Ah,  greek yogurt. My go to, lazy girl’s version of a quick, high protein snack that also packs in the calcium. Love it in the morning. Love it after a workout. Love it in my oatmeal. Love it in my smoothies. So, basically a whole other food group in my opinion (next to almond butter).

But wait. First it was Greek.

Now Icelandic? What’s the deal?

I have to admit, the amount of yogurt products found in the market these days are pretty impressive – take one look down the aisle and you’ll see anything from almond milk yogurt to soy yogurt to coconut milk yogurt. By now everyone knows what greek yogurt is – it’s pretty hard to miss on a walk down the yogurt aisle. And it’s also my personal yogurt of choice (Fage and Chobani, and Trader Joe’s are my favorite). I love it for a quick boost of protein anytime during my day. The thick and creamy texture is perfect as a yogurt base ( I love adding toppings to mine, like fruit, granola, or nut butter) or as a low fat and high protein substitute for an other wise higher calorie creams in recipes.

But let’s focus on the Icelandic trend today. Recently, I ventured out to try something new – cue to the Icelandic Skyr yogurt. It’s a cultured dairy product originating from Iceland, that is similar to traditionally strained yogurt.

The texture is very similar to greek yogurt because it goes through fairly similar straining processes to produce that thick and cream consistency, And because it’s so thick, the protein content of these yogurts are very high compared to regular or even Greek yogurt, per serving.

I’ve also found that the texture of the Icelandic yogurts are a bit smoother, and less tart. I’m really partial to the protein and creamy texture!

Here’s two brands that I’ve found and am loving, both purchased at my local Whole Foods –

Siggi’s Blueberry Icelandic Yogurt

This is the blueberry flavor from Siggi’s – but they have a huge variety of flavors! This container has 110 calories and 14 grams of protein each. I typically go for the plain, unflavored yogurts and add my own fruits, but I didn’t see their plain flavor that day at my Whole Foods. I’m not a big fan of yogurts with added sugar, but honestly though, I thoroughly enjoyed this blueberry flavor from Siggi’s. The flavor of this yogurt is a bit less tart than the greek yogurts in my opinion, without being too overtly sweet. Also, the ingredient list is very short – which I typically like to look for when I shop for groceries.

Off the Siggi’s Website:
Ingredients
Pasteurized Skim Milk, Cane Sugar, Blueberries, Fruit Pectin, Live Active Cultures

Live Cultures
B. lactis, L. acidophilus, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, S. thermophilus 

Similar to Greek yogurt, Icelandic yogurt also contains live cultures for an extra probiotic benefits.

I decided to top mine with Trader Joe’s Puffed Wheat, Antioxidant Trail Mix from the Whole Foods bulk bins, and Trader Joe’s Creamy almond butter. So deliciously creamy – and like I said before, not too sweet!

Smari’s Pure Organic Icelandic Yogurt