Non-dairy replacement for yogurt - savory edition

December 2, 2022 6:23 AM

I'm trying to cut down on dairy, mostly for environmental reasons, and one thing that I feel like I *should* be able to replace but I'm having trouble with is yogurt as an accompaniment to savory food. I've found a couple of brands of coconut-milk-based yogurt that I enjoy in sweet contexts but the main way I enjoy yogurt is in savory sauces or as a dollop alongside e.g. roasted chickpeas and veg, and the coconut versions seem too sweet for this.

There are A TON of nondairy yogurt imitators available at the supermarkets where I shop - so far I've tried: cocojune and Wegman's store brand plain coconutmilk yogurt alternative (they taste pretty similar to me, and they're fine with granola or in smoothies). I've tried adding lemon juice to the latter to sour it up a bit but that just made it taste like a pleasantly-sweet lemon-flavor yogurt. (Both of these brands are unsweetened and contain significantly less sugar per ounce than the unsweetened dairy yogurts I'm used to so I don't know what's going on here - could be that my brain interprets coconut flavor as sweet? Or maybe it's just as simple as the sugars in coconut milk being sweeter than the lactose in dairy milk?)

- I'm not wedded to coconut-based products, they're just what I've been trying first because I usually like them.
- I'm also happy to consider creamy things that aren't trying to imitate yogurt - if it's supposed to be sour cream, that's cool!
- I really don't want to make something from scratch, although I'm willing to do something like "stir 1 tbsp of store-bought ingredient X into 1 cup of store-bought ingredient Y"
- The taste profile I'm looking for here is rich, creamy, and sour

OR maybe if I just keep putting the coconut yogurt I already have on my chickpeas and stirring it into my chili and all the other things I do with savory yogurt I'll get used to it and stop thinking it seems sweet? I guess I will probably end up trying this regardless because I have a big container of the Wegmans' yogurt and I am unlikely to get through it if I only use it for sweet things.

posted by mskyle to Food & Drink (27 answers total)

My spouse is unable to have dairy, and we really like the Kite Hill Sour Cream. We use it in mushroom stroganoff for exactly the effect you're after.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:25 AM on December 2, 2022 [4 favorites]

Just as a data point, my brain (tongue?) interprets coconut-anything as sweet too unless it has quite a bit of salt added, as in a curry. Maybe adding some salt?
posted by nouvelle-personne at 6:25 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I would look at cream substitutes, as well as yogurt ones. In the UK we have an oat-based cream which isn't sweet.
posted by plonkee at 6:39 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is more complicated than it should be; the vegan yogurt field is evolving very quickly and companies are changing their formulations frequently. Icelandic Provisions only had their oat milk skyr available for like three months last year!

I would try a cashew base instead of coconut...I like Forager, it's sold at Whole Foods in my area. They do offer their plain version in a 5 ounce size if you just want to try it out. If you have access to Trader Joe's they have a good plain cashew-based vegan yogurt that only comes in a 24 ounce size; it's often kind of on the runny side though.

Kite Hill makes very good products in general but I have always found that they spoil very quickly, often well before the expiration date. Siggi's plant-based line is also great (I think it has the nicest texture by far) but their plain yogurt is too sweet to use in something savory.
posted by bcwinters at 6:44 AM on December 2, 2022 [5 favorites]

Tofu -based mayonnaise or salad dressing made in a blender with lots of lemon juice and cayenne?
posted by BibiRose at 7:05 AM on December 2, 2022

Kite Hill makes very good products in general but I have always found that they spoil very quickly, often well before the expiration date.

I also like Kite Hill, and have also found this to be the case -- you gotta use it fast. Don't buy a lot at a time.
posted by aramaic at 7:08 AM on December 2, 2022

Beware of the Tofutti brand vegan sour cream. I find that it tastes the way white glue smells.
posted by corey flood at 7:19 AM on December 2, 2022

There's an Oatly brand yogurt made with oat milk that I find to be the best non-dairy yogurt. I don't like the flavor of coconut based yogurt either and the soy and cashew brands I've tried either have a weird consistency or taste I don't like. Also I only want to buy yogurt in a bigger tub to cut down on plastics and seems like some brands I can only find in small containers.
The Tofutti brand cream cheese is excellent and I love it on bagels but I agree their sour cream isn't good, it's also oddly thick.
posted by emd3737 at 7:24 AM on December 2, 2022

+2 for kite hill products. I like the cream cheese spread especially the one with the chives.

I buy the unsweetened soy delicious coconut yogurt and make raitha with different veggies , flavor with herbs, salt and spice mixes of your choice like ginger, cumin, coriander ,paprika, etc.This can be a side dish for any meals.

Same with unsweetened drinkable yogurt. You can add salt, different herbs, spices and drink as a spiced buttermilk.
posted by SunPower at 7:51 AM on December 2, 2022

For savory dishes we also use the soy delicious coconut yogurt plain unsweetened that SunPower linked to. For nondairy sour cream we use Tofutti, which is an excellent substitution but I think won't work for a nonsweet alternative like you're hoping.
posted by Mchelly at 8:15 AM on December 2, 2022

My wife has made a "cashew cheese" that would be an OK fit in terms of flavor profile, although in terms of environmental advantage, might not be great, since cashew cultivation has a pretty high environmental cost.
posted by adamrice at 8:45 AM on December 2, 2022

I just made tzatziki this week with Kite Hill yogurt and it was the best one I've made so far. It did need about a tablespoon of vegan mayo to give it something that was missing, which maybe was just salt or msg*, but I was specifically trying to find a plain yogurt that didn't have that weird sweetness. I did only buy one small container, it might be worth trying to freeze a little to see if getting a larger tub would be viable.

*This might be a way to force down the sweetness of other types of yogurt - salt, powdered msg or another umami producer like mushroom powder or even tomato paste, just a smidge. Or you still end up with weirdly sweet and now slightly pink tzatziki.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:51 AM on December 2, 2022

The President's Choice non-dairy sour cream is decent, if that brand's available to you.
posted by warriorqueen at 10:09 AM on December 2, 2022

You really do just have to taste until you find a flavor profile that works for you. I'm not in the US anymore, but Forgaer's cashew stuff was my choice. It was also expensive enough that I started experimenting with using my instant pot to culture my own (from home made cashew milk) and, woah, even better if you have the interest in DIY. Then you can really tune to your preferred flavor and texture profile.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:27 AM on December 2, 2022

I buy the unsweetened soy delicious coconut yogurt

For savory dishes we also use the soy delicious coconut yogurt plain unsweetened

OK, it's So Delicious, not soy delicious. There is no soy of any kind in this yogurt. I also buy and like it very much.
posted by Dolley at 10:36 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

OK, it's So Delicious, not soy delicious. There is no soy of any kind in this yogurt. I also buy and like it very much.

Ack! I even noticed that typo and then still repeated it. So Delicious. No soy.
posted by Mchelly at 10:44 AM on December 2, 2022

Don't suppose you can just slap some tofu in there? Silken tofu, the softest, doesn't clump like yoghurt, but fits much better with savory dishes.
posted by kschang at 11:22 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I don't remember which brands of plain unsweetened yogurt I buy but how I determine what I'm going to use for savory applications is to look at the nutritional label and seeing how much added sugar is in it, because even the unsweetened ones sometimes have a little bit of sugar. I have found several brands at standard grocery stores that have as little as one gram of sugar per serving and they will not be sweet tasting at all.
posted by QuakerMel at 11:39 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Now I remember that I've used and liked the newish Trader Joe's vegan yogurt: "Organic Creamy Cashew Cultured Yogurt Alternative Plain Unsweetened", which has 0 grams of added sugar and only one gram of total sugars, and it's a really great value at $5 for 24 ounces.
posted by QuakerMel at 12:17 PM on December 2, 2022

We eat vegan at home; when I’m feeling lazy I use vegan mayo or aioli in place of yogurt in savoury dishes (here in Australia, Heinz makes a great vegan aioli). If I have a bit more time and motivation I make cashew cream from soaked cashews, salt, and a bit of apple cider vinegar.
posted by third word on a random page at 1:23 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I buy the unsweetened soy delicious coconut yogurt

Yes, it’s so delicious . Sorry typo….
posted by SunPower at 2:45 PM on December 2, 2022

Mashed avocado?
posted by metasarah at 2:50 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Needing lactose and gluten free products, in this category my go to is So Delicious
Yet Green Valley yogurt is a great alternative.
posted by onair at 4:55 PM on December 2, 2022

I know the OP isn't in the UK, but for any UK MeFites wanting an answer to this question, the answer is: Alpro Plain No Sugars. It is exactly like thick double cream, and I use it in savoury dishes (e.g. cream sauces, as a base for raita, in place of sour cream) and pour it over fruit and dollop it on muesli.
posted by essexjan at 6:10 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

To go in slightly different (but delicious and garlicky) direction, how about toum, the Lebanese garlic spread? It can also be purchased at Lebanese restaurants or Trader Joe’s (called “Garlic spread & dip”) if that’s available near you.
posted by Empidonax at 7:42 PM on December 2, 2022 [3 favorites]

Came in to suggest toum. We do drink plant milk in coffee, and use both plant milk and plant butter for cooking, but to me (and my family), the other plant "dairy" products have an unredeemable off taste. It feels better to do something completely different.

Apart from toum, adding lemon to tahin or peanut butter to create a creamy, acidic dressing is absolutely something I'd do. Or just use satay sauce from a bottle.
posted by mumimor at 4:21 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Not going to mark any best answers because there are so many good recs and anti-recs! Forager and Oatly are currently on sale near me so I'll probably try those first.

And yes, maybe something like toum or a lemon-tahini dressing would scratch the same itch for some of my uses! I like silken tofu but I don't think it is quite the taste I'm looking for (but next time I have some on hand maybe I'll give it a shot).
posted by mskyle at 6:45 AM on December 3, 2022