Instant Pot Soy Yogurt (2 Ingredients!)

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Instant Pot Soy Yogurt is a healthy, thick, and delicious vegan yogurt you can make with only 2 ingredients. This yogurt is so much better than store bought, has no fillers or preservatives, is sugar-free, and will save you money! Enjoy this yogurt in sweet or savory dishes and at any meal of the day!

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I’ve been making this Instant Pot soy yogurt every week (actually, about every 5 days as we go through it quickly!) since early October 2023, so for over 6 months. It’s SO easy to make, and one of my favorite breakfasts of all time.

Throughout my whole food plant-based eating journey, I’ve fallen in love with breakfast. (Never was a breakfast eater before.)

It must be because I’m making such delicious food! My other favorite breakfasts include cherry chocolate overnight oats, Wasa Light Rye Crispbread with hummus like butter bean hummus or beet hummus and cucumbers/tomatoes/microgreens plus a green smoothie or some date energy balls, and baked oats, which are coming super soon! I also can’t wait to share my low fat magic granola and butter bean scramble with you!

But back to this amazing homemade soy yogurt! My favorite way to enjoy soy milk yogurt is in a bowl with frozen and fresh fruit and lots of add-ins.

I’ll share everything I add in to my standard breakfast bowl, though that does evolve as I nerd out on nutrition and read lots of books. My favorite nutrition books are by authors like Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Furhman, and Dr. John McDougall.

But there are also many other ways to enjoy this Instant Pot soy yogurt! You can add soy milk yogurt into curries, pastas, and stews to make them creamy, you can serve it with granola and fresh fruit, you can add it into the hollowed out center of a cantaloupe or in a hollowed out tomato… there’s just so many ways to use this amazingly creamy vegan yogurt!

Ingredients

See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list (with amounts) and instructions.

• Plain Unsweetened Soy Milk: You want the kind that comes in a shelf-stable tetrapak (32 ounces), not the kind in the refrigerated milk section of the grocery store. Those carton non-dairy milks have all kinds of ingredients we don’t want to add, and I’m not sure they’d even work! I use only soy milk that contains just 2 ingredients: non-GMO organic soybeans and water. I personally have only tried and tested the brand Edensoy, but I’ve heard that Westsoy and Trader Joe’s brand (the one that’s called soy beverage with just soybeans and water) work as well.
• Vegan Probiotic Capsule: While you absolutely can find vegan yogurt starter, I prefer using a vegan probiotic capsule as I think it yields better results. For a month or two, I experimented with vegan yogurt starter, but my results were somewhat lumpy and very inconsistent. Often the soy yogurt didn’t turn out at all. I’ve been using one brand of vegan probiotic capsules for 4-5 months with much better luck.

Equipment

• Instant Pot: For this recipe, you need an Instant Pot that has a Yogurt button or setting on it. I use the Instant Pot 6 Qt Duo that I bought back in 2017 and it does have a yogurt button and it works quite well. While it is possible to make soy yogurt without an Instant Pot, you have to keep it in a warm environment. Please do research to learn the proper way to make it without the Instant Pot if you don’t have one.
• Mason Jars: You need durable glass jars to make your soy milk yogurt in. One batch of this recipe (using 1 pack of milk and 1 probiotic capsule) requires either a 32 ounce jar or two 16 ounce jars. You can use combinations of different sizes too, just make sure you have enough for about 28 ounces yogurt (it’s just slightly under 4 cups when you measure it out.
• Jar Lids: You don’t put the lids in with the soy milk yogurt, though you will need them for shaking the soy milk beforehand and for storing the homemade soy yogurt afterward.

How to Make Instant Pot Soy Yogurt

Watch me make this recipe or follow the step-by-step instructions below.

1. Note: This recipe is specifically written for the Instant Pot brand electric pressure cookers that come with a Yogurt setting. If you have another brand of pressure cooker that indicates it has a yogurt function, follow those instructions regarding what buttons to press, sealing the pressure valve, etc.
2. Timing: I like to start my Instant Pot soy yogurt in the morning so it will be done by bedtime. Then I store it in the refrigerator and it’s cold by morning. I don’t cook the homemade soy yogurt overnight because then the yogurt would be warm when I needed it since I eat it for breakfast. If you’re making it well in advance of when you’ll need it, you should be good to make it overnight if you prefer.
3. Prep the soy milk: Take your unopened package of soy milk and shake it for 10-20 seconds before opening it. Pour most of it into the jar until you’ve reached the very bottom ridge near the top of the jar. This should be about an inch from the top of the jar. I do not fill my jars to the top because every time I’ve tried the yogurt has not turned out. You will have a bit of soy milk leftover. You can drink that or store it in the fridge to use later in a cooking recipe, a matcha or coffee drink (soy milk froths well!), or a smoothie such as my green smoothie.
4. If using multiple smaller jars: If you’re using a few smaller jars, please follow these instructions. Pour the soy milk (about 28 ounces of it) into a 4-cup glass measuring cup or, even better, and 8-cup glass measuring bowl with a spout (any bowl will work but it’s much easier in a vessel that has a spout. Empty the contents of the probiotic capsule into the soy milk and whisk the powder into the soy milk until well combined, about 30-60 seconds. Pour the contents into each of your jars, leaving about an inch of free space at the top of each jar. Proceed to step 6.
5. Add the probiotic: Over the jar of soy milk, carefully open the probiotic capsule and empty the contents into the jar of soy milk. Place the lid on tight and use both hands to shake it well for 30-60 seconds. Remove the lid before proceeding to the next step.
6. Prep the Instant Pot: Add the jar(s) to the Instant Pot without lids. Try to place them in the center of the Instant Pot, but don’t worry if you have multiple jars and they don’t all look level. Place on the lid and tighten it. Set the pressure valve to ‘sealing’ and press the ‘yogurt’ button. Press the ‘+’ button until you get to the desired amount of warming time. I have experimented a lot and found 11 hours and 30 minutes to be the sweet spot for us, but you might need to experiment a little too and find your perfect amount of time.
7. Store: When the timer is up, promptly remove the homemade soy yogurt from the Instant Pot (do not allow it to sit overnight after it’s reached it’s programmed time, as that may encourage bad bacterial growth). Switch the pressure valve to ‘venting’ and carefully remove the lid (for me, there’s never been pressure buildup, but just be abundantly cautious whenever using a tool like this!). Remove the jars of homemade soy yogurt, add the lids, and place in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Note that if they are still liquid, they will not thicken in the fridge and they need more “cook” time. See the troubleshooting step below.
8. Troubleshooting: If the timer goes off and your Instant Pot soy yogurt is still liquid, set the timer for another hour. It should be good after that. If it is still not working, you may have a dead probiotic capsule. Try again with another capsule or a new bottle/package.

Expert Tips

• Brand of soy milk: It’s important to use a brand of soy milk that is just organic soy beans and water. I’ve only tried Edensoy Unsweetened Organic Soy Milk, but I’ve heard of people making successful homemade soy yogurt with Westsoy Unsweetened Organic Soy Milk as well as Trader Joe’s Organic Unsweetened Soy Beverage, all of which are shelf-stable soy milks that come in 32-ounce aseptic tetrapaks.
• Where to buy the soy milk: I buy my Edensoy from Vitacost in a 12 pack. this is the cheapest place I’ve found, and the soy milks always arrive in perfect condition. I have them on autoship to save a little extra, too. You can also buy the soy milk from Amazon, Edensoy’s website, and some health food stores.
• Hard to open the capsules? I don’t have an opposable thumb on my left hand, so I sometimes struggle to open the capsules. I also have occasionally dropped the capsule into the milk, which if it’s already half open it makes it hard to get all the powder out of that half of the capsule. It can be helpful to open the capsule over a small bowl (you can even cut it open with a sharp pair of kitchen scissors), empty the powder into the bowl, discard the capsule, and pour the powder from the bowl into the jar of soy milk and proceed with mixing it up.
• Make a double batch if needed: My partner and I both eat this homemade soy yogurt every day for breakfast, so we make a double batch. I use just under two cartons of soy milk, two probiotic capsules, two 32-ounce mason jars, and the same cook time. I just prepare the two jars side by side and open up one probiotic capsule over one jar and then shake it, one at a time so nothing clumps. The two big jars fit in the pressure cooker no problem, and I store both jars in the fridge when I am done. The two jars last us about 5 days. When we notice the second jar is half empty, we start another double batch.
• Do not just make the yogurt in the Instant Pot inner pot without putting it in jars: This can apparently have not great results, so I recommend you put it in the mason jars before putting it in the Instant Pot. Mason jars are so cheap from basically any store that has a canning section like most hardware stores and big box stores.
• Make soy yogurt in the Instant Pot but your model does NOT have a Yogurt button: If your Instant Pot does not have a Yogurt button, a bit of internet research has told me that you can use the ‘Keep Warm’ setting instead.
• Make soy yogurt without an Instant Pot: I have seen that this is possible. Some people cover the jars lightly with cheesecloth or similar and place in a warm window with sunlight, or in the oven with the light on (but not turning on the oven itself), like proofing bread. However, for food safety standards, the yogurt needs to be kept to a certain temperature which you’d have to measure and monitor and that’s a little too persnickety for me. Even if you factor in the cost of the Instant Pot, you’re still saving money by making your own yogurt. It’s also healthier than store bought yogurt (which has gums, preservatives, sugar, etc.). Plus you can do so much else with your Instant Pot like cook grains, beans from dried (no soaking required!), soups, curries, and more. It’s totally one of my favorite kitchen tools.

Serving Suggestions

There are SO MANY ways to use homemade Instant Pot soy yogurt. I’ll go over my favorite ways first, then I’ll talk about other options.

My absolute favorite way to use my homemade soy yogurt is in my morning yogurt bowl. I kid you not, I have been eating this bowl almost every day (probably 28 days out of the average 30 per month) for the last 6+ months and have not tired of it yet. I crave it, honestly, and I look forward to eating it every day.

Although some of the add-ins (I’ll get to those in a minute) may change, and the fresh fruit depends on what I have in the house, the bowl is mostly the same every day and contains the following:

• ½ cup frozen wild blueberries
• ½ cup frozen berry blend (I use an “antioxidant blend” with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, pomegranate arils, and dark cherries)
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed (which I freshly grind daily with a spice grinder)
• 1 tablespoon raw pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds (I alternate days on these and grind them with the flaxseed)
• 1 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon maca powder
• 1 teaspoon freeze dried cranberry powder
• Occasionally I will add a tablespoon or two of goji berries (if you soak them for a bit first, they are less crunchy)
• ½ cup homemade soy yogurt
• After stirring, I add fresh fruit. Usually about a cup of mixed fresh berries (whatever I have on hand) and a small mandarin (clementine) as I love the combination of the orange and berries together

That seems like a lot, but honestly it only takes me about 15 minutes to assemble both our breakfasts each morning.

Anyway, for sweet uses, you can also use homemade soy yogurt in smoothies, parfaits (layering berries and homemade granola which is coming soon!), use it as a sour cream or oil replacement in baking recipes (keep muffins moist!), or use it in a frozen yogurt or yogurt bark recipe. I haven’t tried those yet, but as I write this we are approaching the warmer months so I will definitely.

There are tons of savory uses for homemade soy yogurt too! Use it to make a soup creamy, use it in a curry with a touch of coconut extract as an alternative to high-fat coconut milk, use it as a cooling sauce with a spicy dish, or use it as a base for a dip or dressing like ranch, tzatziki, raita, salad dressing, and more.

More Plant-Based Recipes to Try

• Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats
• Date Energy Balls
• 3-Ingredient Plant-Based Chocolate Sauce
• Healthy Chickpea Tuna Salad
• Butter Bean Hummus
• Cabbage Mushroom Soup
• Portobello Pizzas
• Beet Hummus
• Bell Pepper Nachos with Plant-Based Nacho Cheese Sauce and Edamame Guacamole
• Potato and Cauliflower Soup
• Spinach Artichoke Hummus

Instant Pot Soy Yogurt Recipe

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