3-ingredient Homemade Cashew Yogurt is so easy to make. It's creamy, tangy, and delicious. Plus, this dairy-free yogurt contains probiotics just like dairy yogurt, but without the unhealthy fats. You DO NOT need an Instant Pot to make this recipe. It works in an oven, on a countertop in warmer climates, or next to a broiler.
Cashew yogurt is my favorite vegan yogurt. I use it in place of yogurt in recipes, or enjoy it plain by the spoonful, or with fruit and granola. However, it's pricey and not widely available. This inspired me to create my own. This Homemade Cashew Yogurt turned out to be the perfect texture. It's thicker than the store bought cashew yogurt brands I have tried, which tend to be thin and watery. This one is perfectly creamy and tastes amazing. Plus, it contains all clean ingredients – raw cashews, distilled water, and a starter (any yogurt with live bacterial cultures or probiotic capsules).
This homemade cashew yogurt recipe was inspired by Easy Vegan Tzatziki when my YouTube followers from different parts of the world said they couldn't find cashew yogurt to make it! It's also ideal for adding to curries and chilis. I add it to my High-Protein Chickpea and Lentil Curry, as well as this Easy Vegan Tomato Basil Soup for extra creaminess and tang.
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👩🏼🌾 Ingredients
Milk and a yogurt starter are all you need to make homemade yogurt. For this vegan Homemade Cashew Yogurt recipe, raw cashews and distilled water are blended together to make nondairy cashew milk.
- Distilled water works best for making yogurt because it lacks minerals and impurities which can potentially interfere with the yogurt-making process. Plus, it's free from harmful microbes and bacteria that might be in tap water. It also ensures that the yogurt has a clean and pure taste. Plus, distilled water has a stable pH level during the fermentation process. This is important because the live cultures thrive in a specific pH range. While you can use safe tap water, I prefer to use distilled water for the best quality yogurt.
- A small amount of commercialized unsweetened yogurt with live active cultures is used as a starter for homemade yogurt. The yogurt starter, or culture, is a specific type of bacteria used to initiate the fermentation process. These include Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. The two bacteria work together to create the right texture, consistency, and flavor. Make sure the starter yogurt starter is labeled as containing "live and active cultures." You can save a portion of your homemade cashew yogurt as a starter for your next batch of homemade yogurt.
- Raw cashews are blended with water to make cashew milk for this nondairy yogurt. Typically, for dairy yogurt, cow's or goat's milk is used instead.
See recipe card for quantities.
🥜 Substitutions
- Cashews - instead of cashews, use almonds, a different nut, or hemp seeds
- Unsweetened cultured yogurt - use any commercial yogurt with live active cultures. Do not use sweetened yogurt as this will slow down the fermentation process. You can save a portion of homemade cashew yogurt as a starter for the next batch of yogurt.
Make my Easy Masoor Dal Recipe. It's packed with protein and pairs delctably with cashew yogurt! For more easy and healthy breakfast and snack ideas, visit my Vegan Breakfast Recipes page.
🥣 Equipment
To make yogurt at home, you need a saucepan, blender, bowl, and an insulated container or appliance for fermentation. This can be an Instant Pot, an oven with the pilot light on, a yogurt maker, or a pet warming blanket! Or place the bowl near your broiler. Keeping the bowl of milk and yogurt starter warm for a consistent period allows the bacteria to convert the milk into yogurt.
📖 Instructions
Step 1. Transfer the cashews and distilled water to a small saucepan. Bring the water to a simmer over medium-high heat. As soon as bubbles start appearing on the water’s surface, turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and remove it from the stove. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Step 2. Transfer the cashews and water from the saucepan to the canister of a blender.
Step 3. Blend on high until a smooth milk forms.
Step 4. Transfer the cashew milk to a medium ceramic or glass bowl. Add the starter yogurt and mix well to combine. (If using probiotic capsules, empty the powder into the bowl and mix.)
Step 5. Place the bowl inside an unused oven with the pilot light on, or inside the inner pot of an Instant Pot, by a broiler, wrapped in a pet warming blanket, or on the countertop in warmer climates.
Step 6. For the Instant Pot, press the ‘yogurt’ button on the right, and set the timer to 10 hours. Or place the bowl inside an unheated oven with the pilot light on for 8 hours. The set Homemade Cashew Yogurt will be thick, creamy, and tangy.
💡 Expert Tips
- Storage: Refrigerate Homemade Cashew Yogurt in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. If you are using this batch as a starter to make more yogurt, do this within one week of making it.
- For a thicker yogurt, use less distilled water (about 1 cup total).
- For a tangier yogurt, ferment it for longer before refrigerating the yogurt. Refrigeration stops the fermenting process and the yogurt thickens as it cools.
- For a less tangy yogurt, use 1 tablespoon yogurt starter instead of 2 tablespoons.
- Do not use sweetened yogurt as a starter. This will slow down the fermentation process. Use any unsweetened yogurt with live active cultures, or probiotic capsules.
- Other warming options: Cover the bowl with a dish towel, cling wrap or reusable silicone lid and wrap it inside a warming pet blanket, or place it on the kitchen countertop in warmer temperatures, or leave it next to a broiler for 8 hours.
🙋🏽♀️ Recipe FAQs
Homemade yogurt can be an excellent source of probiotics when made correctly with live and active cultures, such as Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. When you make yogurt at home using a starter that contains live bacterial cultures, you are essentially creating a product rich in these probiotics.
You can use vanilla yogurt as a starter for homemade yogurt if it contains live and active yogurt cultures. A hint of the vanilla flavor will transfer over to the homemade batch. If the vanilla yogurt is sweetened, this can slow down the fermentation process. A small amount of added sugar should not be a problem, but heavily sweetened yogurts are not good starters.
To make four servings of Homemade Cashew Yogurt, you need 1 cup raw cashews, which costs anywhere from $3 to $6, or sometimes more, when purchased in the United States, depending on whether they are organic, and where you buy them. Buying them from bulk bins in the supermarket is the cheapest option.
Store bought cashew yogurt is about $2.50 for a single-serve container. Plus, it is not widely available. I also find the texture of commercial cashew yogurt too thin for using it in place of yogurt for recipes that call for dairy yogurt.
Once you have activated the starter culture and started making yogurt, your homemade yogurt is generally good for eating for up to 2 weeks, when stored in the refrigerator. For re-culturing, use the homemade yogurt within 7 days to make a new batch.
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Cashew Yogurt
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons distilled water
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened yogurt with live and active cultures or 2 vegan probiotic pills
Instructions
- Soak cashews: Transfer the cashews and distilled water to a small saucepan. Bring the water to a simmer over medium-high heat.As soon as bubbles start appearing on the water’s surface, turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and remove it from the stove. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Make cashew milk: Transfer the cashews and water from the saucepan to the canister of a blender. Blend on high until a smooth milk forms.
- Add starter: Transfer the cashew milk to a medium ceramic or glass bowl. Add the starter yogurt and mix well to combine. (If using probiotic capsules, empty the powder into the bowl and mix.)
- Insulate: Place the bowl inside an unheated oven with the pilot light on, or inside the inner pot of an Instant Pot. For the Instant Pot, press the ‘yogurt’ button on the right, and set the timer to 10 hours. For the oven, set aside for 6 to 8 hours. The set yogurt will be thick, creamy, and tangy. Other warming options: Cover the bowl with a large dish towel, cling wrap or reusable silicone lid and wrap it inside a warming pet blanket, or place it on the countertop in warmer temperatures, or leave it next to a broiler for 6 to 8 hours.
- Storage: Serve immediately or refrigerate the cashew yogurt in an airtight container for up to two weeks.
Notes
- For thicker yogurt, use less distilled water (about 1 cup total).
- For tangier yogurt, ferment it for longer before refrigerating the yogurt. Refrigeration stops the fermenting process and the yogurt thickens as it cools.
- For a less tangy yogurt, use 1 tablespoon yogurt starter instead of 2 tablespoons.
- Do not use sweetened yogurt as a starter. This will slow down the fermentation process. Use any unsweetened yogurt with live active cultures, or probiotic capsules.
- Storage: Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Use homemade cashew yogurt as a starter for making more yogurt within 7 days of making.
Nutrition
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an ESTIMATE only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe.
Natalia
Hi Nisha 🌺 thanks a lot for this recipe? What is a reason for a first step - hot soaking? Why don’t we use normal soaking for 4 hours or overnight? Just curious)
Nisha Melvani
Hi! It's just a quicker soaking method but you can leave them overnight in tap water instead.