How To Easily Make Tempeh at Home

Learn how to easily make tempeh at home using soybeans or other types of beans at home. You can use an oven or instant pot to culture the tempeh.

Making my own tempeh is another one of the projects that have been on my list for a few years now and finally, I’ve gotten a chance to do it. Tempeh is considered a “street food” in Indonesia. It’s sold at the market and considered a very cheap source of protein and they are highly nutritious. Some even said tempeh are “poor people” food. Nowadays though, with the vegan population continue to rise, tempeh has become one of the important protein sources worldwide. Tempeh is definitely not a “poor people” food here in the U.S. 🙂 They aren’t cheap and that’s why I decided to make my own tempeh using a tempeh starter.

MAKING TEMPEH ISN’T AS HARD AS YOU THINK

The thought of making my own tempeh maybe a bit overwhelming at first. There is really no fancy equipment needed. They only need a warm environment to culture, which is how the weather is like in Indonesia. It may be a bit tough in winter time, but I use my kitchen oven or now I have Instant Pot, to let them incubate and culture. They are really easy to grow. But after making it once, there’s no stopping me 🙂 It’s very rewarding and not to mention homemade tempeh tastes the best for real!

WHERE TO BUY TEMPEH STARTER

I got my tempeh starter (Rhizopus mold) from Amazon and I use this (affiliate link) or you can get it directly from Cultures for Health (not sponsored). I’ve been using their tempeh starter for years without any problems. They have regular soy tempeh starter and non-soy tempeh starter

YOU CAN USE DIFFERENT BEANS TO MAKE TEMPEH

I’ve used the same tempeh starter to make black beans and chickpeas tempeh. You can use any kind of beans you like such as mung beans, red beans, etc.

TO DEHULL OR NOT DEHULL THE SOYBEANS

I’ve tried making tempeh the “easy” way without having to dehull the soybeans. While they turned out okay, but the beans are not as “tightly” woven together by the spores compared to if I dehull the beans. So they fell apart when I used them to stir fry or pan-frying. Maybe I’ve missed something. But so far, I still recommend dehulling the soybeans.

YOU DON’T NEED A SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

There is an instruction that comes with the tempeh starter that I purchased, but I modified the instruction a little bit. I don’t have any special equipment, such as an incubator to culture the tempeh. I only have an oven to culture the tempeh. Now I have an Instant Pot too, I love the fact that I can use that to cook the soybeans in just 15 minutes and I can use it as an incubator to culture the tempeh

HOW TO DEHULL SOYBEANS

1. SOAK THE SOYBEANS
Place 2 cups of soybeans in a large pot. Pour cold water to cover the beans. Let it sit for at least 10 hours or up to 24 hours

2. RUB THE BEANS TO REMOVE THE HULLS
Drain off the water and fill with more fresh water and use your two hands to rub the soybeans as if you are washing your hands.

This will rub off the skin off the soybeans. The skin will rise to the top of the water and scoop those skins away and pour off the water and fill up with fresh water and rub again. Do this for about 3-4 times, or until you take off most of the skin. You may not be able to take off all the skin, but take off as much as you can

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN TEMPEH AT HOME

1. COOK THE DEHULLED SOYBEANS
If using Instant Pot: Place the dehulled beans in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Fill up with 6 cups of water

Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to “sealing”. Press “pressure cooker” and make sure it’s on “high pressure”. Set timer to 15 minutes and then wait 5 minutes before fully releasing the pressure

Remove some of the hulls that you may see floating to the top. Drain off the water

The soybeans should be soft and cooked through, but not mushy. Proceed to “dry the beans” step below

If cooking the soybeans on the stove: Place the dehulled beans back to the pot and fill up with 8 cups of water, bring to a boil and then lower the heat and cover the pot and cook for 1 hour. Just check on the water to make sure it doesn’t run out while you are boiling it. Drain off the cooking water after the beans are soft and cooked through. Proceed to “dry the beans” step below
3. PREPARE BAGS
You can use either 1 quart or 1/2-quart resealable plastic bag. Use a toothpick to poke a hole through, about 1-inch apart

2. DRY THE BEANS
Spread the cooked beans on the cloth

Use another dry towel to gently rub the beans to dry them

The beans have to be dry to touch. You can also use a blow dryer on low heat to dry the beans

3. MIX BEANS WITH VINEGAR AND TEMPEH STARTER
Verify the temperature of the soybeans by using a thermometer. Gently poke it into the beans. The temperature should be around 90-95 F. Pour in 2 Tbsp of distilled white vinegar and sprinkle 1 packet (about 1 tsp) of the tempeh starter. Use a clean spatula to mix it around to make sure the beans are covered with the starter and vinegar

4. FILL THE BAGS
Fill the bags with the beans, making sure you fill it to the corner but do not overpack it. It should be about 1 to 1 1/2-inches in thickness. Push all air out and seal the bags

5. INCUBATE
If you use Instant Pot to incubate: Put a trivet in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Gently put the bags on top of the trivet. Close the lid and press “Yogurt” button repeatedly until the light shows “less” mode and then set the timer to 14-24 hours. I set to 14 hours first to remind me to check on the beans and wipe off any condensation inside the lid & then continue to culture until about 48 hours

If you use oven to incubate:
Place the bags of beans on a clean baking sheet and place them inside the oven

Place a thermometer inside the oven so you know the temperature. It should be around 90-95 F

6. MONITOR THE GROWTH
I only start seeing a bit of growth starting at about 24-hour mark in my case when I use an oven as an incubator

The ones in Instant Pot starting to show some growth at around 20 hours

Both do grow rapidly after 24 hours and the tempeh generates its own heat and you will notice a rise in temperature. Make sure it is maintained between 90-95 F. This is how they look like close to 48 hours

The tempeh is done culturing when they are covered with white spores all over and you can pick it up like a block without it breaking apart. It should be firm.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TEMPEH

HOW LONG TO CULTURE TEMPEH

The whole process may take up to 48 hours or a bit longer sometimes for fully cultured tempeh

BLACK SPOTS ON TEMPEH

If you see some black spots, DO NOT PANIC. It doesn’t mean that your tempeh is bad. In fact, those are actually the spores that also an indication that the fermentation of your tempeh is complete. The tempeh has matured. The tempeh will have a pleasant nutty fermented aroma. Many people in Indonesia like a black tempeh as a matter of fact. It has stronger aroma.

HOW TO KNOW IF TEMPEH HAS GONE BAD

Here are a few signs:
1. The tempeh is slimy and slippery to touch
2. It has very strong pungent ammonia-like smell
3. It doesn’t have a pleasant aroma at all

CAN I EAT RAW TEMPEH?

Even though the soybeans are cooked prior to making tempeh, during the fermentation process, these soybeans feed the tempeh starter and by the end of fermentation, what left are other nutrients and amino acids in the tempeh. So, to make a long story short, it is considered a “raw” food and it’s better not to eat raw tempeh

HOW TO STORE TEMPEH

Wrap them with a plastic wrap. Freeze them if you are not going to cook them anytime soon. It’s good up to 6 months in the freezer and about 10 days in the refrigerator

How To Easily Make Tempeh at Home

RECIPE IDEAS USING TEMPEH

Kering Tempeh Kacang (Spicy and Sweet Fried Tempeh and Peanuts)
Sambal Goreng Tempeh (Fried Tempeh in Spicy Sambal)
Tempeh Mendoan / Crispy Thin Fried Spiced Tempeh
Tahu dan Tempe Bacem (Braised Spiced Tofu and Tempeh)
Tempeh Fritters (Perkedel Tempeh)
Gulai Tempeh (Tempeh Stew)

DID YOU MAKE TEMPEH AT HOME?

I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!

How To Easily Make Tempeh at Home

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Culture time 2 days d

Total Time 2 days d 20 minutes mins

Servings 2 large blocks (800 grams)

5 from 2 reviews

REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

• ▢ 400 gr dry soybeans or other beans of your choice about 2 cups, organic non-GMO if possible
• ▢ 1 tsp tempeh starter (rhizopus oryzae or rhizopus oligosporus culture)
• ▢ 2 Tbsp distilled vinegar

Equipments:

• ▢ hairdryer or 2-3 large tea or kitchen towel
• ▢ Thermometer
• ▢ Instant Pot or your kitchen oven
• ▢ 2 1-quart zipper bags or 4 1/2-quart zipper bags see notes

Instructions

 

SOAKING:

• I got my tempeh starter from Cultures of Health and one packet is good for 2 cups of soy beans and so that's the amount I used.
• Place 2 cups of soy beans in a large pot. Pour cold water to cover the beans. Let it sit for at least 10 hours or up to 24 hours

DEHULLING:

• Drain off the water and fill with more fresh water and use your two hands to rub the soybeans as if you are washing your hands. This will rub off the skin off the soy beans. The skin will rise to the top of the water and scoop those skins away and pour off the water and fill up with fresh water and rub again. Do this for about 3-4 times, or until you take off most of the skin. You may not be able to take off all the skin, but take off as much as you can, but there's no need to be obsessed about it

IF COOKING SOYBEANS ON THE STOVE:

• Place the dehulled beans back to the pot and fill up with 8 cups of water, bring to a boil and then lower the heat and cover the pot and cook for 1 hour. Just check on the water to make sure it doesn't run out while you are boiling it. Drain off the cooking water after the beans are soft and cooked through. Proceed to "dry the beans" step below

IF COOKING SOYBEANS WITH PRESSURE COOKER:

• Place the dehulled beans in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Fill up with 6 cups of water. Close the lid and turn the steam release valve to "sealing". Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Set timer to 15 minutes and then wait 5 minutes before fully releasing the pressure
• Drain off the water. The soybeans should be soft and cooked through, but not mushy. Proceed to "dry the beans" step below

PREPARE BAGS AND CONTAINER TO CULTURE THE BEANS:

• While the beans are cooking, you can prepare two 1 quart-size zip lock bags or four 1/2 quart-size zip lock bags that are already poked with a toothpick on both sides (1-inch apart)

DRY THE BEANS:

• Spread two to three dry clean absorbent cloth on the kitchen counter or wherever with enough space. Spread the cooked beans on the cloth and use another dry towel to gently rub the beans to dry it. The beans need to be dry to touch. You can also use a hair dryer on low heat to blow dry it. The temperature of the beans should be about 90-95 degrees.

MIX BEANS, STARTER, AND VINEGAR & FILL THE BAGS:

• Place the dried soybeans but still slightly warmed beans in a large bowl. Pour in 2 Tbsp of distilled white vinegar and sprinkle 1 packet (about 1 tsp) of the tempeh starter. Use a clean spatula to mix it around to make sure the beans are covered with the starter and vinegar
• Fill the bags with the beans, making sure you fill it to the corner but do not overpack it. It should be about 1 to 1 1/2-inches in thickness. Push all air out and seal the bags

IF YOU INCUBATE THE BEANS IN INSTANT POT :

• Put a trivet in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Gently put the bags on top of the trivet. Close the lid and press "Yogurt" button repeatedly until the light shows "less" mode and then set the timer to 14 hours. I set to 14 hours first to remind me to check on the beans and wipe off any condensation inside the lid & then continue to culture until about 48 hours using yogurt function

IF YOU INCUBATE THE BEANS IN THE OVEN:

• If your oven has a "bread proof" function, turn it on. This helps to maintain the temperature at 90-95 F. If your oven doesn't have this function, turn the oven's light on. This helps to maintain that temperature too. Place the bags of beans on a clean baking sheet and place them inside the oven. Place a thermometer inside the oven so you know the temperature

MONITOR THE GROWTH:

• I only start seeing a bit of growth starting at about 24-hour mark in my case when I use an oven as an incubator. The ones in Instant Pot starting to show some growth at around 20 hours. They started to grow rapidly after 24 hours. You will notice that the tempeh culture actually generates its own heat. This process may take up to 48 hours or it may not
• The tempeh is done when it covers with white spores all over and you can pick it up like a block without it breaking apart. It should be firm
• When you open the lid of Instant Pot to monitor the growth, use a clean paper towel to wipe off the condensation that accumulates on the lid before closing it back again, this way the water droplets won't drop on the tempeh
• If you see some black spots, DO NOT PANIC. It doesn't mean that your tempeh is bad. The tempeh should has nutty pleasant fermented aroma. If it smells foul, then the tempeh is most likely no good and you should discard it
• The whole process may take up to 48 hours or a bit longer sometimes for fully cultured tempeh

HOW TO STORE TEMPEH:

• Wrap them with a plastic wrap. Freeze them if you are not going to cook them anytime soon. It's good up to 6 months in the freezer and about 10 days in the refrigerator

RECOMMEDED TOOLS

Instant Pot

Marv's Recipe Notes

If you don't want to use a plastic bag, you can use a container or banana leaves. In Indonesia, tempeh is made by piling the soybeans on top of banana leaves and then wrap like a parcel to let it ferments

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