Easy 4 Ingredient Coconut Milk Yogurt Recipe

Looking for an easy coconut yogurt recipe? I share this tutorial on how easy it is to make homemade coconut yogurt at home with just a few ingredients! 

Homemade yogurt is one of the easiest cultured foods you can make in your kitchen. All you need is good quality milk and yogurt from a previous batch or a yogurt starter culture.

Dairy-free yogurts little more challenging to make. It’s usually very thin consistency and more of a drink than something you eat with a spoon. I’ve spent a lot of time testing this recipe and have found some tips that will result in a really thick and delicious dairy-free coconut yogurt. 

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Coconut Yogurt Recipe Ingredients

The four things that I’ve found that make the most significant difference in making coconut milk yogurt is the quality of the coconut milk, using a thickener (I use gelatin), a high-quality yogurt starter or probiotic, and making sure you have sugar mixed in with the coconut milk during the culturing process.

Coconut Milk: Use quality full-fat coconut milk with no additives or thickeners listed on the ingredients. You want just coconuts and water – that’s it. You can easily make coconut milk at home. (But if you don’t have that kind of time – just make sure you buy one of the best coconut milk brands.) You can also use coconut cream, which is thicker and will result in a texture more like a greek-style yogurt.

Thickener: Gelatin works wonderfully as a thickener (and adds protein), so the coconut milk yogurt sets up like a typical yogurt thickness. Agar agar flakes can be used instead to keep this a vegan yogurt. Other ways to thicken coconut yogurt include adding a teaspoon of of tapioca starch or coconut milk powder. 

Yogurt Starter or Probiotic: I made this coconut milk yogurt recipe with a yogurt starter culture and a probiotic powder from a capsule. Both batches turned out excellent!

Sugar: Adding a natural sweetener like maple syrup, date paste, organic cane sugar, or coconut sugar is essential for the yogurt to culture. I know some will want to make this a sugar-free yogurt, but the bacteria in the yogurt need to feed on natural sugar during the culture process. If you want to add in some flavor and make a more indulgent treat, try vanilla coconut sugar.

How to Make Coconut Yogurt (Coconut Yogurt Recipe)

1. Dissolve gelatin or agar-agar with 1/4 cup of coconut milk and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining coconut milk up over low heat until it’s hot and steaming. Be sure not to bring it to a boil. 
3. Remove the heated coconut milk off the stove and mix the gelatin mixture and sugar into the hot coconut milk.
4. Let it cool until it’s about 90 degrees.
5. Pour the coconut milk into a clean 2-quart size jar. I recommend using sterilized glass jars.
6. Now it’s time to add the starter culture! Pour the starter culture into the coconut milk and mix well.
7. If you’re using a probiotic capsule, then this is the step to add it. You must open the capsule and pour the probiotic into the warm coconut milk. Stir well.
8. Cover with a lid and keep the coconut milk at 100-115 degrees for 18-24 hours. I made coconut milk yogurt in both my dehydrator and in the oven. If you use your range, all you have to do is turn the oven light on and wrap the jar with a towel to hold the heat in. You can also use a yogurt maker or instant pot.
9. When the coconut milk is finished, it will taste sour, and the yogurt will be a little thick (it’ll thicken more once you refrigerate it).
10. Chill the yogurt in the fridge. It’ll be suitable for up to 2 weeks!
11. You can strain it in a cheesecloth or Nut Milk Bag if you want thicker yogurt.

Ready to make another batch?

Keep 1/4 cup of your coconut milk yogurt to use to make your next batch of yogurt. The process is the same, but you won’t need to use a probiotic or starter culture. Instead, add 1/4 cup of coconut milk yogurt from the previous batch to the warm coconut milk, gelatin, sugar mixture.

Coconut Yogurt FAQ

This natural coconut yogurt has a slightly sweet coconut flavor and is perfect eaten alone, or added to smoothies. I also like to top it with fresh fruit or gluten-free granola. Make a coconut smoothie by blending coconut yogurt with coconut water for a refreshing beverage.  

Related Recipes:

• Coconut Kefir Recipe
• How To Make Coconut Water Kefir

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I originally published this recipe on October 6th, 2015 and updated with recipe updates and images on January 17th, 2022.

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