Homemade InstantPot Thick & Creamy Cashew Yoghurt
I’m just coming off the joyful high of this year’s Summer Solstice Smoothie Soirée, an annual event I host the week of the Summer Solstice teaching smoothie making workshops. It’s always so much fun and really exciting for me to see people’s culinary experiences come alive through my recipes with mindfulness, playfulness and curiosity!
This year we had a couple smoothies that called for yoghurt and I used this homemade cashew yoghurt in mine. I promised I would share how to make it on the Blogareeshi, so here we are!
I love this yoghurt! It’s:
plant based (made from cashews and water)
probiotic and protein rich
thick and creamy (like a Greek-style consistency)
delicious
totally cost effective (it costs waaaaay less to make this than to buy store-bought cashew yoghurt)
significantly tastier than all the cashew yoghurts (and most of the other plant based ones) I’ve purchased
unsweetened so it lends itself well to both sweet and savory dishes (we use it in everything from granola parfaits to salad dressings, sauces and dips)
I was searching high and low for a plant based yoghurt I liked a lot, with ingredients I was happy about, and I was consistently disappointed!
It was a year ago, just after the 2021 Summer Solstice Smoothie Soirée when I had spent soooo much money (seriously, like $9!) on a pint of cashew yoghurt that was supposed to “the best” and was so utterly disappointed in its flavorlessness that I set out on a quest to make my own.
Around that same time, I was experiencing some pain and inflammation and it was recommended that I try taking dairy out of my diet. At that time we made homemade Greek-style dairy yoghurt in our InstantPot probably every other week. I figured it had to be possible to make a plant based one!
I scoured blogs and cookbooks, and I inquired with vegan friends, chefs and restaurants to find the through-line between recipes, tips and tricks.
I bought every brand of plant based yoghurt I could get my hands on in two different states throughout the summer to see what I liked and/or disliked about each one and kept a list of their ingredients to help me create my own version of a good one.
Eventually I created this recipe and I really love it! So do my husband and daughter who still eat some dairy and always loved our cow’s milk yoghurt. We stopped making that altogether probably 10 months ago and they haven’t missed it a bit!
I hope you enjoy this, too. It’s a cinch to make, but you do need some specific pieces of equipment and unique ingredients:
An InstantPot with a yoghurt setting
A food thermometer (meat / candy)
A good blender
A stainless steel pot
A whisk (preferably stainless steel)
Pint sized mason jars with lids (2)
A mason jar funnel (not necessary, but helpful)
Pectin with calcium water (I like this brand)
Dairy-free yoghurt starter culture or probiotics (I use this)
Arrowroot starch powder
Raw cashews
Thick & Creamy Cashew Yoghurt
by Maggie Verderame
FOR 2 PINTS:
1¼ Cups Raw Cashews
3 Cups Water
2 tsp Arrowroot Starch Powder
½ tsp Pamona’s Pectin Powder
¼ tsp Calcium Water (follow instructions on package to make)
1 Packet Vegan Yoghurt Starter Culture*
Add cashews, water, arrowroot starch powder, pectin powder and calcium water to a blender. Blend until completely smooth with no nutty clumps.
Transfer mixture to a stainless steel saucepan. Heat mixture in the saucepan over low-medium heat, whisking almost constantly to prevent sticking.
As the mixture heats up, it will thicken. It’s ready once it sticks to the whisk and when you lift the whisk out, whisk marks remain at the top of the yoghurt mixture momentarily.
Remove from heat and allow to cool to between 100˚ and 110˚ fahrenheit. Check the temperature every so often with a culinary thermometer. The mixture will develop a “skin” over the top. You can leave it or mix it in while cools. Leaving it can make it take longer to cool as it prevents the heat from escaping as easily.
Once the yoghurt mixture is cool enough, sprinkle in your yoghurt starter culture. Whisk in the culture to combine thoroughly.
Scoop mixture out into 2 pint size mason jars.
Screw the jar lids in place and set mason jars in the InstantPot.
Cover the InstantPot with its lid, but you do not have to close the pressure valve.
Set the InstantPot to yoghurt for 10.5 hours.
When it beeps, remove jars from the InstantPot and immediately place them in the refrigerator.
Once chilled, you’ve got healthy, probiotic rich, plant based yoghurt to enjoy!
Keep it stored in the refrigerator and eat within 1.5-2 weeks. I’ve found this homemade cashew yoghurt lasts much longer in mason jars than store bought yoghurts do.
*If you do not have starter culture, you can use the powder from 2-3 probiotic capsules. I actually haven’t done this myself and prefer yoghurt starter culture, but I know other people who have done this successfully.
I recommend writing on your mason jar with an oil-based marker (they wash right off with a scrubby pad!) to label and date your deliciousness.
Do yourself a favor and buy a set of colorful seals for your InstantPot. That way you can use a different one for each different type of food you make. I use my white one only for making yoghurt so the silicone doesn’t have any essence of spices from a past meal.
From my kitchen to yours, I wish you a happy, healthy summertime!
XO & NamastYAY!
Maggie
