18 August, 2015
DIY Coconut Yogurt 4 Ways
With more and more people looking to avoid dairy, alternative products like coconut yogurt are popping up on store shelves. I have seen brands that are cleaner than others, but usually these products contain a long list of questionable ingredients, including added sugar. But what if I told you that you can make your own Coconut Yogurt at home? With only two ingredients? And for a fraction of the cost? Would you give it a try?
Store-bought vs. Homemade?
As with a lot of store-bought products, they tend to be made with inferior ingredients. One particular brand of coconut yogurt that I often see contains added sugar in the form of dried cane syrup and tapioca dextrose. Whenever I recommend yogurt to purchase, I always recommend plain in order to prevent added sugar consumption. When it comes to coconut yogurt, you will often find sugar in the plain versions, too, so added sugar may be unavoidable here.
The same brand that has added dried cane syrup and tapioca dextrose also lists natural flavors on the ingredient list. This sounds harmless, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Natural flavors are among the top five most common ingredient listed on food labels, and have been linked to causing food cravings. Natural flavors mean that the original ingredient is found in nature and then purified, extracted, and added back into the food. Beaver anal gland juice is an example of a natural flavor used to enhance food. Do you want to be eating that? I know I don’t!
Carrageenan
Carrageenan is found in a lot of dairy alternatives and coconut yogurt is no exception. Some may say that this additive is derived from a natural source, so it is safe for us to consume, right? Studies suggest that carrageenan appears to be harmful to the digestive system and can trigger inflammation. Poor digestion and inflammation, two big causes of many health issues today. For this reason, I avoid this ingredient whenever possible.
So that is the bad news, but I do have good news! You can easily make your own Coconut Yogurt at home and with only two ingredients. I had a blast creating the different flavors that I am going to share with you. You are only limited by your own imagination! Feel free to create your own tasty flavors. Sweeten with honey, maple syrup, or make it sugar-free with pure stevia. Add fruit for a sweet treat, or create a savory dip by adding herbs and spices. My favorite way to serve this DIY Coconut Yogurt is with fresh fruit and topped with homemade granola.
Working with Fresh Coconut
If you have never worked with fresh coconut before it can be a little intimidating. I watched a YouTube video on how to open a coconut with only a sharp knife. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. If you want to skip the whole coconut altogether you can buy a bag of frozen coconut meat at many health food stores. I find that the cheapest way to go is to open your own. I buy a few coconuts at once and freeze the extra meat to have on hand whenever I need it. You also save a ton of money on coconut water which can be used in smoothies, popsicles, or drunk right out of the coconut like you were on vacation.
What coconut yogurt flavors do you want to try?
DIY Coconut Yogurt 4 Ways
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut meat
- 6 Tablespoons plain kombucha store bought or homemade
- Sweeten to taste with raw honey pure maple syrup, or pure stevia
- Flavor options:
- Strawberry - 1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed strawberries
- Blueberry Lemon - 1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed blueberries + zest of 1/2 lemon
- Ginger Peach - 1 cup fresh or frozen and thawed peaches + 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- Lime - Zest and juice about 1 Tablespoon of one lime + 1 teaspoon matcha powder
Instructions
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Drain the coconut water from the young coconut and scrape out the meat using a spoon or knife.
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Add the coconut meat and kombucha to a blender and blend until smooth.
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Add more kombucha as needed for desired texture.
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Add in the sweetener as desired and flavor options and continue to blend until smooth.
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Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
Choose organic ingredients when possible.
24 Comments
Hi there. I am loving these coconut yogurt recipes!! THANK YOU!! I was wondering if I could happily use kefir instead of kombucha, as I make my own kefir??
thanks for your time.
Yes Kefir would be a great way to add probiotics to the coconut yogurt. You may need to add some water or coconut water for the right texture since kefir tends to be thicker. Enjoy!
Hi, I am yet to make this lovely looking yogurts but by chance would you be able to substitute kombucha for white vinegar or something else?
thanks for your time
The kombucha is in this recipe to add probiotics like you get from traditional yogurt. White vinegar doesn’t have any beneficial probiotics and probably won’t taste good. I recommend subbing for water, coconut water, a non-dairy milk, or even some 100% fruit juice but then you will not be getting any probiotic benefits. You can also open a probiotic supplement and add the powder with the other liquids if you wanted a good bacteria boost. Enjoy!
Hi – can you use canned coconut for this recipe?
I don’t have access to fresh coconuts but I’m dying to try the recipe!
Thanks
Do you mean coconut milk? You can scrape off the coconut cream from the top of the coconut milk and get a similar result but it won’t quite be the same. You can sometimes find coconut meat in the freezer section at some stores.
If you want to use canned, you can make more traditional yogurt with coconut milk. Add some plain kombucha – pretty much any amount – say a tablespoon per pint. Add a vegan yogurt starter or a spoonful of some kind of yogurt if you want to be extra sure – but the kombucha will do the job and it’s best not to have too much starter. Now follow the usual instructions for making vegan yogurt. In my case, I do it in an Instant Pot with a yogurt setting. It won’t set up like milk yogurt, but it gets think enough to eat with a spoon comfortably.
Actually, I do that with soy milk. I know that doing a second ferment with coconut milk tends to be a disaster, so I’m not certain the first ferment kombucha *would* work with coconut milk to make regular yogurt (as opposed to what Sara is doing here, which has to be a lot faster!). Only one way to find out…
Do you use a probiotic?
I just add the kombucha to give the yogurt some probiotics but you could absolutely open a capsule of a probiotic and add it to the mix for even more bacteria goodness.
It looks so good I already bought everything for it!
Even made kombucha just for thus recipe!
But what if I wanna make it plain?
Do I need to use something to replace the acid in the fruits? The sugar in it? Will the texture still be right without the fruits?
Thank you!
If you want to make it plain you may have to adjust how much kombucha you use depending on how thick you want the yogurt to be. Add a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
Great. I’ll update here if I’ll get it right.
Thanks!
BTW about the kombucha – do you mean using the tea after it had fermented for 7-10 days, or after I add fruits to it?
Does it need to be bubbly/fizzy?
Thanks again
As long as the kombucha is fermented and has good bacteria you can use it after first fermentation or after second. Either way will work.
Awesome, thank you!
Now I’m curious..What ingredient is sourced from beaver anal glands? Thanks
Artificial flavors such as vanilla, strawberry, and raspberry can be.
Look for “vanillin” – that’s big red flag, as is the phrase “natural flavors.”
Sarah,I have seen many people use probiotics capsules.Can you use Kombucha?Also,whole foods sells a brand Cocoyo buy GT Kombucha maker.Have you heard of this?
This version has Kombucha which helps to add some probiotics vs. people that use the probiotic capsules to ferment the coconut to make yogurt. This is just a simpler version. I tried the GTs version the other day it was super tart and tasted very much like coconut meat.
So not to your liking?I really have been eyeing it but if your recommend just making your own then I might go for that.
I know some recipes for coconut yogurt using probiotic capsules say to leave the yogurt overnight on the counter to get the probiotics going before refrigerating it. Can the same be done with this recipe using the Kombucha?
The Kombucha is not in this recipe to ferment like the probiotic capsules would. It is only there to help with texture and to provide probiotics. It wouldn’t work the same.