks a lot 🙂 Have a nice day!
Norman says
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!
Iosune says
Hi Norman! Thanks a lot for your valuable comment! Have a nice day 😀
Ros says
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.
Iosune says
Hi Ros! If it tastes good, smells okay and looks normal, I think I would eat it 😛
Eve says
It sounds like her soymilk spoiled on its own in the refrigerator. I don't think it is the same as yogurt.
Iosune says
Thanks for your comment Eve 🙂 Have a nice day!
Kathi says
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.
Iosune says
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!
Marc Kennedy says
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
Iosune says
Hi Marc! Thanks a lot for your comment 🙂
JoAnn M Lakes says
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.
Iosune says
Hi JoAnn! Thanks a lot for your comment 🙂 Have a nice day!
Baker says
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?
W.P. says
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!
Iosune says
Hi! I've never made this recipe using just one container, but I think it could work...
Rajeshkumar Subhash Saklecha says
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.
Iosune says
Hi! You can find some recipes using soy on the blog, hope you like them!
Iosune says
Hi! You can find some recipes using soy on the blog. Hope you like them!
Michelle says
Can I use soy yogurt as a starter and Almond milk? I noted that you did not use soy yogurt with coconut milk.
Iosune says
Hi Michelle! I think it could work, but I'm not 100% sure 🙂
Jen says
Can a counter top oven with a transparent glass door be used, or will it not contain the temperature long enough? Thank you.
Iosune says
Hi Jen! I've never tried, so I don't know, sorry!
aishatou mohammed says
thanks very much this is amazing i will try to prepare mine and taste
Iosune says
Hi! I hope you like it! 😀