The Essential Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook
I am so excited to announce that in just one month, my vegan Instant Pot cookbook will be hitting the shelves. Isn’t that cover just gorgeous?! The book is currently available for pre-order for 32% off the list price(!), so you can go ahead and reserve your copy on Amazon now.
The Essential Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook was a joy for me to write. I got to reacquaint myself with my love for vegan cuisine in all of its plant-based glory. My brother and I were vegan in high school and college, and I still love to eat that way much of the time. It has been so fun to explore vegan cuisine once again, this time with the supercharged pressure cooking power of the Instant Pot!
I wrote this cookbook for everybody — vegans, vegetarians, and those looking to incorporate more meatless meals into their weekly rotation can all enjoy it. There are chapters for every meal of the day, so you can pick and choose how you want to make vegan recipes a part of your life. The book starts off with a chapter of breakfasts including probiotic-packed smoothies and hearty porridges, and that’s just the beginning.
I truly believe everyone will find something to love in this cookbook. My favorite part of the process was going to the photo shoot, where my food stylist could not stop stealing bites of Mac ‘n Trees, Tomato Soup with Welsh Rarebit Toasties, and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cheesecake. There are so many flavor-packed dishes to savor, and I can’t wait for you all to try them, too!
2-Ingredient Instant Pot Vegan Yogurt
Right now, I want to chat with you a little bit about vegan yogurt, then share a recipe that’s not in the book at all! In fact, the yogurt recipe in The Essential Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook contains 5 ingredients, not 2. This is because I wanted *anyone* to be able to make it from ingredients you can find or order no matter where you live. No specific brands are listed or required, and any non-dairy milk will work.
The recipe I’m sharing today, however, is very brand specific. It’s a recipe/method that’s arisen as they can only in the Facebook-iverse, from a vegan Instant Pot recipe group I belong to. If you’re not hanging out in facebook Instant Pot groups yet, I urge you to come join in the fun! The one I run is a more general-interest group, but I belong to lots of other ones, too. The members of the vegan group from which this recipe originated frequently post their yogurt methods and experiments.
It seems like for the last couple weeks, this 2-ingredient, soy-free yogurt is all anybody can talk about and make. And so, even though I’m knee deep in recipe development, of course I had to try it for myself to see what all the fuss was about!
The two ingredients required for this yogurt are:
Ripple® Dairy-Free Milk in Vanilla (sweetened or unsweetened)
and
Silk Almondmilk Yogurt Alternative in Plain or Vanilla
… and that’s it! The yogurt comes out very thick and smooth in texture, owing to the pectin in the yogurt and the various plant-based stabilizers and thickeners in the Ripple® milk. Oh, and people have done versions with the chocolate Ripple® flavor, too. You can really make it your own, choosing between sweetened or unsweetened varieties of Ripple® and Almondmilk yogurt to end up with something that’s either closer to a dessert-like pudding or a tangy yogurt. It’s a great entree into the world of vegan yogurt, since it’s so easy and predictable to make.
Before you culture the milk, you’ll heat the Ripple® milk on the stovetop a bit, just to take off the chill of the fridge. I like to use a thermometer to make sure the milk is warmed to the ideal temperature for yogurt cultures to thrive, between 110º and 115ºF. While I’m doing this, I start the Instant Pot’s Yogurt setting, so the pot starts getting warm and cozy.
Once the milk is warmed, you simply whisk in the yogurt starter (in this case it’s a container of store-bought almond milk yogurt), then add everything to the Instant Pot and leave it to culture, for 8-12 hours depending on how tart your like your yogurt. I actually found that my yogurt had set up properly 6 hours in, but I left it a little longer so it’d get a bit more tangy.
You can culture the yogurt directly in the Instant Pot’s inner pot, or in individual jars or other heat-proof containers, whichever you prefer. I like to use widemouthed mason jars or Pyrex round glass containers, since you can move them straight to the fridge when the yogurt is cultured, with no extra clean-up required.
Whatever container you use, keep in mind that if your Instant Pot’s sealing ring has retained any odors, they may end up transferring to the yogurt. To prevent this, I cover the jars with Saran Wrap. If you prefer to leave the jars open, you may also just remove your Instant Pot’s silicone sealing ring when culturing yogurt.
You’ll want to time your culture so that when the time is up, you’re around to chuck the yogurt in the fridge to cool. So if you start your yogurt at say, 8 in the morning and let it go for 12 hours, it’ll be ready to chill at bedtime, then serve for breakfast the next day.
And that’s really all there is to it! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. It’s a rich, thick, yogurt, great topped with fruit and/or granola or blended into smoothies.
Let me know if you try this method, or the recipe from my upcoming book once it’s out. Wishing you lots of joyful, plant-based Instant Pot cooking!
Cheers,
Coco
2-Ingredient Vegan Yogurt [Instant Pot]
Ingredients
Instructions
- Select the Yogurt setting on the Instant Pot and place three widemouthed pint jars or one 7-cup Pyrex storage container in the pot.
- Pour the Ripple® milk into a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally, until the temperature reaches 110-115ºF. Immediately remove from heat.
- Whisk in the container of Silk yogurt until it is thoroughly blended into the Ripple milk.
- Remove the widemouthed jars or Pyrex from the Instant Pot, and ladle the mixture into them. Cover with Saran Wrap and lower into the Instant Pot.
- Reset the program on the Instant Pot, reselect the Yogurt program, and set it for 8 hours for mild yogurt, or 12 hours for tangier yogurt.
- When the cooking program ends, transfer the cultured yogurt to the refrigerator to chill. Let chill at least 8 hours before serving.
- Enjoy!
Any suggestions for converting cook times for cakes steamed in an oven? I want to make Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake from an America Test Kitchen recipe that makes eight six ounce ramekins. I have a 6-qt Viva Instant Pot that will only hold two ramekins this size so I am dividing the recipe by 4. The recipes calls for 40 minutes @ 350° in a Bain Marie. Love your books. They are the most definitive I have found. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Hi Sandra,
Thanks so much for your kind words — If you’ve got time to leave an Amazon review I’d really appreciate it!😀 The timing will depend on how much of the batter is in each ramekin — cakes and other pot-in-pot foods tend to rise in temperature from the bottom up in the IP, so the thickness will determine how long it takes the batter to heat through. I’d start with 20 minutes with a 10-minute natural pressure release, then use a probe thermometer to check for doneness. If it has reached 200F in the middle, it’s done!
Do you ever use your batch of yogurt as a starter for your next batch or just use the almond milk yogurt every time?
I’ve had great success using a store bought starter but can’t seem to get it right using my current batch as a starter
Can you use a yogurt starter in lieu of the container of silk almond yogurt?
This question has nothing to do with yogurt but about the Lemon Poppy Seed Breakfast Cake in the Essentials cookbook, which I love! The directions say to use a 7 inch bundt pan but the picture does not look like the cake was made in a bundt pan. Can’t you just use a 7 inch cake pan? Thanks!
I made this last night and after 8 hours it was still liquid when I took it out of the Instant pot. I transfered it to the fidge. Is it normal to still be liquid after 8 hrs in the pot?
I’ve noticed with plain unsweetened ripple milk it is more of a drinkable yogurt texture instead of a thicker yogurt, and that is only once it sets in the fridge for several hours.
Mine too was very liquids after 9 hours in pot. After 9 hours in fridge it’s now a syrup consistency. Do I put it in instant pot again for 9 hours or toss it?
Exact same thing for me. I followed your instructions & have liquid not yogurt.
Mine worked perfectly but I didn’t use an instant pot. I just used a yogurt maker I bought off Amazon. I also did not heat the milk in a pot. I actually brought it to about room temp or just when the bottle of milk was no longer cold. I then mixed the milk with the yogurt and put it in the yogurt maker.
This was a fail. Followed directions and ingredients and still liquid after 10 hours.
Same here – woke up to useless liquid. So sad, 🙁
My understanding was that you had to use “pure” plant milk, meaning just water and the nut or soy, no additives or or wouldn’t thicken and ferment. That’s what happened to me anyway. I haven’t tried Ripple though. I used Silk Almond Milk, plain, unsweetened and the the Silk brand yogurt, plain, unsweetened, and it never thickened. Today I’m trying Trader Joe’s self-stable soy milk, plain, unsweetened, just soy beans and water. I’ve heard that is the best to try. Wish me luck!
Actually it won’t thicken because most plant based milks other than soy are too low in protein. That is the part that coagulates in dairy based yogurt.
My husband and I are both retired and there is only the two of us to cook for. When I decided to purchase the instapot I bought a 3 quart size thinking that it would be big enough for just the two of us. As I look at the recipes in your book and most other cook books however they all seem to be written for the larger pots. If I adjust the recipes to a smaller quantity does it affect the cooking times as well? Your recipes all look so good and I would love to try some of them but I hesitate because I am not sure if they will work in the smaller pot.
Can u use cashew yogurt?
I used this recipe and it definitely worked! Thanks! Do you know WHY ripple works compared to many other vegan milks? I’m so in love with this yogurt, I plan on making it again and again. Heres where I posted my outcome of your recipe here❤ https://m.facebook.com/groups/297674024432205?view=permalink&id=474398340093105
Yes, it’s because of the higher protein content. That’s why soy milk works better than nut milks – the protein.
I don’t have a yoghurt setting on my instant…is there another setting I can use?
same here.
Yes! Use sous vide setting at 113 degrees for 9 hours❤️
Going to try this recipe this weekend – as I love Ripple! Do you know the calorie/protein content per serving by chance? Thank you..
Just checking if you received a response for the calorie content per serving as I would really like this as well.
Hi Deborah — it’d be fairly similar to the nutrition info for Ripple milk, by volume. I hope that helps!
I’m curious why you have to boil on stovetop with the IP Yogurt setting. I’ve made the Fairlife lactose free yogurt in the IP and you just press yogurt. The IPs that don’t have the yogurt button require the boil method.
Is this different because of almond milk?
Turned into a liquid mess and nothing like yogurt. Scanned the comments to see if there was an answer as to why or how to fix it and the blogger doesn’t respond to them.
Followed the directions exactly and used Ripple milk. It turned out perfect after 12 hours. Thanks!
I love this recipe!
I’ve made it many times, I’m curious, have you tried other proportions? Would it be possible to add more Ripple and have more yogurt?
Hi Todd. I believe you can heat/boil the milk first using the yogurt-boil button on the IP, then cool to the temperature specified in the recipe, add the culture (yogurt) and make the yogurt in the same pot without transferring to jars. Hope it helps!
I made this many many times over the summer and it worked beautifully every time. My last 4 batches ended up chunky on top with tons of water. Maybe Ripple changed their recipe?
Oh how odd! I haven’t made this in a while, so I am not sure. I wonder if folks on the Facebook group for vegan instant pot recipes have had similar issues.
I want to make this today but I don’t have the yogurt option on my instant pot. Can anyone help?
I made this over the weekend and drained the excess liquid to make it more of a Greek yogurt. Do you know if how much calcium and/protein are lost by draining? I don’t want to lose any of its nutritional value.
Also, I found your recipe after experimenting with making this vegan yogurt on my own. Instead of preheating the milk I brought the yogurt to room temperature before stiring it in with the milk to make sure the cultures are live. This may help those of you for which the recipe didn’t work. Thanks!
Will this work with plain unsweetened ripple milk?
Has anyone make this recipe using a yogurt maker? I am assuming it would be the same as an insta pot.