The Easiest Vegan Yogurt Recipe

Michelle Schoffro Cook,  PhD, DNM, contributed this article, on how to  make the easiest vegan yogurt, right in yoy own kitchen. 

Michelle takes it from here: One day, while I was busy straining whey from a batch of homemade dairy-free yogurt and waiting for what seemed like way too long, I said to myself, there must be a better way. I started experimenting to create an easy vegan yogurt recipe that anyone can make.

I knew that yogurt had been made this way for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, but that was when yogurt was made from only cow’s, goat’s, or camel’s milk. While substituting cashews in place of milk, I set to work to find a better, no-muss, no-fuss method for making easy vegan cashew yogurt.

Realizing that the culturing time can only be sped up so much — after all, those little beneficial bacteria need time to work their magic — I also figured out that the best way to improve yogurt making was to remove the straining-curds-from-whey process, which is not only time-consuming and somewhat labor-intensive but also very messy.

After a few tries I discovered that it is possible to make delicious, cultured yogurt without all the muss or fuss of straining curds from whey.

There are so many ways to use vegan yogurt

While it still takes several hours for the probiotics to proliferate, giving yogurt its signature tangy taste, in a mere few minutes of actual prep time you can make your own yogurt. And, of course, you can set the probiotics to work while you sleep, thereby greatly reducing the seeming wait time for your fresh yogurt.

Not only is this yogurt delicious, but it also tends to result in a larger diversity of probiotic strains than commercial yogurt — and you’ll know from the taste whether it actually contains live cultures, which is hard to know when eating commercial varieties.

Additionally, this recipe contains the fiber that is naturally found in the cashews (most unflavored yogurt contains none) and is naturally thick like Greek yogurt.

And this easy vegan yogurt thickens up even more when left to culture overnight, making the perfect base for sauces, salad dressings, and marinades. 

Not all yogurt is created equal. Make sure to see Seven Myths About Yogurt

Recipes on this site using vegan yogurt …

• Vegan Cold Cucumber Yogurt Soup 
• Tangy Vegan ColdPotato Spinach Soup
• Easy Vegan Fruit Parfaits
• Amazingly Easy Homemade Vegan Cottage Cheese

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Yield: 1 quart

World’s Easiest Vegan Yogurt

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If you're looking for a quick route to an easy vegan yogurt, you've come to the right place!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 8 minutes

Total Time 18 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups raw, unsalted cashews
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1 probiotic capsule or ¼ teaspoon probiotic powder
• Pomegranate seeds or pitted frozen or fresh cherries for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. In a medium glass or ceramic bowl with a lid, combine the cashews with the water, and pour in the contents of the probiotic capsule (discarding the empty capsule shell) or the probiotic powder. Stir the ingredients together until combined. 
2. Attach the lid, and let sit at room temperature for eight to twenty-four hours, depending on how tangy you like your yogurt. 
3. Puree the ingredients in a blender until smooth, then return the yogurt to the bowl. Garnish with pomegranate seeds or cherries if desired, and enjoy immediately, or refrigerate for up to four days. 

The Cultured Cook is available wherever books are sold

Michelle Schoffro Cook, PhD, DNM, is an internationally bestselling author whose works include The Cultured Cook and Be Your Own Herbalist. She is a certified herbalist, a board-certified doctor of natural medicine, and one of the world’s most popular natural health bloggers. She holds advanced degrees in health, nutrition, orthomolecular nutrition, and acupuncture. She lives near Vancouver, BC. Visit her online at Michelle Schoffro Cook.

Excerpted from the book The Cultured Cook: Delicious Fermented Foods with Probiotics to Knock Out Inflammation, Boost Gut Health, Lose Weight & Extend Your Life. Copyright © 2017 by Michelle Schoffro Cook. Reprinted with permission from New World Library.

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