Yogurts feature very regularly in our fridge. There’s always a huge tub of Greek Yogurt in there as well as the small pots for children. Noah really enjoys having a pot or two as a dessert after his lunch or dinner and I tend to use yogurt more for making savoury dishes. Yogurt really is a versatile ingredient but did you know that it is really easy to make? No?! Me neither! I thought that it involved mixing powders with milk with a bit of churning added in here and there. Instead with an Easiyo Yogurt Maker all you do is mix water and a yogurt sachet in your yogurt jar, add boiling water to the yogurt maker then place the yogurt jar inside. Leave for 8-12 hours then remove the yogurt jar and place in the fridge. It really is that easy! There’s no electricity required or any fancy gadgets.
I was gifted the red Easiyo Yogurt Maker but the 1kg size also comes in a sleek black colour. If you think the 1kg size is too big for you then you could try the mini makers that come in a 500g size instead. There is a huge selection of Easiyo yogurt sachets to choose from. Their range includes Greek yogurts, every day flavours such as strawberry or vanilla but also the delicious sounding Cremé Brûlée or Cappuccino. They also have some high protein yogurt sachets too. If you are following a weight loss diet then there is even some low fat flavours for you to try.
The Easiyo Yogurt Maker is really easy to use. There is no faffing about or having to mix 5842 ingredients. All you need to do is:
Half fill the yogurt jar with cool water.
Add the yogurt sachet and replace the lid. Shake the yogurt jar like you are Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Remove lid and top up with more cool water til until 5mm from top. Replace the lid again.
Fill up the Easiyo yogurt maker with boiling water until it covers the spacer. Place the yogurt jar inside and twist the lid closed. Leave for 8-12 hours. Once the yogurt has set remove the jar from the yogurt maker and refrigerate. The yogurt will last up to 2 weeks but the yogurt with ‘pieces’ will only last up to 1 week.
For the recipes below I used the plain fat free yogurt but if you aren’t following a weight loss diet feel free to use the full fat versions.
This is a low calorie breakfast but high in flavour. Fry some mushrooms, garlic and shallots until soft in a pan. Add 200mls vegetable stock to the pan and simmer until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat and stir in some yogurt. Serve on toasted ciabatta.
Pour 300g yogurt to a bowl. Grate half an onion and add 3 garlic cloves (minced), 1tsp cumin and 0.5 tsp ground coriander to a bowl, then season with salt and black pepper. Chop 2 chicken breasts into chunks and add to the yogurt mix. Marinade for 6 hours. Soak wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes and then thread the chicken chunks onto the skewers. Grill under a medium-high heat turning occasionally for 15 minutes or until fully cooked. Serve with rice and some naan or flat bread. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
Pour 300g yogurt into a bowl and add 1 tsp ground cumin and 0.5 tsp lemon juice. Grate a 2 inch piece of peeled cucumber and mix through the yogurt. Add a few chopped mint leaves and season to sate with salt and pepper. Perfect cooling accompaniment to Bombay Potatoes, pakoras, curries, etc.
Another thing that you could try is freezing the yogurt for some Fro-Yo (frozen yogurt). You could add in some chunks of fruit such as strawberries or raspberries to the yogurt before freezing or just use one of the flavoured yogurts. I would have given the frozen yogurt a try but my freezer is still jam packed from Christmas. I will definitely give this a go once my freezer stock has depleted!!
If you eat a lot of yogurts I would definitely recommend buying an Easiyo Yogurt Maker. You can buy them for as little as £16.50 on Amazon and the sachets costs around £3 each which for 1kg of yogurt is a really decent price. It is really very easy to use as well as being easy to clean as it is just the yogurt jar that needs to be washed. Even that can be chucked into the dishwasher! There are lots of delicious flavours to choose from and I’m sure you will find a few that will appeal to you.
I hope that you found my Easiyo Yogurt Maker Review helpful. If you buy one or already have the yogurt maker let me know what flavours you enjoy. The Creme Brûlée is on my ‘flavours to try’ list, what’s on yours?
Penne Arrabbiata