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Dairy-free 5-ingredient yogurt that is just as thick as Greek yogurt! Perfectly tangy, insanely creamy, and super easy to make. You are going to love this vegan yogurt prepared from cashew and almond milk!
You guys are loving this Vegan Almond Milk Yogurt, but some of you had trouble getting your hands on the gums used to thicken it.
So I went back to the drawing board and created a brand new vegan yogurt that is thick (think Greek-style), super creamy, gum-free, agar-free, coconut-free, and that requires just 4 ingredients! It’s thick, rich, perfectly tangy, and so easy to make!
⭐️ Why You Should Try This Recipe
- Few ingredients. No gums or agar, this recipe relies only on raw cashews, almonds, and some cornstarch. Basic ingredients you can find very easily.
- Creamier and thicker than ever. While my almond milk yogurt was already thick, this one has an even more pleasant texture and a richer mouthfeel.
- Mild yogurt flavor. I tweaked a bit more the amount of starter used, as well as the incubation time. Now, it relies only on yogurt from a previous batch (or store-bought), which is much easier to find than vegan yogurt starter or probiotics.
- Three ways to make it. 1) With an Instant Pot. 2) With a Yogurt Maker. 3) In the oven. I’m giving directions for each method in the recipe.
🥣 How to Make Vegan Cashew Yogurt
To achieve a thick consistency without using gums, I relied on cashews that add a lot of body to the texture, almonds, and just a little bit of cornstarch. If you are worried this yogurt tastes like raw cashews, don’t worry! The flavor is very subtle.
Preparing the milk
Start by blending soaked cashews and almonds with water to make a rich nut milk. Then, strain through a nut milk bag. This step is essential to achieve a silky smooth texture.
Thickening
Once the milk is ready, dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in a couple of tablespoons of milk and pour it back into the milk. Transfer to a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it thickens, whisking regularly.
Remove the milk from the heat and transfer it to a glass bowl.
Now, you want to cover the thickened milk with plastic paper to touch to prevent a skin from appearing on top. Let it cool until it’s not hot anymore before stirring in a teaspoon of non-dairy yogurt.
Culturing
To ferment, you can use a yogurt maker or an Instant Pot. I went with the Instant Pot, set on Yogurt mode for 7 hours. Finally, refrigerate for a few hours before enjoying! Check out the recipe to learn how to make it in an oven or yogurt maker.
🍓 How to Flavor Yogurt
Not a fan of plain yogurt? Here are a few ideas to add more flavor to it! These are for one serving (add to already-made yogurt).
- Strawberry Jam: Add a couple tablespoons of your favorite jam and stir.
- Mango: Make some mango purée in a blender, add a squeeze of lime or passion fruit juice, and mix.
- Maple Coffee: Stir in about 1/8 tsp of coffee extract and maple syrup to taste.
- Vanilla: 1/8 tsp of vanilla extract is just enough to add a delicate flavor to your yogurt.
- Nutella: Stir in a tablespoon of hazelnut butter and a spoon of cacao powder and mix!
- Pumpkin Spice: Add 1 tablespoon of pumpkin purée, 1/8 tsp of pumpkin spice, and maple syrup to taste.
🍫 Toppings
- Granola: I’m thinking vanilla, chocolate granola, or this Lime, Coconut & Macadamia Granola!
- Bars: Your favorite energy bars cut into chunks. Or even Protein Bars for extra protein!
- Nut Butters: Peanut butter, almond butter, or Vanilla Chocolate Spread!
- Chocolate Chips: It’s just too good and adds crunchiness.
- Crushed Cookies: When I’m out of granola but have leftover cookies, you can be sure they will be crumbled on top of yogurt.
I hope you will love this vegan yogurt! It’s delicious on its own but also great to make sauces, dips, or use in baked goods!
📔 More Vegan Yogurt Recipes
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Cashew & Almond Yogurt (Greek-Style!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1 and 3/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tsp non-dairy yogurt
Instructions
- Soak the cashews and almonds overnight. Drain and transfer to a high-speed blender. Add the water and blend on high for about 30 seconds.
- Transfer the cashew and almond milk to a nut milk bag and squeeze it over a large bowl to strain the milk. Try straining as much milk as possible. Discard the pulp or use in cookies, cakes, etc.
- Dissolve the cornstarch in 3 tbsp of the cashew/almond milk. Add it back to the milk.
- Transfer the cashew/almond milk to a medium sauce pan, add the sugar, and heat over medium heat. Whisk constantly until it comes to a boil and starts to thicken. As soon as it as thickened, remove from heat, pour into a small glass bowl and cover with plastic film to touch (to prevent a skin from forming on top). Let it cool for about 1 hour, or until it’s at room temperature.
- Add the teaspoon of non-dairy yogurt and stir using a wooden spoon to mix with the milk. Cover again with plastic film to touch.
- If using an Instant Pot: Place 1 cup of water in the pot. Add the steam rack and place the bowl of yogurt on top. Close the lid and set on Yogurt mode for 7 hours for a mild yogurt.
- If using a Yogurt Maker: Divide the yogurt into small jars. Set the maker for 7 hours.
- If using an Oven: Turn on the oven and set it to the lowest temperature (mine is 50°C). Preheat for about 20 minutes. Next, turn it off but leave the light on. Place your bowl of yogurt in the oven and let it incubate for 7-8 hours with the light on.
- Once your yogurt is ready, refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until cold before enjoying. Yogurt will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
🧀 25 Mind-Blowing Vegan Cheese Recipes!
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Why couldn’t you soak the nuts separately. Drain them. Blend the almonds with a little water and strain it to make the almond milk . Then blend the cashews with a small amount of almond milk so the consistency remains thick. This way you do way with the cornstarch. Then pulse in either probiotic or previous yogurt. Put it in a jar and culture it.
You lose an ingredient and you don’t water down the flavor as much and it is very thick like greek yogurt.
I make cashew cream with just soaked cashews and a little water to put in my mashed potatoes, sauces coffee, and make salad dressing. To make yogurt I just put in probiotics and culture it. Cashew cream is a great base for lots of stuff.
It took me many tries before getting this recipe right. I did try by blending cashews with almond milk but I was not pleased with the texture and flavor of the yogurt. It was not as smooth, had a too strong cashew flavor, and was too rich/filling. By straining and slightly thickening with cornstarch, the yogurt not only has a super smooth consistency, but is also less rich, more enjoyable in my opinion.
I also prepare cashew cream regularly, so I know how it tastes, and even if you water it down a bit, it still doesn’t have a true yogurt flavor if using probiotics. Yogurt starter (or some yogurt from a previous batch) yields a flavor much closer to real yogurt.
This looks awesome! Would it be possible to use store bought cashew/almond milk?
I would definitely not recommend it, it won’t thicken as much since store bought nut milks are very watery.
Hi – is the sugar necessary, or is it just to make the yoghurt sweeter? Thanks x
Hi Belinda,
Sugar is not necessary but I found it rounds up the flavor a bit without making it sweet.
Hi! Thanks for the recipe. Just wondering, can we use probiotic capsules as a starter instead of the non dairy yogurt? 1 or more? Im from Chile and we do not have many “good” vegan yogurts on the markets.
Hi Andrea, I would recommend yogurt starter instead. Probiotics results are too hard to predict depending on the brand, microorganisms, amount of it, etc.
Hey i’d like to know how can be fermented without non dairy yogurt? Im from Brazil and unfortunately here I cant find non dairy yogurt and that why I want to make it all by myself. Do you know some yeast I can buy?
You can look for vegan yogurt starter, usually sold in powder form.
Hi Leticia. Have you ever made rejuvelac? (I make it using whole organic wheat, but many other grains work). A tablespoon of the homemade fermented beverage is super for making yoghurts, so may be a good way to go if you don’t have access to dairy free yoghurt for a starter where you live. 😊
I have PuraDyme LiyfBiotic powder. Can I use this in place of the yogurt in this recipe?
Non-Dairy yogurt not available to me here in Macon GA.
Also can I substitute Joi or WestSoy Almond/Cashew milk (without all the fillers and gums) in place of the nuts in this recipe?
Hi Yolanda,
I have never heard about this brand and unfortunately it’s very difficult to predict the results. All probiotics are different, I would suggest going with yogurt starter instead.
Regarding the milk, again it’s difficult to say if you will get the same texture, I doubt it though since commercial milks are usually quite thin and not as rich.
This yogurt is the closest I have ever come to “Greek Yoghurt”. Over the last seven years I have purchased a number and made a few, but none of them came even close to your Cashew & Almond Yogurt (Greek-Style!). This recipe is an absolute winner! I made it using my Severin Yoghurt maker for seven hours.
I shelled the almonds with the intention of using the nut pulp for biscuits, however, when I emptied the nut milk bag it crossed my mind that it looked so much like cheese and on tasting I was struck by how close to ricotta cheese it was. Sooo, whilst waiting for the yogurt I made a vegan ricotta and spinach lasagne the turned out really delicious – so thanks on both counts 🙂
Thanks so much Diane! So glad to hear you liked the yogurt 🙂 And that ricotta sounds delicious!
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for the free wonderful recipies.
I am wondering if the cornstarch can be substituted with tapioca flour?
Thank you.
Hi Monica,
While it will work, tapioca starch will give you a slightly more slimy texture.
Fantastic! Very creamy and has a great tang
Thanks Christine!
Any reason I can’t use all cashews for this milk? I make my own cashew milk and don’t bother straining.
It is thick and yummy but not homogenized. Looking forward to your reply.
You could, but this recipe is for a cashew + almond yogurt. I choose to go with a blend for a better flavor and texture.
Regarding the straining, it’s up to you but I prefer straining as it yields to a better texture and the yogurt is also a bit lighter. When not straining I found the yogurt to be very (too) filling.
Hi Thomas!
I made yogurt following this recipe the other day and it turned out wonderful! Thanks for a great recipe!
I live zero waste and in my area there aren’t any vegan yogurt producers that offer returnable jars, so I used a tsp of the dairy yogurt my family member (who doesn’t share my lifestyle) had bought. It worked out fine, but I’d prefer not to use dairy yogurt as starter in the future, so I thought I’d use the batch of vegan yogurt I just made as a starter for future batches.
I don’t need a constant supply of yogurt so I was wondering if it is possible to freeze a bit of the vegan yogurt in cubes and thaw a cube every time I need a starter? Or would that kill the bacteria culture?
Thanks for any reply!
Hi Julia!
You’re welcome, glad you liked it 🙂
Regarding freezing, it won’t kill the cultures, so it’s safe to assume that it will work 🙂
Thanks for your reply.
Thank you Thomas! I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Best vegan yogurt ever! Thanks for creating this!
Hi, thanks for your great recipes!!
Please, do you think it will work out with Rejuvelac made out of lentils?
The are not much vegan yoghurts round here.
Thanks,
Marie
You are welcome Marie!
I doubt it will work as rejuvelac doesn’t contain the same cultures as yogurt.
Hi, I want to make this yogurt but where I live there are no vegan yogurts and no starters; can I use a dairy yogurt (I know sounds crazy but it would be the only possibility to start my own batch of non vegan yogurt (or almost).
Thanks,
Alejandra
Hi Alejandra,
Yes, feel free to use dairy yogurt as the starter, it will work.
I don’t have vegan/plant milk yogurt. Can I use my probiotic powder? How much? It’s PuraDyme LiyfBiotic Powder…
Some probiotics may work, but it’s very hard to say. It all depends on the type of micro-organisms, the amount, etc. I’m afraid I can’t say for sure if your probiotic will work or not.
Thank you for replying. while waiting I found the answer to my question and it appears that what I have should work and how to use it! I look forward to taking the course on cheese making with you at a later date
Thank you again and Happy New Year!
I’m afraid I’m not giving any cheese making courses!
Happy New Year!
It’s okay.. I mixed the email up with a raw food cheese class i was looking into!
LOL
Happy New Year!
Rather than using non-dairy yogurt, can I use probiotics? How many? 3?
Thank you.
It’s hard to say, it really depends on the type of probiotics, brand, and amount of micro-organisms. I would rather recommend a yogurt starter.
Thank you for the recipe! Would you use an entire packet of vegan starter? Do you have a recommendation about how much starter to use for this recipe
It really depends on the starter, usually they write on the packaging how much to use per liter of milk.
Hi Thomas, this yogurt is so good, thank you for another amazing recipe. I was wondering if the recipe can be doubled when making it. Thanks, have a great day
Thanks so much Deborah! I haven’t tried doubling but I don’t think it would cause any problem.
I’m just wondering if you happen to know if this can be frozen? It made too much for me to eat right away.
I’m afraid I have never tried to freeze yogurt, so I can’t tell, sorry.
Unfortunately, it didn’t come up as real greek yogurt for me. I used a tsp of regular unflavored greek yogurt as starter, perhaps a commercial yogurt starter would have been needed instead. I am very dissappointed. Not your fault, I love your recipes. It is just that this one evidently may need a stronger starter for the yogurt to come right.
It could be the starter, not all of them give the same results. Also, was your mixture thick to begin with? If not, you may want to use a little bit less water next time.
Hi Thomas,
Yes, the mixture was thick. The issue was that the yogurt process did not develop at all. Taste was very flat, with a bit of acidity coming only from the tsp of greek yogurt I mixed in.
I made this, and it came out so nice! One of the best yogurts I had, thanks for such great recipes you work hard to create!
I’m glad you liked this yogurt recipe Maria 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
Also, I forgot to ask-
Do you have any tips for making sure there are no lumps after adding the cornstarch? It’s no big deal and it’s still so so creamy, but I guess it’s worth checking with you for the times it does happen.
If you dilute the cornstarch well and whisk constantly after adding it, you should not have lumps.
If you do, you can still pass it through a fine mesh sieve, or remove the skin that formed on top using a spoon.
It’s truly amazing how good this is!
I’ve been making it in the oven for a few weeks now, repeatedly, loving it every time, making every vegan/dairy free person I know try it, and they’re all mind blown.
Thank you so much for this life changing recipe 🙂
Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
I love cashew milk yogurt! Could you recommend a yogurt maker?
Thanks! Frieda
The Instant Pot is great for making yogurt! 🙂
Love the recipe . Thank u so much for sharing.
Was wondering if using a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water and a steam rack should the yogurt jar i put inside be covered or not necessary . Same applies for the oven and if yes can it be a lid or it has to be a cheese cloth where air comes in.
Thank u
Thanks Tina. I would recommend covering the jars to prevent the condensation from dropping inside the yogurt. You can cover with cling film, or the jar lid.
C’est vraiment une fabuleuse recette, J’en fais régulièrement avec l’instant pot, c’est facile une fois qu’on a pris le coup de main.
C’est devenu un coup de cœur pour tous chez nous, ainsi que le beurre végétal et les fromages. Toutes vos recettes sont réalisables si on lit bien la recette. J’adore vos recettes, cela à changer ma vie, en France, je n’ai pas trouvé d’équivalent .
Alors un énorme Merci à toi Thomas pour toutes tes créations
Merci beaucoup Bosha ! Je suis content d’apprendre que tu apprécies les recettes 😉
Thank you for making the effort to create this recipe. It is excellent, will be making it again. You come up with great recipes. I just wish cashews were less expensive!
You’re welcome Justine! 🙂
Hi Thomas, I’m looking forward to trying this as ive yet to find a vegan yogurt recipe which will either set or isnt the consistency of glue. My yogurt maker has a choice of temperature settings, would you recommend as close to 50 degrees as possible? thanks
Hi Stephanie,
40-45°C should work great, 50°C might be a bit too warm.
Amazing recipe. I’ll try it this weekend.
Hi Thomas, thank you for the recipe. I just wanted to ask you what the best substitute for cornstarch is. Can I use arrowroot powder? If so, what’s the substitution ratio? Thank you.
Hi Ves,
I haven’t tried using arrowroot powder, but I would probably use 1.5-2X the amount of cornstarch.