How to make frozen yogurt (step by step)
It’s nice if you have an ice cream maker for homemade frozen yogurt: it’s our recommended path for making this recipe. But you can also make it using a food processor! Here are the steps for how to make frozen yogurt at home (or go to the full recipe): Why we love this recipe: Our whole family goes crazy for this homemade frozen yogurt! It’s tangy, creamy, and full of bold flavor. Essentially a Greek yogurt ice cream, it works as topping for fruit desserts or with its own with all the fun froyo toppings. Count us all obsessed!
Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is our yogurt of choice because it’s protein packed, contains probiotics, and has a thick and creamy texture. We recommend using full fat Greek yogurt here for the creamiest texture and best flavor. Heavy cream: The combination of cream with the yogurt is important for making a creamy texture. In our testing, simply freezing yogurt by itself is much too icy and grainy. (You can substitute half and half if desired, but the texture will be slightly more icy.) Granulated sugar: We use sugar in our frozen yogurt recipe, but you can substitute any natural sweetener you like! Honey, agave syrup, and maple syrup all work well. Keep in mind that maple syrup makes the color of the yogurt slightly darker. Vanilla extract (optional): The vanilla extract is optional here, but it adds a nice nuance to the flavor.
Ice cream maker vs food processor
There are a few pros and cons to making frozen yogurt in an ice cream maker versus a food processor! Here’s what to know:
Ice cream maker: An ice cream maker makes the best creamy texture for homemade frozen yogurt, and it’s faster to whip up. We like this 2 quart freezer bowl ice cream maker, which is durable and has held up well over the years. If you make ice cream often and want to splurge, try an automatic ice cream maker. Food processor: The food processor method takes longer because you have to freeze the Greek yogurt first. The texture is not quite as good, but it’s a great substitute if you don’t have an ice cream machine. (If using this method, make sure to freeze the mixture in ice cube-sized trays and not larger sized trays.)
Frozen yogurt toppings
The sky’s the limit when it comes to homemade frozen yogurt toppings, of course! Just use anything you might find at a frozen yogurt shop. Here are some of our favorite ideas:
Sprinkles Fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries Strawberry compote, raspberry compote, or blueberry sauce Edible cookie dough Crushed cookies or graham crackers Chocolate chips M&Ms or other candies Toasted almonds or other chopped nuts Hot fudge or chocolate syrup
More ways to serve Greek yogurt ice cream
There are so many more ways to serve this frozen yogurt recipe! We like it as a topping for desserts, more like a Greek yogurt ice cream. Try it on blueberry cobbler, blueberry crumble, olive oil brownies, rhubarb crisp, peach crisp, apple cobbler, or apple crisp.
A few more frozen desserts
Love whipping up frozen treats? They’re perfect as summer desserts or any time of the year. Here are a few more fun ideas to try:
Go for homemade ice cream like Cookie Dough Ice Cream, Rocky Road Ice Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream or Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Make sherbet like Lime Sherbet, Raspberry Sherbet or Orange Sherbet. Mix up sorbets like Strawberry Sorbet, Lime Sorbet, Mango Sorbet or Peach Sorbet.
Frequently asked questions
No reviews **For a fun presentation, you also can pipe it into a cup using a pastry bag (completely optional; we did it just for the photos). ***Add the toppings of your choice! Try sprinkles, fresh strawberries or raspberries, strawberry compote, edible cookie dough, and more.
