French-Style Yogurt Vs. Greek: What's The Actual Difference?

Yogurt, a word likely derived from yoğurmak (Turkish for coagulate or thicken) may have gotten its start a la herdsmen whose body heat fermented the milk they carried in their cross-body pouches as they followed their livestock from pasture to pasture. Today, Greek yogurt is wildly popular, but French-style yogurt has recently been nipping at its heels.

The difference between French and Greek yogurt is fairly simple. One is strained and drained of its whey. The other is fermented on the spot inside its little glass pot. Determining which nutritional minerals are affected in each process gets a bit tricky, but there are overarching health qualifiers that can be made about each yogurt with reasonable confidence.

For one thing, French-style yogurt is a very specific type of yogurt. You can stumble upon mass-produced yogurts in France, so make sure the yogurt you have in hand is authentic, small-batch yogurt. French-style yogurt is "pot-setted," which is to say the basic ingredients (whole milk, cream, optional cane sugar, and live active cultures) are poured directly into a little glass or ceramic pot to be sat still for 8-12 hours until thick, rich and creamy. French-style yogurt often comes in pretty little yogurt pots you'll be happy to keep and reuse again and again. Because it is made with whole milk or cream, French-style yogurt is generally a higher calorie option, but depending on your palate, the distinct, velvety taste may make it a worthy treat.

Unlike French-style yogurt, Greek yogurt is fermented and strained of its whey before being poured into serving sizes for consumers. Removing the whey concentrates the yogurt's protein and lowers the yogurt's lactose quotient. Greek yogurt, like French-style yogurt, is also thick and creamy (though not the consistency of custard, as French-style yogurt is often described). Greek yogurt can be made with full-fat and no-fat milk varieties from whole milk, 2%, 1% or skim, so it can offer a lower calorie end product, while French-style yogurts stick with whole milk or cream.

Authentic Greek yogurt and French-style yogurt use fundamentally the same ingredients (milk and live cultures), but the fermenting in individual pots or the removal of whey give the consumer a different experience. Greek yogurt tends to have a more sharply tangy taste, while French-style is milder, more luxurious and almost like a dessert. Deciding which one is healthier depends on where you land on the latest food pyramid's updated dietary guidelines, which has pivoted in recent years, more directly extoling whole-fat dairy and amplifying its pro-protein focus. That makes yogurt of any kind (minus the artificial additives versions – those are omitted full stop) a staple treat that you can enjoy eating for breakfast or using it to elevate desserts like this Turkish yogurt cake.