Recipes With Natural Yogurt

You may be used to thinking of yogurt as a quick breakfast or snack, one you buy in a small single-serving container and loaded with fruit flavors. But yogurt is so much more and deserves to be used to its full potential. Its tanginess makes it the perfect candidate for baking recipes, meat marinades, and creamy sauces and dips. We want to open you up to a world of possibilities with these versatile yogurt recipes.

Mix Greek yogurt with honey and mint and you're basically making a delicious dessert sauce for your fruits. Think of this recipe as a deconstructed fruit yogurt, where the flavors are deeper, because your fruits are grilled and starting to caramelize.

Parfaits are obvious yogurt territory, but it doesn't hurt to remind you that you can make them as indulgent as you want, and you're still probably better off eating that than you are eating a pre-flavored packaged fruit yogurt. A little granola goes a long way for the crunch, as does fresh mint.

Cooking With Yogurt

A beef stroganoff recipe will usually have sour cream stirred into the sauce last-minute, to get that smooth creaminess that makes this comfort dish so craveable. But yogurt can successfully replace sour cream, and the whole thing will taste just as great, but pack fewer calories.

These beautifully crispy chicken legs are marinated in yogurt and spices before being roasted to perfection in the oven. A classic move in Indian cuisine, marinating chicken meat in yogurt will tenderize it and give it a delicious zesty flavor.

In this recipe, you'll use yogurt for your mac and cheese sauce, and you'll delight in how creamy the whole thing ends up being. If you have some cheese, macaroni, and yogurt in your fridge, you can make some version of this oven-baked pasta dish.

Greek Yogurt Dressing

The amount of ricotta in this recipe is match by the amount of yogurt, and the combo makes these pancakes lighter than air. The reason for that is because the tanginess in the yogurt encourages leavening, which means more air pockets and a fluffier texture.

This genius plant-based breakfast builds a yogurt and granola parfait on top of a baked sweet potato. The key here is the yogurt's zest, which cuts through the intense sweetness of the potato. But if anything, this should give you ideas on other types of potato dishes you can top with yogurt.

Muffins are another baked good that benefit greatly from the use of yogurt in the batter. The yogurt will react with the baking soda to encourage leavening, and your muffins will develop a fluffy, airy texture. Although you can add yogurt to many different muffin recipes, this one has the added benefit of extra protein, should your breakfast go-to be a muffin.

How To Use Up A Container Of Yogurt (30+ Easy Recipes)

Here's a perfect demonstration of baking with dairy-free yogurt, too. This recipe uses a coconut and vanilla–flavored vegan yogurt which works the same magic on the texture as an actual yogurt, but also infuses the batter with a subtle flavor and sweetness.

Think dairy on dairy sounds off? Not when it comes to this delicious eggs-on-yogurt breakfast flatbread. You'll turn the yogurt into an herby sauce, spread it on naan or pita bread, and top with fried eggs and a spiced butter sauce. All in all, one of the best breakfast ideas we've seen lately.

And why not make your naan from scratch, too, while you're at it. And yes, you'll want to use yogurt in here, too. We love this recipe because it creates perfectly soft flatbreads that crisp up on the pan nicely.

How To Make Yogurt

Yogurt can replace mayo in homemade salad dressing and dips, and there are two benefits to that. For one, you're cutting down on unnecessary calories, and two, you're replacing a nutritionally empty ingredient like mayo with an ingredient that has the added benefit of probiotics, but won't compromise the texture. Using yogurt to dress your coleslaw is a great place to roll out the swap.

Sponge cakes have a tendency to end up too dense, so let yogurt lighten up some of that texture for you. This beautiful breakfast cake only needs a few very simple ingredients and a bundt pan, and as the blogger suggests, A little jam,  lemon curd, or a nice dunk in your coffee wouldn't be a bad idea either.

This zucchini bread features a tender, moist crumb, which is what you get when you mix zucchini with yogurt. The recipe cuts down on oil and foregoes white sugar completely, so note this one down if baked desserts are your guilty pleasure.

Vanilla Yogurt From Plain Yogurt

The traditional Greek dip is one of the tastiest yogurt-based sauces around. The main flavor-makers here are cucumbers, fresh herbs, lemon juice, and garlic, which all mesh beautifully with the creaminess of the yogurt. We suggest making a bigger batch and keeping it in an air-tight container in the fridge to us at every meal for the next few days (there are few things that aren't made better with tzatziki).

Chicken breasts are simple to prepare, but difficult to prepare well. They're such a delicate protein and can easily become tough when cooked improperly, or rubbery when marinated with harsh acids like vinegar or lemon juice. Plus, they don't pack a lot of flavor on their own, let's be honest. That's why using this simple yogurt marinade is such a great move for chicken breasts: it'll add a flavor profile to the bland chicken, and marinated it to perfect tenderness, no matter how long you keep the marinade on there.

Yogurt replaces heavy cream in this better-for-you version of Alfredo sauce. Put it on any/all pasta shapes and never go back to store-bought Alfredo again.

Natural Plain Yogurt

Yogurt pulls double-duty in this recipe, as a marinade and a baking sauce for the tender white fish. You'll pour the parmesan-yogurt batter over the tilapia fillets and bake it in the oven until the sauce starts to look like a breading.

You only need three ingredients for these simple, crispy, crepe-like flatbreads. The yogurt is the moisture agent and only dairy in this dough. Top the flatbreads with a bit of garlic and olive oil for a deliciously quick afternoon snack.

This blogger adds yogurt to a plain old store-bought brownie mix, and the result is a moist, tangy brownie that's hard to resist. She gives you a simple formula on how to sub yogurt into any boxed brownie recipe.

Greek Yogurt With Honey And Walnuts Recipe (yiaourti Me Meli)

There are few things in life that'll make you feel more accomplished in the kitchen than making your own ranch dressing. Normally, ranch is made by combining a dairy base with herbs, spices, and some acidity. There are many different combos to try, and we particularly like the use of Greek yogurt as the base for this homemade ranch.

A cilantro yogurt sauce is used as a creamy base in this Biryani, but you'd be smart to make extra and serve it dolloped all over the finished dish, too. Frequently used as a cooling agent that combats the heat of spices, yogurt is an especially popular ingredient in Indian-inspired cooking.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

This recipe will teach you how to make zhoug, a herby, fresh, spicy green sauce used in Middle Eastern cuisines. Once you make it, one of the best ways you can use it is by mixing it with some yogurt for a spicy, creamy green sauce that's perfect for dolloping and dipping.

Yogurt Cake (one Bowl) Easy And Inexpensive

It was only a matter of time before yogurt was used in pizza dough—it already makes so many other baked goods taste better. All you need to do to make this simple recipe is to combine it with some self-rising flour, and you've got homemade dough for pizzas, flatbreads, and naans.

Have you ever tried mixing yogurt with peanut or almond butter? The result is a heavenly creamy spread that tastes like ice cream. This recipe serves it up with a bit of a sweetener and blueberries for breakfast. It doesn't get more protein-licious than this!

A delicate, moist vanilla sponge, topped with powdered sugar and fresh berries. What could be better than this! And have we mentioned how difficult it is to mess up a yogurt-based sponge?

Make Ahead Greek Yogurt Parfait Recipe

Mura is ETNT's Executive Editor, leading the coverage of America's favorite restaurant chains, grocery stores, and viral food moments. Read more about MuraSure, yogurt is great as a healthy, probiotic-rich breakfast or snack, especially when it's mixed with fresh fruit and granola. However, it can also serve as magic, understated ingredient in so many different sweet and savory recipes. Next time you find yourself with an abundance of plain yogurt on your hand, try mixing it into one of these recipes.

While store-bought plain yogurt will work great in all of our recipes, you can also try your hand at making your own yogurt in an Instant Pot, the results of which are pictured here. It's a genius and totally innovative take on a basic dairy aisle staple. From here, try whipping it into a sweet frozen dessert such as popsicles or frozen yogurt. We have a couple of colorful recipes that the entire family is sure to love, thanks to their creamy, indulgent texture, vibrant colors, and fruity flavor. Yogurt is also