Kite Hill has started to create many non-dairy vegan alternatives including vegan plant-based yogurt. Kite Hill makes almond milk yogurts, greek style yogurt, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, pasta (like prepared ravioli, and dips! All are creamy and filled with vegan deliciousness. Today we’re going to review one of the original products….their almond milk based yogurt. The almond base vegan yogurt comes in eight flavors including plain, plain unsweetened, vanilla, peach, blueberry, strawberry, key lime, and raspberry. My first exposure to Kite Hill yogurts was at a vegan plant-based festival where they had a tent sampling yogurts and cream cheeses. I immediately loved the creaminess of the yogurt and the simplicity of the ingredients. Plus, many vegan yogurts at that time were all sweetened (and far too sweet for everyday eating for me), but I loved that Kite Hill had an unsweetened almond milk yogurt that still had four live and active cultures (S.Thermophilus, L.Bulgaricus, L.Acidophilus, Bifidobacteria). This is the flavor that I got for a really, really long time and loved adding my own fruit and sweetness or adding a dollop or two in smoothies for an extra gut microbiome creamy shot without any added sugar. With all of that being said, I thought it was time to step out of my comfort zone and try a different flavor. So, today we’re going to review the Vanilla Kite Hill Plant-Based Yogurt!
Kite Hill Plant-Based Almond Yogurts are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, soy free, non-GMO, and kosher….but without all of that…how does the Vanilla vegan Kite Hill yogurt taste and what’s the nutrition like?? Let’s take a closer peek…
Taste Experience
As I peeled off the foil on top of the vegan yogurt, the first thing I noticed was the warm vanilla smell with the speckled yogurt that clearly had ground vanilla beans in it (instead of fake vanilla flavoring). There was a separation from the thicker part of the yogurt and there was a mostly clear water on top of the yogurt that you may be used to seeing on dairy based yogurts (it just doesn’t smell like gross sour milk!). The coloring is more light brown/tan than I expected for a vanilla flavor; I expected more of a white coloring but perhaps the coloring has to do with the real vanilla beans in the yogurt.
Once I stirred up the yogurt, it became thicker and creamier. When I tried the spoon test (take a spoonful out and watch how quickly or how slowly it runs with the spoon gets tipped on its side), the vegan yogurt came off in big clumps and wasn’t runny at all. I couldn’t wait to try it because although the texture is similar to the unsweetened Kite Hill yogurt I usually get, I was getting more and more hungry smelling that sweet cozy vanilla with every stir. At first bite, even though I smelt quite a bit of vanilla, I was surprised at how vanilla-y it tasted while ultra smooth and creamy and slightly sweet. The vanilla is strong but not overpowering and still has a subtle tang that comes with yogurt (I find vegan yogurt is never as tangy as dairy yogurt though). As someone who doesn’t like super sweet yogurts, I could have probably done with a few less notches of sweet but all in all, Kite Hill Plant-Based Vanilla Yogurt had as super smooth, creamy, real vanilla taste with just enough sweetness that you can eat it on it’s own or stir in your own fruit for an extra hit of fruity delectableness. Taste Kite Hill Vegan Yogurt for yourself HERE.
Nutrition
Each Kite Hill Plant-Based Vanilla Vegan Yogurt contains 170 calories in each single serving 5.3oz container. Most of the calories that come from the 9 grams of fat from the almonds. There is only a half a gram of saturated fat and no trans fat. One yogurt would be too small of a breakfast but could be a good calorie range for a snack for many people. If you wanted to have this yogurt for breakfast, I would recommend stirring in some almonds, Grape-Nuts cereal, frozen berries, and chia seeds to make it a substantial and well rounded vegan breakfast to help jump start your day.
In that same serving size, there is only 10mg of sodium – which is very low and doesn’t even register as contributing to the percent daily value. If you have a salt tooth, this is not going to be the snack for you. I actually tend to gravitate towards preferring low salt foods, so I think this is great! Interestingly, this is less sodium than most other vegan plant-based or other dairy based yogurts contain. Traditional yogurt is a good source of potassium, and while almonds have some potassium, there isn’t much in the Kite Hill Plant-Based Vanilla Vegan Yogurt – 110mg or 2% to be exact. To put it into perspective, 1/2 an avocado has about 487mg potassium, one medium banana has over 400mg potassium and a medium sweet potato has over 500mg of potassium.
There are 22 grams of total carbohydrate with 2 grams of fiber and 18 grams of sugar with 17 of those grams coming from added sugar. Like most yogurts, there is a considerable amount of added sugar. The recommendation is for men to consume 150 calories of added sugar per day which is equivilant to 37.5 grams (9 teaspoons). Women are recommended to consume less than 100 calories of added sugar per day 25 grams (6 teaspoons). So in this yogurt, you’re consuming about half of the recommended amount of added sugar per day. Depending on what else you consume throughout the day, this could be just fine or could send you quite a bit over the recommendation. Even if you’re following a vegan lifestyle, excessive sugar can promote inflammation and various ailments in the body. I would still recommended this yogurt, just know that you’re consuming quite a bit of added sugar and keep the rest of the added sugar you consume on the low end.
When it comes to protein, there are four grams of plant-based protein from almonds. Most dairy yogurts have more protein than this but the coconut based yogurts have less than this – so the amount falls somewhere in the middle. If you plan on eating the Kite Hill Plant-Based Vanilla Vegan yogurt for breakfast, I would recommend adding more protein from nuts or seeds like chia seeds and hemp seeds or additional almonds. If you’re looking to eat this yogurt as a snack, this is an appropriate amount of protein for a snack.
Kite Hill Plant-Based Almond Based Yogurt doesn’t add any vitamins or minerals but in each serving, you’ll find 1mg iron (6% RDA) and 46mg calcium (4% RDA) as almonds are naturally a good source of iron and calcium. Iron and calcium compete for the same absorption site in the body, so it’s unlikely you would absorb all of each mineral. Instead, it’s more likely that you would absorb what you need the most.
Parting Thoughts
Kite Hill is a leader in creating dairy free alternatives that are creamy and cravable. The Kite Hill Plant-Based Vanilla Yogurt is no different and is smooth, very vanilla, and just sweet enough. The vanilla flavor comes in a single serving 5.3oz container as well as a larger 16oz container. If you don’t mind added sugar, this is a fantastic option for dairy free probiotics or if you just love that creamy yogurt taste and texture. If you are looking for a vegan yogurt without as much added sugar, or without any added sugar, I would recommend checking out my go-to, Kite Hill’s Unsweetened Almond Based Vegan Yogurt. Either way, with Kite Hill yogurts you can rest assured that you’re getting high quality and tasty ingredients to nourish your body from head to toe! Check out Kite Hill yogurts HERE.
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LAVA Plant-Based Yogurt Review – Raspberry Flavor
I eat daily very good. Is any phosphorus in kite hill yogurt
Hi Yvonne, glad you like Kite Hill yogurt too! Good question – so while we don’t know exactly how much phosphorus is in the yogurt, I can tell you that almonds do indeed contain some phosphorus – with about 11% in a 1oz serving. Now, in almond milk (the first ingredient, there would be substantially less, but we just don’t know for sure because it’s not provided for us.
What about the “natural flavor” in here?? This is not an objective review-probably getting paid..
The natural flavor is from plant sources according to Kite Hill and while I would have loved to get paid for this review, that was not the case.