The Healthiest Frozen Yogurt, from Plain Vanilla to Caramel Praline Crunch

We already covered some healthy options in our post about the best store bought ice creams, but there will enough hot summer days to justify another post about healthy frozen treats. This time we're looking at the favorite frozen dessert of the health conscious crowd: frozen yogurt. But made from yogurt or not, frozen yogurt isn't always as healthy as you'd expect.

In fact, some of the worst choices contain as much as 26 grams of sugar for a 1/2 cup serving. Others contain artificial flavors and food colors, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and other less-than-desirable ingredients.

Don't worry, though. Even if you don't want to make frozen yogurt yourself, there are some better choices at the supermarket. Here are some worthy contestants for the title of healthiest frozen yogurt:

The Cleanest Ingredient Lists

From the many brands we scouted, Häagen-Dazs and Blue Bunny frozen yogurt have the fewest additives:

Häagen-Dazs Vanilla: skim milk (lactose reduced), corn syrup, sugar, egg yolks, cream, natural flavor, active yogurt cultures

Häagen-Dazs Frozen Yogurt

• no artificial ingredients
• 9 grams of protein per serving
• 170 calories, 21 grams of sugar per serving
• only 3 flavors

Blue Bunny Vanilla Bean: milk, skim milk, sugar, cream, inulin, egg yolks, vanilla with ground vanilla beans, carob bean gum, cultures

Blue Bunny Frozen Yogurt

• just 100 calories per serving
• 16 grams of sugar per serving (relatively low in comparison to other brands)
• only 4 grams of protein

Blue Bunny has a variety of tempting flavors, such as Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate, White Mint Chocolate Chunk, and Caramel Praline Crunch. As you might expect, these flavors have more sugar than the plain vanilla fro-yo, so keep an eye out if you're watching your sugar intake.

Organic Frozen Yogurt

If you think the healthiest frozen yogurt should be certified organic, then Stonyfield Farm's frozen yogurts might be for you. Their regular frozen yogurts come in flavors like chocolate, creme caramel, "gotta have java", and vanilla fudge swirl, while their Greek yogurts are available in chocolate, vanilla, blueberry, superfruits, and honey. They also sell frozen yogurt bars and strange but intriguing "frozen yogurt pearls."

Tip: their frozen Greek yogurts have a bit more protein, 6 grams per serving, than their other frozen yogurts.

Stonyfield Organic Frozen Yogurt

• certified organic
• 100-110 calories, 6 grams of protein per serving
• a bit higher in sugar, 17-21 grams (depending on flavor)

Low Sugar, Low Calorie, High Protein Frozen Yogurt

Sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? But indeed, some brands manage to offer this holy trinity. Our favorite in this category is Yasso's frozen Greek yogurt bars. They come in a huge variety of delicious flavors (sea salt caramel, anyone?) and clock in between 80-130 calories per bar depending on which flavor you choose. They also offer 5-6 grams of protein and some flavors have as little as 11 grams of sugar. Not only is the nutritional profile pretty solid, the ingredient list is not much "scarier" than other top frozen yogurt brands.

Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt Bars

• gluten free
• 80-130 calories, 5-6 grams of protein, as little as 11 grams of sugar
• only available in bar form

Best Frozen Yogurt for Mental Health

Physical health is just one part of the equation ya'll. If you really need a treat, we recommend checking out Ben & Jerry's line of frozen yogurts. You can find some of your favorite ice cream flavors in frozen yogurt form, including Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, and Half Baked. Their frozen Greek yogurt, particularly the Blueberry Vanilla Graham flavor, also scored highly in numerous taste tests (e.g. The Huffington Post, POPSUGAR Food, and SparkPeople). That's not too surprising, since they aren't that much healthier than normal ice cream. Still, they're absolutely worth the splurge when you need a little comfort food!

Ben & Jerry's Frozen Yogurt

• rich and delicious flavors
• brand uses Fair Trade ingredients and dairy from cows not treated with growth hormones
• 210 calories and 21 grams of sugar per serving

We hope at least one of our recommendations for the healthiest frozen yogurt has piqued your interest. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know!

Author

Written by Crystal Schlegelmilch on May 1st 2015

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