Arla Protein Greens Mango, Kale and Lime Yogurt Review

I've long been a fan of the Arla Protein yogurts of which I've reviewed several (passion fruit, raspberry, vanilla, ginger) so was delighted to see a new variant on the shelf, intriguingly subtitled Protein Greens that is mango and kale flavoured.

Like all the rest of the range, its super high in protein with 20g per pot and for only 155 calories and its low fat. I've no problem with greens or veg in my yogurt after enjoying some of the new Waitrose vegetable yogurts but I love the thick clagginess of the Arla range and its high protein content so was very keen to try this.

The first thing I noticed is that the texture seemed a little looser than the standard raspberry, blueberry and strawberry ones. This might be because the product has no sugar in it but is instead sweetened with fruit juice like the vanilla and ginger yogurts. I'm not sure if the juice adds a bit of liquid that makes the thickness of the quark slightly diluted. It is still super thick and creamy though, more than any other yogurt , just not as quite as much as the standard Arla Protein products.

Flavour wise, any veg haters will have no problem with this. It's just a sweet fruity mango flavour, that comes through. It's delicious but a bit of shame not too get a bit of kale bitterness in. I was hoping for a green smoothie type of flavour (yes I'm weird).

The kale is a bit misleading really. It's way down the ingredients list so really doesn't add anything. It's a another delicious and high protein product but it's really just a mango variant. As the texture is slightly less thick than the other flavours I'll probably buy more of them but I would still get this again.

For those interested in macros, this version is slightly higher in sugars with 15g per pot vs 12g in some of the other flavours but with the same 20g protein.

Price: £1.25
Bought at: Asda
Nutrition per pot: 155 calories, 1.1g fat, 1.0g sat fat, 15 sugars, 20.2g protein, 0.16g salt

Score: 8/10

Arla Skyr Rhubarb and Beetroot

Skyr is maybe my favourite brand of yogurt (although I do like a lot of yogurts) and the fact it's lower in sugar than most other yogurts, really high in protein and super thick means it's a staple in my fridge. But they've just upped their game yet again with two new yogurts with vegetables in!

Now this sounds slightly odd but in reality it's no different to the mixed veg and fruit smoothies you can get which are predominantly more sweet and the veg they've used is sweeter types you find in juices as well. There's an apple, carrot and ginger one and this rhubarb and beetroot one. In addition to being high in protein and with some veg, these ones have no added sugar with sweetness only coming from grape juice, the fruit and natural sugars in the yogurt.

Texture wise, I might have imagined it but this seemed slightly looser and not as thick as other skyr (particularly the plain one) although the protein content is similar. This might be the fact it uses grape juice rather than sugar to sweeten so the liquid might make it seem a bit runnier. But don't get me wrong, this is still miles thicker than most other yogurts and definitely wouldn't be seen as runny.

Flavour wise, if I ate this with granola, it just tastes like a nice rhubarb yogurt with a slightly sweet flavour that isn't sugary or overly sweet but slightly tart and quite refreshing. If you eat it on its own, the beetroot becomes noticeable with a definite beetroot aftertaste with its earthiness. I really liked it but then I like things like smoothies with beetroot in. Overall despite being a veg yogurt you couldn't call it bitter and it is still a nice sweet yogurt - albeit one with a more unusual and polarising taste that I really enjoyed.

Price: £1.80
Bought at: Tesco

Score: 8/10

Arla Protein Warm Ginger Snack Pot Review

After really enjoying the Arla Mellow Vanilla Proteinsnackpot, I decided to give the ginger one a whirl as well since I adore anything gingery, have enjoyed every Arla Protein pot product I’ve tried and was looking for a high protein snack option.

I won’t run through in as much detail about the product this time – in a nutshell it’s 20g protein, just over 200 calories, filling , pretty low in sugars and I like the natural ingredients list. This time around I wasn’t surprised by the thinner consistency vs the standard Arla Pots as I already knew this was a blend of quark and yogurt, which allowed me to concentrate on the flavour.

Just like the vanilla one I can’t just how tasty the yogurt is by itself without any sugar. It’s sweetened with grape juice but the overall taste you get is just a really mellow but warming ginger. It’s just so fragrant and smooth without being overpowering and delicious to eat on its own. For someone who find so many yogurts nowadays too sweet, this is perfect and there’s no artificial sweetners in it either.

The topping for the version contains pumpkin seeds, cashew nuts, dried apple and dried carrot pieces. The carrot pieces sound off but don’t really add any vegetable flavour as they’re sweetened with apple. To be honest you can’t really taste them once mixed in bar getting a little bit of sweetness which works perfectly well with the ginger. I guess ginger in things like carrot cake work pretty well and that’s just as much the case here. 

The cashew nuts and pumpkin seeds add texture but are so finely ground you don’t need to chew them allowing you to really enjoy the thick, smooth creamy yogurt with all its fresh ginger.

I think this maybe has the edge over the vanilla one for me but I’m pretty converted to both of them – I just wish they were a little cheaper!

Price: £1.00 for 4 for £3 Asda

Bought at: Asda

Nutrition per pot: 224 calories, 8.6g fat, 1.8g sat fat, 13.8 sugars, 20g protein

Score: 9/10

Arla Protein Snack Pot Mellow Vanilla Review

I've long been a big fan of the Arla Protein Pots now. Though they look like a yogurt, they are actually made from quark, a kind of cheese, and offer a whopping 20g of protein per pot. I love their ridiculously thick texture (think Philadelphia consistency) with a smooth taste that isn't too sweet. I was slightly disappointed with the recent papaya and passion fruit one as I felt berry flavours worked better but was really intrigued by this new mellow vanilla version, which comes with a seperate topping compartment of fruit bits and seeds.

Like the other Arla Protein pots, they contain 20g of protein per pot but this is part of a new range along with a warming ginger one,which has quite a few differences. On a minor levels there are 220g pots rather than 200g and obviously it contains a topping compartment as well but one key difference is consistency. Whereas the normal pots are quark and extremely thick, this is a blend of quark and yogurt (40% each of the total ingredients). This gives it a very different consistency. It's more runny than the pure quark pots and other brands like Skyr but still thicker than your supermarket own label Greek style yogurt.

Whether this blend is done as a deliberate decision or a cost cutting exercise I'm not sure. If this only contained yogurt like the other flavours in the range , I wouldn't be happy as I want that thick, satisfying texture. However, as it comes with the topping, it makes sense to have a slightly looser consistency so you can stir and mix it in. Trying to stir seeds through the normal Arla pots would be a bit of a challenge.

It's nice that it also comes with a plastic spoon to make this a great on the go protein source or for taking out to work or the gym. The yogurt/quark mix feels lusciously creamy in the mouth with a smooth, authentic vanilla flavour. It contains real vanilla seeds and it's nice seeing them speckled through the pure white yogurt and the whole thing has a lovely vanilla smell.

Like the other Arla products, it's not too sweet -interesting to note on these that they are sweetened with grape juice concentrate rather than normal Arla Protein which is a mix of sugar and stevia. Total sugar for the entire pot is good at under 14g and all natural from the grape concentrate and the dried fruit in the topping.

The topping of this pot contained pumpkin and sunflower and dried apple and raspberry. It's a good generous portion and I actually ended up not using it all. Once swirled through the yogurt, it makes a fantastic mix and reminded me of the feeling of eating a Muller Corner before I moved to healthier products. The apple and raspberry add a fruit counter balance to the mild vanilla and the seeds add texture without overpowering the taste of the yogurt.

Overall I loved this product, great nutritionals and delicious to boot. They're a little expensive for what they are but certainly something I would buy again. They're really filling and satisfying. At over 200 calories they're more than a normal yogurt but you have to remember this isn't full of nasties, is meant to fuel you and is full of protein, calcium and good stuff.

Price: £1.00 Asda or 4 for £3
Bought at: Asda
Nutrition per pot: 226 calories, 9g fat, 2g sat fat, 13.8g sugars, 20g protein

Score: 9.5/10

Arla Protein Passionfruit and Papaya Review

High protein yogurts are becoming a real staple in my shopping basket recently - they feel like a tasty treat after lunch but also fill me up to stop any more snacking. Arla Protein is one of my favourite brands. Each 200g pot contains 20g of protein (that's about 2 and half eggs) , is under 150 calories and is low in fat and sugar. It's ticking every nutritional box possible!

All the previous flavours have been berry variants - blueberry, strawberry and raspberry so it's interesting to see a tropical take on it with this passionfruit and papaya version.

Like all the other Arla Protein pots, this isn't actually yogurt but quark, a kind of set cheese - that sounds disgusting but they are really delicious and this is what helps them achieve such a thick and creamy texture and the high protein content. I have seen that these pots do tend to be a love it or hate it product - some people seem to absolutely hate them and find them too thick and too filling. But this is really the purpose of them and I love how they are so thick, you can literally stick a spoon in them upright unsupported. They are thicker than any Greek yogurt as well.

Giving a stir helps loosen it up slightly but they are still much thicker than any kind of yogurt and have the consistenc of whipped cream, which makes for a really indulgent texture and mouthfeel but without all the fat. I added a few cacao nibs to make this feel like even more of a treat.

The tropical flavour came through and although I wouldn't necessarily pick out the papaya, the passionfruit was strong and had a sweet tropical flavour. Whilst it was still enjoyable, the flavour just didn't work for me as well as the berry variants. It's maybe because generally in yogurts I prefer berry tastes to exotic fruits but whilst I did enjoy it and happily finished the pot, in future I will stick to the old flavours.

I still fully recommend the brand though - after finishing this I was nicely full and set for the rest of the day and they make a perfect on the go breakfast or pre or post gym snack as well.

Bought at: Sainsburys
Price: £1.00

Nutrition per pot: 130 calories, 0.4g fat, 0.2g sat fat, 12g sugars, 20g protein

Score: 7/10

Arla Protein Snack Pot

I was lucky enough to get a free sample of the new Arla Protein Snack pots via BzzAgent. Snacks and foods high in protein seems to be the big trend at the moment and with good reason. I always find myself particularly satiated after eating foods high in protein - they're filling and therefore help to reduce cravings and bingeing.

With a whopping 20g of protein per pot, these are aimed as a pre or post gym snack with all this protein helping to repair muscles. What I really liked about these pots is that they're a more casual and mainstream way of getting additional protein into your diet. Most gym snacks aimed at hardcore gym goers are pumped full of weird things like whey powder or come in weird pills. Whilst I like protein, I don't want to eat artificial substances to bulk up. I prefer natural things.

Luckily there's no fake nasties in this. Essentially, it's just quark - a low fat, high protein dairy product with a bit of fruit, a bit of sugar and some rosehip. The only thing you wouldn't find in a kitchen is some stevia for a sweetener and this is obviously better than things like aspartame. It's also low in sugar at 6g per 100g. Other high protein yoghurts like Danio are higher than this.

It's not quite as thick as Danio but the texture is still rich and creamy - albeit slightly airier. In a way it reminds me of the texture of Angel Delight or a mousse rather being Greek yoghurt consistency. It tastes a bit like raspberry angel delight as well -which is nice! It's slightly sweet but not overly so but still thick and delicious. The fruit flavour can be tasted and I did find that after eating this I didn't want to eat again until dinner.

They're also currently half price at 62p at Tesco at the moment so now is a good time to try them.