In our Taste Test series, BA editors conduct blind comparisons to discover the best supermarket staples (like vanilla ice cream or frozen pizza). Today, which Greek yogurt should you reach for in the dairy aisle?
Greek yogurt is beloved for its custardy texture, high protein content, and ultimate versatility. One moment it’s the base of a breakfast with granola, the next it’s playing a starring role in a marinade, and the next it’s the foundation of a tangy-creamy dip.
What we have come to know as Greek yogurt actually has culinary roots in the Middle East, but many cultures have a version of strained yogurt, from Icelandic skyr, to Turkish süzme yoğurt. Most varieties are made by straining out excess whey from yogurt, which renders a thicker consistency while retaining the same zing of bright sourness.
Today, Greek yogurt is a multi-billion dollar industry in the US, but with so many brands to choose from, which is best? We judged on flavor and texture to find the Greek yogurt that successfully balances puckery sharpness with a velvety rich texture.
Photograph by Alex Huang, Food Styling by Jennifer Ophir
Just the Absolute Worst: Cabot Whole Milk Plain Greek Yogurt
The ingredients: pasteurized milk, cream, milk protein concentrate, whey protein concentrate, and live active yogurt cultures (acidophilus, Bifidus, L. bulgaricus, and S. thermophilus, vitamin A palmitate, and vitamin D3).
The flavor: Cabot’s Greek yogurt couldn’t have been farther from what we were looking for. As digital production assistant Li Goldstein put it, the taste was more akin to “Cottage cheese, if cottage cheese were, I don’t know, bad?” When editorial director Serena Dai took a bite, her eyes darted around the room before a frown bloomed on her face. “It tastes like if vanilla went bad,” she said. The texture here was akin to a thick mousse (perhaps because of a whopping 10% milkfat), and the flavor somehow resembled Parmesan. I wouldn’t ask my worst enemy to taste this yogurt.
