Greek Yogurt Ideas?

[my2cats]

I've recently "discovered" Greek yogurt, and am excited to try out a few variations. These are the things I'm planning to try next time I'm in the store (some of them plagiarized from these and other boards).

I'd love feedback or comments if people have tried something similar - my goal is to keep everything super-simple as I really never spend any time cooking or getting together 10 different ingredients.

Buffalo Dip:
(stolen from a similar idea on these boards)
Mix plain 0% yogurt with Frank's Hot Sauce, to taste. Use as dip for red pepper strips, or celery, or potentially over grilled chicken strips or on a southwest style salad.

Flavored w/o calories:
Plain 0% greek yogurt with Torani syrups of various flavors. Seems like it would be good and cut back about 1/3rd of the "fruit cup" calories that are pre-mixed, as well as being cheaper?

Frozen Yogurt:
This may be a little more of a stretch, but I own a Vitamix blender - if you're not familiar with it, it can make ice cream / sorbet from frozen fruits.
I'm thinking if I froze 0% greek yogurt in an ice cube tray and then blended the cubes with Torani syrup in the Vitamix, I'd get a tasty very low-cal frozen yogurt. You need to start with the "frozen" component since the Vitamix has no cooler like an ice cream maker, it just blends the heck out of it.

Whipped Topping:
Mixing it with low-cal maple syrup and using it as a topping on whole grain waffles.


Any other ideas of Greek yogurt combos that are simple and have few ingredients / low cals? This stuff just seems amazing.. it really lends itself well to either sweet or savory.

[tommy]

Toss sliced cucumber in the yogurt along with some salt, lemon juice, finely minced or mashed garlic (or green onion finely sliced), and lots of black pepper. Makes a great side. Sometimes I add shrimp or chicken in cubes and some snipped herbs like parsley or dill and I have a filling lunch salad. Horseradish is a nice addition.

I have been thinking about a dessert I used to make (well it more of my last meal of the day and perfect in hot weather) - stir a bit of really flavorful honey into the yogurt, add some grapes or cherries sliced in half, and top with a sprinkle of toasted wheat germ. It is best if it sits just a few minutes to take the chill off - the flavors sort of marry and come forth

[Puncezilla]

I have tried it with 0 calorie chocolate syrup. It's not bad.

Also good blended with frozen strawberries or other fruit for a smoothie or shake.

I usually prefer mine plain or sprinkled with nuts and seeds.

[Puncezilla]

Tommy, The cucumber salad sounds good! I'm going to try that.

[graciegoose13]

i'm such a fan of greek yogurts in smoothies too! i usually throw in a half of a banana, 20 blueberries, and 3 big strawberries along with as much spinach as i can fit into the blender. It makes a fantastic breakfast or snack...you just have to adjust to the green color!

[QuilterInVA]

I like to layer it with berries and nuts for a yogurt parfait for breakfast.

I also like to stir in a packet of sweetener and a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder with a drop of vanilla.

[JessLess]

If you put ground flax seed in it, I think it tastes like granola, and add blueberries and sweetener.

[shanhat81]

No-fruit, no-sugar granola -- 1/4 cup in 6 oz of Greek yogurt. Filling and delicious.

[steinanwine]

I haven't tried this but I always wondered if this would work ... Instead of really unhealthy ranch dressing I thought you could mix dry packet of ranch seasoning with low fat sour cream or no fat greek yogurt for a fake ranch dressing maybe add a little water to thin? Throw in fresh herbs and even cucumber, could be a great salad dressing & maybe even a good marinade for chicken? I will have to experiment!

[kat618]

YUMM-O, everyones laughs at me because I say Greek Yogurt is BFF....I use the hidden valley ranch packet(powder) a couple of tablespoons to your liking and use that as an awesome dip for my fresh cucumbers, peppers, squash. Even my husband and kids eat this with no complaints........my favorite sweet way is I only buy plain unsweetned greek yogurt and add splenda to sweeten it up and then of course fresh berries of any kind are always good, but my favorite is I keep frozen rasperry's in the freezer put 1/4 or 1/2 cup with a sprinkle of splenda in the microwave until unthawed and put them in the yogurt, it is sooooo good. That is my now daily treat feel like I am having a huge splurge.

[josey]

I love greek yogurt. I have it almost every morning for breakfast with either nuts & oats & flax and some honey or just with homemade jam.

I also like the yogurt with cucumbers & garlic mentioned above. I call it Tzaziki (a greek dip) but I grate the cucumbers, salt them a little bit and let them drain. Then the garlic and some dill or mint. It is great with gyros or donair or just as a veggie dip.

I use it for dressings instead of mayonnaise or cream.

You can also bake with it. There are some recipes out there for cheesecake. It is very light and fluffy, not like the cream cheese cheesecake and oh so much better calorie wise!

As a dip for fruit, try it mixed with honey or jam or maple syrup. I like the Torani syrup idea, I have to try that some times.

[kaplods]

I use it in place of sour cream in my veggie dips. I also make a cheesecake like dessert by adding in sugar free pudding mix (the dry powder). I was stirring 1/4 of the package into the 5.3 oz single serving Dannon Greek unflavored yogurt. Now I buy the Greek yogurt in the quart container and use 1 package of pudding mix to 2-3 cups of yogurt (sugar free pistachio pudding is my favorite, though the Jello brand chocolate fudge was really good too).

I just stir the dry pudding mix into the yogurt, and return it to the fridge for a few minutes to set up.

The taste and texture is so much like cheesecake that I'm amazed. I'm not a huge dessert fan, except for cheesecake. Cheesecake is usually my diet-kryptonite. I've never found a really good diet-friendly substitute before, but this not only like cheesecake, it fully satisfies my cheesecake craving. Unlike every other diet-friendly cheesecake or cheesecake substitute I've ever tried, my first thought was "wow this is great," not "this is pretty good for fake cheesecake."

[sumire]

My latest fave: key lime Greek yogurt. Squeeze fresh lime juice (a lot) into your yogurt; add your sweetener of choice; stir & enjoy.

[XLMuffnTop]

Originally Posted by kaplods

I use it in place of sour cream in my veggie dips. I also make a cheesecake like dessert by adding in sugar free pudding mix (the dry powder). I was stirring 1/4 of the package into the 5.3 oz single serving Dannon Greek unflavored yogurt. Now I buy the Greek yogurt in the quart container and use 1 package of pudding mix to 2-3 cups of yogurt (sugar free pistachio pudding is my favorite, though the Jello brand chocolate fudge was really good too).

I just stir the dry pudding mix into the yogurt, and return it to the fridge for a few minutes to set up.

The taste and texture is so much like cheesecake that I'm amazed. I'm not a huge dessert fan, except for cheesecake. Cheesecake is usually my diet-kryptonite. I've never found a really good diet-friendly substitute before, but this not only like cheesecake, it fully satisfies my cheesecake craving. Unlike every other diet-friendly cheesecake or cheesecake substitute I've ever tried, my first thought was "wow this is great," not "this is pretty good for fake cheesecake."

I tried this last night and it was fantastic. My husband was really impressed as well. It's really rich, so much so I don't think I could overeat it if I tried.

This will definitely be a go-to for our sweet cravings from now on.

[ChickieChicks]

It took me awhile to get used to greek yogurt, and now I LOVE IT! I still can't eat it plain..just a bit sour for me, but I absoulely love to eat 5-6oz. plain greek yogurt with a small spoonful of my homemade jam. YUM!