How to Make Soy Yoghurt
It is unbelievably easy to make your own soy yoghurt. I know it can seem like quite a daunting task though - I put off trying it for months telling myself that it probably wouldn’t work with soy milk anyway. The tutorials I had found all used powdered yoghurt starter and if I had to use that every time it would cost just as much as buying yoghurt! I finally gave it a go and now I’m hooked! I make a new 1L batch of this every week or two.
Yoghurt has so many uses. It is a great lower fat way to add moisture to baking, or creaminess to a curry. You can even use it as a substitute for sour cream. Then, of course, it’s delicious with some fresh fruit or toasted muesli (granola). I eat a lot more of it now that I make it myself than I ever have before - all those probiotics have got to be good for you!
When choosing which milk to use, make sure that it’s unsweetened and has no added gums as they can interfere with the process. I use Vitasoy Protein Plus soy milk which works well. You also need to make sure the yoghurt you buy as your starter has live cultures. Where I live it is hard to find unsweetened soy yoghurt so I usually use coconut yoghurt to start it off. The first batch will have a slight coconutty flavour but after that it is undetectable.
These instructions are for making soy yoghurt in an Easiyo yoghurt maker, electric yoghurt maker or multi cooker with a yoghurt setting. If you don’t have any of these then this article has instructions for making yoghurt in the oven, a thermos or a crockpot - just replace the milk with soy milk.
This yoghurt will last up to two weeks in your fridge. You may find that some clear liquid separates out from the yoghurt, you can either stir this back in or drain it off.
After several batches your yoghurt might start to taste a bit more sour and less creamy. This means it’s time to start again from a bought yoghurt.
If you’re wondering what to do with all this extra yoghurt, check out these recipes - Energy boosting smoothie, Creamy banana porridge, Pear Muffins or Banana Bread
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How to Make Soy Yoghurt
Yield: Makes 1 Litre
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cook time: 8 hours
Ingredients
⅓ c of unsweetened soy yoghurt with live cultures (can also use non soy yoghurt if you can't find it) 3 ½ - 4 c unsweetened soy milk - make sure it has no added gums (I use Vitasoy Protein Plus)Directions
For an Easiyo style yoghurt maker:
- Fill your kettle/jug to it’s max volume of water and boil it.
- Add your yoghurt to your (1L) yoghurt jar.
- Add enough soy milk to half fill the jar then stir until the yoghurt is all mixed in.
- Next fill to a few mm below the top of the jar with soy milk and either stir again or shake it (put the lid on first!).
- Place the spacer insert into your yoghurt maker and add enough boiling water to just cover the insert.
- Put your yoghurt jar in, pop the lid on and leave to sit for 8-12 hours (I usually do this overnight).
- Put approximately ⅓ c of your yoghurt into a small jar and place in the back of your fridge - this will be the starter for your next batch!*
For an electric yoghurt maker or multi cooker with yoghurt function:
- Add your yoghurt and soy milk to the bowl and stir.
- Insert your bowl into the yoghurt maker.
- Turn onto yoghurt setting and leave until done.
- Put between ¼ and ½ cup of yoghurt into a clean small jar and place in the back of your fridge - this will be the starter for your next batch!*
*Don’t skip this step - every time I think I’ll do it later I forget about it until I’ve run out of yoghurt! . Also taking it out immediately ensures that this will be as fresh and uncontaminated as possible so still good to go for your next batch.