America’s love affair with Greek yogurt has led to an explosion of brands in the dairy aisle, and I love trying new ones that catch my eye. But which is the best Greek yogurt for cooking? I fell for Wallaby Organic Whole Milk Greek Yogurt, made out of California. It’s shiny, silky, bouncy, and tart—with a lot of lusciousness and none of the chalkiness found in some other brands. The official Wallaby website credits their “unhurried” culturing process for the buoyant texture, and claims their yogurt is “authentically” strained to achieve a “deliciously thick” result. I don’t know enough about how it’s made to confirm or deny these claims, but I can tell you that, based on my empirical research, this yogurt is excellent for cooking, and I'd eat it straight too.
When the grocery delivery service that we use in the BA test kitchen started carrying the brand, we began using it in recipe development on a regular basis, and slowly but surely new converts were won. Senior food editor Andy Baraghani, a world-renowned yogurt connoisseur (he is known for putting yogurt into every single recipe he develops) is a fan. “It is super silky, with good richness and tang,” he says, “and you don’t need to thin it as much for sauce as you do with thicker yogurts.” Try it in one of his yogurt-forward dips: He recommends it in this minty number, or this colorful sauce that is perfect alongside rice.
Senior food editor Chris Morocco, man of the golden palate, had this to say: “It’s achieves the perfect synergy between tanginess, creaminess, and the complete absence of chalkiness.” I’d just like to point out that anyone who uses the word synergy in a regular sentence is not to be questioned. As if that wasn’t enough, Morocco is bold enough to compare Wallaby to the incomparable White Moustache Persian yogurt, saying it was the closest a mass-produced yogurt would likely ever get.
In sum, Wallaby is the best Greek yogurt for cooking because of three key attributes: tanginess, silkiness, and not-too-thickness. Wallaby blends easily into dressings and smoothies because of its texture. Because it doesn’t have to be thinned out to be pourable or dip-able, its tartness stays undiluted—you could just add a pinch of salt and call it a sauce and no one would blink twice. I usually go for the full-fat, but even at 2%, it retains its glossy richness: a quality I have appreciated many times while eating it with a drizzle of maple syrup, standing up at my kitchen counter.
Buy Wallaby Organic Greek Yogurt on Fresh Direct, $7.99
Try some more recipes that make yogurt the star:
