Live natural yoghurt is the bedrock of my family’s diet. My six-year-old, for instance, gets through well over a kilo a week: for breakfast, she’ll have it with porridge, sometimes with blackstrap molasses, while most evenings she’ll have a generous bowl of yoghurt topped with frozen blueberries or mango before bed (ideally before teeth-brushing negotiations begin). To avoid excessive sugar and more processed ingredients, we never buy sweetened or flavoured yoghurt: just the plain, full-fat stuff that’s packed with beneficial bacteria.
So what is live yoghurt, and why does it matter? Live yoghurt contains active bacterial cultures, most commonly strains of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus thermophilus. These cultures help ferment the milk, which is what gives live yoghurt its tang, texture and digestibility, and they’re one of the reasons it’s linked to gut health.
Clear provenance is sadly lacking in this test group, and while most of them are made from British milk, that counts little towards transparency. When I can, I choose organic as a mark of quality and because it tells a clearer story about farming, welfare and standards.
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The best supermarket live yoghurt
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Best overall:
Yeo Valley Organic whole milk natural yoghurt
£2 for 450g at Morrisons (44p/100g)
£2 for 450g at Sainsbury’s (44p/100g)
★★★★☆
Creamy yet loose-textured and beautifully pourable. Sweet-forward with a balanced acidity. Made with organic British milk and live cultures. Silky on the tongue and, for an organic option, excellent value too.
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Best bargain:
Morrisons natural yoghurt
£1.10 for 500g at Morrisons (22p/100g)
★★★☆☆
Thick, creamy and with a well-balanced, sweet-forward flavour and gentle underlying acidity. Made with British milk and live cultures. A good-value and dependable everyday option.
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And the rest …
Duchy Organic natural Greek-style yoghurt
£2 for 450g at Waitrose (44p/100g)
★★★★☆
Very rich, thick and creamy, with an indulgent mouthfeel. Sweet on the tongue with a fresh, lively acidity. Made with organic British milk and well worth the price.
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Onken set natural yoghurt
£1.50 for 450g at Waitrose (33p/100g)
★★★★☆
Set in the pot and reminiscent of fromage frais, this is thick, creamy and clean-tasting, with less sharp acidity than many of the others here. Particularly versatile, too. Fortified with vitamin D and contains live bacterial cultures.
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St Helen’s Farm goat’s milk natural yoghurt
£2.40 for 450g at Sainsbury’s (53p/100g) £2.65 for 450g at Waitrose (59p/100g)Goat’s milk can be easier to digest than cow’s milk for some, making this very thick, extra-creamy yoghurt with a pronounced sour twang a useful alternative. Deeply satisfying, indulgent and genuinely delicious. Three-star Great Taste Award winner, too.
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Pakeeza live set natural yoghurt
£1.99 for 900g at Iceland (22p/100g) £2.30 for 900g at Sainsbury’s (26p/100g)
★★★☆☆
A very thick, clean set yoghurt with proper body and structure, and complex sour notes balanced by a subtle sweetness. Made with British milk and set in the pot with live cultures.
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Asda natural yoghurt
£1.08 for 500g at Asda (22p/100g)
★★☆☆☆
Light and clean, with a smooth, thick consistency, a classic sour edge and an underlying sweetness. The country of origin is the UK, and it contains live bacterial cultures. Simple, reliable and undeniably good value.
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Tesco natural yoghurt
£1.15 for 500g at Tesco (23p/100g)
★★☆☆☆
Smooth and mild with a relatively neutral flavour and a looser consistency than most. Made with British milk. Very good value.
