Ranking 22 Trader Joe's Yogurts From Worst To First
Yogurt is a cheap and (sometimes) healthy breakfast option that many working adults can fit easily into a hectic morning. And nowhere can you find a better and cheaper selection of yogurts than at Trader Joe's. Walk into your local Trader Joe's, and you will be face-to-face with upwards of 20 different yogurt options. Luckily, we've done the tasting for you and determined the best — and worst — yogurt brands and flavors you can buy at this boutique grocery store chain.
We purchased and tried 22 varieties of yogurt from two Trader Joe's stores and ranked them from worst to first. These ranged from the beloved strawberries and cream yogurt to the various nonfat and Greek options. When it comes to price, the individual Greek yogurt cups set us back $.99 each, and the whipped "& Cream" variety comes sold in six packs featuring two flavors for $3.49. Are you ready to see how your favorite flavors stack up?
22. Plain Low Fat Greek Yogurt
Why does this style of plain Greek yogurt end up in last place, you ask? Because there is nowhere lower to go. While it can be useful in baking goodies, like this delicious extra-moist banana bread, plain Greek yogurt by itself isn't universally appealing.
This plain Greek yogurt is made with 2% milk fat and is packaged in green. We paid $.99 for a small, single-serving cup of this, and we didn't get many spoonfuls in before moving on to the next option. There is a sour bitterness to plain yogurt that is covered up by all the flavors and add-ons. It's why there are 20 flavored yogurts and only two plain ones sold at Trader Joe's.
If you find these comments off-base and you love plain Greek yogurt, might we at least recommend the other Trader Joe's plain Greek yogurt?
21. Plain Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
The Plain Whole Milk Greek Yogurt is a step up from its 2% cousin — but not by much. Frankly, the difference isn't super discernible. However, we found the whole milk variety of plain Greek yogurt preferable due to several small factors.
For starters, we found the flavor to be milder. There was an almost pleasant amount of tang that didn't make us do an "oh-that's-sour" face. The texture of the whole milk is also richer, which in this case, we found to be a good thing. Both on its own and in recipes, this added creaminess makes a difference that puts the whole milk variety just ahead of 2% Greek.
20. Skyr Icelandic Style Low Fat Vanilla Yogurt
At $1.19 per single-serving cup, Skyr Icelandic Low Fat Yogurt was the most expensive dairy yogurt option at our local Trader Joe's. It comes in two varieties, and while neither made a positive impression, the vanilla flavor was by far the inferior one.
This "yogurt" is much thicker than either the regular or Greek varieties at Trader Joe's, so much so that it becomes almost paste-like. The mouthfeel is quite thick, and what faint vanilla flavor there was didn't do much to offset the unpleasantness of that experience. Overall, while this was a slight step up from unflavored yogurt, it may as well have been plain.
19. Skyr Icelandic Style Low Fat Cherry Yogurt
The other Skyr brand yogurt that we found at Trader Joe's was cherry flavored. This was the more pronounced flavor of the two Icelandic-style yogurts, but the core problem with the product remains.
The paste-like texture of Skyr was once again not very enjoyable. The extremely thick and — let alone a whole cup of the stuff as your entire breakfast. While the cherry variety at least tasted like something, Skyr doesn't score many points compared to the multitude of excellent yogurt options at Trader Joe's.
18. Honey Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
This was by far the biggest disappointment of the entire taste test. After hearing rave reviews of the Honey Greek Yogurt at Trader Joe's, there was an expectation of a certain sweetness that we found lacking.
When you first open the Whole Milk Honey yogurt, it doesn't have much of a scent of honey, nor does it look much different from the vanilla yogurts we tried. The sweetness of the honey flavoring doesn't do enough to cut the sourness of the yogurt. The yogurt didn't end up being very sweet or even that appetizing. We preferred all of the vanilla yogurts that we tried over this one.
17. Apricot Mango Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
Look, there are some truly good (and one great) mango yogurt options sold by Trader Joe's. This one is not among them. The flavor combination doesn't work and left us wanting to cleanse our palate immediately.
The apricot doesn't enhance the flavor of the mango and instead muddles it. This combination results in a yogurt that tastes sour and acidic but never fruity enough. On the first bite, it's hard to tell exactly what you are tasting, aside from the overwhelming flavor of fake fruit, but eventually, the apricot comes through. Unfortunately, this ends up being the dominant flavor, and it drowns out the mango. For tropical flavor yogurts, there are tastier options on the table.
16. Coconut Cream Nonfat Greek Yogurt
On the whole, Trader Joe's' nonfat Greek yogurts are great. We preferred the texture of these over the whole milk variety, but that doesn't mean every flavor we tried was a hit. A case in point is the Coconut Cream Nonfat Greek Yogurt, which will be a disappointment for real coconut heads.
When we first dove into the Coconut Cream Yogurt, we got a big flavor (and scent) blast of coconut. The problem is that with each additional bite, the contents began to taste more and more like plain yogurt. The coconut yogurt packs a punch at first but left us underwhelmed on the whole. And then there is the whole issue of chalky aftertaste that plagues Trade Joe's whole milk Greek yogurts.
15. Blueberry Nonfat Greek Yogurt
This flavor had real potential but unfortunately falls into the trap typical of blueberry yogurts. This nonfat Greek yogurt is bursting with blueberry flavor, but the problem is that it's more on the artificial side of the spectrum. To be blunt, this tastes like fake blueberries.
The texture is light but is still more yogurty than the "and-cream" varieties. While the flavor punches you in the face with every bite, we didn't find the artificial blueberry flavor super-appealing after the first couple of bites. If you love the taste of blueberry, disregard our opinion and buy this one until it's sold out at your Trader Joe's.
14. Blueberries & Cream Yogurt
In terms of blueberry yogurts, this one is a step up from the Greek alternative. The Blueberries & Cream yogurt has a light, balanced flavor that isn't overwhelming. The whipped-style yogurt comes in a small 4 oz. cup despite packing 140 calories in a single serving. This is a pitfall for all these non-Greek yogurts, but it's egregious when the taste doesn't even outweigh the calories that much.
Still, we couldn't help but notice the presence of artificial blueberry. Ultimately, this makes it the worst of the eight varieties of cream yogurts available at Trader Joe's. And it comes packaged with another one we weren't particularly fond of either.
13. Vanilla & Cream Yogurt
The Vanilla & Cream yogurt is sold in a pack with the Blueberries & Cream flavor, and while it's a bit better than that one, it is far from the best yogurt at Trader Joe's. The flavor is fairly generic and isn't going to blow anyone's mind.
Upon first diving into this small yogurt cup, you get a lightness and a sweetness from the yogurt. But the promised hint of vanilla? It's barely there, especially when you compare the Vanilla & Cream yogurt with either of the vanilla bean Greek varieties. We didn't find this one to be offensive or anything, it was just fine.
12. Mango Nonfat Greek Yogurt
This variety of yogurt can take a while to grow on you, but it's not bad, all things considered. This mango flavor is solid, but it's neither the best nor the worst mango yogurt you can buy at Trader Joe's.
It was difficult to figure out how to feel about the Mango Nonfat Greek yogurt at first. The early bites were slightly sweet and sour, but neither was especially pronounced. Eventually, once you get to the fruit chunks, the yogurt starts to take on a more genuinely refreshing mango flavor. We found the mango chunks to be pretty inconsistent in size, but overall, they were a welcome addition to an otherwise perplexing item.
11. Meyer Lemon & Cream Yogurt
Lemon yogurt doesn't sound super yummy, and we can't think of many great ones we've had before, but it turns out this Meyer Lemon & Cream yogurt is shockingly good. Lemon is a divisive flavor, to say the least, so this could only climb so high. Everyone likes lemonade, but when it comes to lemon-flavored desserts, most folks are a lot more skeptical. Still, for a lemon yogurt, this is pretty excellent. That's probably because it's not actually lemon.
A Meyer Lemon is somewhere between a regular lemon and an orange in terms of its sweet-and-sour ratio. This lends itself better to desserts and other sweet offerings, such as yogurt. This helps the Trader Joe's variety sing with a tasty balance. It still might be too sour for some, but we found this to be a refreshing option.
10. Peaches & Cream Yogurt
We are entering pretty reliable yogurt territory now, and all of these come recommended. This Peaches & Cream yogurt shares the sweet richness of the other flavors of its type, but it's not the best we've ever had.
This is one of those situations where there isn't anywhere else to get your peach fix, so you have to make do. That makes it sound worse than it is, as this yogurt is generally pleasant and easy to recommend to anyone — even if they aren't the biggest fan of peaches. Peach lovers will likely be a bit let down by how toned-down the peach flavor is. Granted, it is difficult to mimic that flavor without using real pieces of peach. However, Trader Joe's does a pretty decent job.
9. Strawberries & Cream Yogurt
This is a fan-favorite flavor, and while tasty, it ultimately let us down just a bit. We wound up trying the Strawberries & Cream yogurt after tasting the strawberry Greek yogurts from Trader Joe's, and we found that this one had by far the least amount of strawberry flavor.
Like the others of its variety, there is a smooth creaminess that doesn't leave a residue in your mouth, making it easy to slurp down a 4 oz. cup without feeling a lingering chalkiness. However, the strawberry flavor is extremely overpowered by the cream to an extent that made us question if we had blown out our palate. We hadn't, but ultimately this yogurt was not as bright and fruity as we expected.
8. Vanilla Bean Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
On paper, vanilla-flavored yogurt isn't very exciting. However, a good vanilla yogurt can be a great snack or even a base for a wonderful yogurt parfait. Trader Joe's Whole Milk Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt almost strikes the perfect balance, but it has one fatal flaw.
The vanilla bean flavor in this yogurt is strong and authentic. Unfortunately, this whole milk-based Greek yogurt once again left a chalky texture in its wake. Overall the Vanilla Bean Whole Milk Greek option is quite good, but after trying it, we had a sneaking suspicion that the nonfat vanilla bean option would be better.
7. Vanilla Bean Nonfat Greek Yogurt
That suspicion was confirmed when this graced our palate. The best vanilla yogurt sold at Trader Joe's, this Nonfat Greek Yogurt has an amazing texture and an aromatic, and subtly sweet vanilla flavor that encourages bite after bite. This is a yogurt that you can eat by itself, but its subtle flavor also encourages adding your own mix-ins from your pantry.
Technically, the vanilla flavor was slightly stronger in the Whole Milk variety but the balance and texture in this one puts it over the edge as the clear winner. You won't go wrong either way, but the fact that the nonfat one is, well nonfat, gives it that extra leg up.
6. Raspberries & Cream Yogurt
Surprisingly, this is the only raspberry yogurt flavor found at Trader Joe's. Next to strawberry, this is one of the most popular yogurt flavors, so we were surprised there wasn't a Greek variety to be found at either local store. Thankfully, this is one of the better cream yogurts — and it has a strong, authentic fruity flavor.
Despite not having any chunks of real raspberry, a distinguished, pleasant fruitiness persists bite after bite. The yogurt was a bit sweet, with just a hint of sourness to balance everything out. This one will keep you coming back for more.
5. Guava Passion Fruit Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
While the Apricot Mango didn't leave a positive impression, the other tropical whole milk yogurt we tried was a big hit. The Guava Passion Fruit Greek yogurt is a harmonious blend of the two fruits.
Initially, the subtle tropical tang hits you, but then you start to taste the guava coming through. While it's a little more guava than mango, both flavors are distinct. More importantly, the overall taste is refreshing and complex.
Guava Passion Fruit is a unique option that is quite different from most yogurt flavors at your local grocery chain. If you are looking for a refreshing way to spice up your morning routine, this yogurt is a start.
4. Bananas & Cream Yogurt
We can't fault anyone for not signing up for artificial banana flavor. It's a fruit that is indisputably impossible to replicate in flavored yogurt form. Yet, Trader Joe's has delivered a gift with Bananas & Cream yogurt. For once, a product does that specific banana flavor justice.
Granted, this flavor is not entirely fake and may be even closer to what bananas used to taste like. Regardless, this creamy yogurt option is pure deliciousness in a 140-calorie cup. There is something so craveable about the subtly sweet and wholly unmistakable flavor of bananas. Usually, banana needs to be tempered by strawberry, but Trader Joe's has made a yogurt so yummy that this is by far the superior of the two in the pack.
3. Strawberry Vanilla Whole Milk Greek Yogurt
While the Passion Fruit Guava is a winner in its own right, the Strawberry Vanilla flavor takes the prize when it comes to Trader Joe's best whole milk Greek yogurts. It is a sweet and fruity way to kickstart your day and an easy flavor to recommend to even the pickiest yogurt fans.
The first thing you notice when diving into this pink-tinged Greek yogurt is the chunks of strawberry. These are a yummy addition and consistently add textural contrast to every bite. The taste of the yogurt leans more on the strawberry side, but the vanilla mellows out what can tend to be a cloying flavor.
2. Strawberry Nonfat Greek Yogurt
The texture and richness levels of the nonfat Greek yogurts at Trader Joe's are perfectly balanced. While whole milk Greek yogurt can be heavy, these nonfat yogurt cups are light but satisfying. Plus, they don't leave behind any of the chalky aftertaste of non-Greek yogurts. Of all the nonfat Greek yogurts tried, the strawberry reigns supreme. Sometimes, it's hard to beat a classic.
This option is, straight up, just a very tasty strawberry-flavored Greek yogurt. It doesn't have any chunks of fruit like the whole milk Strawberry Vanilla variety, but overall, the flavor is better.
1. Mango & Cream Yogurt
At the top is an indisputable favorite. Trader Joe's Mango & Cream yogurt is sold in mixed six packs, paired with Peaches & Cream, but we wish we could buy it by the gallon. This creamy yogurt has the best flavor of the entire bunch.
From the first bite to the last, the Mango & Cream yogurt packs a delicious punch. The mango flavor is super tangy, with just the right amount of sweetness. Even if mango isn't your go-to flavor, this yogurt is so well-balanced that we can recommend it to literally anyone who can eat dairy. And if you can't, Trader Joe's also has plenty of vegan alternatives on sale, too.