Plain Yogurt
Plain yogurt is milk fermented with live bacterial cultures into a tangy, thick, spoonable food, eaten on its own worldwide and used constantly as a cooking and baking ingredient.
How to buy
Check the ingredient list for just milk and live cultures if you want a clean base, since some brands add sugar or stabilizers. Fat content ranges from skim to whole milk, and labels noting live and active cultures signal probiotic content.
How to store
Refrigerate tightly sealed and use within 1-2 weeks of opening. Avoid freezing if you want to eat it plain, since ice crystals break its smooth structure, though frozen yogurt works fine blended into smoothies or used in cooking.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Tangy and slightly sour from lactic acid fermentation, with a clean dairy sweetness underneath; richness and tang vary by milk fat and the specific culture strain used.
- Texture
- Thick and smooth, ranging from pourable to spoonably dense depending on how much it's strained; whisks easily into sauces and marinades.
- Aroma
- A mild, tangy, faintly sour dairy aroma from fermentation.
How to prepare
- Whisked into marinades — Blended with spices to tenderize and flavor meat before grilling or roasting.
- Strained — Drained through cheesecloth to thicken into labneh or a Greek-yogurt-like consistency.
- Blended — Mixed into smoothies for a tangy, protein-rich base.
- Dolloped — Spooned over curries, soups, or flatbreads as a cooling counterpoint to spice.
Classic dishes
American
- Fruit and granola yogurt parfait — Layers of yogurt, fruit, and granola served in a glass for breakfast.
Indian
- Raita — A cooling yogurt side mixed with cucumber, onion, or spices to balance spicy meals.
- Tandoori chicken marinade — Chicken marinated in spiced yogurt before roasting at high heat in a tandoor.
- Lassi — A blended yogurt drink, sweet or salty, sometimes flavored with fruit or rose water.
- Shrikhand — A sweetened, strained yogurt dessert flavored with saffron and cardamom.
- Korma sauce base — Yogurt blended into a mild curry sauce for tang and body alongside ground nuts.
- Naan dough enrichment — Yogurt worked into naan dough for a softer, slightly tangy flatbread.
Greek
- Tzatziki — A cucumber, garlic, and yogurt dip finished with olive oil and dill.
- Cacik — A yogurt, cucumber, and garlic dip similar to tzatziki, served as a cooling side.
- Dolma with yogurt-garlic sauce — Stuffed grape leaves served with a tangy yogurt and garlic sauce on the side.
Middle Eastern
- Mast-o-khiar — A Persian yogurt and cucumber dish flavored with dried mint and sometimes walnuts and raisins.
- Doogh — A savory, fizzy yogurt drink mixed with water, salt, and sometimes dried mint.
- Ayran — A simple salted yogurt drink served chilled alongside grilled meats.
- Labneh — Yogurt strained until thick and spreadable, served with olive oil and za'atar.
- Yogurt-marinated kebabs — Meat marinated in yogurt and spices before grilling on skewers.
- Borani — A yogurt-based dip mixed with cooked beets or eggplant and garlic.
Substitutions
- Greek Yogurt — Thicker and tangier; use slightly less or thin with a splash of milk to match plain yogurt's consistency.
- Sour Cream — Less tangy and higher in fat; works in dips and baking but is less effective as a meat-tenderizing marinade.