This homemade frozen yogurt is creamy, tangy, and honey-sweetened - a refreshing treat you can feel good about. Serve it as soft-serve or freeze it until it's scoopable.
Making frozen yogurt at home is surprisingly easy. With just a few simple ingredients and no ice cream maker, you can create a cool, creamy dessert. Unlike store-bought versions that often contain added sugars and fillers, this recipe uses Greek yogurt, honey, and vanilla. It’s the perfect way to satisfy your sweet tooth!
Ingredients
See the recipe card for exact measurements. Here are my comments on the ingredients.
- Greek yogurt: I use plain whole-milk yogurt. While regular yogurt is delicious, you should definitely use Greek yogurt in this recipe. Plain, full-fat skyr will also work.
- Sweetener: I like to use honey because I love its flavor. You can use a granulated sweetener if you prefer - sugar or a sugar-free alternative.
- Vanilla extract: Use high-quality pure vanilla for the best results.
Flavor Variations
The basic recipe is simple: it contains yogurt, honey, and vanilla extract. You can add fruit—fresh or frozen, pureed or chunky. I like to completely puree the fruit in the food processor with the yogurt, honey, and vanilla. But you can blend the yogurt and honey first, then add the fruit and process briefly, leaving fruit chunks in your yogurt.
The possibilities are endless, but the flavors I make most often, in addition to this one, are mango, raspberry, and chocolate. The photos below show all four flavors I make, and the recipe card's notes section includes the instructions for the variations.
Instructions
Making frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker is easy, although it's a bit time-consuming. The detailed instructions and step-by-step photos are included in the recipe card. Here's a quick overview.
Combine the ingredients. You can use a food processor or simply place the ingredients in a bowl and use a hand whisk. You'll need to whisk for about three minutes to get the mixture to be fluffy.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish, cover, and freeze for 45 minutes. Remove the pan from the freezer and use a rubber spatula to give the mixture a good stir. Cover again and continue freezing for 2 more hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
The yogurt should now have a soft-serve consistency. You can go ahead and enjoy it. At this point, I usually transfer it to a smaller container (this makes scooping easier), cover it, and freeze it for one more hour to achieve a scoopable consistency.
This is a great recipe that I can modify with frozen strawberries or other ingredients. Because I have to watch my glucose levels, I added ⅓ cup of monkfruit sweetener, though honey sounds very good.
Kristin
Read more comments
This is a great recipe that I can modify with frozen strawberries or other ingredients. Because I have to watch my glucose levels, I added ⅓ cup of monkfruit sweetener, though honey sounds very good.Recipe Tips
- Sweetness is very personal. If you like things a little sweeter, don’t hesitate to increase the honey (or your preferred sweetener) by 1-2 tablespoons. Taste the mixture before freezing and adjust according to your taste.
- I'm often asked if one can simply mix the ingredients and freeze them without stirring every 30 minutes. The answer is no. To achieve the creamy consistency shown in the photo below without an ice cream maker, you need to stir the yogurt often during the freezing process to prevent large ice crystals from forming. This is not difficult to do on a day when you're home anyway.
Recipe FAQs
This homemade yogurt is made without texture-enhancing additives, so nonfat yogurt won't work. You really want the fat from whole-milk Greek yogurt to give it a smooth, creamy texture. Nonfat yogurt will be icy, and it also won't be as flavorful.
Unlike commercial brands, this recipe contains no thickeners and is lower in sugar than many brands. So don't expect the "perfect" texture and intense sweetness you get when you add thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and lots of sugar.
But this homemade version is wonderful! You can taste the yogurt's tang and the honey's sweetness. It's simple, delicious, and fresh.
Since we use Greek yogurt, which has already been strained to remove whey, there's no need to strain it any further.
You can freeze the leftovers in a sealed container for up to a month. However, the longer they stay in the freezer, the less creamy and icier they will become. If the yogurt has been in your freezer for over a day, remove it to the counter about 30 minutes before enjoying it.
Serving Suggestions
This dessert is delicious on its own. It also pairs well with fruit, including fresh berries (as shown in the photo below), grilled peaches, apple crisp, baked apple slices, or fried bananas.
Sometimes, I serve it topped with honey-roasted nuts, stewed prunes, blueberry compote, or strawberry compote.
You can also drizzle it with melted dark chocolate (as shown in the photo below) or melted peanut butter. And for a special treat, serve it with crumbled chocolate cookies or chocolate chip cookies.
Recipe Card
Homemade Frozen Yogurt (Four Flavors!)
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups Greek yogurt - plain, full-fat
- ¼ cup honey - see notes below
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the yogurt, honey, and vanilla in your food processor’s bowl or in a medium mixing bowl.
- Process the ingredients to incorporate, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl, then process for 1 more minute until light and fluffy. If mixing by hand, mix for 2-3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.
- Using a spatula, transfer the mixture to a square 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover with cling wrap and freeze for 45 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the freezer. Use a rubber spatula to stir the already-frozen edges into the still-soft center, then spread evenly again.
- Cover again, and place in the freezer for 2 more hours, repeating the process of stirring the yogurt every 30 minutes.
- When the entire mixture is frozen, serve immediately as a soft-serve yogurt (use chilled bowls), or freeze it for 1-2 more hours for a firmer consistency that you can scoop out with an ice cream scoop.
Notes
- To keep this yogurt low-carb, you can use a sugar-free sweetener.
- Sweetness is very personal. If you like things a little sweeter, don’t hesitate to increase the honey (or your preferred sweetener) by 1-2 tablespoons, keeping in mind that the nutrition info will change. Taste the mixture before freezing and adjust according to your taste.
- While regular yogurt is delicious, you should definitely use Greek yogurt in this recipe.
- Use high-quality pure vanilla extract for the best results.
- You can keep this yogurt in a sealed container in the freezer for up to a month. The longer it stays in the freezer, the less creamy and icier it will become. If it's spent longer than a day in your freezer, remove it from the freezer about 30 minutes before enjoying it.
- Chocolate flavor: add ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and increase the honey to ½ cup.
- Raspberry flavor: Add 6 ounces of frozen raspberries and increase the honey to ½ cup.
- Mango flavor: Add 6 ounces of frozen mango chunks and increase the honey to ½ cup. Partially thaw the mango chunks in the microwave to make them easier to process.
Nutrition per Serving
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Disclaimers
Most recipes are low-carb and gluten-free, but some are not. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate. Please verify it independently. The carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Please read these Terms of Use before using any of my recipes.
Julie says
Can you use less honey? Does effect recipe at all, other than sweetness?
Vered DeLeeuw says
Hi Julie,
Yes, you can use less honey!
Kimmy says
does whole milk yogurt work with this recipe?
Vered DeLeeuw says
Hi Kimmy,
Only if it's Greek yogurt or Skyr.
Robert says
Great recipe! Adding it to the rotation.
Vered DeLeeuw says
Glad you liked it, Robert! Thank you very much for the review.
angela says
its really good! i was wondering if you could use coffee creamer for sweetener as well instead of honey?
Vered DeLeeuw says
Hi Angela,
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I think coffee creamer would work, but I haven't tested it.
Sharon Dove says
thanks for sharing the delicious recipe
Vered DeLeeuw says
You're very welcome, Sharon! I'm glad you liked it.