Product Review: Sweetened Vanilla Vegan Yogurt

I like the idea of yogurt parfaits. I even enjoy making and serving them to other people! Realistically, however, they annoyingly consume precious moments of my sparse morning time. And they don’t pack well for lunch.

Therefore, I resolved to find the best all-in-one, grab-and-go sweetened vanilla vegan yogurt.

Objectively Objective

I don’t bake with sweetened yogurt. Consequently, this review is based on a taste test alone.

“But taste is subjective!” Hence, similar to my semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips review, I set each plant-based option herein against a conventional gold standard: Dannon Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt.

This dairy-based breakfast staple is quantifiably the most popular cultured treat in the United States. As such, it is likely what a US-American omnivore expects when presented with a yogurt snack. I thus aimed my review at answering, “Which sweetened vanilla vegan yogurt is most like Dannon’s?” not, “Which vegan alternative do I like best?”

Furthermore…

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The Contestants

Overwhelmingly, finding a plant-based container of this cool and creamy breakfast staple is easy. The number of vegan yogurts you can find through the 5 US-national chains I reference for this blog (Walmart, Target, Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods Market) is dizzying!

Considering my wallet, limited refrigerator space, balanced nutrition, and overall sanity, I needed some discerning criteria. And so I figured, if a product is going to offer an experience similar to Dannon, then it has to be similar to Dannon! I thus shopped for vegan alternatives that are sweetened and purely vanilla –

not bourbon vanilla. not vanilla chamomile. not vanilla cinnamon. purely vanilla.

Still, 11 contenders remained…

First Impression: Appearance

A reasonable description of any vanilla yogurt, vegan or otherwise, includes “off-white”. So when I discovered some yellow – even tan – custardy contents, I decided to rank them from lightest to darkest.

The lightest is closest (in color only) to Dannon, positioned at center.

Second Impression: Texture

Shortly after beginning to taste each vegan yogurt, I noticed a wide spectrum of thickness as well. Consequently, I ranked all contestants by strongest to weakest “spoon memory”.

spoon memory (spuːn ˈmɛmᵊri) n. the ability of a substance, particularly a semi-solid food, to retain the indentation of a spoon after a scoop has been removed. Often used as a measure of structural integrity.

And first coined by me!

In this comparison, So Delicious is most like Dannon – but in thickness only. Keep reading for the most critical ranking based on taste and flavor.

Third Impression: Taste

As I recorded my observations, the aforementioned 11 products crystallized into 5 categories. Alphabetically, they are:

• almond yogurts
  • 365 Non-Dairy Almondmilk Yogurt
  • Kite Hill Almond Milk Yogurt
• (chick)pea protein yogurts
  • Icelandic Provisions Oatmilk Skyr
  • Nature’s Fynd Dairy-Free Fy Yogurt
  • siggi’s Plant-Based Coconut Blend
• coconut (blend) yogurts
  • Forager Project Cashewmilk Yogurt
  • Harmless Harvest Organic Cultured Coconut
  • So Delicious Coconut Yogurt Alternative
• Cocoyo
  • Cocoyo Raw Coconut Yogurt
• Silk yogurts
  • Silk Almondmilk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative
  • Silk Soymilk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative

Notice there is some overlap! Cocoyo and siggi’s, for example, could be in the “coconut (blend) yogurts” category; Silk Almondmilk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative, “almond yogurts”.

But all products within each category offer a similar gustatory experience. Use the buttons or scroll to discover how they rank.

5. Coco…no.

A category unto itself, Cocoyo Raw Coconut Yogurt is a tour de force in the worst way. It smells like sourdough, tastes intensely like coconut, and feels like seltzer.

I’ll happily ingest those things separately, thank you.

4. (chick)pea protein yogurts

I wanted to love these yogurts for their protein content, but that’s exactly what makes them unappealing.

While the chickpea protein in Nature’s Fynd is less chalky than the pea protein in Icelandic Provisions and siggi’s, all products in this category are similarly cloying to me.

They all offer curious flavor experiences too! Funghi-based Nature’s Fynd filled my sinuses with, perhaps not surprisingly, an aroma of mushrooms. Albeit mild, it’s too unusual in yogurt for me to appreciate it.

Oat-based Icelandic Provisions, meanwhile, had me craving hot oatmeal. Each bite of this oddly tan concoction increased my desire to add cinnamon and raisins.

And finally, siggi’s is much like Icelandic Provisions – plus the polarizing flavor of coconut.

3. almond yogurts

I was delighted by the rich vanilla bean flavor in both these products! Each, moreover, boasted a dairy yogurt-like tang (albeit more of an aftertaste than an initial sensation).

Yet there is something fungal about many cultured almond products, and these yogurts are no exception. Such unusually placed umami is less pronounced in the 365 concoction; however, both contain this uncharacteristic taste.

2. coconut (blend) yogurts

There is a catch to these fairly high-ranking coconut yogurts:

You have to like coconut –

especially if you’re going to buy Harmless Harvest’s product. While theirs is the most visually appealing yogurt in this category, it reminds me of melted coconut ice “cream”.

So Delicious’s yogurt, by contrast, barely tastes like coconut at all! In fact, this cultured treat boasts a tang most similar to Dannon’s.

But consider its taste a reward for surviving its slimy texture. Choose Forager Project’s Cashewmilk Yogurt for an average flavor and textural experience compared the other two products herein. (And yes, despite its name, it does contain coconut.)

1. Silk yogurts

Though texturally closer to crème fraîche, Silk Almond- and Soymilk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternatives offer the closest flavor experiences to Dannon Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt.

Note: “closest” – not identical! Dannon’s tang immediately delights the tongue, while Silk’s presents itself more as an aftertaste.

I slightly prefer the soy variety due to its lighter color and more balanced vanilla flavor. (Presumably because almonds are sweeter than soy beans, the almond-based yogurt tastes sweeter than the soy-based one.)

Yet Silk Almondmilk Dairy-Free Yogurt Alternative has at least one advantage: It’s available in unsweet vanilla, and therefore may be used for baking –

as long as you strain it first.

Parting Notes

Unwittingly, this post supports the aphorism, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Neither Silk Soy- nor Almondmilk Non-Dairy Yogurt Alternative is similar in color or texture to dairy yogurt, yet both deliver fairly similar taste and flavor experiences.

In the absence of Silk, I recommend Harmless Harvest (if you like coconut) or 365 Whole Foods Market brand (if you don’t).

Did I miss one?

Leave a comment if you see a plant-based sweetened vanilla yogurt at Walmart, Target, Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and/or Whole Foods Market that’s not on this list. I’d love to test it against my winners and update my content!

Please know I support and shop local when I can. Everywhere I’ve lived – and the number of places is many and growing – I have discovered numerous small companies making fantastic vegan alternatives.

Yet as much as I commend them, they are not the focus of this blog. My goal instead is to curate and present information that travels with me to wherever I go, and then travels again from wherever I am to wherever you are ❤️