How to make soy yogurt
It's easy to make soy yogurt at home. The soy yogurt is not identical to dairy yogurt but it works well in cooking. To make 1 liter soy yogurt you need 140 gram soybeans and a starter. As a starter you can use good quality plain soy yoghurt, or dairy yogurt (if you don't mind dairy products), or a commercial powdered yogurt starter (also dairy based).
Making the soymilk
This step is not necessary if you start from bought soy milk. Put the soybeans (ideally split soybeans) in a pan and poor 3 liter boiling water over them. Let it cool down and wait 6 to 12 hours.Culturing the soy yogurt
Cool the soymilk down to 42-45°C (either by cooling the boiled soymilk or by heating the bought soymilk). The culture will only thrive in a narrow temperature range, too cool and it won't be active, too hot and it will die. Measure the temperature with a thermometer. Add 4 tablespoons of starter to the soymilk and mix well with a sterile spoon. Put the yogurt in a yogurt maker cups and follow the same directions as for dairy yogurt. If you don't have a yogurt machine you can put the yogurt in an oven at 42-45°C. After about 5 - 6 hours, when the yogurt gets firm, chill the yogurt.Making the soy yogurt thicker
You will notice that home made yogurt will be a little runnier than dairy yogurt. To improve the thickness of soy yogurt you can add one level teaspoon of agar powder or two teaspoon starch, premixed in 50 ml water, to the soymilk when it starts boiling. The best option is to add extra soy protein, at least if you can get hold of it. One tablespoon soy protein should be added to one liter soy milk before boiling.Comments
Solgar for soy yogurt starter
I have never tried to make yogurt with such Solgar cultures. I always use plain commercial soy yogurt as soy yogurt starter. Yoghurt is made fermenting milk (or soy milk) with Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. The yoghurt fermentation takes place at a rather high temperature of 45°C. At this temperature, the two yogurt cultures can grow very fast but most spoilage bacteria will be inhibited. Sometimes other bacteria are added which may have potential health benefits, such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus acidophilus. These are called probiotic bacteria.The Solgar acidophilus powder or capsules are not developed to make yogurt. We do not know if the cultures used by Solgar will grow at 45°C. If you incubate at 37°C the cultures will surely grow but the result will not be a typical yoghurt and there will be a risk of contamination. The Solgar powder will not work since it contains no Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. Some capsules, such as Advanced Multi-Billion Dophilus capsules contain both yogurt bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, but always in combination with other probiotic bacteria. You should try these as soy yogurt starter, but at own risk!
Rob - 14/11/2013
Solgar for soy yogurt starter
The reason that I can't use plain commercial soy yogurt as yogurt starter is that I am living in Kyrgystan (where soy yogurt is not available). My son has cow milk protein intolerance, and is not allergic to soy, so I want to make him soy yogurt (which he loved the last time we were back in the U.S.). I have found another soy yogurt starter (on www.soymilkquick.com), but it contains some dairy (and my son is extremely sensitive to cow milk). I read somewhere on-line about using Solgar powder as a starter, but I haven't found anyone who has actually used it. So, if I understand correctly, Advanced Multi-Billion Dophilus capsules contain both yogurt bacteria, but the concern would be potential issues with the other probiotic baceteria. Would these potentially just cause problems with culturing the yogurt, or could they potentially cause a product dangerous to my son's health?Thank you for your advice!
deanandangela - 14/11/2013
Solgar for soy yogurt starter
The other probiotic bacteria are not dangerous. Actually, they are healthy. The purpose of taking capsules with probiotic bacteria is that they multiply and populate your small intestine. My concern is that these non-yogurt bacteria will not produce a typical yogurt; they will only acidify the milk. Streptococcus thermophilus grows in large chains, which give consistency to the yogurt. Maybe soon or later I will test these products myself.Rob - 14/11/2013
Solgar for soy yogurt starter
You made me curious to test these capsules as yogurt starter! I found Solgar Advanced 40+ Acidophilus Vegetable Capsules in our local health shop (cost about 22° for 60 capsules). Each capsule contains 300 million microorganisms of the strains Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus paracasei, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Streptococcus thermophilus. To 1 liter of homemade soy milk I added 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon of soy protein and boiled it for 1 minute. After cooling down to about 40°C I added the contents of 1 capsule Advanced 40+ Acidophilus Vegetable Capsules and mixed it very well. One halve was incubated at 44°C, while the other halve at 37°C. After 8 hours (44°C) and 10 hours (37°C) I had solid yogurt with the typical yogurt taste and aroma. Conclusion: you can make yogurt with these Solgar capsules! However, this method may not always work. One capsule contains less bacteria than a portion of fresh yoghurt. Therefor the whole process takes longer and risk of contamination is higher.Rob - 19/11/2013
Re: Solgar for soy yogurt starter
Thank you so much for experimenting for me! I am still in Kyrgyzstan, but am going home for 3 weeks soon, so I will order some Solgar to bring back with me. I am very excited about the possibility of making dairy-free soy yogurt for my son. I do have one last question. Up 'til now I have bought soy milk, but I am planning to buy a soy milk maker while I'm home. You mentioned adding soy protein (in addition to salt and sugar) to homemade soy milk. Why did you add soy protein, and is this available at a health food store?Thank you!!!
deanandangela - 19/11/2013
Soy protein in soy yoghurt
The addition of soy protein is optional. Yogurt from soy milk tends to be thinner than dairy yogurt. Adding extra soy protein will make firmer yogurt. Soy protein is available in some health shops or at the pharmacy.Rob - 19/11/2013
Thanks
was just about to order these to try a similar experiment so thanks for this.. feel much more confident.. have tried with just acidiphilous capsule but not great result..paulflute - 20/11/2013
soy yoghurt
THANK you so much for your information!!!What did I do wrong and how can I do it better???
Since I do not have soy protein in the stores here, I added 1 cup of mixed soy milk (which I bought in a store) blended with 1 cup cashews, in a blender. This blended mixture was part of the overall 1 liter milk. I added the capsule just as you said. Than I put it in a warm place in the kitchen, however nothing happened, not even after 12 hours of incubation in room temperature (around 25c). It stayed liquid.
I must say that till now, upon using prepared yogurt as a starter (3 T), on 4 cups of soy milk with 1 cup of cashews, bringing it to about 43c, and than adding the starter, I got yogurt.
However I wanted to change the bought yogurt to the capsules, as a system. Should I put more than 1 capsule??? Finding this site and page, made me very happy. I will be happier, once I make this yogurt right - with the capsules. Looking forwards for your valuable guidance.
In blessings.
Yael - 20/11/2013
Thank you. This has been a wonderful help in making soy yogurt and tempeh. The recipes and explanation are excellent.
Rachel - 25/05/2014
Rachel - 25/05/2014
Thanks
Thank you for this information. It is great to know you can make your own yoghurt from soybeans and a little youghurt from someone. I want to try it!Maria - 09/06/2014
Using dairy yogurt as a starter
I would like to know can i use dairy yogurt as a starter in making of soya yogurt?hamid - 16/06/2014
Using dairy yogurt as a starter
Most people who make soya yogurt don't want to consume dairy products, that's why they use special dairy-free yogurt starter. But of course, you can make soya yogurt with dairy yogurt.Rob - 16/06/2014
Most people who make soya yogurt don't want to consume dairy products, that's why they use special dairy-free yogurt starter. But of course, you can make soya yogurt with dairy yogurt.
Rob - 16/06/2014
Rob - 16/06/2014
i want to make soya milk by soya flour, please tell me recipe of soya milk. best regards. arash
arash - 22/06/2014
arash - 22/06/2014
I wish to use soy version BIO K as the start
It's an amazing, but expensive product. I'd love to make my own fermented soy bio K by following your instructions and using a fresh bio k soy yogurt as the starter. It's loaded with massive probiotics and I'm hoping that they will multiply. Any advice there?Blake Langdale - 14/07/2014
soy curd
when you mention starch for thickening of yoghurt what starch can be used can i use corn starch or others. Also can soy curd be consumed like regular curd or has it to be used only in cooking. Please clarify tkz.ninette - 19/07/2014
I want to try and make oat milk yoghurt for my son who has dairy and soya allergies. I'm looking for a starter that does not contain either soy or dairy, was thinking of using the solgar capsules or live coconut yoghurt, anyone ever tried something similar?
Emma - 25/07/2014
Emma - 25/07/2014
soy yogurt
Why is the production of red layer is created on soy yogurt?ali - 23/09/2014
soy yogurt
There should be no red layer on soy yogurt. I have never seen this. Maybe you have a bacterial contamination or there is something wrong with the soybeans? I suggest that you first use another source of soybeans.Rob - 30/09/2014
normal bio yogurt - with soya milk
I am trying not to eat dairy but couldn't find soya yogurt to use as a starter so I used normal bio yogurt. As a result does this mean I have a normal dairy yogurt or a soya yogurt? Does anybody know? Thank you in advance. Angelaangela - 30/10/2014
Separation
Hi. Thank you for the instructions. I made some soy yogurt, and it separated out with yogurt on the top and liquid whey on bottom. How can I prevent this separation? Thanks! Have you ever made soy yogurt using Vifit? I would like to make yogurt with lactobacillus rhamnosus gg, but since the culture is difficult to find, I was wondering if I would go ahead and just use Vifit from the supermarket. Many thank!Lila - 01/11/2014
Recipe soy bean milk youghurt
Have made youghurt from soya bean milk. excellent and easy. 2 litres of the bean milk. 1 packet starter.1. Remove about 20 tablespoons of soy milk (room temp).mix in the starter. Stir well.
2. Gently heat the remaining soy milk.Occasionally dip your finger into the warm milk. When You are able to keep your finger in the warm milk for 5 seconds and not longer, turn off the heat.
3. Cool milk for just 3 minutes and stir it into the portion of the soy milk that has the starter. Stir well for a few minutes..
4. You can pour the milk into smaller glass containers, cap the containers and leave them in a warm place.
No need yorghurt maker or thermometer . Tastes v good too.
May - 25/12/2014
Soy yogurt fermented
Do you know if the fermentation in soy yogurt takes away the substances causing adverse effects to the thyroid and hormones (like pythic acid, enzyme inhibitors, goitrogens, etc,) ? I'm considering cultivating my own yogurt using soy milk and the Bio K probiotics as a starter culture, but I don't know whether those aforementioned substances would be eliminated from the soy milk in the same way as tempeh and natto cultures do.Elijah - 22/01/2015
Soy yogurt fermented
Soy yoghurt is of course fermented but I would classify it in the group of non-fermented soy foods, together with soymilk and tofu. The effect of yoghurt fermentation on the chemical composition of soy milk will be minimal because of the short fermentation time. The typical yoghurt bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus do not produce phytases and will not affect phytic acid levels in soy milk. On the other hand, yoghurt fermentation may actually increase the bio-availability of isoflavones because it transforms glucoside isoflavones to aglycone isoflavones that are more easily absorbed by the human body.Rob - 23/01/2015
What if...
What if I have living lactobasillus bulcaricus that I used to make cow's milk yogurt? Can I just substitute the cow's milk by soymilk?Hugo Jose - 20/04/2015
amazing.....!
you made me wonder ofcoz, lets me try at homemushi - 06/05/2015
Soy yogurt
OK, super lazy here because we need to make yogurt almost daily.. how to make soy yogurt in a pressure cooker? I've made one batch only; the taste was great but it never got thick; in fact, quite loose. I don't have the patience to do all that heat, then cool etc and I don't have the patience to do the straining. So, that leaves adding something? What would be the BEST? You mention soy protein. Do you mean soy protein powder? You also mention a "starch".. what kind of starch please? Are these added BEFORE you put them in the pressure cooker? Also, which is better? Adding probiotics or a natural yogurt and how much of each would you add please? lots of questions, I know... sorry... but, we eat TONS of Soy yogurt and sincerely appreciate any advice. Thank you,.Nancy Brady, RN - 26/05/2015
Thank you!!
Thank you for the experiments with probiotic pills! I just made a fantastic batch of soyogurt based on your comments. I used 2 capsules of Trophic Acidophilus Plus 6 billion, 2 tsp of sugar, 2L of SoNice unsweetened organic soy milk. heated and cooled as you instructed before adding the contents of the capsules. I then wrapped my pot in a towel and placed it on the cement pad at my back door in the sun for 8 hours. it's chilling in my fridge right now. I'll never buy it in the store again! I tried one batch with xanthum gum and plain regular yogurt to culture it but I didn't mix the gum in very well.. yuck. I might try adding protein powder to a future batch to make it thicker. I like the Trophic capsules because they are dairy free.Denise C - 12/06/2015
Soy yogurt and gastrointestinal problems
Thank you Rob and everyone for the great posts related to soy yogurt making. I have been enjoying my home-made cow milk yogurt for many years, but I have discovered that I am lactose intolerant, and my bloating and flatulence had been caused by the milk yogurt. I even tried using goat milk instead, which some people claim is more easily processed by the human body, but unfortunately it had the same results on my body. Since I am into the medical field, and I understand what exactly causes my issues (my body's lower production of lactase - the enzyme taking care of the milk sugar lactose), I was wondering if making my soy milk with my home-made milk yogurt would cause me to have the same digestive problems. I am originally from Bulgaria and my milk yogurt contains mostly (if not only) Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. As you can see the bacteria is named after our country). We proud ourselves for making one of the healthiest yogurt in the world, using the bacteria that originally thrived mostly in our country. I tend to assume that after I make several consecutive batches of soy milk, using initially my milk yogurt and then soy yogurt as a starter, eventually I would not have any trace from the milk yogurt, hence no issues with my bowels. Am I right? Anyone's opinion would be appreciated. Thank you.Eugene - 14/06/2015
Thickening the "soyghurt" tips
When using a blender instead of soymilk maker you can simply increase the ratio of beans / water, eg 200g of dry soybeans instead of 100g for 1L of milk. This is not recommended for soymilkmakers, since these are usually very strict in ratios.Another way to thicken the milk is to leave the soy pulp ('okara') in the milk. Seems to work fine.
Dave - 30/07/2015
More "soyghurt" tips (flavoring)
Soyran : apply the procedure for Ayran to the soy yoghurt, that is, mix the yoghurt with lightly salted water on a 1/1 basis. Add cumin & mint to your taste.Soytziki : Follow the procedure for Tzatziki with the soy yoghurt
Soy Mango Lassi, Soy Raita,... : Well, you get the idea by now : most traditional yoghurt preparations will work with Soy yoghurt as well.
See here [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogurt#Varieties_and_presentation] for inspiration.
Dave - 30/07/2015
non-dairy yoghurt starter
Can someone help me? I used a non-dairy yoghurt starter to make my first batch of soy yoghurt.Then I have made several succeeding generations of pints of yoghurt using 1/3 cup of yoghurt from the last batch much like sourdough starter would. Not being able to "see" the cultures in the yoghurt, I don't know if they are carrying forward each new generation of soy milk yoghurt. How can I tell if the beneficial cultures are in each succeeding batch of yoghurt? Is there a point at which I should refresh the batches with another packet of non-dairy yoghurt starter? Please help. Thanks! WendyWendy Gorski - 10/09/2015
Make soy yogurt
The post by Dean and Angela re non dairy yogurt. I'm in Australia & have used one from the US - Body Ecology & it's for vegans. I also get a similar one from Green Living Australia - they ship O/s & it stores well in the freezer. Another one I use is called Microfood - SAFE products in Burleigh Heads Qld. Aust. (sustainable agricultural food enterprises) It's grown in brown rice, reactivates in the milk, stores on the shelf but I keep it in the fridge. I add some along with one of the cultures. You can use this in drinks and smoothies as well as making bread and cakes. I make my soy yogurt from organic GMO free soy milk in a tetra pack with one from the fridge too. I mix in a tin of Ayam coconut cream/milk along with 2 tbspns coconut sugar or Panella. I don't use thickener & it is so thick a spoon will stand up in it. Tastes perfect - tangy sweet.Leanda Valerie Miller - 18/09/2015
yogurt
i want to make yogurt but i am not confoble in doing it so i got in to your site and i see a lot of people do it so i will try some of what pepole have said hear go's keep your fingers crosedrobyn - 20/09/2015
Soy kefir ?
Do you know of anyone making soy kefir? The only dairy product i consume is the kefir I make. If I add sugar to soy milk, as recommended for fermenting soy yogurt, will it culture into kefir. Look forward to hearing from you regarding this topic.Barbara - 14/10/2015
Pro-biotics as starter
How's it going? I didn't have yogourt started so I used dietary store bought pro-biotics power as starters. Kept at 35C-95F for 6h in the oven. Did not heat it, just kept the light on. Result: mix between yogurt and cheese. I removed the whey in order to get firmer texture. Kept the whey for protein drink and Tofu making.;O)
Yahn - 01/11/2015
Recenty I tried making soy yogurt for the first time, using Provamel natural soy milk and Alpro Original soy milk (commonly available brands in Europe). In both cases I heated the milk to 60-70°C which I read helps in getting a thicker yogurt; after it cooled to room temperature I added to it a pot of non-flavoured soy yogurt from Lidl as a starter (they only had sugared ones, so I didn’t feel the need to add sugar to the milk to help feed the bacteria) and put it for 10 hours in the yogurt maker, and then 8-10 hours in the fridge. The one made with the Provamel milk came out great, very thick and pleasantly tart (I haven’t tried many brands, but it’s a similar taste to Sojasun’s natural yogurt), with no necessity of adding thickeners. The one made with Alpro Original was not very good tasting and had a runny consistency, probably because of the additives (salt, stabilizers, flavouring, etc.) and the lower fat and protein content. So from what I gather it helps to get a non-runny milk with no additives to make good soy yogurt.
Giuseppe - 05/03/2016
Giuseppe - 05/03/2016
Soy protein
Can I used texturized soy protein to thicken the yoghurt? If yes, how? Thanks!Céline Vaneeckhaut - 25/04/2016
Soy yoghurt using starter culture & yoghurt maker
Does anyone know how I would go about making yoghurt from alpro soya milk, a bio culture starter capsule and a yoghurt maker? Thanks for your advice.Cath Mc - 01/05/2016
Soy yoghurt using starter culture & yoghurt maker
Yes you can make soya yogurt with Alpro soya milk. It is already sterile so you don't have to cook it. But you have to use the variety without added sugar or flavors (= Soya Unsweetened).Rob - 03/05/2016
Making soy yogurt without sugar and dairy starter
I don't want to use sugar and dairy starter for making soy curd. Any alternative please?H S Kalsi - 27/08/2016
Making soy yogurt without sugar and dairy starter
Vegan yogurt starter does not contain dairy products. If you search the internet for "vegan yogurt starter" you will find many suppliers, such as Cultures for Health. Sugar is needed as by the yogurt cultures to produce lactic acid. You don't need to add a lot of sugar, just a little bit. Sugar is required by the yogurt cultures to produce lactic acid.Rob - 28/08/2016
Phytic acid ...cont.
But then this study supports what you said. I wonder why the lactic acid does not reduce the phytic acid!?"Yoghurts were prepared by fermentation of soy milk using a mixed starter culture containing Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Soy milk at 90 Brix was homogenised under pressure (17 MPa) and fermented with and without addition of sucrose (2.0 and 2.5 g per 100 g) for 4, 5, 6 and 7 hours. The yoghurts were evaluated in terms of sensory qualitty, pH, titrable acidity, phytic acid and oligosaccharides: A yoghurt with the best sensory quality was obtained using the homogenised soy milk with 2% sucrose addition and fermented for 6 h. Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus did not produce phytases and a-galactosidases at the experimental conditions, consequently, phytic acid and galactosides were not affected by the process. "
Sam - 29/09/2016
preparation of yoghurt my mixing in different proportion of cow milk and soya milk
im trying to making yoghurt by blending cow milk and soya mrilk in different proportion.so how could manufacturing this kind of yoghurt?bikal - 18/05/2017
Dairy-free soy yoghurt starter
If one is milk allergic, what can one use as a starter to make soya yoghurt. Would appreciate it, kind regards.Sarah - 09/04/2018
Dairy-free soy yoghurt starter
You could use store bought soy yoghurt (use 10% as starter) or use a special vegan (dairy-free) starter. If you Google for "vegan yogurt starter" or "dairy-free yogurt starter" you will find some oline shops.Rob - 09/04/2018
Great page
Thank you for all this great information. I am going to try the recipe soon once I've sourced the soy protein and Trophic Acidophilus Plus 6 billion. Kind regardsBel - 30/07/2018
Soy Yogurt
I’m looking for a consultant to help me formulate soy yogurt as I want to start a small scale business in this. I’ve tried a few methods but haven’t succeeded.Anyone who can help please?
dali.dj@gmail.com
Dali - 02/03/2019
Soy yogurt
I just tried making soy yogurt, first with acidophilus 20 billion cfu in 1 liter homemade soymilk, then another batch with a half cup Silk coconut yogurt containing live cultures in 1 liter homemade soymilk. Both became a little tart in taste but never thickened even after incubating it for up to 15 hours. The second batch might have gotten its tart taste from the starter yogurt rather than having cultured. I wonder if it needs more warmth than an oven light which is 95 F degrees.cary - 03/08/2019
Hello, great discussion here! We tried to make vegan yoghurt with Solgar Advanced Multi Billion Dophilius but it doesnt work (Only available vegan probiotic and no vegan yoghurt available. We tried 1 liter milk one tablet; 400 ml 1 tablet and small jar one tablet with a yoghurt machine but its not working. Does someone has experiences with making yoghurt with these specific Solgar capsules? Thanks
Peter - 14/05/2020
Peter - 14/05/2020
cultüre soy yogurth
hi, I have a few questions for those who are experimenting. are the yogurt cultures you use packaged cultures that are sold ready-made? has anyone ever tried to create their own culture?sinem - 07/11/2021
startup
I’m looking for a consultant to help me formulate soy yogurt as I want to start a small-scale business in this. I’ve tried a few methods but haven’t succeeded.Anyone who can help, please?
engrsmu@gmail.com
SITAL MUKHERJEE - 17/04/2024
Solgar for soy yogurt starter
Has anyone actually used Solgar acidophilus as a soy yogurt starter? If so, did you use the caplets or powder. If you used caplets, how many did you use to make 1 quart? I assume you just pull the caplet apart (releasing a powder)? If you used the powder directly, how much powder did you use to make 1 quart?Any other tips? Thank you!
deanandangela - 11/11/2013