The Best Instant Pot Coconut Milk Yogurt (GF/DF/V/Paleo/AIP)

These crazy quarantine days have me making all-the-things. When I first tried homemade instant pot yogurt I thought it would be so easy. Wrong! I had several failed attempts and a lot of frustration before I got the perfect recipe. That’s why it took me so long to write this blog post. I don’t want you to go through what I did. This instant pot coconut milk yogurt is perfectly creamy, slightly tangy, and needs no added sweetener. It tastes so fresh, even my kids will eat it without adding anything to it!

My family does not tolerate dairy, but the good coconut yogurts are $4 each at the store! You read that right – FOUR DOLLARS EACH. It’s insane. This is a much more economical version and it’s a million times better than anything you can buy. Promise.

Tips for Making Instant Pot Yogurt (VERY IMPORTANT!)

Don’t make the same mistakes I did. I wasted a lot of ingredients before I got it right. Be sure you read and follow these tips thoroughly!

• Wash your instant pot lid, metal pot, sauce pan and all utensils with warm soapy water and rinse well.
• REMOVE THE INNER RING INSIDE THE INSTANT POT LID!!!!! When you make yogurt, you don’t need it. I left mine in once and ruined it.
• Do not use the yogurt function to heat up your milk. It doesn’t get it to the right temperature to ferment correctly. Again, ruined another batch. It’s better to heat your ingredients over the stove with a thermometer (I use a candy thermometer.)
• Do not pour the gelatin or agar agar (thickener) into the big pot of hot liquid assuming it will dissolve. It won’t. It gets lumpy and gross. Follow the instructions. Let it sit in cold milk, then slowly add hot liquid to it until it dissolves. Don’t take short cuts. Again, learn from my mistakes.
• If your yogurt turns out too thin, have no fear! It’s not ruined! Add some chia seeds and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours to thicken up. For really runny yogurt, add 2-3 tablespoons to this recipe amount.

My Favorite Toppings For Yogurt

These are my favorite toppings for homemade coconut milk yogurt:

• Fresh Fruit (Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, bananas and oranges are always a hit)
• Homemade granola
• Nutsola
• Chopped nuts or seeds (hemp seeds and walnuts are my favorite)
• Drizzle with honey if you like yours sweet
• Cacao nibs or chocolate chips

This Instant Pot Coconut Milk Yogurt is 100% worth the effort. Don’t be intimidated. And please come back and let me know how it goes in the comments below!

The Best Homemade Instant Pot Coconut Milk Yogurt

So fresh, you'll never go back to store bought.

4 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Breakfast

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

• 2 cans coconut cream
• 1 can coconut milk, full fat
• 2 tbs gelatin or agar agar
• 1 packet vegan yogurt starter kit or a few tablespoons of cultured yogurt
• 2 tbs maple syrup Do not skip, the bacteria in the yogurt starter needs sugar to ferment and eats most of it anyway.
• 2 tsp organic vanilla powder or vanilla bean paste

Instructions

 

• First, wash your instant pot insert and lid well. REMOVE THE LINER inside the lid.
• In a small saucepan, heat coconut milk and cream to 180 degrees (reserve 1/4 cup and place into a small bowl)
• Add gelatin or agar agar to reserved coconut milk and let sit.
• Once at 180 degrees, take about 1/4 cup and pour into small bowl with reserved liquid + gelatin. Stir to dissolve completely. If you need to, add a bit more hot milk until fully dissolved. Then pour into the sauce pan and stir well.
• Pour hot milk into the instant pot with lid open and turned OFF. Let cool to 105 – 110 degrees (30-40 minutes)
• Whisk in vegan starter culture and maple syrup.
• Cover with lid. Turn on yogurt function. Set to 12 hours.
• I cook mine 9-12 hours for best result. The longer you cook it the thicker and tangier it will become. Keep in mind, it won't fully thicken until it's in the fridge so it may look thinner than yogurt when you take it out.
• If for any reason it turns grey, pink. or has an "off" odor, throw it out. Something went wrong.
• Once done, pour it into a glass container and let cool overnight. If it turns out too thin, add 2-3 tbs chia seeds to thicken it up. This seems to depend on the type of coconut milk you use and how much thickener you added. If it turns out too thick, cook it less time next time or use less thickener.
• Once cooled, serve with your favorite toppings.

Notes

Recipe by Liz at https://www.thenutramom.com

This recipe was inspired and adapted from the recipe by Lexi’s Clean Kitchen.