The best plain yogurt is tart, creamy, and will keep you satisfied until the next meal rolls around. We tried some of the biggest grocery store yogurt brands to find the best plain yogurts you can buy.
Whenever I’m assigned a taste test that involves “plain” anything, I always prepare myself to be bored. Here’s the thing: It never is! There’s always incredible variety in taste and texture, and plain yogurt is a great example of this. Some are thick, some are loose. Some are super creamy, some really lean into their natural tartness and tang. Some even have a thick layer of cream at the top that you have to stir in.
For this taste test, we peeled the lids off two dozen plain yogurt brands—everything from Greek yogurt to Icelandic skyr, and cream top to nonfat—to find the best of the best. Here’s the cream, whoops, I mean the best yogurt that rose to the top.
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- Trader Joe’s Greek Whole Milk Plain Yogurt
What were we looking for in the best plain yogurt? Creamy consistency, a yogurt-y tang, and a clean flavor. It should be a base for dessert-y parfaits as well as a stand-in for sour cream on tacos (I’m big on Greek yoge as a taco topping). This rich and flavorful yogurt from Trader Joe’s did the best job of balancing tartness and richness in a harmonious way that makes it good for pretty much any application. This has 16 grams of fat per serving, so it should be good, but the clean taste in this container is what really put it ahead of the others. (TJ’s nonfat Greek yogurt was pretty good too, but sometimes fat just wins out.)
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Trader Joe’s
- Stonyfield Organic Probiotic Yogurt
I personally like a thick yogurt, but I also get that Greek probably isn’t for everyone. This organic yogurt from Stonyfield—which topped our list of the best probiotic yogurts in its vanilla form—is creamy as hell without being quite as dense as a Greek yogurt. Tang takes a backseat to creaminess here, so if you don’t love a super tart yogurt, this is the best plain yogurt for you. Also, this is full fat but has less than half the fat of TJ’s Greek, yet it doesn’t sacrifice any lusciousness whatsoever. Spike this with a little honey, top it with some sliced strawberries, and go to town.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Target
- Brown Cow Cream Top Whole Milk Yogurt Plain
If you’re not familiar with cream top yogurt (I wasn’t), the thick disc of fatty cream that comes atop this container might be off-putting at first. But once you give it a stir and incorporate that yellowy layer into the rest of the yogurt, you’ll agree that this is one of the best plain yogurt options. Brown Cow is amazingly creamy and fatty tasting, and has more texture than typical yogurts. If you like a super smooth yogurt, you probably won’t like this (the lumps from the cream top never fully incorporate), but it just feels super natural and high quality. Something new to try for the clump curious.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk Yogurt
If you like sheep milk cheese, I really recommend that you give sheep milk yogurt a shot—especially if you really like your yogurt tangy. This full-fat yogurt from Bellwether Farms had the most unique flavor of any yogurts we tried—tart, funky, and a little farmy, but in that good, farmers’ market-fresh way. In terms of consistency, this falls somewhere between a Greek yogurt and a regular 2% yogurt. The tang is really the star here. If you’re making a yogurt sauce and really want it to scream “yogurt” even after you’ve added veggies, herbs, and spices, this is the best plain yogurt for the job.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Siggi’s Simple Ingredient Skyr Plain
What is skyr? Happy you asked! As my colleague Jessica Block explained in her recent primer on the subject, it’s an Icelandic yogurt that’s super thick and creamy thanks to very specific cultures that have been used to make it for “nearly 1,000 years” and a high milk content. In terms of texture, if you like Greek yogurt, you’ll like Icelandic skyr, but the flavor is definitely different. This sour, funky yogurt tasted almost savory to me—ironically, I think it would be the best plain yogurt for tzatziki sauce. Also, this is nonfat! A feat.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Oikos Anything But Plain
Okay, I usually think nonfat yogurt is kind of a drag. Seriously, in most cases, you’re doing yourself a disservice by eating anything less fattening than a 2% yogurt. But Oikos really nailed it. This yogurt is extremely creamy and fresh tasting, and you get a big burst of good dairy smell right when you open the container. With some granola and honey, this is the best plain yogurt for a healthy breakfast that doesn’t make you feel like you’re depriving yourself of flavor. This made a good showing in our best Greek yogurt taste test too. It’s not quite as good as Siggi’s, but it needed to be on this list.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Sprouts Vegan Yogurt Alternative
The top plain vegan yogurt from our best dairy-free yogurt taste test held up nicely in this taste test too. This one is coconut based so it leans a little sweet, but it’s creamy, satisfying, and doesn’t have the weird aftertaste that some other non-dairy yogurts have. It also manages to be coconutty without being coconut forward, although I’m not certain it would work all that well in a savory application (if you try it, let me know). This one is all about texture. If you want a yogurt that’s dense and super creamy minus the dairy, this is an excellent option.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Wallaby Organic Smooth Plain
If you like the consistency of a Mexican crema, you’ll like this yogurt. We tried a couple of European-style yogurts (including Straus, which was aggressively tart) and this approximates that same loose texture. Again, if you don’t love the super rich, thick texture of Greek yogurt, this could be the best plain yogurt for you. It still tastes extremely creamy—and it doesn’t have a weird aftertaste—without the heft of some of the thicker yogurts we tried.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Instacart
- Trader Joe’s Greek Yogurt Lowfat Plain
What this yogurt lacks in overall flavor it makes up for in creaminess. If you didn’t know this was 2% and not full-fat, I just don’t think you’d be able to tell, and that’s a great endorsement. It has some tartness and tang, but if you’re looking for a yogurt that’s a true blank slate, this is the best plain yogurt for you to make your own.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde
- Great Value Plain Nonfat Yogurt
If you’re on a budget, head to Walmart for the best plain yogurt. Nonfat yogurts can be pretty gross and soupy (like, seriously, do they water them down?), but this nonfat yogurt from Walmart manages to maintain some consistency even without the fat content. Right off the bat I commented that this was much thicker than I’d imagined it would be. Like the TJ’s 2%, this definitely lacks a little in the flavor department, but, again, it’s a great fat-free option and, since it’s sold at Walmart, you know it’s cheap as hell.
Credit: Sarah Demonteverde / Walmart
Best of the Best
Best Probiotic
Best Cream Top
Best Tang
Best Thick
Best Nonfat (Runner-Up)
Best Non-Dairy
Best Smooth
Best Lowfat
Best Budget
Other products we tried: Mountain High Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, Maple Hill Organic Plain Greek Yogurt, Straus Whole Milk European Style Yogurt, Simply Nature Whole Milk Plain Yogurt, Dannon Whole Milk Yogurt, Chobani Nonfat Plain, Trader Joe’s European Style Yogurt, Trader Joe’s Nonfat European Style Yogurt, Good & Gather Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt, Alexandre Cream Top, Trader Joe’s Organic Cream Top, Trader Joe’s Greek Nonfat Plain, Kalona Supernatural Whole Milk Plain Yogurt
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Fage plain is the best in my opinion