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.
How to Make Soy Yogurt in the Instant Pot
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.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- If you're rather use probiotic capsules, no problem! Divide the soy milk between two large jars -- I used .5 liter Weck jars -- and break two probiotic capsules into each jar. Stir the powder using a plastic or wooden spoon (not metal!), then follow steps 2 and 3 of the recipe above. I have had great results using Jarro-Dophilus EPS capsules.
- You can also use a mix of coconut cream and soy yogurt. Erin Glasser-Devore from Kitchen Gadget Vegan perfected this variation on the recipe below. She divides a 5.5 oz can of coconut cream between the two jars, then adds the yogurt, then tops off with soy milk. Stir well, and cook for 14 hours.
- 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.
Gerry
Hoorayyyy!!!! 2nd time's the charm. My first time I used vegan starter from Cultures for Health, I think I got a bad batch because it didnt work.
This time I halved the recipe so I didn't lose and entire quart of soy milk and used a probiotic capsule. It worked great! I will decrease the time next time as I'd like it to be more mild. Thanks for this easy recipe!
Becky Striepe
Oh, I am delighted to hear that it worked out on the second go! It's such a bummer when a bad starter ruins the whole batch. If you like it more mild, you might try backing off on the time. How long did you go this time around?
Gerry
I did 14 hours. It was a little yeast smelling coming out. I wonder if the probiotics I have were too strong? I think they're about 15 mill (or more), do you think one capsupe might work for a whole quart (instead of one capsule for a pint)?
I'm thinking to try 12 hours tonight.
Becky Striepe
Yeah, try backing off to 10-12 hours and see how it goes! I'm not sure about reducing the number of capsules. You can try it, but it might not work out.
COLLEEN BURRIS
Can you use oat milk? and can you make without putting it in jars?
Becky Striepe
I haven't tested this with oat milk, so I'm not sure if it will work or not. You can do it in the pot instead of jars. I just like doing it in jars because there's less cleanup that way.
Scott
So...Ive ruined many a batch of vegan yogurt and had minimal success with others, always on the thin side. I’ve been setting the Instapot at 8 hrs and opening the release valve, based on prior readings and trial and error but based on your info this may be the problem. I was always under the impression that sealing it would lock in the moisture that you didn’t want. Can you elaborate here? Many thanks!
Becky Striepe
It shouldn't matter whether you seal or not -- I never even check. Eight hours might not be enough time. Maybe bump it up to 10 or 12 and see if you get the results you want? Your starter could also be the problem. Have you used different ones? Recently, a reader had a full yogurt fail, and it turned out that her probiotic capsules were bad. Fresh capsules did the trick in the next batch with no other changes.
Leigh
Hi, really looking forward to trying this but undecided about the starter to use. I found a powder on Amazon. Do you know what the equivalent measurement would be to two capsules? The capsules seem rather expensive. And does a store-bought vegan yogurt really have the "oomph" to culture a batch of homemade yogurt? Thanks for your advice!
Becky Striepe
These are great questions! For powdered starter, I'd follow the package directions for the amount of powder to liquid. Most store-bought vegan yogurts do have enough probiotics to ferment. That's the primary method that I use!
Anne
I made soy yogurt yesterday in the Instant Pot. It was confusing since your method differs from my regular method (heating the milk), but after 15 hours it still wasn’t even slightly thick so I added 3 hours to the time. Finally success! Perfect soy yogurt!
One question - can I use a different yogurt starter (say cashew) to add to the soy milk? Will it work?
Becky Striepe
I'm glad it set up! Getting the timing right is definitely a bit of a guessing game, depending on so many factors. You can use any yogurt starter you like! I have had flavors come through in final batches before, though, so just bear that in mind. I once used peach yogurt as the starter, and the final result tasted of peaches.
Shelby
Can the soy yogurt this recipe makes be used as a starter for future batches?
Becky Striepe
I have heard some readers say yes and other say no. I'd recommend using a fresh starter, so you'll have consistent results.
Amy
Success! I just got an Instant Pot and thought I’d try to make soy yogurt after years of failures with various recipes, starters, milks, and gadgets. I was skeptical that this would work, but it did and the yogurt is delicious! I used Trader Joe’s unsweetened plain soy milk and Forager cashew yogurt for starter. Thank you SO much!!! I’m glad I found your site. I am a little intimidated by the Instant Pot and haven’t used it for anything else yet, but this was a great start.
Becky Striepe
I'm so glad to hear you had yogurt success! And I feel you on the IP being intimidating at first. The more you use it, though, the more comfortable you'll get. Happy cooking!
Gerry
I made the soy yogurt last night with 64oz Westsoy organic soy milk and 4 T silk vanilla soy yogurt. Used the Instant Pot set for 14 hours. It turned out great! I have used the IP for dairy yogurt for years but the soy method is soooo much easier. I am a convert now and will continue on with changing to plant based eating! I love your air fryer recipes too.
Becky Striepe
Gerry, this comment makes my day! I'm so glad this recipe can support your journey to plant based eating!
Gerry Stairet
Becky, I have now made your soy yogurt recipe 5 times with the 64 oz Westsoy and it is perfect each time. Due to weather issues, Walmart was out of Westsoy so I found Pacific Ultra Soy milk, in aseptic package, at Safeway. I bought 2 32 ounce containers and used 4 T Silk Vanilla soy yogurt and this turned out amazing. Very close to firmness found in commercial dairy yogurt. There are some additives, a bit of cane sugar but I was desperate! 2 days later it still isn’t watery nor lumpy. I think it is important to whisk the store bought yogurt starter in about a cup of soy milk, add it back to the pot with the rest of the soy milk and whisk again to get it mixed well. Cover and let it go for the 14 hours.
Becky Striepe
That is great to hear, Gerry! I'm so glad there are other milks that work, because Westsoy is hard to find sometimes. That's a good tip about whisking the starter separately, too. Thank you!
Spazvan
Hi Becky,
do you need to put water in the instapot? and if yes, how much?
I am worried my jars may burst if they go in directly.
Hoping to try this very soon.
Thank you,
Spazvan
Becky Striepe
Hi Spazvan! No water needed. I totally get it -- I was nervous, too, the first time I tried this. The pot doesn't come to pressure to make the yogurt. It just keeps the internal temperature at the ideal temp for fermentation, which isn't very hot.
Christy
Can you make this from homemade soy milk? It's much cheaper to get than store bought. Thanks.
Becky Striepe
I haven't tried this with homemade, so I'm not sure. If you give it a try, definitely report back!
Karen
Will putting the starter in with the milk at the beginning of the instant pot cycle kill the bacteria?
Becky Striepe
It won't. The yogurt setting brings the pot to the ideal temperature to foster that good bacteria.
Bob
Thanks so much for the helpful advise and what products to use. We'll try westsoy soon and we've always used edensoy and it also worked great.
Sombra
Thanks you so much for this recipe! Instant Pot soy yogurt is my new favorite thing. I can fit eight 8oz jars in my large instant pot so I have individual jars of yogurt all week. It tastes great!!
Becky Striepe
Wow! 8 jars is awesome. What size pot do you have, Sombra?
Sombra
I have a large pot...maybe the largest? It has a yogurt button on it. Question: how many Probiotic capsules should I be using? I've been using one per jar/cup, but as I read more it seems like that might be overkill/wasteful
Becky Striepe
I've had the most success using 2 capsules per jar. My jars are .5 liter, so they each hold half of the 32-ounce box of soy milk. The size of your pot shouldn't matter, as long as the jars fit inside.