You only need two ingredients to turn soy milk into Instant Pot yogurt. It could not be easier. Join me, as I spill all of my yogurt-making tricks!
When I got my Instant Pot last year, one thing I was sure I'd never use was the yogurt function. We have so many good vegan yogurts on store shelves, why bother making my own? Oh how wrong I was!
Y'all, I make soy yogurt on a weekly basis now. It is SO much cheaper than store-bought, and my homemade soy yogurt is free of additives. But my favorite thing about it is that it's unsweetened.
Why make Instant Pot soy yogurt?
Store-bought soy yogurts - even most marked "plain" - are all so sweet. I can't handle it. And I like sweet food!
But when you're cooking with yogurt, maybe you're trying to make something savory or maybe you just want to mix in some strawberry jam without turning your breakfast bowl from a little bit sweet to tooth-meltingly sugary.
When you make your own soy yogurt from scratch, it can be truly unsweetened, so you have a lot more control over the sweetness when you're cooking with it.
About this recipe
My recipe is based on my adventures with the soy yogurt recipe in Vegan Under Pressure by Jill Nussinow. At first, I was hesitant to post my recipe, since in some ways it's so much like the one in the book.
But after answering tons of questions from friends, family, and readers about how to make yogurt in the Instant Pot, I felt like it might be worthwhile to share what I'd learned.
There are dozens of amazing pressure cooker recipes in Vegan Under Pressure, and I encourage you to grab a copy. I refer to it several times a week for full recipes and for her bean, grain, and veggie cooking times, which are way more accurate than the booklet that came with my Instant Pot.
The recipe below is what I landed on after a lot of tinkering with cooking times and some technique changes that make it less messy.
I've also included two variations:
- a variation from my friend Erin at Kitchen Gadget Vegan. She does a soy-coconut mix that her family loves.
- instructions for how to make this with probiotic capsules instead of store-bought yogurt
Choose the right soy milk
The key to making soy yogurt in the Instant Pot is exactly what Nussinow says in her book: you have got to use soy milk that's only soybeans and water (sweetener and salt are okay). No gums. No gels. No thickeners. Trust me.
I didn't believe this at first, and I tried using the gum-thickener-gel-ful soy milk from our fridge, and the yogurt it produced was sticky a nightmare floating in a jar of water.
I don't throw food away lightly, and I threw this out after just a couple of bites. There was no way to stir the floaty part and watery part together. It was a total lost cause.
There are two common brands that fit the bill: Eden Foods and Westsoy. I have some ethical issues with Eden Foods, so I go for Westsoy Organic, and it works like a charm. If you can't find it in the store, you can order online.
The great thing about Westsoy is that it doesn't need to be refrigerated, because of how it's packaged.
Trader Joe's also stocks thickener-free soy milk. It comes in shelf-stable boxes and is very affordable.
The starter
A yogurt starter is just what you use to get probiotics into your soy milk. For this recipe, you have two options:
- a small amount of vegan yogurt
- probiotic capsules.
If you're using vegan yogurt, I recommend choosing plain or vanilla. Sometimes, fruity flavors can come through in your finished batch, even though you're only using a couple of tablespoons as your starter.
Prefer probiotic capsules? Easy peasy. Just make sure that you use vegetarian or vegan gelcaps.
You want the kind of probiotic capsules that you can open up and pour powder out of. Solid pills that would need to be crushed up won't work well in this recipe.
I've had great success using Jarro-Dophilus EPS capsules in this recipe. I made the yogurt in the new photos using these capsules, and my seven-year-old loves it!
When you stir the probiotic powder in, it's not going to fully dissolve, and that's okay! See the photo below -- lots of powder floating on top of my jars before they went into the pot. The yogurt turns out just fine.
The cost
One 32 ounce box of soy milk makes two pints of soy yogurt in the Instant Pot. The Westsoy that I linked to shakes out to about $4 per box. That's $2 per pint of homemade, additive free, organic, unsweetened soy yogurt. See? Worth it!
Cooking time
I've seen cooking times for Instant Pot yogurt that vary anywhere from 8 hours to 24. That's a big range, and it took me a lot of batches to hone in on the ideal time.
Fourteen hours seems to be the magic time for making Instant Pot yogurt. You can go as low as 10 hours, but for that perfectly-tangy soy yogurt that's thick enough to eat with a spoon, 14 is ideal.
If you're using probiotic capsules, I'd say 14 to 16 hours is a good range, depending on how tangy you like it.
Timing is everything!
There's nothing instant about making Instant Pot yogurt.
Making that 14 hour cooking time work for you is all about planning. Don't make the mistake I did a few times, starting your batch of yogurt in the morning.
If you do that, your Instant Pot will be tied up all day. It won't be there for you when you want to make rice and steam broccoli for your supper.
Instead, start your yogurt in the evening, so it will be ready for the morning. If you normally get up and have breakfast at 7am, start that yogurt at 5pm. Fourteen hours later, it's ready for breakfast, like magic!
There's nothing like starting the day with a bowl of fresh yogurt that you made yourself. And since most of the cooking happens while you're asleep, it makes the 14 hours seem a little bit more instant.
Thickening homemade soy yogurt
Homemade soy yogurt with no added thickeners is not going to be as thick as the soy yogurts that you're used to eating. That's just science. You have three options:
- Add a thickener. I do not like working with thickeners, so if that's what you want to do, I'd suggest looking at the Vegan Under Pressure recipe. Jill has directions there, if you want to go that route.
- Strain it. You can strain the yogurt through a few layers of cheesecloth to get rid of some excess whey and make a thicker yogurt. This takes longer, and you end up with a little more than half of what you started with, so I don't do it. But you can!
- Embrace it. This yogurt isn't Greek yogurt, but it is freaking delicious. You can eat it with a spoon or treat it like a thick yogurt drink.
My favorite way to eat it is with strawberry jam mixed in. Darrol Henry prefers his with maple syrup. It's also great in any recipe that calls for yogurt or as a replacement for sour cream.
📖 Recipe
How to Make Soy Yogurt in the Instant Pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 32 ounce box soy milk Choose a brand that’s ONLY soybeans and water – see above.
- 2 tablespoons plain vegan yogurt of your choice Don’t worry – the small amount of gums in this won’t mess with the final yogurt’s texture! (see note for probiotic capsules option)
Instructions
- Divide the soy milk between two wide mouth pint jars. Add a tablespoon of yogurt into each jar, stirring well.
- Carefully place the jars into the bottom of your Instant Pot (not on the rack – for some reason, it won’t make yogurt if you do that). Lock the lid, make sure the vent is sealed, and press the Yogurt button. Set it for 14 hours.
- In the morning, you’ll have yogurt! Stir before serving, since it does tend to separate. Your soy yogurt will keep for about 5 days in the fridge.
Archana
Hi, can you do this without an instapot?
Becky Striepe
You can't. With fermentation, I wouldn't mess around and would definitely look for a non-IP version, if you're not planning to use one. You can use a yogurt maker or another multipot that has yogurt setting, but you need something made to make yogurt.
Alice
I just finished making. I did 15.3 hrs. Taste is amazing but not as thick as what I've made in the past in my IP. I make my own soy milk using Soyabella which I LOVE. I use 8 and 16 oz jars. I've always used two different probiotic capsules to be sure to have all the various critters needed but ......
1) I may not have used enough probiotic capsules and/or
2) My probiotics may be weakening as I've had them over two years but they have been stored in freezer.
3) I have, in past, put a little bit of raw sugar in to feed the probiotics. I didn't do this, this time. (It does not make it sweet; it's just enough to feed the microbes.)
Thanks so very much for recipe and instructions.
Becky Striepe
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and great idea to feed that good bacteria with a touch of sugar!
Gaetan
Is it possible to make it directly in the pot?
Becky Striepe
Yes, you can do that. I prefer to do it in the jars, because then there's less to clean up.
Gaetan Daigneault
HI, is it possible to use regular yogurt (from milk) as a sarter?
Becky Striepe
I have not tested this, so I can't say for certain.
Erica
If I'm using two pint jars and using the probiotic capsules, should I still use 2 capsules per jar?
Becky Striepe
I recommend 4 capsules total, divided evenly between whatever container you're using.
Julie Ann
I make this yogurt from Glue & Glitter all the time and love this fool-proof recipe! I have to share an interesting discovery in case others are interested.
In our household we eat almost exclusively plant based. However, our fridge is not completely vegan and at times there is dairy yogurt for the kids. The other day I was really craving the instant pot soy yogurt, but I only had store bought dairy yogurt to use as a starter, rather than vegan yogurt. I decided to make it anyway. I used Eden Soy with 1 tbl per mason jar of Olympic Krema ("all natural ingredients", plain, 11%; if I could share a photo I would!). Let me tell you, the combination was incredible. The next morning I woke up to thick, greek-like yogurt, again, wish I coud share a pic! I think the probiotics in the Olympic yogurt really liked the Eden soy. No straining required, just amazing thick soy yogurt, I kid you not. I've redone it several times now it's so good and luscious. Now I've kept 2 spoonfuls of my soy yogurt to use as starter next time so it is vegan.
Jesenia
Thanks for this. I am going to try it! Would love a thicker consistency with my cashew yogurt
Becky Striepe
Enjoy it, Jesenia!
Kim
Amazing flavor!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Kim!
Clarissa
Is it possible to make yogurt with almond or cashew milk? I have a soy allergy.
Becky Striepe
I haven't tested with those types of milks but have been meaning to! I'll definitely post a recipe, if I'm able to nail it.
Jesse Bollinger
I’ve been making this yogurt for around a year with great success. We love this yogurt! However, over the last month each attempt has ended in failure with milk-like consistency in the jars in the morning. I hadn’t changed anything about what I was doing. I’ve since been experimenting to try and troubleshoot: different store bought yogurt for starter, sterilize mason jars before, etc but with no success. I’m starting to think it may be something with my instant pot? Just wondering if you have any other ideas about what might be going on. Thanks for your help!
Becky Striepe
Oh no! I am sorry to hear that you're running into issues. Has your Instant Pot been working okay with other dishes? It does sound like that's the issue. :(
Yvonne
Hi Becky,
I just made soy yogurt in my instant pot for the first time, and it did not thicken at all. Do you set the yogurt setting on fermentation? That's what I did. Maybe I should have left it set at customize and just adjust the number of hours. Any thoughts?
Thanks so much.
Becky Striepe
Hey Yvonne! Oh no! I am sorry to hear that it didn't thicken. It sounds like you have different settings on your pot than I do. Mine just has a yogurt button to press, then you set the time. For troubleshooting purposes, there are two other things that could have gone wrong:
- Your starter could have been bad. If the yogurt or capsules you used no longer contained live cultures, the yogurt won't thicken.
- Did you set your jars on the little steamer tray that comes with the IP? That will cause the process to fail. The jars have to be touching the bottom of the pot.
I hope that this is helpful! Feel free to reply back, if you have more questions. I want you to make the yogurt of your DREAMS!
Stephanie
I was just rereading the directions when I noticed that yogurt should not be stirred with a metal spoon. What will happen? I have made the same recipe within the regular metal cook pot of the IP without incident.
Thanks.
Becky Striepe
That's a good question! It may be OK, but some metal cookware can cause your yogurt to have a metallic taste. Maybe stainless steel isn't a culprit? That's what the IP's inner pot is made from.
Carson
Hey Becky! I'm wondering if you've experimented with making a thicker "greek" soy yogurt?
Becky Striepe
I have not, but you can strain this yogurt through a double layer of cheese cloth to thicken it!
rachel
I am new to instant pots and I was told that I couldn't use it without always adding at least a little bit of water. So are you not lining the pot with any water here? Also could I make this straight in the instant pot and not use the jars?
Becky Striepe
When you are pressure cooking, you do need water, but the yogurt setting works differently. No water needed! You can also skip the jars, if you prefer. I just like them because then I'm making my yogurt in its storage container, which means less cleanup. :)
Darcy
I’m so happy I found this recipe! I’ve made yogurt twice now following your directions using only Soy Milk and Kite Hill Plain Yogurt as a starter and both times were successful! No more boiling milk and letting it cool to 105 degrees, etc. I incubate my yogurt for 16 hours and it’s thick and delicious! So easy!
Becky Striepe
Awesome! I'm so glad it's helping you out. Enjoy the yogurt, and thank you for coming back to leave a review and rating!
Donna Beghin
Should I also increase the cook time if using 64 oz box of west soy?
Becky Striepe
No, you should be fine with the same cooking time.
Terri
I don’t but boxed milk. I make my own with cashews and almonds. Have you tried with different milks? Do you think the fat content is a factor? I can make my milk fattier or less fatty depending upon how many nuts. I use.
Becky Striepe
I haven't tested this with other milks, but I think the protein content can be a factor? I'd recommend looking for a recipe that calls for the milks you use.
Kim
I have tried twice to make this. One batch using a store bought plain starter which wasn’t very thick and tasted ok. And one with probiotic tablets where the yogurt looked like milk when done. Both times I used 64 ounces of west soy and my instapot. Any ideas?
Becky Striepe
Oh I hate that it didn't work out! I have two theories that we can start troubleshooting with:
1. Did you double the amount of starter? 64 ounces of soy milk is twice as much as the recipe uses, so you'd need double the probiotics.
2. Did you use the metal trivet that goes on the bottom of the pot? You should not use that, because your soy milk won't reach the proper temperature unless the jars are in contact with the bottom of the pot. You didn't say, but this is a common issue, so I thought I'd throw it out there.
If it's neither of these, we can keep troubleshooting from there!
Kimberly
Can I use probiotic capsule to make a first batch then leave some to use as the culture for the next batch? Thanks!
Becky Striepe
I've heard people having mixed results with this. I never remember to save any in between, so I haven't been able to test it.
Christina P
Hi! Excited to try my hand at this. Can I use any probiotics on capsules? Currently taking some daily but the have some ayurvedic herbs in it too wondering if that would effect it ?
Becky Striepe
Ooh that's a good question. I have only tested them with the brand that I show in the post. I do worry that the extra ingredients could impact the flavor or texture. It could be fine, I just can't say for certain.
Reenie
I couldn’t get jars so I made this directly in the pot with capsules. The flavor is pretty sour. It’s also pretty grainy. Is this normal? I used WestSoy, 4 Jarro-dophilos capsules, for 14 hours. The only difference is that I didn’t have jars. Thanks! I’m determined to get this right.
Becky Striepe
No, a grainy texture is not typical -- I'm not sure what happened there! Did you stir well after adding the capsules? It shouldn't matter if some powder floats back up, but you do need to stir. The jars shouldn't impact the texture; lots of folks have made this recipe right in the pot without noting any graininess. For the tartness, that's about time. More time means more tartness. Try backing off to 10 or 12 hours to see how you like the flavor.
Nila
I tried this recipe yesterday and got very impressive results. As my jars were a bit too tall, I put the milk and starter (2 tbsp cashew milk yogurt) directly in the insert.
I checked after 14 hours and felt that a couple of additional hours would help.
Amazing results! Very good consistency! I am so thrilled!
Thank you so much for this recipe Becky.
Becky Striepe
Thank you so much, Nila! I appreciate you coming back to rate and share your experience.
Brooke
Could you use a different non dairy milk, provided there are no additives (as listed for the soy)?
Becky Striepe
That's a good question! Fermenting can be a bit finicky, so I'm hesitant to recommend any milks I haven't tested.
Reenie
Very clear instructions! Can you please clarify, do you put lids on the jars in the instant pot or leave them open? Thanks!!
Becky Striepe
Thank you! You leave them open while they're in the pot.
Jennifer
Hi! Thanks for sharing this recipe and the book recommendation. I'm curious about skipping the boil step (dairy yogurt recipes for the ip start there). How come this version skips that? Thanks again!
Becky Striepe
That's a good question! I have just never done it that way and always had great results. I'm sure you can boil first, if you want to, though.
Deanna
Hello
I have been making milk based yogurt in my instapot for some time now. I am going to convert to veganism and want to continue to make my own yogurt. I do not use jars I just the instapot itself. Would your recipe work using this method? Thanks!
Becky Striepe
Yes, it would! I just use the jars because there's less cleanup that way.
Leanne
Hi I would love to make this recipe and am wondering can the recipe be Multipled or can it be frozen?
Becky Striepe
Hi Leanne! You can definitely multiply it, as long as it fits in the pot. I have not tried freezing it, so I can't say whether that would work.