Strawberry Coconut Milk Yogurt (Vegan)

I have this insanely good recipe for a coconut milk-based yogurt that I feel morally obligated to share, it’s that good. It’s also incredibly easy, which is another win for us all.

Lots of people love yogurt but have problems with eating dairy - or who, like me, don’t eat animals, animal products, or animal secretions. New vegans sometimes grieve the absence of really creamy, delicious, healthful yogurt. Grieve no more, because although this yogurt is in no way low calorie, it is completely plant based, rich and smooth, tangy and fresh, slightly sweet, and loaded with probiotics, as a great yogurt should be.

Speaking of calories, I just don’t know why anyone counts calories anymore. That’s something our parents and grandparents did with that dated and ill-omened practice called ‘dieting’. Likewise weighing their food. I haven’t heard anyone say, “I’m on a diet” in years. A sign that we’ve finally made strides in our relationships with food.

Get you some full-fat, organic coconut milk. Two 13.5-ounce cans work for this recipe. Also buy the best vegan, cruelty-free, toxin-free probiotic on the market – Advanced Gut Health brand probiotic (15-billion strain). Lastly, I added pureed strawberries to my finished yogurt. It made it pink and strawberry-sweet. You can also flavor it with vanilla or honey, or both, or all.

This is how easy it is. Take a large, very clean bowl. Open the cans of coconut milk and pour off the liquid (save it for cooking rice), leaving only the thick, rich, coconut fat, and place the coconut fat from both cans in the bowl.

Open four of the probiotic capsules, shake the capsule powder into the coconut fat, and dispose of the empty capsules (compost them, they’re actually plant cellulose). Mix it all together very well. Cover with a plate, and place in a warm spot overnight (inside your oven with the pilot light on is good, or on the kitchen counter in summer). Twelve hours is about the amount of time needed for the culture to form.

In the morning, remove the plate and stir the yogurt. Now is when you can add flavoring or honey. I pureed a few strawberries and stirred them into the yogurt well. Or, add about four teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Place it in a clean glass jar and refrigerate. And that’s it.

I had some for a snack this afternoon, and I also had it for breakfast topped with granola. I’m not sure how long the probiotics maintain their life force. As a rule, though, probiotics don’t stay viable very long, so eat this yogurt within a couple of days for maximum benefit and deliciousness.

That’s it: that’s all this post was about. Sometimes you get ahold of a vegan recipe that’s so good and so simple that it feels like a misdeed not to share it.

Barbie xo