Homemade coconut yogurt is easier than you’d think, I promise! With only 2 ingredients required, you’ll wonder why you never made it sooner. Keep reading for the step-by-step process of how to make coconut yogurt from scratch at home!
Note: Please make sure that you read through the entire instructions in this post. Yogurt-making can be finicky, so you’ll want to follow these steps as closely as possible. You can also read through the Troubleshooting tips at the bottom of this post if needed.
I did a poll on my Instagram stories last week and 94% of you have never made coconut milk yogurt at home! Which I completely understand. It’s not usually on the top of our to-do list, plus the idea of making homemade yogurt sounds tedious and inconvenient.
Except it’s not. Like, at all.
I’ll admit it’s been a while since I’ve made a batch o’ homemade coconut yogurt but I forgot how ridiculously simple it is. 2-ingredient kinda simple!
Why I Love Coconut Yogurt
- Rich in probiotic bacteria for happy digestion
- Loaded with healthy fats for energy, balanced blood sugar, skin and cognition
- Rich, creamy, and super versatile
- The easiest thing ever to make!
What you Need to Make Homemade Coconut Yogurt
All you need for this recipe is a can of full-fat coconut milk and a probiotic capsule. A variety of probiotic brands should work, but a few good options are Renew Life’s Ultimate Flora 50 billion (this is what I have in my fridge right now), Natural Factors Critical Care 55 billion, or Genuine Health 50 billion (this one is 100% dairy-free). All you need to do is open up one of the capsules and pour out the probiotic powder inside. If you try a different brand, look for one that has around 50 billion live cultures also, and report in the comments with how it turns out!
For the coconut milk, I like the pretty standard and easy-to-find brand Thai Kitchen. This one contains some guar gum which is fine, but make sure that you don’t use one that has added sugars or chemical additives. Native Forest and Cha’s are some other great options. Do not use half-fat or “lite” coconut milks or the beverage kind that comes in a carton.
You’ll also need a clean, sterile glass container (I use a 500ml mason jar for this recipe), a clean dish cloth or cheese cloth for covering the yogurt while it ferments, and a wooden spoon. Metal spoons can react adversely with the probiotics.
How to Make Coconut Yogurt
Begin by adding your coconut milk to your jar. The cream and liquid may be separated in your can of coconut milk, in which case simply scoop out all the contents (cream + liquid) into a jar and whisk thoroughly until very smooth.
Then, simply pop open your probiotic capsule (you may need to twist and fiddle with it a bit) and pour the powder into the jar! Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture thoroughly to make sure there are no clumps.
Next, cover with a thin, clean dish towel or cheese cloth and secure with an elastic band. This blocks contaminants from getting in while allowing air to pass through. Do not cover with a tight lid as fermentation gases won’t be able to escape!
And finally, let your container sit somewhere at room temperature for 48 hours. For best results you’ll want your home environment to be a temperature of least 23F. Warmth is what allows the coconut milk to ferment into yogurt! Alternatively, you can plop the jar into your UNUSED oven with the light on to create a warm environment. But, only do this if you’re certain you won’t forget about it and end up turning on your oven with it still in there!
After 48 hours (this is the ideal time for a perfectly tangy yogurt!) you can now remove the cloth covering. Now is a good time to check that it doesn’t smell bad or have any weird growths — if so, absolutely get rid of it. But you should be good to go! Give it another thorough stir, twist a tight lid on top, and place it in your refrigerator. This will allow it to chill and thicken. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.
I personally like my yogurt plain and enjoyed with fresh fruit like banana or berries, but feel free to add maple syrup, honey, or vanilla extract once it’s finished fermenting!
Homemade Coconut Yogurt
A simple, tangy, 2-ingredient coconut milk yogurt recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 probiotic capsule
Instructions
-
Add your coconut milk to your jar. The cream and liquid may be separated in your can of coconut milk, in which case simply scoop out all the contents (cream + liquid) into your jar and whisk thoroughly until very smooth.
-
Pop open your probiotic capsule and pour powder into jar. Using a wooden spoon, stir the mixture thoroughly to make sure there are no clumps.
-
Cover with a thin, clean dish towel or cheese cloth and secure with an elastic band. Do not cover with a tight lid.
-
Let your container sit somewhere at room temperature for 48 hours. Alternately, place jar into your UNUSED oven with the light on to create a warm environment. But do not forget it’s in there, and DO NOT turn on the oven!
-
After 48 hours, check that it doesn’t smell bad or have any weird growths. Then, give it another thorough stir, twist a tight lid on top, and place it in your refrigerator to chill and thicken.
-
Optional: add maple syrup, honey, or vanilla extract once it’s finished fermenting! Enjoy with fresh fruit.
Recipe Notes
Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Troubleshooting
Making homemade yogurt can be finicky. Below are some tips if your yogurt isn’t turning out quite as well as you hoped!
Separation — if your coconut milk is separating, this could be caused by the brand that you’re using. I’ve only tried Thai Kitchen and have had great success with it. If you’re using one that has added water, this may be the culprit to runny yogurts or separation.
Not fermenting— it’s very important that the temperature of your room is not too warm or cold to allow for optimal fermentation to occur. For best results you’ll want your home environment to be a temperature of least 23F.
Too runny — make sure that after the 48 hour mark of letting your yogurt ferment at room temperature, you stir it and place it in the fridge to chill and thicken. Another option for creating thicker yogurt is to just use the coconut “cream” portion in your can and discard the liquid. If your canned coconut milk is already combined, refrigerate overnight to separate the cream.
Let me know how your coconut milk yogurt turns out if you give this recipe a try. Happy yogurt-making!
My probiotics I take only have 15 billion. Could I use more than one capsule and get the same results?
Hey Nicole! Yep that should work. I’d just use 3 of them!
Hi
Can you use only one capsule of 14 billion??
Hello! You can try it with just one, it may work fine! You could also try tripling it and using 3 of them (if you have more than 1).
Meghan
Can I use a yogurt starter pack instead of the probiotic?
Jo
Hi Jo. I have not used a yogurt starter for this recipe so I’m not sure. But you could definitely give it a try! It may work fine.
Hello and thank you for this recipe. I’ve tried it three times, but each single time, the water seperated from the creamy part. Did I do something wrong?
Nathalie
Hey Nathalie. Oh no! At what point did it begin to separate? Before placing it into the fridge after it fermented? Did you give it a good stir before mixing in the probiotic?
Hello the same happen to me the water separated before placing in the fridge and I also wanted to know why this happened and should I just start the process again.
Hello! Do you mean the liquid + fat in your can of coconut milk were separated? Just whisk it until it’s smooth before adding the probiotic. What brand of coconut milk did you use?
Mine separated as well, maybe 48 hours is to long? Can I just mix together and it’s fine and put in the fridge? I’m not sure when it separated but I added cream and probiotic together put it on counter for 43 hours and checked it to it separated. And top is bubbly doesnt smell bad.
Hi Carmen! It needs to be room temperature for 24-48 hours in order for it to ferment. If it’s bubble it may have worked – did you give it a stir? If it has a nice sour taste it should be fine!
Hi Meghan! I just tried this recipe last night and experienced what a few others noted as well- the separation. I used Goya coconut milk and mixed it thoroughly before adding the probiotic, but the mixture separated within an hour of blending everything together. Do you think it’s still safe to wait and check at the 48 hour mark, or would you recommend starting over? I really want this to work! Thank you!!
Hi Emily! Some brands of coconut milk have added water which may contribute to the separation. I’ve only tried this recipe with Thai Kitchen or Native Forest coconut milk which are thicker. However, it may still be totally fine to consume after the 24-48 hours. Try giving it a stir then and putting it into the fridge to thicken. If it has a nice sour taste, it should be okay. If it smells or tastes very bad, then you’ll have to try again. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with!
Okay, I’ll give it a try and report back if it seems okay when mixed and refrigerated. If not, I’ll try the Thai Kitchen brand.
Thanks so much for your advice!
Hey Meghan!
Just tried this recipe and I love it! Mine is fluffy and creamy – perfect! I do have one question. What should the smell be? You said if it smells bad to throw it out – mine is a mixture of rich coconut with a tiny hint of sulphur. Definitely not enough to turn me away.. I figure it’s probably the probiotic? Can you give any insight to what it should smell like?
Hey Lisa! Hmm it’s hard to say without me smelling it myself, but it sounds like it’s totally normal. As long as it doesn’t smell like it has gone
“bad”. The fermentation process from the probiotics will definitely create a light scent!
Hi Megan,
I’m making this for the 1st time tonite – hoping it turns out like the successes you & others have had.
I put mine in the microwave, it’s 74F in there presently.
I’m pretty certain you mean Celsius when you wrote:
“For best results you’ll want your home environment to be a temperature of least 23F.”
Looking forward to enjoying the “easiest” recipe for yogurt EVER!
Thank You!
i think you are right
I love the ease and simplicity of this recipe, TY!
I have now made it twice with Native Forest Simple Organic Unsweetened Coconut Milk with no Guar Gum. Even tho I increased the probiotics to 75 Billion, I’m pretty sure the Guar Gum is necessary for a firm set because mine was just milky not creamy both times. And yet it still was a delicious… drink. 😉
Hi Cecilia, I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed this coconut yogurt! Sorry that it turned out runny and not as thick. It can be tricky to get yogurt just right sometimes as it’s so easily affected by temperature, etc. Glad it was still delicious for you though!
how do you know if it fermented? mine does not have that tang I expected, but that is usually with regular yogurt and not coconut… I followed the Dr. Davis method/recipe, which is only slightly different and used a stick blender to avoid separation. It tastes good and coconutty, just not what I expected. Can I assume if it was in the yogurt maker for the 48 hours it worked?