Best Probiotic Yogurt: 6 Best Probiotic Yogurts for Your Grateful Gut

Here’s an unpleasant truth: Your stomach is filled with living creatures. It’s a metropolis of bacteria. Or, at least, it should be. If you’re lacking in microbiota or, more specifically, the good, gut-healthy bacteria, then you might benefit from some probiotic yogurt. “But I thought all yogurt was probiotic,” you say to yourself. (Don’t be self-conscious, it’s perfectly normal to talk to yourself about yogurt.) Well, while most yogurts do include live and active cultures, probiotic yogurts are laced with specific strains meant to help with digestion. Fascinating stuff, I know. 

“Get to the tasting!” you’re saying. Calm down. I’m getting to it now. The Sporked team sat down with David Hill, Mythical’s manager of studio operations and admitted Activia enthusiast, to taste through some of the top brands of probiotic yogurt out there—both spoonable and drinkable. It was one of the healthier ways we’ve ever started a day of tasting. Our guts were, indeed, grateful for the influx of microbiota. Yours will be, too, after you follow our sage advice on the best probiotic yogurt you can find in stores.

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Best of the Best

Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk Probiotic Vanilla Yogurt

$3.59 Amazon

$4.69 Target

I came into this test as a Greek yogurt loyalist and a flavored yogurt skeptic. But this creamy, vanilla yogurt really hit the spot. It was light but still had a decadent texture. The vanilla was prominent but not overpowering—and not artificial. It finished with just the right level of tang for me, a Greek yogurt eater, and David, a man who mostly wants his yogurt to act as a sweet treat in the morning. This is a yogurt you can look forward to eating to start your day, whether you like to scoop it up straight or mix it with things like fruit and granola.

Credit: Ryan Martin / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Best Sweet Vanilla

Activia Low Fat Probiotic Vanilla Yogurt

$2.99 Amazon

$5.82 Walmart

$5.99 Target

You know it, you love it—well, you know the commercials featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, at least. Activia is the brand that comes to mind when “probiotic yogurt” comes up in conversation, as it so often does. This one has a strong and powerfully sweet vanilla flavor, which, to me, means it’s perfect for mixing with granola or bananas to temper the sweetness. For those who prefer sweeter yogurts anyway like David and Sporked writer Jordan Myrick, it’s all you were ever looking for in a yogurt. The yogurt also comes in perfectly portioned little containers for a dainty breakfast wherever. “Why would Jamie Lee steer me wrong?” Jordan asked after her first taste. She would never.

Credit: Ryan Martin / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best for Cooking

White Mountain Probiotic Bulgarian Yogurt

$8.39 Amazon

$7.99 Instacart

Making a tzatziki? Looking for a sour cream replacement? Marinating some chicken? This is the yogurt for you. It’s rich and creamy and wonderfully tangy. It almost leans savory without falling over that salty cliff. Bulgarian-style yogurt is made with lactobacillus bulgaricus (named for the country) and is unstrained, which, according to the Chicago Tribune, means it retains more nutrients. Personally, I just love it for the flavor. It’s absolutely unique and I kept coming back for more. As someone who adds soy sauce and avocado to their yogurt, this is the one for me.

Credit: Ryan Martin / Amazon

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Drinkable

GlenOaks Farms Low Fat Drinkable Strawberry Banana Probiotic Yogurt

$2.28 Walmart

$2.72 Instacart

It pours like a finely blended smoothie and it tastes like one, too. It’s drinkable but still retains its signature yogurt creaminess. It’s not too sugary, the right amount of tangy, and not too artificial—a risk companies run when they pair strawberry and banana together. My only quibble is with the packaging. It reads a little mid-’90s to me. It’s superficial, but I like my drinkable yogurt to come in a pleasingly designed bottle with a label that whispers Nordic chic rather than screaming Crunch circa 1997. But that’s just me.

Credit: Ryan Martin / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Plant-Based

Cocojune Lemon Elderflower Cultured Coconut

$2.29 Instacart

$2.99 Fresh Direct

Too many plant-based dairy alternatives try to be something they are not. This one, like many others, is coconut-based. And, as Jordan so succinctly put it, “Let it taste like coconut!” Luckily, Cocojune did let it taste like coconut. It’s creamy but light, with some lovely floral notes from the elderflower. The lemon is present but gentle, and the finish is undeniably coconutty. It’s a refreshing vacation in a beautifully designed cup that reminds Jordan of a “baby’s nursery.” As David said, “I would keep this in my yogurt portfolio,” and so should you. 

Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Oatmilk

Nancy’s Probiotic Oatmilk Non-Dairy Yogurt

$1.79 Instacart

$4.99 Good Eggs

I won’t lie, this one divided the room a bit, but we were all drawn to its panna cotta-like texture. It’s very jiggy and gelatinous and much firmer than many of the other yogurts we tried. When you take a spoonful it leaves a spoon-shaped indentation in the yogurt. It’s sweet with a mild vanilla flavor, and makes for another good non-dairy option if you’re not into coconut. Make sure to eat it very cold, perhaps garnished with some fresh raspberries. Doesn’t that sound nice? Ah, yogurt.

Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart

Rating:

6.5/10

Sporks

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