The Most Important Tip To Remember When Making Ice Cream With Yogurt

Chasing the ice cream truck back in the old days certainly had its charm, but getting to experiment with creative ice cream recipes in the comfort of your own kitchen is simply unbeatable. Not only do you get to switch up the flavors, you also get to play around with different ingredients to make the base. We've been eyeing the idea of adding yogurt to our next homemade ice cream venture, so we reached out to get advice from Tyler Malek — the co-founder and head ice cream maker at Salt & Straw.

According to him, "the biggest watchout with yogurt is that it'll thicken your ice cream base pretty significantly." Normally, a homemade ice cream base is made from heavy cream, whole milk, sweetener, and sometimes egg yolks. With the addition of yogurt, the texture will inevitably change, which you have to take into consideration. "It's best to have a strong ice cream machine," advises Malek, "or to avoid other high-fiber ingredients that thicken the ice cream like mashed up fruits, ground up cookies, etc." The most popular ice cream maker on the market is without a doubt the Ninja CREAMi, which is Amazon's #1 bestseller in the category of ice cream makers. However, if you're looking to make larger batches of yogurt ice cream at once, Cuisinart's two-quart ice cream maker might be a stronger choice.

If you're perplexed by the addition of yogurt to your frozen treat, Tyler Malek explains the reasoning behind it. "Yogurt is an excellent dairy to use in ice cream," he says, "because its proteins have been naturally concentrated and give the ice cream a velvety mouthfeel." That creamy texture is totally worth the extra effort, but you don't want to use just any random yogurt from the back of your fridge. A thin and watery yogurt could ruin the creamy consistency you're going for, so you'll get much better results if you opt for a naturally thicker one with some fat, like Greek yogurt.

Yogurt will also alter the flavor of your ice cream, bringing some tangy notes to the iced dessert, which is perfect for those who don't enjoy overly sweet ice creams and prefer something slightly more layered. On the flip side, if yogurt's acidity is not to your liking and you're only using this addition to experiment with the ice cream's texture, adding more sweetener will balance things out. Finally, when your yogurt ice cream is done, don't forget to add delicious toppings to tie the whole dessert together.