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

Muller Light Blackcurrant and Liquorice Limited Edition

I really dislike Muller yogurts and I really, really dislike Muller Lights - artificial, watery, runny and everything I think is wrong with the food industry. Take a naturally healthy product like yogurt, water it down, put in weird chemicals and stabilisers and artificial sweeteners and call it healthy because it's fat free and under a 100 calories, nevermind you've taken a lot of the natural nutrition out.

But somehow I was in a petrol station in need of a yogurt fix and saw this limited edition blackcurrant and liquorice version. I love both these flavours but really couldn't see how they would work together at all.

But somehow they do in a really pleasant way. It's starts off with the fruitiness of blackcurrant and it is definitely blackcurrant you taste rather than generic fruit. It lasts for a while with a nice not overly sweet flavour and then you get a hint of liquorice which becomes the last note you taste. It's not overly potent so you taste blackcurrant again when you go for the next spoonful but you get a nice little fix of it with a bit of a liquorice allsorts flavour.

It's actually really quite tasty and for a Muller Light it's actually thicker than I remember them being. It's far way from being a Greek yogurt which is my preferred yogurt thickness but it's not overly watery and has a certain creaminess.

I'm a little ashamed to say I really enjoyed this. It's tasty and also feels quite light. I probably wouldn't buy it again just because I don't like excessively artificial food but it does taste really good.

Price: 89p in an Esso garage but cheaper in supermarkets
Score: A reluctant 8/10

Waitrose Kiwi Avocado and Matcha Tea Yogurt - Waitrose Vegetable Yogurts

I've been waiting a while for vegetable yogurts to start hitting the shelves in the UK. It's been a thing in the US for a while now but may be starting to hit our shores. We had the Skyr yogurts with veg last year but these were fairly tame - Apple, ginger and carrot and Beetroot and rhubarb.

Waitrose's new range of yogurts with vegetables are much more extreme. There's

Apple, Carrot, Beetroot and Ginger
Carrot, Mango and Guarana
Pineapple, Butternut Squash and Turmeric
Kiwi, Avocado and Matcha Tea

These are still more sweet yogurts than savoury with 11% kiwi vs 5% avocado but for a flavoured yogurt the sugar is lower at 9.5% when some brands like Onken or Yeo Valley are typically around 13%. And with 11% kiwi fruit there's more fruit than most fruit yogurts too.

It's a pretty cool bright green in my option and the consistency is good. It's runny and moves around when you tilt the pot so not as thick as greek yogurt but it is still plesantly creamy and rich in the mouth. It's got a really unusual flavour which I loved - definitely not as sweet as normal yogurt with a real sharpness and acidity which is aided by lime juice. It's sharp and fresh tasting but not savoury.

I wouldn't say this was for everyone. It's not mainstream tasting but it's unusual with a real complex flavour that I loved. The matcha tea is a bit of red herring - it's such a small amount you can't taste it and you won't get much of its benefits but this is something I would make a trip specifically to Waitrose for. I'd still like to see the sugar content reduced down further but it's a pretty healthy product overall with 6g of protein and added vitamin D giving you 31% of your daily vitamin D which is great with yogurt to help absorb the calcium in it.

Definitely a range I'm keen to explore.

Aldi 0% Fat Greek Yogurt Review

After liking the genuine Greek yogurt from Aldi I tried earlier in the way it seems they listened to one criticism of wanting a 0% fat variant as well. I know fat isn't bad but it's great to have a fat free option as well so long as it's not full of sugar.

And this isn't. With a minimal 3.5g sugars per 100g, no fat, a whopping 10g protein per 100g and all for 62 calories, this product is a nutritional powerhouse. It's really useful for someone wanting to up their protein intake especially if you don't eat meat.

For a fat free product, you wouldn't know it's fat free - it's super thick, super creamy and tastes rich. It's also genuine Greek yogurt from Greece, not Greek style and oh did I mention it's a mere £1.39. I had it with some cocoa nibs and some Graze protein granola topping for lots of good stuff in the guise of a tasty dessert and it was lovely but would be just as good for fruit or with cereal for breakfast as well or adding protein to a smoothie.

I'll admit Aldi isn't my favourite shopper as their health offering isn't as varied, expansive or as interesting as other places but for healthy basics like this, you can't fault them.

Bought at: Aldi
Price: £1.39

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

Aldi Greek Style Rhubarb and Fiery Ginger Yogurt

As you've probably seen I've been reviewing a lot of Aldi yogurts recently. I'm pretty hooked on the Domio yogurts and was pretty impressed with their Greek yogurt. In my recent trip I also picked up this new range of Greek style yogurts they've launched. They had an apple and cinnamon one which looked nice too but I love rhubarb and I love ginger so I couldn't not get this.

Opening up the tub, I could detect a faint sweet rhubarb scent and it looked a pretty pink colour. Giving it a swirl and dolloping some out, it had a nice thick texture. It's not as thick as actual Greek yogurt but certainly at least comparable to any branded Greek style yogurt and some people will prefer this texture as it's not solid but instead still slightly runny albeit with a very rich, creamy, thick texture. It's certainly a good deal thicker than something like an Activia yogurt.

It's defnitely not a health yogurt by any means with 21g sugar per 150g serving (third of a pot) or 14g per sugar but it does taste very good. It's a sweet rhubarb flavour that works well with the creamy, indulgent texture with a good hit of ginger, which add a nice spicy afterhint that perfectly works with rhubarb.

There's also lots of nice chunk of rhubarb dotted throughout which add extra bursts of juicy sweetness. It's not something I would serve for breakfast due to the sugar content and I would like to see it lowered but it's a delicious, sweet treat and one I would buy again.

Bought at: Aldi
Nutrition per 150g/ third of a pot: 208 calories, 11g fat, 21g sugars

Score: 7.5/10

Rachel's Organic Coconut Divine Rice Review

It’s another coconut based review today with a coconut rice pudding from Rachel’s’ organic. I’ve had a proper coconut rice pudding before with the Tesco dairy free one but this is a coconut twist on the more traditional milky rice pudding. I’ve always enjoyed the Rachel’s Organic rice puddings before and enjoy them as a fairly wholesome treat. This is again all natural ingredients made to a traditional recipe using milk, rice and cream and like the regular rice pudding it uses whole milk and cream for a more luxurious mouth feel.

The only twist on this one is the inclusion of organic coconut milk (helped along with a little natural flavouring) for a tropical and more modern take on what is a proper old school British dessert. For something a bit on trend, it’s a shame Rachel’s haven’t really done anything with the packaging. Bar the word ‘coconut’ on the outer sleeve, there is nothing to distinguish this from the regular rice pudding. 

And this isn’t even applied to the individual pots, which are exactly the same as the regular pots.

However, it’s taste that counts and unusually for me I decided to have it warm (I usually eat my rice pudding fridge cold). Lifting off the lid, you instantly get a nice sweet coconut aroma that is fairly strong whilst not overpowering and this intensified slightly after microwaving. I gave it a little stir and the texture is similar to the normal rice pudding from Rachel’s – fairly milky and smooth but not quite as thick as I like it.

It’s a very milky, soothing eat indeed and retains all the nursery charms of the regular rice pudding even with the coconut infusion. I have to admit whilst I enjoyed the proper dairy free coconut rice pudding from Tesco, rice pudding needs milk for that creamy, comforting texture.

As said, it’s maybe a little too runny with Ambrosia being my preferred thickness but the coconut comes through well rather than being too subtle or underpowering as I feared. The 150g pot is the right serving size as it is slightly too sweet and was potentially getting a bit sickly towards the end but as the pot is quite small, it didn’t really matter.

It’s not altogether a hugely exciting dessert but makes a fairly simple, not too unhealthy treat. Regular rice pudding is probably still king but it’s worth a try maybe.

Price: £1.30

Bought at: Tesco

Nutrition per 100g:  145 calories, 5.9g fat, 3.8g sat fat, 10.9 sugars, 0.3g salt

Score: 7/10

Danone Light and Free Raspberry Review

I eat yogurt most days either as a sweet finish to lunch or dinner. Often it's simply plain yogurt or nowadays I eat lot of the really thick high protein pots like Skyr and Total as I love their thick texture. Danone look to try and jump on this trend although they seem to have come at it from a more female angle. These new Light and Free yogurts are very much aimed at the Slimming World and Special K girls. Each pot is around 60 calories and there's no fat but they promise a thick Greek style texture.

Although I am definitely not their target (just look how girly the packaging is), I was interested in by the 0 added sugars claim. If they were delicious and creamy, then a product with no added sugars, no fat and for such minimal calories can't be a bad thing.

Each pot is 115g but feels a bit more substantial for some reason as the pots feel quite weighty and big and seem a good portion size. I suppose the little female images on each pot are quite nice in design as well.

Opening it up I could smell the raspberry and there certainly seemed quite a few pieces mixed throughout. I put my spoon and gave it a stir. It was thinner than I was expecting. More Muller Light Greek Style as opposed to things like Danio or Skyr. It was thicker than normal yogurt but not so thick you can stand a spoon up it in it. This was a bit disappointing as I like my yogurts really thick as they feel more filling that way.

Nevertheless, it does have a pretty creamy texture but it doesn't have an indulgent feel. The flavour was pretty good but I think I could taste the sweetener in it. Although there's no added sugars, it did taste a little sweet to me due to this. I was also disappointed that it wasn't that high in protein. I think because it said greek style I assumed automatically it would be but like I said it seems to be more of a diet / Muller Light proposition than a satisfying, thick yogurt.

It's a pretty tasty yogurt and a reasonable sweet end to a meal. I wasn't overwhelmed particularly. I liked it and would eat them again although I don't think I would buy it over my Total, Skyr and Arla Protein. Muller Light buyers would probably love it though.

Price: £2.49
Bought at: Tesco (£1.25 special offer)
Nutrition per pot: 61 calories, 0.1g fat, less than 0.1g sat fat, 7.8g sugars, 0.24g salt