Greek Yogurt Smackdown: Oikos, Chobani, Siggi's and Voskos
May 16, 2009 | (11)
Greek yogurt is enjoying a surge in popularity, so I’ve spent the past few days sampling different brands. After some trial and error, I’ve learned the trick to Greek yogurt: don’t stir it.
Stonyfield Farm Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt Honey on the Bottom
I’m a big fan of Stoneyfield Farm’s regular old non-Greek yogurt, so I had high hopes for this brand. Sticking to Greek yogurt rule #1, I didn’t stir the honey on the bottom into the yogurt. Instead I gently folded it in so as to preserve the consistency that everyone raves about. Oikos has a smooth and creamy texture less dense than Fage, and the taste was a bit sharper. That’s probably because the Fage yogurt I sampled in the last post was full fat (doh!), while the Oikos is non-fat. I’m OK with that, because while the full fat yogurt was decadent and cheesecakey, the Oikos was light and refreshing. That’s more my pace for my morning yogurt fix. At about $1.25, 120 calories, and 0 grams of fat for 5.3 ounces, it’s easy on the handbag and the saddlebags.
Chobani Non-fat Vanilla Greek Yogurt
I couldn’t find a honey flavor in Chobani, so I opted for vanilla. The texture was more like full fat Fage, but the flavor was too, uh, vanilla. It tasted more like plain yogurt to me. That’s not what I’m looking for in a yogurt, so I drizzled about a tablespoon of local honey on top. Bingo! Chobani is also 120 calories and 0 grams of fat, but that’s for 6 ounces compared to 5.3 ounces of Oikos. You’ll pay about $1.69 for it, and if you add the tablespoon of honey like me you’ll also pay with 64 more calories.
Siggi’s Icelandic Style Skyr Strained Non-fat Yogurt in Orange and Ginger
Even though it’s not labeled Greek yogurt, which is essentially strained yogurt, I threw in Siggi’s for fun and because it’s made from the milk of grass-fed cows. Also, they use agave nectar as the sole sweetener. I’m a sucker for that neo-hippie crap, so I was geeking out about this one. Siggi’s has a the expected thickness for strained yogurt and this flavor contains little bits of candied ginger, but I found it too tart for my taste. I didn’t enjoy eating it and thought about dumping honey on it like the Chobani…then I remembered that this a health blog and that would make me a total windbag. The nutritional stats were the same as the other yogurts, though at $2.69 for 6 ounces it was the most expensive. Some folks may like the mouth-puckering effect of this stuff. ‘Tis not for me.
Voskos Non-fat Blended Greek Yogurt in Honey
Touted as the #1 selling Greek style yogurt, Voskos was well-represented in the Whole Foods dairy case. Unlike Oikos, the honey in Voskos is blended into the yogurt. I liked that I didn’t have to fold or stir it, yet the consistency was a little thinner than the competition. Also, the sweetness of Voskos was too intense. I thought surely this would correlate with a huge calorie jump, but no, for 5.3 ounces it weighs in at 130 calories and no fat. The price is comparable to Oikos, about a buck fiddy, so if you have the palate of a sugar ant then Voskos is your yogurt.
My favorite of the lot was Oikos. It’s cheap, neither too sweet nor too tart, low cal, low fat and will add some variety to my daily yogurt habit.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
drmiggy Says:
Felice Hunter Says:
Michelle Says:
HealthDoc Says:
Bobbie Says:
Marcus Says:
Ireen Says:
