How Can I Make Better Fat-Free Yogurt Dips? Good Questions

Q: I was wondering if you had any insight on dips. Lately I have been trying to make veggie dips with fat-free Greek yogurt and everything has fallen kind of flat compared to their full fat sour cream counter parts.

Any ideas, recipes or tips you could share?

Sent by Brian

Editor: Brian, one way to help your yogurt-based dips along is to drain the yogurt overnight before using it. To do this, hang the yogurt in cheesecloth (or in a clean handkerchief!) and let as much liquid as possible drain out. That way you'll get the thickness and texture of fuller-fat yogurt without the fat.

• Yogurt, Lemon, and Herb Dip
• Recipe: Lentil and Yogurt Spread
• Recipe: Fava Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic and Yogurt (pictured above)

Another tip for better-tasting dips is to build up flavor with cooked onions or garlic. We love deeply caramelized onions whizzed with really thick yogurt and some herbs. Or try lentils, cooked with garlic, blended with a little yogurt and pepper. Here are a couple recipes to try!

Readers, any other ideas for Brian?

Next question?

Comments (13)

I've substituted Greek yogurt for sour cream in everything I've cooked for the past several years, and I'd compare getting adjusted to it to drinking skim milk.

If you drink skim milk without any problem, you'll probably eventually become accustomed to the lighter flavor of the yogurt, and sour cream will seem like an indulgent treat when you have it elsewhere.

But, if a big old glass of skim makes you squirm and wish you had some 2%, you might always sigh and dream of sour cream.

You can also try starting out replacing just half of the sour cream with greek yogurt to still keep some of the flavor from the sour cream, while still lightening the dip overall... as you adjust, move to 1/3, 2/3 ratio, etc. I absolutely agree with the original suggestion of caramelized onions though -- my favorite dip is a caramelized onion dip made with fat free greek yogurt and light mayo; the onions are so good themselves that you don't notice what is missing from the rest of the dip.

I have to say that I always add a tablespoon or two of good quality olive oil or ground walnuts/almonds to my low-fat Greek yogurt when I'm making dips. It really rounds out the flavor.

If you can't do that, go for bold seasoning! I like to roast eggplant and let it drain and then combine the roasted eggplant flesh with urfa chili, salt, pepper, and lemon juice; or another dip I like is lots of fresh dill, citrus zest (combo of lemon, lime, and orange), and fresh citrus juice. Finally, lots of horseradish and dill and carmelized onion mixed together is another strong, delicious yogurt dip I do many times.

I've been making ranch dip with greek yogurt for a long time and think it's pretty good! I just take a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch powder mix and stir it in. At the beginning we would add a dollop of sour cream to enhance it a bit but I've eliminated that completely and have actually come to love the dip.

Hi Brian! I make a great low-fat greek yogurt dip. The key for me is using either the fat-free or the 2% FAGE brand yogurt. I find it really rich and creamy without the fat.

Anyway- I do a combination of the following ingredients- the proportions can vary depending on what you like.

-Lemon Juice
-minced garlic
-fresh dill
-fresh flat leaf parsley

It it reminiscent of the greek flavors of tzatziki. Enjoy!

I've always wondered about the straining trick...

I may just be paranoid, but wouldn't leaving yogurt out overnight be majorly unsafe, since there's a milk product in the so-called danger zone for so long?

Electropositive, I don't know about other people, but I strain my yoghurt in the fridge (sometimes it's difficult to squeeze it in, but I've always managed). Why would one have to leave it out?

(However, since making yoghurt involves leaving a milk product out for some period of time anyway, it may not be unsafe to do it out of the fridge.)

well, there are 2 substitutions going on.... full-fat for fat-free and sour cream for yogurt.

Greek yogurt is very rich, like sour cream, when it is full-fat... and could be a very good substitute in a pinch... but not much of a calorie savings.

As for fat reduction, cooks illustrated has made many low-fat versions of rich recipes... and I recall them saying that you cannot replace full-fat sour cream with anything fat-free without siginificantly changing its taste...

That being said, I routinely cook with low-fat sour cream... not the same degree of fat savings, but it's a nice compromise

Thanks for all the advice!

the tricks are straining the yogurt and adding olive oil (which is not fat free but good for you fat and you don't need much!)

strain the yogurt in a colander lined with paper coffee filters overnight over a bowl in your frig or on the counter if you're trippy about germs.

then add that to your chopped veg/spices/whatever. the key is to drizzle really good extra virgin olive oil over it all, mix it up, then drizzle on a little more so you get the creaminess. my fave combo is salted and drained cucumbers, onions, and dill, salt and pepper, with a little rice vinegar. it's heaven on bread and other things.

I love a good creamy dip but for lower fat dips I think vegetable dips are better.

Smooth caramelized carrot and cumin, creamy eggplant with a little tahini, green pea and crumbled feta dip...........yum.

Flake the meat of two fillets of smoked mackerel, mix with thick Greek yoghurt, a bit of lemon juice and some chopped chives or spring onions. Absolutely delicious, takes two seconds and it is actually better with yoghurt than with sour cream.