Making Your Own Greek Yogurt

 

I don't know about you, but I like Greek Yogurt. The combination of sweet and tart flavor as well as the creamy texture make this a favorite snack around our house. There are only a couple of things wrong with most of the brands of Greek yogurt available on the supermarket shelves in my area. First, is the cost, those little 5.3 ounce containers of Greek yogurt are expensive. Second, they just have way to much sugar for those of us who are diabetic.

So what's a Greek loving yogurt guy supposed to do? Well here at Culinary You, there is only one option and that's to make our own. Hold on now, before you get the wrong idea, I am not talking about making our own Greek yogurt from scratch, what I am talking about is buying the large 32 ounce containers of plain Greek yogurt and adding our own flavorings and sweeteners to make it not only more affordable, but most importantly more diabetic friendly.

The Recipe

I got the idea for making this recipe when I picked up container of Great Value Vanilla Greek yogurt and flipped the container around to look at the ingredients. I was somewhat shocked to find that it contained 27 grams of sugar per serving, whereas the plain Greek yogurt only had 9 grams of sugar per serving (without the Splenda). The vanilla flavored yogurt had three times the amount of sugar as the plain. I knew I could do better job of managing the sugar content by making my own version of Greek vanilla yogurt using Great Value no-calorie sweetener (Walmart's version of Splenda). This yogurt is now the base for my own variety of fruit flavored yogurts made with fresh or frozen fruits that have no additional sugar added. Adding fresh fruit does increase the sugar content of the final finished product, so if you are really trying to manage your sugar intake you may want to omit the fruit. But generally fresh or frozen fruits do not increase the overall sugar content of the yogurt that much.

Todd's Greek Yogurt (Yield: 6 5.3oz portions)

1 32oz container Great Value Plain Greek Yogurt (36 carbs)

1 cup fresh fruit of your choice (optional)

½ cup Splenda or Great Value no-calorie sweetener (12 carbs)

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract and/or other flavored extracts

Empty the yogurt into a large bowl and add ¼ of Splenda or Great Value no-calorie sweetener, and mix it thoroughly. Taste the yogurt and if it is sweet enough to suit your tastes then stop here. I find for me it takes ½ cup of Great Value sweetener to get the desired taste that I like. Once the yogurt is sweet enough, then add ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract mix again until the vanilla is thoroughly combined.

At this point you can add any fresh fruit that you like. Make sure to mix the fruit so that it is evenly distributed throughout the yogurt before placing it into individual containers and return it to the fridge.

Total Recipe - Calories 528, protein 92 grams, fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 48 grams
5.3oz Portion - Calories 88, protein 15.3 grams, fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 8 grams

Cost Breakdown

While cost is not the primary motivator in this case for making my own yogurt, it is still cheaper to mix your own than it is to buy one of the name brands. Great Value no-calorie sweeter is $6.98 for 19.4oz ($0.37 per ounce), a ½ cup of the sweetener weighed is 0.4 oz, so total cost for GV no-calorie sweetener is $0.15 (37 x 0.4 = 14.8). The cost of the vanilla is minimal as well totaling $0.01. The total cost even with adding the no-calorie sweetener and the vanilla when rounded to the next penny is still $0.12 per ounce (actually $0.123).

Great Value 32oz Plain Greek Yogurt $3.78 ($0.12 per ounce)

Great Value Granulated no-calorie Sweetener $6.98 ($0.37 per ounce) ($0.37 x 0.4 = $0.15)

Molina Vanilla Extract $0.23 per ounce (6 teaspoons per ounce = $0.04 / 4 = $0.01)

Total Cost of my recipe: $3.94 ($3.78 + $0.15 + $0.01 = $3.94) or ($0.12 per ounce)

Chobani 32oz Plain Greek Yogurt $4.78 ($0.15 per ounce)

Dannon Lite & Fit 32oz Vanilla Greek Yogurt $4.88 ($0.15 per ounce)

Fage 35oz Plain Greek Yogurt $5.78 ($0.17 per ounce)

Great Value 32oz Plain Greek Yogurt $3.78 ($0.12 per ounce, actually $0.118)

Oikos 32oz Plain Greek Yogurt $4.54 ($0.14 per ounce)

Chobani 5.3oz Greek Yogurt (Fruit On The Bottom) $1.00 ($0.19 per ounce)

Dannon 5.3oz Greek Yogurt (Assorted Flavors) $1.00 ($0.19 per ounce)

Yoplait 5.3oz Greek Yogurt (Assorted Flavors) $1.00 ($0.19 per ounce)

Todd's 5.3oz Greek Yogurt (Vanilla Flavor) $0.66 ($0.12 per ounce)

While buying the 32 ounce container of Great Value yogurt only saves you 13% from the next cheaper alternative Oikos, it is 32% cheaper than the more expensive Fage brand. The big savings however, comes from making your own individual 5.3 ounce portions. Using this recipe and making your own individual 5.3 ounce cups of yogurt is 37% cheaper than buying the already packaged name brand yogurts.

The Diabetic Factor

The primary reason I mix my own yogurt is to keep the sugar content at a manageable level. The pre-made Great Value vanilla yogurt has a total of 19 grams of sugar per 5.3 ounce serving, while the Great Value plain yogurt only contains 9 grams of sugar for the same portion size. That means that the vanilla flavored yogurt has twice the sugar, and 3 times the carbohydrates of the plain Greek yogurt. Other than the addition of vanilla (no caloric value) the only difference between the two yogurts is the addition of sugar. By using the Great Value no-calorie sweetener, I can adjust the sweetness of the yogurt without increasing the carbohydrate content dramatically (2 carbs per serving) which is a major concern for people who have diabetes, or who are following a low carbohydrate high fat diet (LCHF).

Adding fresh or frozen fruit does give your yogurt added taste as well as texture, but it comes at the price of increasing the total amount of sugar in your yogurt. While the actual amount may vary depending on the type of fruit, I have included a list of the approximate overall value of sugar for one cup of fruit.

1 cup of Banana = 28 grams of sugar.

1 cup of Blackberries = 7 grams of sugar.

1 cup of Blueberries = 15 grams of sugar.

1 cup of Raspberries = 7 grams of sugar.

1 cup of Strawberries = 7 grams of sugar.

As you can see, the natural sugar of many of the popular fruits added to yogurt varies with banana being the fruit with the most sugar. Keep in mind that the amount of sugar added using these fruits is for 32 ounces of yogurt. So even if you use bananas in your yogurt, you will only be raising the sugar content of each 5.3 ounce serving by 4.6 grams (28 grams / 6 servings = 4.6).

If you do not want to add fresh or frozen fruit to your yogurt you can flavor your yogurt's through the use of imitation flavorings which you can find on your grocer's shelves or via the Internet. Some of the more popular flavors are: orange, strawberry, raspberry, coconut, maple, and pineapple. Start by adding 1/8 of a teaspoon at a time as these flavors are pretty concentrated. Although they are an additional investment, for the diabetic the advantage is that they add flavor without adding any sugar.

Conclusion

Mixing your own flavored Greek yogurt can not only save you up to 37% over the more popular brands, but the biggest advantage is that you have control of the amount of sugar you want your yogurt to contain. While this alone may not be of concern for many of you, if like me, you have diabetes, then using this recipe to help you managing your sugar is paramount. The best part is that this recipe takes very little time and can be whipped up in less than five minutes. You can place the yogurt back into it's original container after mixing or divide it into 6 individual portions to take in your lunch fro a low carb snack (8 grams per serving). As always, if you have found this article interesting and informative we ask that you share it with your friends. Don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and or add us to your circle on Google+.