Name: Creamy Yogurt Fruit Dip
Ingredients: 2 cups plain yogurt; 2 TBSP honey; 1 tsp vanilla extract

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Straining Yogurt: Whey and Greek Yogurt
Making Yogurt Fruit Dip

Sometimes the simplest recipes end up being our favorite. This yogurt fruit dip is one of those recipes. It’s so easy to make that it seems a little crazy to even call it a recipe. And since I make my own yogurt, making this yogurt dip was extra easy.

Straining Yogurt: Whey and Greek Yogurt

Have you ever noticed that when you open a container of yogurt, there’s usually a yellowish clear liquid on top? That’s called whey. It separates naturally from the yogurt and can be stirred right back in again.

However, if you intentionally strain the whey off you get Greek yogurt. Yup, that’s really the only difference between regular yogurt and Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt has been strained. The result is a thicker creamier yogurt.

Whey contains quite a bit of lactose as well as calcium and a little protein and also some probiotics. It has a lot of uses, so don’t throw it out! Because it is full of beneficial probiotics I use it for all my lacto-fermentation recipes. Here are some of the ways I use it:

Beet kvass
Fermented salsa
Probiotic lemonade – a summertime favorite in our house
As part of the liquid in many smoothies
Here’s a more complete list as well as a little more info on fermentation

Also, it can be used to acidify the soil around acid-loving plants like blueberry bushes!

Read more about acid whey and its uses here.

Making Yogurt Fruit Dip

To strain yogurt, put the yogurt into a nut milk bag and hang it from a kitchen cabinet. Make sure you put a bowl under it to catch the dripping whey! You can also like a mesh strainer with a cheesecloth or nut milk bag and place the strainer over a bowl.

The amount of time for straining and there’s really no way to get it wrong. I just strain it until it’s as thick as I like, even if that means leaving it overnight. Don’t worry about making it too thick, because you can always just stir a little whey back in again to thin it out if need be.

Once the yogurt is strained, whisk in some honey and vanilla extract and it’s done! Serve with whatever fresh fruits you have on hand and the kids will dig in! For some reason, telling them to grab an apple to snack on doesn’t appeal to them nearly as much as sliced apples and a bowl of yogurt dip!