This article looks into one of the most frequently asked questions regarding foods that are vegan friendly: Can vegans eat yogurt?
According to Merriam-Webster’s definition, yogurt is a “a fermented slightly acid often flavored semisolid food made of milk and milk solids to which cultures of two bacteria (Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) have been added.” While traditional yogurt is made using non-vegan animal milks, no less than 10 companies now make non-dairy yogurt varieties. Therefore, vegans can eat yogurt if it is made with a plant-based milk.
Lucky for us, vegan-friendly yogurt is easy to make at home and there is a great variety of options on the market today. A full list of plant based yogurt options can be found below.
Homemade Vegan Yogurt Recipes
Vegan yogurt is easy to make at home using your dairy-free milk of choice. Two methods can be used to make it:
Method 1: Instant Pot method which use dairy-free milk, vegan yogurt starter, and an Instant Pot. Detoxinista recipe here.
Method 2: Counter-top method which mixes store-bought vegan yogurt with live cultures and can of Coconut cream. Minimalist Baker recipe here.
Vegan Yogurt Brands
In January 2019, the popular Greek-style yogurt maker Chobani released it’s first plant-based products to the public. They introduced both a Greek-style non-dairy yogurt and a non-dairy yogurt drink. Both of their products are coconut based and dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, Non-GMO, kosher, and contain no artificial flavors or preservatives.
Even though these products contain all vegan ingredients, Chobani lists them as “vegetarian friendly” because they are “manufactured in a facility that also handles milk.” Therefore those with milk allergens should avoid Chobani’s products.
Chobani’s Greek-style dairy-free yogurt comes in 5 flavors:
- Blueberry
- Peach
- Slightly Sweet Plain
- Strawberry
- Vanilla
Their dairy-free yogurt drinks come in 4 flavors:
- Mango
- Slightly Sweet Plain
- Strawberry
- Vanilla Chai
All of Chobani’s dairy-free products can be found at grocery stores. You can find Chobani retailers here.
Daiya has 6 flavors of non-dairy coconut based yogurt. Each of their yogurt flavors are gluten-free, soy-free, egg-free, peanut-free, and vegan.
Daiya’s 6 vegan yogurt flavors are:
- Peach
- Strawberry
- Blueberry
- Black Cherry
- Vanilla Bean
- Plain
You can find Daiya retailers here.
Follow Your Heart has 10 flavors of non-dairy coconut based yogurt. Each of their yogurt flavors are dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, non-GMO, kosher, and vegan.
Follow your Hearts’ 10 dairy-free yogurt flavors are:
- Vanilla Bean
- Blueberry
- Strawberry
- Strawberry Rhubarb
- Peach
- Raspberry
- Plain
- Cherry
- Key Lime
- Pina Colada
Follow Your Heart retailers can be found here.
Forager Project is the only company on this list with cashew milk based yogurt alternatives. They have two varieties of yogurt: traditional and double cream. The double cream yogurts contain both cashew milk and coconut milk as the base. All of Forager’s dairy free yogurts are dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, and USDA organic.
Forager Project’s 7 Cashewgurt flavors are:
- Unsweetened Plain
- Blueberry
- Strawberry
- Vanilla
- Lemon
- Cherry
- Coconut
They also have 2 flavors of Double Cream Cashewgurt :
- Unsweetened Plain
- Vanilla
Forager Project retailers can be found here.
Good Karma easily has the most unique dairy free yogurts on this list. What makes them unique is not their flavors, but the fact that they are flax seed milk based. All of their flax milk based yogurts are diary-free, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free and vegan friendly.
Good Karma’s flax milk yogurts come in 5 flavors:
- Unsweetened Plain
- Vanilla
- Blueberry
- Strawberry
- Raspberry
Good Karma retailers can be found here.
In total, Kite Hill has 15 plant-based yogurt options. Additionally, they have both traditional and Greek-style yogurts to choose from! All of their yogurt options are almond milk based and are made with life and active cultures. Each of the options are also dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, non-GMO, and contain no artificial flavors or preservatives.
Kite Hill’s traditional yogurt comes in 8 flavors:
- Plain
- Plain Unsweetened
- Vanilla
- Peach
- Blueberry
- Strawberry
- Key Lime
- Raspberry
Their Greek-style yogurts comes in 7 flavors:
- Plain Unsweetened
- Vanilla Unsweetened
- Strawberry
- Blueberry
- Peach
- Mango
- Black Cherry
You can find Kite Hill’s dairy-free products at these retailers.
Nancy’s Yogurt features 4 flavors of non-dairy oat milk based yogurt. Each of their dairy-free yogurt flavors are dairy-free, gluten-free, Non-GMO, vegan, and kosher.
Nancy’s 4 oat milk based yogurt flavors are:
- Plain
- Blueberry
- Strawberry Hibiscus
- Vanilla
You can find retailers for Nancy’s products here.
Silk has one of the largest selection of dairy-free yogurt alternatives. Their yogurt products come in almond milk, soy milk and oat milk varieties to satisfy all palates. All of Silk’s dairy-free yogurts are dairy-free, vegan, gluten-free, and Non-GMO Project Verified.
Silk’s almond milk based yogurt comes in 7 flavors:
- Peach
- Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond
- Strawberry
- Mixed Berry Acai
- Vanilla
- Unsweetened Vanilla
- Plain
Their soy milk based yogurt comes in 6 flavors:
- Peach Mango
- Tropical Pineapple
- Blueberry
- Strawberry
- Plain
- Vanilla
Last but not least, Silk’s oat milk based yogurt comes in 4 flavors:
- Strawberry
- Vanilla
- Mixed Berry
- Mango
Silk’s dairy-free products can be found at grocery stores near you. You can find Silk retailers here.
So Delicious is another heavy-hitter in the dairy-free yogurt game. In total, they make 17 flavors of vegan friendly yogurt! Their yogurts come in both soy milk and coconut milk based varieties. All of their flavors are dairy free, vegan, gluten free, Non-GMO, and kosher.
So Delicious’ oat milk based yogurt comes in 4 flavors:
- Strawberry Rhubarb
- Spiced Pear & Fig
- Sweet Mango
- Triple Berry
Their coconut milk based yogurt comes in 13 flavors:
- Passionate Mango
- Vanilla
- Unsweetened Vanilla
- Plain
- Unsweetened Plain
- Strawberry
- Strawberry Banana
- Raspberry
- Pineapple Brulee
- Peach
- Key Lime
- Chocolate
- Blueberry
So Delicious’ dairy-free products can be found at traditional grocery stores. You can find So Delicious retailers here.
Stonyfield Organic’s has 4 flavors of non-dairy soy based yogurt. Each of their dairy-free yogurt flavors are dairy-free, gluten-free, Non-GMO, vegan, kosher, and USDA organic.
Stonyfield’s 4 dairy-free yogurt flavors are:
- Vanilla
- Strawberry
- Raspberry
- Blueberry
You can find Stonyfield retailers here.
Summary
While traditional yogurts are manufactured with non-vegan animal milks, times are changing and new dairy-free and vegan-friendly options appear frequently. At the time of this writing there is no less than 10 unique companies with plant based yogurt alternatives. Therefore, vegans can eat yogurt as long as it is produced with a diary-free milk base.
If your interested in finding other vegan friendly foods, you can find our other articles here.
