How to Make Frozen Yogurt

Learn how to make frozen yogurt with this easy frozen yogurt recipe! Luscious, rich & creamy, it beats soft-serve froyo any day.

Tart Cherry Frozen Yogurt Recipe

We’ve made a lot of ice creams before, so I don’t know why it’s taken us this long to think of making a frozen yogurt recipe with actual yogurt!

Guess what? It tastes nothing like the soft-serve froyo you get from frozen yogurt shops. It’s creamy, luscious, and rich, made with Greek yogurt, a bit of coconut cream, a little sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla. The yogurt gives it a tangy flavor (a little like cheesecake), and it has a bright pop from the tart cherries that are marbled throughout. We’re kind of obsessed.

Tart Cherry Frozen Yogurt How to make frozen yogurt

How to Make Frozen Yogurt

To make this frozen yogurt, I use an ice cream maker. Your first step is putting the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer the night before you want to make your frozen yogurt. Once it’s nice and cold, this frozen yogurt recipe couldn’t be easier. Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Take your frozen fruit out of the freezer to thaw while you make your froyo base. That way, the fruit will be easier to incorporate into the creamy mixture later on.
  2. Whisk together the ingredients for the yogurt base – the Greek yogurt, coconut cream, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt.
  3. Pour the base into your ice cream maker and churn the yogurt according to the instructions of your ice cream maker manufacturer.
  4. Lightly mash your frozen fruit and add it to the ice cream maker toward the end of the churning time.
  5. When your yogurt is thick & creamy and the fruit is fully incorporated, scoop and enjoy!

Frozen yogurt recipe

Frozen Yogurt Recipe Variations

I LOVE sour cherries, and they’re especially good mixed into the tart frozen yogurt. If you can’t find tart (or sour) cherries in your grocers’ freezer section, you can make a request for your store to start carrying them (I do this all the time). Otherwise, swap your favorite frozen fruit into this recipe. Raspberries would be an especially good substitute.

You can eat your frozen yogurt straight out of the ice cream maker, and it will have a soft consistency. If you prefer a firmer texture, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes before digging in.

And don’t forget the toppings! Berries (I like fresh strawberries!), toasted nuts, shredded coconut, or dark chocolate chips would all be great choices. Let me know your favorites!

Easy Frozen Yogurt

If you love this frozen yogurt recipe…

Try another of my favorite frozen desserts next:


5.0 from 3 reviews

How to Make Frozen Yogurt

 
Prep time
Total time
 
This tart cherry frozen yogurt recipe is a delicious, healthy summer treat! Swap in your favorite frozen fruit for an easy variation.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups whole milk Greek yogurt
  • 1 can full fat coconut milk (refrigerate & scoop the solid part)
  • ⅔ cups cane sugar
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ¾ cup tart cherries or raspberries, thawed if frozen
Toppings:
  • extra tart cherries
  • toasted sliced almonds
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, coconut milk solids (see note below), sugar, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Whisk until well combined then pour the mix into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions.
  2. Use a fork or a potato masher to gently break up the tart cherries. Add them to the ice cream maker toward the end of the churning time so they swirl throughout.
  3. Scoop & enjoy! (And/or pour it into a container and freeze it for 30 minutes to firm it up).
Notes
To separate the coconut solids in your coconut milk: Put a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight. When you're ready to use it, open it (without shaking it), and scoop the solid part out. (For this recipe, it's ok if you get some of the watery part). Save the rest of the coconut water for a later use.

After you've stored your frozen yogurt in the freezer overnight, it'll harden more than normal ice cream (because there aren't stabilizers in this recipe), just let it sit out to thaw for 20 or so minutes and it'll become creamy again.

Vegan option: skip the yogurt and use 2 (total) cans of full fat coconut milk instead.

I have this Cuisinart ice cream maker.

 

 

38 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Linda
    08.01.2018

    Hi Jeanine, I made this recipe of yours a couple years ago but now reconsidering making it with less cane sugar (1/3 cup?) and keeping the maple syrup as is? Do you think that would work or be too tart? I can’t recall how sweet it tasted. I made a recipe recently that had 3 cups yogurt to 1/2 cup honey ratio that was sweet enough, so considering trying it with less.

  2. Florence Claveau
    05.24.2016

    If you don’t own an ice cream maker, can you blend the ice cream in a blender ?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.27.2016

      Hi Florence, I’m not sure I haven’t tried making this one in a blender…

  3. Linda
    07.03.2015

    Hi Jeanine, Just wanted to report back how delicious this recipe turned out. Definitely the best ‘ice cream’ I’ve made yet. I followed the recipe but instead of the coconut cream used approx 1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk. I thought it seemed a bit wet after running through the ice cream maker, but after being in the freezer the consistency was perfect. The really nice thing about the ice cream was that even after several days in the freezer the texture was still great. Sometimes I find the homemade ones get really icy.
    Thanks – will be trying more of your ice cream recipes!

    • jeanine
      07.03.2015

      Hi Linda – I’m so glad this turned out so well – thanks for coming back to let me know!! Great to know about the full fat coconut milk 🙂

  4. Alison
    06.14.2015

    I made this recipe and it was delicious! Really simple and tasty. Thank you for sharing!

  5. Linda
    06.04.2015

    If I want to try making this with coconut milk instead of coconut cream, any idea how much I would substitute for the coconut cream? Not sure how much solidifies in the can after refrigerating. Thanks!

  6. Carly from playingforeats.com
    09.18.2014

    Hooray for this recipe! I did my grad school thesis on the effects of tart cherry juice consumption in athletes, so I’m always up for trying new tart cherry recipes.

    Thanks!
    Carly

  7. Holly
    09.03.2014

    I can almost always find canned sour cherries packed in water at the grocery store with the canned fruit. I know they make awesome cherry pie and would probably work well in this recipe.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.