Making tempeh at home is easier than you think — it just takes a little patience and the right conditions.

Below is a complete step-by-step guide for beginners to prepare delicious, healthy tempeh from scratch using soybeans and a fermentation culture.

🍽️ Homemade Tempeh Recipe

Prep Time: 12–24 hours
Fermentation Time: 24–48 hours
Yield: ~500g of tempeh

🧾 Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity	Notes
Dried soybeans	2 cups (400g)	Organic preferred
Vinegar	1–2 tablespoons	White or apple cider vinegar
Tempeh starter	1 teaspoon	Contains Rhizopus oligosporus spores
Water	As needed	For soaking, boiling, and draining

Purchase online from sites like Cultures for Health, TempehStarterShop, or Amazon.
Store in the fridge or freezer to keep the spores active.

Rinse 2 cups of dried soybeans.
Soak them in a large bowl with at least 6 cups of water for 8–12 hours (overnight).
The beans will double in size.

After soaking, rub the beans between your hands to remove most of the hulls.
Drain and rinse several times, removing floating hulls as much as possible.
Optional: You can pulse them a few times in a food processor to split the beans.

Boil or pressure cook the beans until just tender but not mushy.
- Boil: 30–45 minutes
- Pressure cook: 10–15 minutes
Drain thoroughly and let cool to room temperature.
Important: Beans must be completely dry before adding starter.

Place the inoculated beans into ziplock bags (1–2 cm thick layer).
Poke small holes (every 1 inch) on both sides using a fork or skewer — air is needed for the mold to grow.
Alternative: Use perforated glass baking trays or banana leaves.

Tips for incubation:

Use a yogurt maker, oven with light on, seedling mat, or rice cooker “keep warm” mode.
Keep temperature stable — too hot kills the mold, too cold slows fermentation.

✅ You’ll see a white mat-like mold forming and binding the beans together. That’s tempeh!