Instant Pot Soy Cream Cheese
Vegan cream cheese made from soy milk using the Instant Pot
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 12 hours hrs
Straining Time 4 hours hrs
Total Time 16 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Instant Pot Duo
Nut milk bag
Sieve
- 1 qt soy milk MUST be plain, unsweetened, only ingredients soy beans and water
- 3 tbsp plain vegan yogurt
- 1 1/2 tsp onion salt- Trader Joes brand or use 1/2 tsp salt, onion flake, garlic powder, chives
- 1/2 tbsp champagne vinegar
1. Pour 4 cups of plain unsweetened soy milk into the Instant Pot. Stir in the plain yogurt until no lumps appear. Put the lid on. Press "yogurt" and set the timer for 12 hours. I do this step over night so in the morning it will be ready.
2. After 12 hours you now have soy yogurt. Place a cheese cloth or nut milk bag into a mesh strainer into a large bowl. Take off the Instant Pot lid. Pour the soy yogurt into the nut milk bag/ strainer. The excess liquid will drain out of the nut milk bag into the bowl. The strainer is to prop it up so its not sitting directly in the bowl. Strain for 4 hours or more depending on how thick you want it. I squeezed the bag every hour to help it go faster.
3. After your yogurt is strained it should resemble really thick greek yogurt. Next, pour the yogurt from the strainer into a bowl. Mix in the champagne vinegar and onion salt. If not using onion salt, use 1/2 tsp salt (or more depending on taste), pinch of garlic powder, pinch of onion powder, 1/4 tsp onion flakes, and 1/4 tsp dried chives. Taste and adjust to your preferences. Store in a container for up to 5 days.
Notes-
The soy milk you use is very important. It must be plain, unsweetened, with NO additives, fillers, or minerals, the only ingredients should be soybeans and water.
I use pre existing plain yogurt as a culture starter. You can also use packets of yogurt culture starter bought online.
I use Trader Joe's onion salt as a seasoning because it has onion flake and dried chives already in it. If you don't have it then just use a combination of salt, garlic powder, onion powder, onion flake, and dried chives.
I use champagne vinegar but you could sub apple cider vinegar.
The longer you strain, the thicker your resulting cream cheese will be, but you will end up with less quantity. I do 4 hours of straining while occasionally squeezing the liquid out of the bag. You can strain up to 6 hours. If you don't have a nut milk bag or cheese cloth, you can place a coffee filter into a mesh strainer. Keyword cream cheese, Instant Pot, plant based, soy milk, vegan, yogurt