Hi, my name is Angela and I’m in love with coconut meat. I also like shortcuts, so discovering frozen bags of coconut meat made me a bit giddy…
When I first tried coconut meat I wasn’t sure if I liked it, but it totally grew on me. It’s lightly sweet, super filling (it packs 8g fibre per 1/2 cup!), and has this irresistible silky, smooth texture. I love just eating it on its own as well as making it into this shortcut “yogurt”. Adriana on the other hand…well let’s just say when I let her try some of the yogurt (a version with just coconut and water), she made a dramatic gagging face while sticking her tongue out. I guess it’s not for everyone. haha! Maybe she’ll come around.
These bags of frozen coconut meat are more expensive than buying the young Thai coconuts and retrieving the meat yourself, so it’s something I splurge on once in a blue moon when I’m craving a fuss-free homemade coconut yogurt. But it can be whirled up in seconds! And no risk of hacking my hand off with a cleaver (I’m working on my cleaver skills…still not quite there yet). This shortcut recipe isn’t a true yogurt because it’s not fermented, but that’s partly why I love it so much. No wait time, no fuss. I empty a couple probiotic capsules in the yogurt, but you can totally leave the probiotics out if you wish. We’ll call this a “cheater’s” yogurt. A gotta-have-it-now yogurt. For those of you in the GTA, I find these frozen bags of coconut meat at Organic Garage..I think Whole Foods carries it too. If you want to do it the old-fashioned way, you can do that too of course! I link to a Youtube tutorial in the recipe below.
Hello dreamboat! As I mentioned, this version is super thick! It has a similar consistency to Greek yogurt. You can make it however thick or thin you wish just by adjusting the liquid amount. I find 1/2 cup of coconut water and 2 cups of coconut meat = a lovely thick yogurt…no straining required. Likewise, you can make it as sweet or tart as you want by adjusting the sweetener. I don’t like super sweet yogurt so I only add a tablespoon of sweetener into the blender. If I don’t want the yogurt to change colour, I use cane sugar (such as in these photos), but I also like to use maple syrup or raw coconut nectar too (which will dim the bright white yogurt a bit). You can also get creative and try making different flavours by adding fruit, chia jam, etc. I think I might try a coconut-mango-lime version next!
I made parfaits with strawberry-raspberry chia seed jam paired with a granola that I’m testing for my next cookbook (in the meantime, check out my Lightened Up Summer granola and the granola clusters in the Oh She Glows Cookbook). This yogurt is also awesome in vegan overnight oats, smoothies, and I hear you can make raw ice cream with it too.
Here is my batch of strawberry-raspberry-vanilla chia seed jam below. As a general rule of thumb for making chia seed jam, I use about 300-450 grams of fruit, 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (adjust depending on tartness of fruit), 2 tablespoons of chia seeds, and a pinch of pink salt. You can flavour it with vanilla, lemon, orange, etc. For how to make it, see this post.
Super Thick Coconut "Yogurt"
Yield
2 cups (500 mL)
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
This shortcut coconut yogurt is as simple and fresh as it gets! I occasionally buy coconut yogurt from the grocery store, but when I want something that is super fresh and without any added ingredients I will make this version for a fun treat. Granted, it's not a true yogurt since there's no fermentation, but I love how quick this version is. I often take the shortcut by purchasing frozen coconut meat (found in the freezer section of some health food grocers, like Organic Garage or Whole Foods) rather than buying young coconuts. Once the meat is thawed it just takes a minute of blending to create a yogurt with a texture similar to Greek yogurt. If you are well-versed with young coconuts and a cleaver, feel free to scoop out the flesh the old-fashioned way too! See this video for a tutorial. I recommend making this recipe in advance so it has time to chill in the fridge. Thanks to Gena from Choosing Raw for the recipe inspiration!
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh young Thai coconut meat (or thawed Young Thai Coconut Meat, see headnote)
- 1/2 cup (125 mL) coconut water (or use filtered water in a pinch)
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) fresh lemon juice (reduce for a less tart flavour)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon probiotic powder, optional (you can empty probiotic capsules, if desired)
- Pinch of pink salt or fine grain sea salt
- Sweetener, to taste (I use 1 tablespoon natural cane sugar)
Directions
- Add all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend on low, gradually increasing the speed to high, until super smooth. Keep blending until it’s not grainy anymore. Adjust sweetness to taste by adding sweetener if desired and blending again. I add a tablespoon of cane sugar and blend on high to pulverize it in my Vitamix.
- Spoon the yogurt into an air-tight container and chill in the fridge for at least a couple hours.
- Serve with granola and chia seed jam, parfait-style, if desired. Or simply enjoy alone or with fresh fruit. This yogurt is also great mixed into vegan overnight oats or added to smoothies! I’m not positive on the shelf life because we usually enjoy it within a couple days, but I imagine it lasts at least a few days in the fridge in an air-tight container.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Is it possible to over ferment the yogurt?
What would happen if instead of a few hours I left it out for a few days or if after a few hours on the counter I put it in the fridge for a month?
I’m wondering if it would simply be a bacteria powerhouse or go bad? What actually makes yogurt bad?
Angela, I can’t find coconut meat anywhere locally (frozen). Have you tried it with coconut flakes? Any other suggestions?
Thanks, always enjoy your blog!
I would LOVE to make this, but can’t find the frozen coconut meat where I live. Would it be possible to make non-cultured coconut yogurt using canned coconut milk?
Hi Angela – love the sound of this recipe – thanks for it! I live in Australia and having trouble finding frozen coconut meat :( I actually found some Amazonia brand frozen coconut meat, but when thawed it was very runny and didn’t work in the recipe! If anyone from Australia has found frozen coconut meat, I’d LOVE to hear where I can get it, so I can successfully make this amazing recipe!
I’m looking forward to making this for my cooking class, and it looks amazing. I was just wondering if you could list the nutrition facts/benefits. Thank you!
I have made this recipe several times. It is very good. One day I had some rejuvelac left over from making my vegan “boursin” cheese. I decided to use rejuvelac instead of coconut water and leave it on the kitchen counter overnight. Lo and behold, it started to ferment an turned into a delicious thick and tasty yoghurt. As if that was not enough, the next time I added a can of pure, organic coconut cream as well and left it on the counter for 24 hours. Oh my God, this turned into a creamy fermented yoghurt. It could not have been better and creamier…… I love to experiment and this one turned into a real success. Thanks for the original recipe, Angela
Rejuvelac is a fermented grain turning filtered water into a probiotic drink.
It’s great to hear that worked out so well!! Thanks for sharing, Theresia.
I made an error rating this recipe. It is a 5 star, for sure!!
This looks creamy and delicious! Question about the process…how do you get the beneficial bacteria to multiply in this recipe when the yogurt goes into the fridge right away? Doesn’t the yogurt need a warm environment in order to ferment? Maybe that’s why it’s a shortcut method? You get the probiotics from the capsules only…but no fermentation? Either way, it looks great.
Disappointed after reading this recipe. Yoghurt is a fermented food. This is not. Sure, it sounds delicious but calling it yoghurt is a bit misleading.
I get The yogurt that’s plant base or Dairy free yogurt. It’s protein and probiotics what your body needs.
Would I be able to use this yogurt in a recipe for cookies that requires yogurt?
I used fresh coconut flesh (not frozen) that I got at Whole Foods. The coconut wasn’t expired but it did have a sourness and yogurt-like tang to it which is why I chose to make this rather than coconut milk…. I’m polling you people on this site to find out: do you think this awesome or gross?? I’ve eaten a small amount (about 1/4 cup) about 8 hours ago and I don’t feel sick – but I’m still a little hesitant. I’d love to get some reassurance or cautionary tales, whatever the case may be! Its not fair for me to rate this recipe because of my questionable ingredients but I hope to make it again properly because I recognize that it’s a great recipe.
can i use the frozen shredded coconut?
Hi there – where can I get the coconut flesh easily? Where do you recommend?
Hello! I just made this yogurt and it taste amazing but I’m having a texture issue, I used the chunks of coconut meat from Whole Foods and my yogurt is definitly not silly smooth. It almost has a granulated feel to it, do you think it’s just the coconut meat I used? Thank you!!!!!!
Hi Briana, It may have been a combination of factors. It’s for sure possible different varieties of coconut might produce slightly different textures. As well, it might simply be that the yogurt needed to be blended for a while longer. (Alternatively, I’m wondering if blending too long might have had an effect!) Plus, while I find my Vitamix gets things super smooth, a blender that isn’t quite as powerful might have a bit more difficulty. I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavour, though, regardless of texture issues!! If you use a different brand of coconut sometime, I’d love to hear if you get different results.
I am so excited to stumble upon this. I recently discovered that I am allergic to milk so I have been looking for an alternative to a yogurt and I have yet to find a substitution. I can’t wait to try this!
I just read through all the comments to see if anyone else had the same problem as me. My yogurt never got smooth. I bought frozen coconut meat from Superstore (they have it in President’s Choice brand now!), thawed it, and blended it up with water and a splash of maple syrup in my Vitamix. I blended it for so long it actually got hot! I varied the speed, I kept on tamping it down so it all got in the blades, and finally I gave up and now I just have grainy coconut. I’m sure it doesn’t have anything to do with blending too long, as I frequently checked on it and it just went from chunky to less chunky. Not sure what I’m going to do with it now. Just letting you know.
You can actually ferment the coconut meat by adding coconut water kefir (which you can make by emptying some probiotic capsules – I use around 4 per coconut – into fresh coconut water and letting it sit for 24 hours in a covered jar) into it and letting it sit for 24 hours. I use a mason jar with a “Pickle Pipe” on the lid. It is very good for your digestive system.
Thanks Carolyn! I actually have some coconut kefir on hand (store-bought though!), and it’s great to add to the diet.
We loved this recipe! I used a whole young Thai coconut. It gave me about 12 oz coconut water and 1.25 c coconut meat. I used the yogurt to make overnight oats and my husband loved it and said “I could eat another portion of that.” Thank you for sharing!
Oh it’s the best with overnight oats isn’t it? Thanks so your review! :)
Has anyone tried to make this recipe without a vitamix and simply just with a different blender? I don’t own a vitamix but I do have a ninja, which is considered a high-powered blender but I can’t get this recipe to be a creamy consistency. I’ve added in additional coconut water, which hasn’t helped. I’ve even poured it into a smoothie blender cup because it comes with a different blade attachment, and that also has not work. Any suggestions aside from buying a vitamix?
Angela, I’m amazed at how many great recipes that I had found & copied!!! For a number of years now I’ve been using chia and hemp seeds along with many of the other great ingredients that you add. Thanks! Today’s the first time I have seen your recipes so I haven’t tried any of them…yet.