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Making Your Own Soy Yogurt — 42 Comments

  1. Does heating of the soybeans make it easier for the hulls to come loose from the soybean?

    If I used almonds to make almond milk, would I have to heat them?

    Thank you for all of the information that you provide on your site.

    • Cooking the soybeans does make it easier for the hills to be removed. As for almond milk, I simply soak the nuts overnight before blending them with water. I use about a cup of almonds per quart. For coconut milk, I just use coconut flakes and blend with water. For all milks, add sweetener as desired. You can add a little Xantham Gum as a thickening agent too if desired, but very small amounts. Xantham gum is actually derived from a fermentation process although it is eventually reduced to a powder form. Hope that helps!

  2. Do you have any recipes for yogurt that does not use soy milk? I had a breast removed and can not have soy. I want to start making yogurt.
    Thank you!

    • This same process should work fine for most any milk, so try same procedure with coconut milk or almond milk or hemp seed milk or cashew milk. I just posted a comment here about making almond milk or coconut milk so read through the comments here. Good luck with everything, Margaret.

  3. Hello Ted,

    Was your yogurt thick? I’ve made soy yogurt many times, but it is never thick, more like kefir…. Your photograph makes your yogurt look like it was fairly thick….

    Thanks for all you share!

    • Yes, this yogurt was quite thick and creamy. Two reasons I believe: 1)because I blended it quite fine when making the milk and squeezed some of creamier remnants throu the pores of the nut milk bag, and 2)I let if ferment longer and it seemed to get more thick and creamy the longer it fermented.

      • Hi again Ted,

        Have you used a soymilk maker to make the soymilk instead of the method you mention above? Also wondered if you might share what prepackaged culture you use?

        • Hey there! I have not tried a soy milk maker, but it sounds easier! As to prepackaged culture, I simply picked up a small container of organic yogurt which noted on the label that it had live cultures, and added that in as my “starter.” No need in my opinion to buy prepackaged cultures unless they have something special in them which is not found in the yogurt you can buy in a store.

          I was hiking with a friend of mine yesterday whose son had been struggling with some serious digestive issues for over a year. He’s much improved now, and they attribute his improvement to getting his gut health back in balance through yogurt. They make a bunch of yogurt every couple of weeks, but use expensive starter every time. I advised him to simply take some yogurt from the previous batch to “inoculate” the new batch. If it’s alive in one batch, it will continue to propagate in the next.

  4. It is actually a great idea to remove those hulls. They contain a good portion of some of the antinutrients in the bean. Stuff best not eaten.

    • And an automated yogurt maker is really cheap and will (if not junk) give consistent results. Temps are critical for yogurt, and the ideal range is very narrow. Too hot kills the critters. Too cold and they won’t thrive.

  5. I have unsweetened soy milk at the moment and would like to try making yogurt using the milk I have now. Would you recommend adding some sugar to my soy milk? And if so, would you add 3 T sugar to 1 qt milk? (I got these numbers based on your soy milk recipe). Thanks!

  6. Hi Ted. This looks awesome. Will give it a go soon. Am wondering have you ever tried making milk from yellow peas? If so, how did it turn out? Thanks!

    • I never tried making milk from yellow peas, but you’ve got me curious now! I’ve used rice, cashews, almonds, hemp nut, soybeans, coconut flakes, oats, and probably a few more things to make milks. My favorite lately is Cashew milk as they seem to have less fiber so I can make the milk and not worry so much about straining out the solids.

        • When I make it to Costco I tend to buy Cashews there as they have organic ones at a fairly low price. Otherwise at my local natural foods store. Some places sell cashew pieces for much less than the whole ones. A wise choice if available. Oh, and you’re welcome!

  7. After years of struggle I have found that after washing the beans I put them into very hot water — not so hot as to not be able to put hands in. Let them soak just a minute or so and then very aggressively rub them with both hands. Almost all the skins will float after a few rinses. It works like magic.

  8. Hi, Ted. Thank you for sharing this. I am going to try making thebyoghurt with soy milk then with hemp milk for my youngest, who has many, many allergies. No more GERD after 12 months, though, thank goodness. Question – I have really good probiotic sprinkles for him. Would you happen to know how much of that I should add? Thank you again. 🙂

    • I’m glad your youngest has moved beyond GERD. Probiotics can be very helpful for that as you know. I honestly can’t say how much of your probiotic sprinkles you should add. If you add the sprinkles before the yoghurt incubates, AND if those particular bacteria can take hold in the yoghurt, then subsequent batches should have more of the probiotics that existed in the sprinkles. You’d have to research though and see which of them might survive in a yoghurt culture environment. Not sure what else to add except good luck!

  9. I have tried to make soy yogurt following the same recipe, including making my own soy milk from dry soybeans.

    My yogurt always separates (solids go to bottom, liquid stays on top).
    What am I doing wrong…

    • Sorry to hear you’ve been having difficulties. Culturing yogurt for too long, at too high a temperature or using a non-healthy starter can all cause separation. Good luck!

    • Nothing is wrong, the sapparation is normal depending on the weather… I’m not expert in non dairy milks. But when I used to make cow milk, it always separate… and the one way I would fix the problem was by gently placing clean kitchen towel over the yogurt to suck up the liquid part… I would repeat the method until the creamy white stick to the towel. Then stir and refrigerate.

    • i have the same problem with my soy yogurt, the other places from where i follow the recipe makes kind of a tofu like consistency and then they mix it to create a greek yogurt-like consistency but mine just ends up like you mention
      did you solve it?

  10. I “cook” my dairy yogurt in a water bath set at 113 fahrenheit. I assume this would work for the soy yogurt too. Has anybody done this?

  11. This recipe is simple and straight forward. Other similar recipes suggest adding a thickener, like tapioca, since most said the initial resulting consistency was a bit runny. Do you recommend adding a thickener? If yes, when should it be added and how much?

    • Hi Tamiko. I don’t have a thickener to recommend. Tapioca might work fine, but haven’t tried it. I played with Xantham Gum before and that was a failure for sure.

    • Straining the yogurt through cheesecloth will drain some of the excess whey, giving you a thicker yogurt. Use the whey in place of other liquids when baking. The whey will impart almost a sourdough flavor to bread and rolls. Google *uses for yogurt whey* and you’ll find lots of great uses for whey. Yum!

  12. This is a great page. I’ve been making homemade soy yogurt for a while now and I have the best results when I make it using soy milk from the store that only has two ingredients (soy beans and water). However, I often make tofu and it comes out better when I make my own soy milk. Unfortunately, the same milk doesn’t work when making yogurt. It is much too thick and reminds me of jello. In addition, it’s much too tart. I used to have a soy milk maker, but it never could produce enough fat in the soy milk to make yogurt out of and most of it went down the drain when making tofu so I sold it. I now make my soy milk using a juicer and it comes out wonderful, I only strain it once and it has about less than 1/4 cup of residual pulp which is incredible. My problem is, although I can make outstanding milk, I can only make good tofu. I really want to make yogurt but I must know how to reduce the tartness and thickness. I will increase my water to beans ratio, but what else should I do? Any suggestions?

    • Hi Cal Gal, To reduce the tartness, I’d suggest incubating theyogurt for a shorter period of time. As to the thickness, that will be directly related to liquid content, so either adding more water or straining a little more solids out should do the trick.

  13. Has anyone used a yogurt maker with individual 8 oz jars to make soy yogurt? I have a vintage Salton from the 70s that I use for cows milk yogurt. Just wondering if there any helpful hints out there.

  14. My soy yogurt didn’t set. The store bought soy yogurt I used for starter had live cultures recommended. I wonder if it lowered the temperature too much when I added it to the soy milk??? Can we just drink it like lassis or should it be thrown out? Any thoughts or suggestions for another attempt? Thanks much.

  15. Thank you for this. I tried it and had a great experience. It inspired me to try a Soy/Goat combination that I am very pleased with. I would have never tired it if it were not for your great information. Thank you again!

  16. Thank you for this great recipe! May I suggest moving “preheat the oven” to the beginning of the yogurt-making directions? The first few steps take no time at all, and my oven takes a while to get to 400, so my heated milk ended up sitting on the stove for a good long while after reaching temperature.

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