The Healthiest Yogurts, Ranked From Worst to Best

Walking down the dairy aisle can feel overwhelming these days. There’s regular yogurt, Greek yogurt, Icelandic skyr, Australian style, plant based varieties, and dozens of brands all claiming to be the healthiest option. Some are packed with protein and probiotics, while others contain more sugar than a candy bar.

Let’s cut through the marketing hype and rank these popular yogurt options based on actual nutritional value, ingredient quality, and what experts have to say about them.

10. Yoplait Whips and Fruit Flavored Yogurts

Yoplait’s French Vanilla delivers over half your daily limit of added sugar in just one serving at 25 grams, which should immediately raise concerns. The Whips line isn’t much better either. There is no Yoplait yogurt that doesn’t have added sugars, including the Greek, 100 calorie, and fat-free options. A single serving can contain up to 17 grams of sugar, and some varieties use artificial sweeteners like aspartame. Here’s the thing though, these yogurts are marketed as healthy breakfast options when they’re really closer to desserts.

9. YoCrunch with Candy Mix Ins

YoCrunch’s LowFat Vanilla with M&Ms has 15 grams of added sugar and is made with artificial ingredients. Let’s be real, when you’re adding candy to yogurt, you’ve crossed into dessert territory. YoCrunch yogurts add candy and cookies as toppers, turning a highly nutritious food into a dessert with little protein and a lot of added sugar. I know it sounds appealing, especially for kids who might resist plain yogurt. Still, these products strip away most health benefits that yogurt should provide.

8. Dannon Fruit on the Bottom

Most varieties of Dannon Fruit on the Bottom contain 24 to 30 grams of sugar before fruit is even listed on the ingredient list. That’s a shocking amount for something you might grab for breakfast thinking you’re making a healthy choice. The strawberry yogurt contains modified food starch, carrageenan, and disodium phosphate along with gelatin. These yogurt cups are filled with sugar and preservatives, with only 5 grams of protein. You’re basically getting dessert disguised as breakfast.

7. La Yogurt and El Mexicano Drinkable Varieties

La Yogurt products contain probiotics and are flavored with natural additives, but many yogurts marketed toward the Hispanic population are among the worst you can find on store shelves according to registered dietitians. El Mexicano Saborico contains probiotics and real fruit, but each serving has 20 grams of added sugar, approximately 40% of the maximum daily amount. The drinkable format makes it easy to consume quickly without realizing how much sugar you’re taking in. Some varieties also contain artificial colors like Red 40 and Blue 1.

6. Noosa and Oui by Yoplait Dessert Varieties

Noosa’s blueberry flavor has 31 grams of sugar, 18 grams of which are added sugar. Honestly, that’s more than most ice cream servings. With its sweet taste and creamy texture, an eight ounce container of Noosa blueberry yogurt has 18 grams of added sugar, which is 36% of the recommended daily amount. While Noosa is made on a sustainable dairy farm in Colorado and tastes incredible, it’s nutritionally more like pudding than yogurt. The Oui by Yoplait layered desserts aren’t even trying to hide what they are anymore.

5. Great Value and Generic Store Brand Flavored Options

Great Value Original Vanilla Lowfat Yogurt contains both fructose and sugar totaling 21g per serving, plus modified food starch, corn starch, and gelatine with no actual vanilla. Generic store brands often cut corners on ingredient quality to keep prices low. Walmart’s Great Value brand features additives not normally seen in high quality yogurts. If you’re shopping on a budget, you’re better off choosing their plain varieties and adding your own fruit rather than buying these flavored versions.

4. Chobani Flip and Mix In Varieties

Now we’re getting into yogurts that have some redeeming qualities but still fall short of being truly healthy. Chobani Flip S’more S’mores has 9 grams of protein per serving but also contains 14 grams of added sugars. The Chobani Flip Key Lime Crumble contains both cane sugar and brown sugar totaling 17g, plus additives and refined fats like soybean oil. These are definitely treats rather than everyday breakfast options, despite the protein content being respectable compared to regular yogurt.

3. Activia and Dannon Light and Fit

Dannon Light & Fit Strawberry Cheesecake contains modified food starch, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. The Light and Fit line gets points for high protein content at roughly 12 grams per cup and lower sugar hovering around 7 to 8 grams total. However, artificial sweeteners like acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and malic acid infiltrate the snack. Sucralose is rated as avoid by nutrition experts because it causes cancer in lab animals. If you must choose artificially sweetened yogurt, go for those using stevia instead.

2. Fage and Stonyfield Plain Varieties

Fage Greek yogurt is made without preservatives or artificial sweeteners or flavors, with the 2% Total Split Cup giving 12 grams of protein and not being high in sugar. Stonyfield Yogurt offers plenty of protein, probiotics, and organic ingredients with flavored varieties still containing 6 grams of protein per serving and billions of probiotics. FAGE Total is one of the most popular healthiest Greek yogurt products due to its high protein content and minimal ingredients. These brands consistently rank at the top of dietitian recommendations because they keep ingredient lists short and avoid unnecessary additives.

1. Siggi’s, Icelandic Provisions, and Plain Greek Yogurt

Siggi’s flavors have some of the lowest added sugar among flavored yogurts, though it can be tangy for those used to super sweet yogurts. Siggi’s Strained Icelandic Style Skyr uses four times the amount of milk as a regular cup of yogurt from grass fed cows. Five dietitians and food scientists revealed that the healthiest yogurts are Greek yogurt and skyr. Icelandic yogurt tends to have slightly more protein than Greek yogurt but less calcium than traditional yogurt, and it’s generally thicker and tangier. Chobani Protein has 20 grams of protein and 0 grams of added sugar with about 140 calories, sweetened with stevia extract. Plain varieties remain your absolute best bet for avoiding hidden sugars and maximizing nutritional benefits.