Which yoghurt should I buy at the supermarket?

With so many yoghurts to choose from in the dairy aisle these days, picking the right one can be a tad overwhelming.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We taste-tested our way through six no added sugar yoghurts at our local supermarket.

Once we’d checked to make sure no sugar meant no sugar, we analysed them for flavour, texture, health-factor and the creamy upside-down-spoon challenge. A quick tip: natural or plain full-fat yoghurt will contain about 4.7g of sugar per 100g, but this is lactose not fructose. Lactose is a naturally occurring sugar in dairy, and doesn’t affect the body in the same way fructose does.

So, from the tangiest of Greek yoghurts and lactose-free alternatives to the ones that made us say, “there’s no whey that’s natural yoghurt!”, here are our results.

6. Yoplait Forme No Fat, No Added Sugar French Vanilla, $4

MAI: The label read like the stuff of health-food marketing dreams … No fat, no added sugar and a five-star health rating. The kind you’d feel good feeding your family and spooning out over your Coconutty Granola right? But the fine print was disappointing: thickeners, preservatives and artificial sweeteners 950 (Acesulphame-K) and 955 (sucralose apparently). Kind of explains the fake sweet taste I guess …

RACHEL: For the no added sugar claim, it tasted way sweeter than I thought it would! A little synthetic, actually. So I looked up the ingredients and what do ya know: polydextrose (a synthetic polymer of glucose) and various numbered sweeteners. Erm, and this gets a five star Health Rating?

Consensus: Forme, is definitely not the one For Me (and probably not your family either).

5. Caprilac Natural Goat Yoghurt, $4.89

MAI: Disclaimer: In a world full of so many dairy options, varieties made of goat’s milk anything would rarely be my first choice. Something about those horned creatures just terrifies me!

That aside, the texture of this yoghurt was smooth but I found it a little runny and sharp for my liking. Is that how goat’s yoghurt is meant to taste, people? I’ll leave the final verdict to someone who’s lactose intolerant and actually has trouble digesting cow’s milk. My strengths lie somewhere else.

RACHEL: It tastes like goat.

Consensus:  We’re waiting for the real goat’s milk fans to give us their feedback on this one.

4. Five:AM Natural Organic Yoghurt, $5

MAI: Five:AM is like the Jimmy Fallon of yoghurt world: “nice”.  A smooth texture, subtle flavour and pretty non-offensive approach with everything else it offers. If you’re happy to settle for sensible, this is perfect choice. But if you’re looking for Jerry Springer-type fireworks, you may want to continue your search…

RACHEL: This would be my “everything else” yoghurt. Not as delicious as Jalna so I wouldn’t eat it on its own, but I’d use it for everything else. The flavour is fine – just fine. It tastes like yoghurt, so it’s done the job, right? I’d use for smoothies, curries, dressings and… everything else.

Consensus:  A yoghurt that will please the masses.

3. Nudie Coconut Yoghurt, $3.14

MAI: I’ve tried other CoYos and while I love the flavour, I feel they can be a little too rich. I was excited that this one seemed a little lighter, but be careful what you wish for – ultimately, my fickle self decided the texture was actually a little too lumpy for my liking (something to do with the added corn flour perhaps?). A great dairy-free option if you’re vegan though, and I can’t fault the scrummy coconutty flavour.

RACHEL: The inner lid on the container says, “cows need a holiday too!” Hurhurhur. I love the idea of a vegan yoghurt that isn’t soy. The flavour is deliciously coconutty, but I was a little worried to see that it comes from vanilla bean and ‘natural’ flavour. ‘Natural’ isn’t always as it sounds. And what’s with all the lumps? If it were dairy, I would have thrown it out for fear of food poisoning! It needs to be stirred – this should be on the label. In BOLD.

Consensus: Coconut. Is there anything it can’t do?

2. Evia Greek Strained Yoghurt Natural, $5.19

MAI: I’m a big fan of Greek yoghurt. I would eat it straight from the pot by the spoonful if I could (okay, I do, when no one is looking). So was curious whether this one would live up to the hype promised in its “award-winning label”. I can reveal it absolutely does! Super creamy and just the right amount of tartness, this was the stuff of Santorini dreams and my favourite.

RACHEL: It’s all-natural, vegetarian and the creamy texture scores full marks but…  Greek yoghurt is way too sour for me. Maybe I need to work on my sourness tolerance. I think it would make a really delicious creamy yoghurt dressing. Don’t judge me, Greek yoghurt lovers!

Consensus: It will make Greek yoghurt fans very happy.

1. Jalna Pot Set Biodynamic Organic Whole Milk Yoghurt, $5.95

MAI: No stabilisers, growth hormones or sugars were harmed in the making of this product. But I’m not complaining. Somehow the good folks over at Jalna have still managed to produce one of the richest, creamiest natural yoghurts on the market. It’s not super thick so I think it would work well as a salad dressing. Overall I’m super impressed.

RACHEL: Remember those Jalna TV ads that kind of seemed like they were set in heaven, with the flower-covered fields and rainbows everywhere? You know the ones? The slogan was “a little pot of purity”, and that’s exactly what this yoghurt is. It’s organic, biodynamic, vegetarian and nothing else added but milk and yoghurt culture. It’s thick and tastes amazing. The only thing I’m disturbed by is how they spell yoghurt. Yoghourt?

Consensus: If yoghurts were mythical beasts, this would be our unicorn.

We first published this post in December 2015. We updated it in June 2016.

Are we missing your favourite yoghurt? Which foods would you like us to test next?

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