4 Yogurts From Costco Worth Every Penny And 3 You Can Skip

For as long as dairy and bacteria have been around (meaning, forever), yogurt has been a diet staple in countless countries around the world. Because it's a cultured product, it has a longer shelf-life than plain milk, which was certainly a bonus in the days before refrigeration. Modern studies have suggested that it offers plenty of potential health benefits as well, from promoting gut health to potentially protecting from heart disease and diabetes. 

It's incredibly easy to level up plain yogurt, whether you like to mix it with fruit for breakfast or turn it into a tangy and savory dip. You can even use Greek yogurt as a sour cream swap in desserts and other recipes. If you're a yogurt fanatic like me, you probably go through a normal sized container pretty quickly. That's where Costco swoops in to save the day.

Whatever type of yogurt you're looking for, be it fruity or plain, whole milk or nonfat, there's something at Costco that can fit your needs. Plus, because you're getting warehouse sizes, these yogurt products are certain to last longer in your fridge, saving you from having to make extra trips to the store. That said, the downside of buying anything in bulk is if you don't like it, you're stuck with a ton of it. On my last Costco run, I picked up seven of the store's yogurt offerings in order to try them all and figure out which ones to add into my regular rotation. Here are my findings.

This isn't my first go-around with Fage yogurt. I've been a fan for a long time, so I'll keep this short — it's good stuff. There's nothing funky or weird in the ingredients list. You've got skim milk, yogurt cultures, and that's literally it. A great source of calcium and protein, it also tastes great, with a nice tang that balances beautifully with its creaminess. It's hard to believe a yogurt this rich is nonfat, and I know I sound like an advertisement, but Fage really is one of the best Greek yogurt brands you can buy.

What differentiates Greek yogurt from regular yogurt is its texture, as it's strained of more liquid and is thus a denser style. Fage's nonfat Greek yogurt is a textural success, with a thickness like a buttercream icing, and an airiness that lets it dissolve on your tongue without coating your palate. In my experience, there's not a better nonfat Greek yogurt on the market, and I've tried a lot. If you go through plain yogurt as fast as I do, you really can't do better than Costco's 48-ounce tub of Fage for less than eight bucks.

Kirkland Signature's Greek yogurt is the same size and price as Fage, give or take a few dimes, and there's really no contest between the two. While Costco's in-house brand isn't offensively bad, it just doesn't hold up when you taste them side by side. Both are nonfat, and both have simple ingredients and great nutritional value. Kirkland even has an advantage in that it's certified organic, while Fage is not. Even with that distinction, though, I found myself reaching for Fage's yogurt every time.

Kirkland Signature's Greek yogurt starts out with a lovely creamy texture, but there's a strange chalkiness that takes over after a spoonful or two. I expect Greek yogurt to have an acidic tang, but Kirkland's is not balanced. If this product were significantly cheaper than Fage, I might consider it, but with another superior product at around the same price, I'll continue to skip it.

I didn't think I'd enjoy Stonyfield's organic yogurt pouches as much as I did. At first glance, it looks like food for kids, something that I'd expect to find packed in a lunch box. Now that I've tried them, though, I'm kind of hooked. What differentiates these yogurts from everything else on this list is the inclusion of vegetables. The two flavors in this package are strawberry-beet-berry and pear-spinach-mango. Both are subtle, balanced, and delicious, and took me completely by surprise.

Because these yogurts come in pouches, they're a little thinner than the other options on this list, but they're not quite as liquidy as drinkable yogurts. Squeeze them into a bowl and you'll still have a satisfying spoonful. I can also appreciate these pouches as an on-the-go, last-minute snack when you might, as I often do, forget to leave yourself time to eat. As a bonus, the pouches barely take up any room in the fridge.

The three zeroes in Oikos' triple zero yogurts stand for no added sugar, no artificial sweeteners, and no fat. Each serving also boasts 15 grams of protein. Those are awesome stats, but sadly, I couldn't get past the issues I had with the flavors. Despite the lack of sugar, these are still pretty sweet, thanks to stevia leaf, but the flavors advertised on each package left a lot to be desired.

Of the three, the vanilla was by far the most successful. It still had a funky aftertaste that didn't thrill me, but at least it was recognizable as vanilla. I don't know what was going on with the strawberry or mixed berry, but I had a hard time picking out any fruit flavors from either one. Eventually, after a few spoonfuls, I got some strawberry notes, but the mixed berry continues to perplex me. I've tried it several times now over the course of a few days, and any semblance of berry eludes me. That said, the texture is nicely creamy and thick, so if you don't mind the odd flavors, you may enjoy these yogurts — they're just not for me.

The problem with Chobani's fruit on the bottom yogurt is that it does have added sugar, which most of the other options at Costco don't. The other problem is that it's undeniably delicious (yes, sugar is delicious, sorry, I don't make the rules). Each of the four flavors in this variety pack — strawberry, black cherry, peach, and blueberry — have authentic fruit flavor and texture mixed into a creamy, rich, tangy Greek yogurt base. The addition of fruit on the bottom is typically considered a warning sign that your yogurt isn't the healthiest, but these Chobani grab-and-go cups are still far from the unhealthiest Greek yogurt you can buy.

I am not a nutritionist nor a doctor, so I can't tell you if the additional sugar is worth your while — it may not be. That's a question for a medical professional, but it is true that added sugar is one of the foods we should really avoid eating every day. For those watching their sugar intake, these cups may be more suitable as a healthy dessert than a staple breakfast item, and having had a few of them in that capacity, I can tell you they're pretty satisfying as a light fruity treat after a meal. All I know for certain is that if I buy a package of these, they're going to get eaten one way or another.

I hesitated to put Chobani's 20G Protein yogurts on the skip part of this list, mainly because a few of the flavors aren't bad. The cherry berry had a nice brambly flavor, and the vanilla had a nice naturally intense bean taste. I just can't get past how unpleasant I found the mango and the raspberry lemon, so I can't see myself purchasing this pack again.

There are plenty of pluses with this product. If you're looking to add protein to your diet, you get 20 grams in each cup — that beats every other option on this list. There's also no added sugar, so if you're avoiding that, this might be a better option for you than other Chobani offerings. If I could mix and match, that would be one thing, but I wouldn't subject myself to the weirdly funky mango or the acerbic raspberry lemon again, so unfortunately I'll be avoiding this pack in the future. If I see the better flavors elsewhere as single servings, though, I'll probably grab one or two.

Verka was a completely unknown yogurt brand to me before this project, and when I first opened the container I was skeptical. The top of the yogurt was oddly pockmarked like a slab of pumice. I don't know why it's the only yogurt I've ever seen that looked like that, but after tasting it, I don't really care. It's rich, buttery, creamy, and incredibly well-priced — you get 64 ounces for the same price as 48 ounces of the other plain yogurts at Costco. It's also organic.

I didn't expect this to have the same tang as a Greek yogurt, and it doesn't, but there is a nice little zing of acidity that balances out the whole milk richness. Of all the unflavored yogurts I tried, I can see this being the one I'll buy when I need yogurt for various versatile cooking and baking projects because of its mellow flavor and affordability, and the fact that it includes no gums or other questionable ingredients that can mess with texture. If your local Costco carries this brand, and you go through a lot of yogurt, don't hesitate to grab this massive tub.

These seven products were all of the yogurt offerings that I found at my local Costco. There was a wide variety of styles, so instead of pitting them all against each other, I tasted each and judged it on its own individual merits — for yogurts that were similar in style, however, there were unavoidable comparisons. I took into account flavor and texture, ingredients and nutrition, and value.

Flavor was the predominant factor that I based my assessments on. Even if some had great nutritional stats, if they didn't taste great, I marked them as a skip. Of course, flavor is subjective, so your mileage may vary when it comes to that aspect. However, I did my best to remain as objective as possible with my assessments.