We did it. We made our own vegan (coconut milk) yogurt, and it is heavenly. Are you ready for us to show you how to make coconut yogurt in your kitchen? We promise it's insanely easy!
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📖 About
We love talking about gut health! It may sound a little weird, but we're both passionate about maintaining a healthy balance of bacteria throughout our digestive systems. We could do a whole post on the benefits, but for now, we'll just say that we love probiotic-rich foods.
In order to promote a healthy gut flora, it's important to consume fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, sourdough, tempeh, and you guessed it... yogurt! But, store-bought brands contain a lot of random additives and aren't always the cheapest.
Being the cheap-o's that we are, we set out on a mission to make our own! Of course, we are by no means the first people to make our own coconut yogurt, but we wanted to perfect a recipe before sharing it with you.
We trialed and we errored quite a few times before landing on a good method. So, we figured we'd save you some preventable mistakes and give you a fool-proof recipe.
This rich and creamy treat is super easy to make, contains just 2 ingredients, and won't break your bank. We're not sure about you, but that's enough to put a big grin on our faces!
🍲 Key ingredients
- Coconut milk: with this recipe only containing 2 ingredients, it's extremely important to pick the right coconut milk. We find the brands Aroy-D and Savoy to have the creamiest and smoothest consistency, but you can experiment with other brands too. Generally, Thai brands yield better results in our experience. It's also worth mentioning that you should stick to full-fat coconut milk unless you want your yogurt to end up a runny mess (anyone remember Yop?).
- Probiotics: as with the coconut milk, pick a quality brand of probiotics that you trust. We generally use Naturelo, but just make sure whatever brand you're using contains some or all of the following strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus. Always check to ensure the probiotic is vegan-friendly as a lot of brands aren't dairy-free. And lastly, try to avoid brands that also include PREbiotics in their formula (otherwise your yogurt may spoil).
🔪 Instructions
Making coconut yogurt is one of the easiest things to do. You'll start with a clean mason jar. To properly clean it, wash the jar thoroughly in hot (scalding hot), soapy water.
Then, rinse it thoroughly in hot water and dry face down on a clean towel (let your jar cool completely before pouring the coconut milk in). Once your jar is ready, give your coconut milk can a good shake. Open it and pour the milk into the jar.
Next up, you'll open both probiotic capsules and dump the powder into the jar of coconut milk. Mix the two ingredients together with a wooden, ceramic, or plastic spoon. It's best to avoid metal spoons to prevent a negative reaction with the probiotics.
Once you've got all the clumps out, cover your jar with some cheesecloth, a piece of paper towel, or a thin tea towel and secure it with an elastic.
Now all you have to do is wait! Store your jar in a warm place like a cupboard or oven with the light on for 12-36 hrs depending on how tangy you like it. We typically like ours after about 18-20 hours, but make sure you taste your own a few times because the total time needed depends on a variety of factors (climate, coconut milk, and probiotics).
Once the coconut yogurt is to your preferred tanginess, switch out the cheesecloth for a lid and transfer it to your fridge to chill for around 12 hours, or overnight. When you're ready to eat, serve your yogurt with berries, granola, a little sweetener, or on its own for a probiotic-rich snack!
🌡️ Storage
This yogurt will keep in the fridge for up to 6-8 days in the mason jar used to ferment it. If it separates a little, just give it a stir before eating.
💭 Budget tips
We think everyone should be able to eat better for less, so here are a few tricks to make this recipe even more affordable:
- Use a mid-range probiotic to save a bit more
- Buy your coconut milk from a local Oriental market to find great deals
🍴 Tasting notes
It's hard to believe how easy this coconut yogurt is to make. We hope you love it as much as us! Its:
- Creamy
- Rich
- Tangy
- Gut healthy
If you make this yogurt, please rate it and leave us a comment below! Want to stay up-to-date with new recipes? Subscribe to our newsletter or connect with Broke Bank Vegan on social media. Happy eating!
📋 Recipe
2-Ingredient Coconut Yogurt
Equipment
- Mason jar
- Cheese cloth
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk ($1.35)
- 2 capsules vegan-friendly probiotics ($1.53)
- 1 clean mason jar
- 1 wooden spoon
Add-Ins optional
- Maple syrup, agave, monk fruit, or stevia
- Fruit, berries, mango, peaches, etc.
- Vanilla extract or powder
- Lemon juice or zest
Instructions
- Open the can of coconut milk, and transfer it into a clean glass jar. To properly clean your jar, wash it thoroughly in hot, soapy water. Then, rinse it in hot water and let it dry face down on a clean towel. Let your jar cool completely before pouring the coconut milk in.
- Open both probiotic capsules, and add the inside contents to the jar of coconut milk. Mix well with a wooden, ceramic, or plastic spoon (avoid metal as it can react with the probiotics). Cover your jar with a cheesecloth or thin tea towel and secure it with an elastic.
- Keep your jar in a warm place (in an oven with the light on is a prime spot) for 12-36 hrs depending on how tangy you like it. We typically like ours after about 18-20 hours, but yours may need longer.
- Once the coconut yogurt is to your preferred tanginess, switch out the cheesecloth for a lid and transfer it to your fridge to chill for around 12 hours (overnight is best).
- Once it's thickened up in your fridge, serve with berries, granola, or on its own for a probiotic-rich snack!
Notes
- It's important to use a good quality probiotic for the best coconut yogurt results.
- We like the brand Naturelo, but just make sure you look for the following bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium lactis and Streptococcus thermophilus.
- If you don't have access to vegan-friendly probiotics, you can also add a few spoonfuls of store-bought vegan yogurt or try a vegan yogurt starter kit.
- The coconut milk brands we've found the best results with are Aroy-D and Savoy.
- We've had grainy results with Everland.
- Whichever brand you choose, you want to make sure it has a creamy and smooth consistency to begin with (otherwise you'll end up with a grainy yogurt).
- Optional ingredients are not reflected in the price or calories of this recipe.
Nutrition
♻️ Similar recipes
For more tasty dish ideas, check out our:
- Cranberry orange granola for a citrus-infused breakfast you can make ahead of time.
- Blueberry pie oatmeal if you want all the taste of pie in a healthy breakfast.
- Vegan tzatziki sauce if you're ready to put it on everything once you make it.
- Strawberries and cream overnight oats for those of you with a strawberry sweet tooth.
- Vegan French toast for a plant-based and healthy version of a classic breakfast.
💬 FAQ
Unfortunately, if your yogurt has any type of pink tinge to it, you'll have to toss it. The pink coloIf you want your coconut yogurt to be a thicker consistency, try leaving the can of coconut milk in your fridge overnight before mixing it with the probiotics. This will allow the coconut cream to separate from the water. You can then scoop the cream off the top and just use that, or add as much or as little of the water as you want.ur is from bacterial growth, and it means it's spoiled.
If you only have plastic containers, you could try fermenting the coconut milk in that (although we haven't made it this way). However, we highly recommend using a glass jar since you'll be able to properly sanitize it.
If you use probiotics that also contain prebiotics, your yogurt may spoil.
We recommend using probiotics with 5-10 billion cultures per capsule. Just make sure they don't contain PREbiotics, as they'll spoil the yogurt.
If you want your coconut yogurt to be a thicker consistency, try leaving the can of coconut milk in your fridge overnight before mixing it with the probiotics. This will allow the coconut cream to separate from the water. You can then scoop the cream off the top and just use that, or add as much or as little of the water as you want.
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