Wishing you had more money to spend on fancy flavors of yogurt? Tired of family members and roommates fighting over the last yogurt snack? Here’s an idea: save money and keep everybody happy. Make flavored yogurts at home. It’s easier than you think!
Individually packaged, mini servings of flavored yogurt can be convenient to pack on the go. But they can also be expensive.
When you’re looking to spend no more than $10 on snacking yogurts, you have to either sacrifice quality or quantity to stay with the budget. Chances are strong that someone in the house isn’t going to get the flavor they want.
Teach your family how to make delicious flavored yogurt at home. Save money by buying plain yogurt in bulk that you can experiment with different flavors by the serving.
Here are some advantages to making homemade flavored yogurt:
You Can Make It Healthier if You Want To
Some store-brand yogurts are better than others. Some might have a smoother texture, but that is likely due to the addition of tapioca starch, gelatin and or cornstarch.
Cornstarch is a hidden culprit when it comes to needless carbohydrate over indulgence. Skip the starch, and instead save your carb counts for sweet little additions to your yogurt snack. Many brands of plain yogurt don’t contain anything other than milk and yogurt cultures and they taste just fine.
Plus, if you’re planning on playing around with different flavors that you make at home, you aren’t likely to miss the extra ingredients anyway.
Something for Everyone
Each person in your family likely has flavor preference for how they take their yogurt. You might have peach lovers, chocolate fans or even the plain vanilla types. Mix up all kinds of delicious, yogurty concoctions with fan-favorite flavors as the basis for your yogurt blends.
Teach kids to make their own snacks and be creative. Next time your children come running asking why there’s nothing to eat, do this instead. Grab them a spoon, open the fridge, point at the tub of plain yogurt and tell them to get crazy.
Yogurt is Packed with Nutrition
With yogurt, you get a good dose of calcium for strong healthy teeth and bones, plus dairy has vitamins A and D added. Yogurt also contains protein, which makes it an excellent brain-food to fill you up.
Enjoy homemade flavored yogurt with breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or even a late-night yummy that won’t put you into the snacking calorie danger zone.
You Control the Fat
Some people want full fat. Some ask for nonfat. Some prefer Greek yogurt with or without the fat. You have plenty of dietary options with plain yogurt.
What happens when your family wants low-fat, but you can’t find it in the store? Compromise. Buy nonfat Greek yogurt, for example, and mix it with a few scoops of regular-fat yogurt.
Buy the Big Tub and Save
Get the economy-sized yogurt, and save while feeding everyone in the family. Prices of groceries have increased. It makes sense to buy in bulk when you can. When you buy yogurt in single servings, you are also paying more for the packaging. And, by purchasing large tubs of yogurt, you have less plastic to dispose of.
Let’s Not Forget Probiotic Benefits
The yogurt-for-gut-health message never gets old. Improve digestion for the entire family by making yogurt a part of your daily diet.
Try these delicious make-at-home yogurt recipes for flavors that will satisfy everyone and save money in the process!
Good Old Vanilla Yogurt – MYO Flavored Yogurt Recipe
Yogurt purists will enjoy a nice cup of sweet and mild tasting vanilla yogurt. Here’s a single serving recipe.
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1 to 2 Tbs. maple syrup, honey or erythritol low carb sweetener
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or a quarter inch piece of vanilla bean, crushed in a mortar and pestle
Directions
For vanilla yogurt on the fly, simply stir together all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy.
Tip if using honey: To help the honey blend better, microwave it for under 5 seconds to warm it before mixing in.
Maple Flavored Yogurt Recipe
Homemade maple yogurt is the easiest of all flavors to whip up. Includes just two ingredients, yogurt and maple syrup. If you are a maple syrup connoisseur then choose your preferred brand of 100% maple syrup.
Ingredients
1.5 cups plain yogurt
1-2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Directions
Combine ingredients in a bowl. Stir, eat and enjoy.
Tip: Add nuts such as walnuts and/or pecans for a super nutritious yogurt. It’s my favorite!
Homemade Blueberry Yogurt Recipe
Blueberry lovers will enjoy topping their yogurt snack with fresh blueberries. You can do that, but for this recipe we are making something very close to what you would find in the dairy aisle of your grocery store.
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
2-3 Tbs. blueberry preserves
Directions
In a bowl, combine ingredients. Stir to blend. If you like your blueberry yogurt with chunks of blueberry preserves, then don’t stir as much. If you love a very well blended blueberry yogurt, pop your ingredients into a personal-sized blender such as the Nutri Bullet.
MYO Healthier Peach Yogurt
To make healthy peach yogurt that does not have a lot of added sugar, mix plain yogurt with fresh or frozen peeled peaches in the blender. If it’s not sweet enough, add a touch of honey or other sweetener.
Ingredients
2 cups plain yogurt
2 cups fresh peaches
Directions
Swirl ingredients in the blender to desired consistency. You can leave the peaches chunky or you can blend them to smooth. To sweeten with honey, first warm the honey slightly, then blend in.
Sweeter Peach Yogurt
If you keep canned pie fillings on your shelf, this is another ingredient that you can use to make flavored yogurt in a pinch.
TIP: You wouldn’t want to crack open a full can of peach just for one bowl of yogurt. Ideally, if you are someone who cuts the sweet or sugary ingredients of your recipes, you would have decided to make a peach pie but saved half the filling to use in a different recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups plain yogurt
1/3 cup peach pie filling or to taste
Directions
Combine ingredients. Leave chunky if desired, or puree to smooth.
Homemade Chocolate Yogurt Recipe
Chocolate yogurt can be made using a number of different chocolate-based ingredients. Chocolate liqueur makes quite a delicious yogurt flavor if you happen to have it on hand.
Another way to make chocolate yogurt flavoring is by mixing a tablespoon of cocoa powder with two tablespoons of sugar and heating with a small amount of water until a chocolate syrup forms.
Finally, if you have chocolate syrup in the fridge, squirt some of that in your plain yogurt according to however sweet or chocolatey you like it.
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1-2 tbs. chocolate flavoring of choice, as described above
Directions
Mix well or blend in a small blender. Enjoy, chocolate lovers.
Tip: For as taste of heaven, add black cherry preserves!
Peanut Butter Yogurt Recipe
Peanut butter can make your yogurt snack into a meal thanks to the added fat and protein. Enjoy this as a sweet and nutty yogurt treat with honey or another sweetener. Or, if you’re a fan of savory and looking to limit carbs, skip the sweetener.
Ingredients
1.5 cups plain yogurt
2 tbs. natural peanut butter, chunky or smooth
1 tbsp. warmed honey (optional)
Directions
Start by placing the peanut butter in a serving bowl. Use the back of a spoon to stir it to a smooth consistency. If peanut butter is cold from the refrigerator and difficult to stir, warm it slightly in the microwave for a few seconds or in a small pot on the stove. You can add the honey to the warm peanut butter. If you do this, skip the step of warming the honey.
Place butter and honey mixture in a bowl. Top with the yogurt and stir. Enjoy your sweet and savory, healthy yogurt snack.
Note: I prefer to use almond butter instead of peanut butter. Also, I sometimes add cacao powder or dark chocolate chips. Sooooo good!
Banana-Flavored Yogurt Recipe
Homemade banana yogurt is a great way to use up those overripe bananas. You can also use a banana that is not quite as ripe if you prefer mild-flavored bananas. For a healthier version of this, omit the added sweetener.
Ingredients
2 cups plain yogurt
1 tbsp. sugar, maple syrup, warmed honey or erythritol sweetener
Half a banana, mashed
Directions
Stir together all ingredients in a serving bowl. If you prefer your banana yogurt extra smooth, place in a food processor or a blender and pulse or whip to desired consistency.
Yum yum, enjoy. (I add nuts for a banana bread flavor!)
Homemade Nutella Yogurt
Nutella enthusiasts will love this quick-to-prepare yogurt treat that only requires two ingredients.
Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1 to 2 tablespoons Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread
Directions
Stir together ingredients in a bowl. Enjoy your tasty, Nutella yogurt treat!
Get Creative!
Add ingredients that may not be listed here that you have on hand. Nuts, nut butters, food flavorings, fresh & dried fruits, jams & preserves, and dark chocolate will provide extra flavor and nutrition.
