Todays post I thought I would do a review of a product I picked up recently at my grocery store mecca (Trader Joes). Anyone else love that place as much as I do? Seriously, much love!!! Anyway as we’ve been trying to make a few changes at home to a more vegan way of eating (more on that at the end of the month when I do a recap) I was in full lookie loo mode grocery shopping last week and spied these ‘new’ products in the chiller cabinet! Well they were new to me, I guess if you don’t look for them, you won’t see them!
This is the Vanilla cultured coconut milk. I do like yogurt occasionally and usually in smoothies, but in summer with the abundance of fresh fruits I turn into some kind of fruit/yogurt monster. Love the stuff, with a sprinkle of almonds 🙂
Stats for the cultured coconut milk:
- 150 calories
- 6g fat
- 24g carbs
- 1g protein
Way low in protein which is one of the reasons I eat yogurt and choose the Trader Joes, low fat greek yogurt. One cup has almost 20g of protein, so this was a significant drop in protein. However the big test is: taste! How did it fare?
The Verdict
As it was in the dairy chiller I kinda figured it was a yogurt substitute, well it wasn’t! After I got over the initial shock of “this isn’t yogurt” I was able to give it a fresh start. The look of this product is a little translucent, for some reason it reminded me of icing sugar (USA: confectioners sugar) when it’s fresh. The consistency is that of a branded fruit yogurt, as I said I’m used to greek yogurt which is a little firmer so this was a change of pace. The taste was actually really nice, it reminded me of something… vanilla pudding!
Conclusion
If you are looking for a non-dairy yogurt substitute then this is NOT the product for you, however if you are looking for something to use INSTEAD of yogurt for a non-dairy dessert then this is great. I liked that is was nice and light, it didn’t compete with the flavor of the fruit and I felt satiated but not bloated afterwards. It was definitely more-ish though 😉
WOULD BUY AGAIN!
If you see coconut products like this one on the grocery store shelves would you try them? Have you already tried them? What did you think?
Libby
Funny – I just tried this yesterday for the first time and thought the SAME EXACT thing! This looks like icing, and tastes like pudding. Nothing beats Wallaby’s coconut yogurt…my inspiration for sampling the Trader Joe’s version!
Di Hickman
Ok gonna look out for the Wallaby’s coconut yogurt!!!
ann
cool – I did not know that there was a TJ variety. Cultured coconut milk is a total godsend for someone like myself – totally allergic to casiene and soy intolerant. YAY!!
Club Trader Joe's
I thought it was one of the most vile products I have ever reviewed! Blech! Maybe one of the flavored ones would be better but the consistency, color and flavors were all off.
WorkoutWithDi
Yup like I said, not really a yogurt IMO, more a “pudding”. The vanilla just tasted like vanilla pudding I thought
Annie
I love tjs too! They have a blueberry version of the cultured coconut milk too, which I like better…it has a tarter taste and so it reminds me more of yogurt.
WorkoutWithDi
I tried the blueberry version, better than the vanilla but still not a patch on greek yogurt. Nice as a pudding but it’s not a yogurt alternative, JMHO 😉
R
It’s not supposed to be a substitute for Greek yogurt.people who eat Greek yogurt instead of YoPlait light do so usually because of the consistency/ texture (like steel cut oats compared to instant oatmeal). Those eating cultured coconut milk yogurt are probably doing so due to dietary issues with lactose. Wish this review was a little more balanced.
Di Hickman
Hi, thanks for the comment.
I don’t believe I mentioned it was ‘supposed’ to be a substitute for greek yogurt? Just that I expected it to be, like a lot of people might expect. Like I mentioned in the post, it’s not really a substitute for yogurt at all but more of a dessert/pudding. It’s very like vanilla pudding.
PS: People who eat greek yogurt instead of yoplait etc usually do it for the higher PROTEIN, better macros and less additives.
Not that I eat either now as I’m vegan. As an aside, DAIYA greek yogurt is AMAZING!