Make creamy peanut yogurt with raw or roasted peanuts at home. Start now and have homemade peanut yogurt in a day!
Will It Yogurt? Peanuts (plain vs roasted) Video
Why Peanut Yogurt?
Homemade peanut yogurt is so easy and affordable to make! Plus, peanut yogurt is even more luxurious tasting than most store-bought vegan yogurts. Choose to make plain yogurt by using raw peanuts or make super fragrant nutty yogurt when you use roasted peanuts.
Raw VS Roasted Peanuts for Yogurt-Making
If you use Raw Peanuts, the yogurt has such a mild flavor that you probably wouldn’t be able to tell it was made from peanuts in a blind taste test. Instead, the taste is very neutral beyond the lovely sourness from fermentation. I love to use it in place of dairy sour cream, in yogurt sauces like tzatziki or raita, and as a base for salad dressings.
However, I did have a difficult time sourcing raw peanuts locally. They were no where to be found at the major grocery stores and supermarkets. After scouring the city, ended up finding raw skinless peanuts at a traditional Chinese herbal shop.
Luckily, it was much easier when it came to online stores. I found lovely raw peanuts on Amazon. Please note that this link and others in this article may be affiliate links. That means I earn a small commission if you decide to use it to purchase. Rest assured that there is never any extra cost to you.
By the way, you can also use raw peanuts with the skins. However, the color of your final product will be affected. Color is also affected if you use roasted peanuts as you can see from the photo below. The yogurt on the left is made from raw peanuts and the one on the right is made from roasted peanuts.
Roasted Peanuts are far more common at grocery stores (in my experience) so I was relieved when I found that I could make fragrant and delicious yogurt from them! Just choose unsalted dry roasted peanuts so that the salt won’t interfere with fermentation time.
The texture of roasted peanut yogurt is a little different from raw; it tends to be thinner. However, if you strain it in a cheesecloth for a few hours, you can get it to be just as thick as any Greek yogurt.
Vegan Yogurt Starters for your Homemade Peanut Yogurt!
To start the fermentation process, you’ll need some source of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. Good thing you can get it in the fridge section of many grocery stores these days! And there are more options too. You can use:
- store-bought vegan yogurt – I prefer plain but it’s also worked with flavored yogurt too. And any base will work (soy, coconut, oat, etc.). Just make sure the label says it contains live cultures.
- leftover homemade yogurt – Just like the store-bought stuff, it can be from any base. You don’t even have to use the precious thick stuff. I’ve made yogurt successfully with just the whey that’s separated to the top of the yogurt.
- Commercial vegan yogurt starters – if you’re serious about yogurt, these starters are specially made for success at home.
- Probiotic capsules – if you already have probiotic capsules, you can give them a go. Keep in mind that they vary in what bacterial strains they contain and number of colony forming units (CFU’s). In general higher CFU’s mean your best chance of success.
Equipment Required
Yogurt cultures are generally thermophilic, meaning they do better at a warm temperature; but not too warm! That’s why electric yogurt makers exist. Personally, I already have a dehydrator that I often use so I use that instead of buying a single-use appliance. Instant Pots and similar programmable cookers also often have yogurt functions for this use as well.
If you don’t have one of these gadgets, never fear! There are many ways of incubating your precious peanut yogurt including using a warmed up oven, water bath, and more. Check out this link to read more about your options.
How to Make Vegan Peanut Yogurt
The process of making yogurt can take up the whole day (or overnight) but the hands-on work is minimal.
Step 1 – Make Peanut Milk
To make blending easier, I soak my peanuts in plenty of water overnight. The next day, they go in the blender on high speed for 30 seconds. The puree gets squeezed through my trusty nut milk bag which separates the fiber from the creamy milk.
You can save the pulp to bump up the fiber in bread and pastry recipes. Just look up “nut milk pulp recipes.”
Step 2 – Pasteurize the Peanut Milk
To ensure that no unwanted bacteria or fungi get the chance to out-compete our yogurt cultures, you’ll want to cook the milk first. Simply heat the peanut milk until it comes to a boil. Then you can turn off the heat and let it cool to a probiotic-friendly temperature. I shoot for 100°-105°F.
If you add in your vegan yogurt starter when it’s too hot, the probiotics may be killed and your fermentation won’t go smoothly.
Step 3 – Add Vegan Yogurt Starter
Since I always have leftover yogurt on hand these days, I stir in 2 heaping tablespoons of it straight from the fridge and into the warm peanut milk. If you want to add a little more for insurance, go right ahead.
If you’re using commercial vegan starter, make sure to read the package instructions to get the ratio the manufacturer recommends.
If you’re using probiotic capsule, you’ll likely only require 1/2 a capsule to 1 full capsule.
Step 4 – Incubate
In the video, I incubated both raw and roasted peanut milks for 8 hours at 100°F. Then I had planned to check on them. However, both times, I forgot when I went to bed. The next morning at 5am, I suddenly remembered and put them in the fridge. Then a few hours later, I revealed them on camera. This means, I left them at room temperature for 8 hours and then fridge temperature for a few more…this is not an ideal practice. But the yogurt still turned out beautifully!
If you don’t tend to be as forgetful as me, I recommend incubating for 8 hours and then checking every hour or so after that. Depending on how sour you would like your yogurt, you can let it ferment for a longer or shorter time.
Step 5 – Strain
This is step is optional. But if you like your yogurt super thick like I do, you’ll want to strain it. This is just like straining regular yogurt to make Greek yogurt.
To do this, I like to set a wire mesh strainer over a bowl. Then in that, I will lay a couple pieces of reusable cheesecloth. Pour your fresh peanut yogurt in and let it rest so the whey slowly drains out the bottom. I like to put a lid on top and then loosely fold the cheesecloth over top so the whole set-up can sit in the fridge while I wait for a couple hours.
Afterwards, the yogurt is luxuriously thick and creamy. You can jar it and keep it in the fridge for a week or more.
Please let me know if you try this recipe and how it goes. As well, you can leave any questions in the comment section and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!
Printable Recipe for Homemade Peanut Yogurt
How to Make Peanut Yogurt (plain or roasted)
Tangy and delicious peanut yogurt is customizable! Use raw peanuts for a neutral-taste that can sub for sour cream or plain yogurt in recipes. Use roasted peanuts for a fragrant delicious curd that can be eaten with fruit and granola or by itself.
Ingredients
- 200g peanuts (raw OR unsalted dry roasted); about 1 1/2 cups
- 2 heaping tablespoons of vegan yogurt (make sure it says "live cultures" on the label) OR use vegan yogurt starter or a probiotic capsule.
Instructions
- To ensure easy blending, soak peanuts in plenty of water overnight. The next day, drain but save the water. In a rush? skip this step and just blend a bit longer.
- Combine the peanuts with double their volume of water (550-600ml); you can use the leftover soaking water. Blend for 30 seconds on high speed in a high powered blender (like Vitamix or Blendtec) or about 2-3 minutes if you're using a conventional blender.
- Strain the pulp from the milk using a nut milk bag. The leftover pulp should be lightweight and fluffy. If not, combine with milk and blend for a longer time and strain again. Save the pulp for other recipes.
- In a generously sized pot (since the milk will bubble up), heat the peanut milk to boiling. Then turn off the heat and let it cool to 100°F.
- Mix in your starter or 2 heaping tablespoons of yogurt. Then transfer the inoculated peanut milk to a sterile glass container and add a loose-fitting lid.
- Incubate at 100°F for 8 to 12 hours. Check the tanginess at the 8 hr mark using a sterilized spoon (do not double dip!). Keep checking every hour until the yogurt is as tangy as you like it. Afterwards, refridgerate it. It will become thicker once chilled.
- Optional - strain! To make Greek-style thick yogurt, you can use the same nut milk bag (usually takes longer) or a couple pieces of reusable cheesecloth draped over a wire mesh sieve over a bowl to catch the whey. Let rest for a couple hours in the fridge or until it's the thickness you desire. Enjoy!
