A wonderfully rich indulgence, this easy no-sugar recipe for homemade chocolate yogurt is made with creamy Greek yogurt and cocoa powder. Perfect as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, it's actually good enough to serve as dessert.
Back in my high-carb days, I used to make honey-sweetened homemade frozen yogurt, frozen banana ice cream, and avocado chocolate mousse sweetened with maple syrup (I've since developed a low-carb version), which I considered as better alternatives to traditional desserts.
But now that I eat a low-carb diet, I prefer this chocolate yogurt recipe. It's so easy, it hardly qualifies as a recipe! I make it almost daily - it's my favorite after-dinner dessert. It feels good to eat something tasty, indulgent, and good for you.
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Ingredients
You'll only need three ingredients to make this tasty yogurt. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
Greek yogurt: I use plain whole-milk Greek yogurt in this recipe.
Unsweetened cocoa powder: I prefer using Dutch-processed cocoa powder which is milder and less acidic than natural cocoa powder.
Sweetener: I use stevia. You can use a powdered sweetener instead.
Instructions
How to make homemade chocolate yogurt? Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here's an overview of the steps:
First, you grab some creamy Greek yogurt. Whole milk is best.
Now, add unsweetened cocoa powder and your favorite sweetener (I use stevia glycerite).
Add just a bit of water, especially if your Greek yogurt is very thick.
Then, with a spoon, slowly and patiently mix everything together.
Once fully mixed, I like to let the mixture sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature. This allows the flavors to meld and dissolves any remaining stubborn cocoa powder.
Then, I give the yogurt one more stir, and dig in! So since I make this recipe for my after-dinner dessert, I usually make it before we sit down to eat our dinner, then let it rest.
Expert tip: use Dutched cocoa powder
I recommend using unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, which is cocoa processed with alkali. Dutch processing makes the cocoa powder milder and darker. Natural cocoa powder is more acidic.
It's not that this recipe won't work with natural cocoa powder. But I think it's tastier with alkali-treated cocoa powder.
Frequently asked questions
There seems to be controversy around this. Personally, I eat a moderate carb diet, so plain unsweetened Greek yogurt is fine with me.
One can argue that plain unsweetened Greek yogurt can indeed be part of a ketogenic diet.
This recipe has about 13g carbs and 4g fiber per serving, so it's ultimately your decision whether you can fit it into your diet.
Most commercial flavored yogurts are very sugary. Even the high-quality ones often contain additives such as flavors, pectin, gums, and lecithin.
"Light" flavored yogurts are often made with potentially problematic sweeteners, plus food additives such as modified corn starch, flavors, acesulfame potassium, and potassium sorbate.
I use plain whole-milk Greek yogurt. I especially like Straus yogurt. It's wonderfully thick and creamy, just like sour cream. However, it's very high in carbs compared to other whole-milk Greek yogurts.
So I often end up using Fage yogurt, which is also excellent. The nutrition info below assumes Fage Greek yogurt.
If you prefer to use low-fat or nonfat yogurt, that's fine. It won't be as tasty, but it will still be very good.
I use Greek yogurt in this recipe, then sometimes add a bit of water, especially when the yogurt I use is very thick. Even with the addition of water, the chocolate yogurt is still very thick and creamy.
Regular yogurt is too liquid, so I don't like it, and especially not in this recipe. The idea is to get a mousse-like consistency, and you can't achieve that with regular yogurt.
I use stevia glycerite. I really like this sweetener and use it almost exclusively when I need a non-nutritive sweetener. Although many people object to its taste, the glycerite formulation greatly minimizes the bitter aftertaste.
The amount of stevia I use equals about 2 tablespoons of sugar. So you can try replacing the stevia with your favorite sweetener. If you use a granulated sweetener, I recommend using a powdered sweetener.
If you use honey, you can probably use just 1.5 tablespoons, since it's very sweet. And if you use maple syrup, it's possible that you won't need to add water at all. So check the consistency and decide.
Variations on the basic recipe
An interesting way to vary the basic recipe is to add flavor extracts. You can try adding ½ teaspoon of any pure extract you like, including vanilla extract, coconut extract, and orange extract.
Storing leftovers
Since this is a single-serving recipe and it's AMAZING, I never actually have leftovers. But if you do, you can keep them in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days.
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Recipe card
Chocolate Yogurt Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup whole-milk plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder processed with alkali
- ½ teaspoon stevia glycerite (equals about 2 tablespoons of sugar)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the yogurt in a medium bowl.
- Add the cocoa powder and your sweetener.
- With a spoon, mix slowly and thoroughly, until mixture is uniform and creamy.
- If the mixture is too thick, mix in a tablespoon or two of water.
- Let rest at room temperature for 10-30 minutes, to allow flavors to meld.
- Mix one more time and dig in!
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NOTES
NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 