Homemade Coconut Yogurt Requires Just 2 Ingredients And A Bit Of Time

Making your own yogurt at home may seem like a tall feat, but if you're aiming to make coconut yogurt, you only need two ingredients and enough time to let it set. Sounds wild, right? You just need coconut milk and a good quality probiotic capsule. One can of full fat coconut milk for every 2 capsules of a probiotic should do the trick. Coconut milk and coconut cream aren't typically interchangeable, but in this case, you can use either. Coconut cream will get you a coconut yogurt with a thicker consistency.

The quality of your probiotics does make a difference. You want to avoid any probiotic capsules that also contain prebiotics, as they could interfere with the process that turns your coconut milk into yogurt. To make the yogurt, you just want to pour your can of coconut milk into a sterilized glass jar, mix in the probiotic capsule contents, and then cover the top with a piece of cheesecloth. Let it sit on the counter for 24 to 48 hours until it activates, and then move it to the fridge, where it'll keep for around 2 weeks.

To get you started, the creamiest dairy-free parfaits are made with coconut yogurt. Now that you have it on hand, you can make generously portioned parfaits with your favorite granola, fresh or frozen fruit, or even compote or jams. Grabbing a protein granola helps add a bit of protein to your diet and makes for a more filling parfait, though you can't go wrong with cornflakes and sweet fruit alone, either. Coconut yogurt is also what a smoothie needs to be a complete breakfast, along with a few other sources of fiber, vitamins, protein, and so on. 

You can add coconut yogurt to savory dishes too, if you use an unsweetened coconut milk for the base. Adding it to a curry sauce thickens it up and lends it a nutty, slightly sweet flavor. A dollop in your favorite soup will give it that yogurt-y tang. You can even use it as a substitute in dressings or dips that call for dairy yogurt, or that have other dairy-based tangy ingredients you want to swap out, like buttermilk. Coconut yogurt in ranch is surprisingly tasty, and it's a lightweight replacement for sour cream on a Southwest salad. The uses are endless and the effort is low, so give it a try. You've got nothing to lose and a delicious coconut yogurt to gain.