Greek Yogurt Review: FAGE is my Favorite!

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Fage.

When I was approached by BlogHer to receive and review a free case of FAGE Total Greek Yogurt, I almost jumped up and down in excitement!  You see, I’ve been devoted to FAGE Greek Yogurt for over a year now and had already been planning to write a blog post about it. The free case of yogurt was just an added bonus!

So what’s so great about FAGE Total Greek Yogurt?  Lots of things!  But what’s most important to me is that the yogurt is 100% natural and tastes amazing! FAGE is made without any extra ingredients, additives, preservatives, thickeners or stabilizers.  Plain yogurt should basically have only two ingredients: milk and live active yogurt cultures.  That’s it!  And that’s all you’ll get when you eat FAGE Total yogurts.

I was so excited when the Fed Ex guy arrived with my box full of ice-packed yogurt!  Although I buy containers of plain FAGE weekly at Trader Joe’s, I had never tasted any of the flavored varieties.  I opened the box to find samples of  lowfat (2%) Honey, Peach, Cherry, and Strawberry-flavored FAGE as well as a few containers of the plain, nonfat yogurt.  SCORE!

Now first of all, let me tell you a little bit about Greek-style yogurt.  You probably already know that it is thicker and creamier than regular yogurt, but perhaps you don’t know why.  Greek-style yogurt is strained to remove much of the watery whey.  This concentrates the milk solids and results in a thick, luxurious yogurt that is packed with protein.  Now, if the  yogurt is made from whole milk, the end product is also filled with an outrageous amount of fat!  Full fat Greek-style yogurt is absolutely delicious, but should certainly be more of an occasional indulgence than an every day snack.

But this is where FAGE Total 2% and 0% come in.

FAGE has managed to create lowfat and nonfat Greek-syle yogurts that are creamy, delicious and indulgent with tons of protein and little to no fat!  I am not a non-fat yogurt girl so my favorite is the FAGE Total 2% yogurt.  One cup (8oz) of FAGE Total 2% has only 150 calories, 4.5 grams of fat (3g saturated), and a whopping 20 grams of protein!!  And the best part?  It is so creamy and delicious, it feels like you are eating something sinful!  Seriously, this is the only yogurt I will buy now.  FAGE Total 2% has ruined all other yogurts for me!

And for those of you who prefer something completely nonfat, the FAGE Total 0% is pretty good as far as nonfat yogurts go.  One cup of FAGE Total 0% contains 120 calories, 0 grams fat, and 20 grams of protein. While I can eat the 2% yogurt by itself, I find that the nonfat has a slightly strange flavor (like I said, I’m not a nonfat girl!) so I like to pair it with a drizzle of honey or some fresh fruit.  And I  definitely feel that this is the best nonfat Greek-style yogurt out there!  I’ve tasted just about every brand of yogurt that’s available in California and there are no nonfat yogurts that even come close!  And yes, I have tried the Trader Joe’s brand of Greek yogurt. It might be cheaper, but it just doesn’t compare to FAGE.  It really doesn’t.

And I’m not kidding when I say I’ve tried just about every brand of yogurt out there.  When we lived in Europe, I fell in love with the delicious plain yogurts available there.  They were made without any extra ingredients, stabilizers or preservatives and for the first time I started craving and snacking on plain yogurt.  When we moved back to the states, I had a really hard time finding yogurt that compared to what I had grown accustomed to eating.

I set out on a quest to find the best yogurt available here and was disappointed to find that almost everything had additives and stabilizers in it.  But I tried them all anyway.  And I was disappointed over and over again.  And just when I had resigned myself to start making my own yogurt at home, I discovered FAGE. It tasted so great that it seemed almost too good to be true.  And I haven’t bought anything else since!  And although I still want to try making my own yogurt someday, I really don’t want to stop eating my FAGE!

So I’ve talked a lot about the plain varieties of FAGE Total yogurts, but what about those fruit flavors?  It’s true that I had never purchased any of the fruit-flavored varieties, and that’s because I was afraid that they would be too sweet or artifical tasting and quite frankly I didn’t want to ruin my love affair with my favorite Greek-style yogurt.  But how wrong I was!

I love every single flavor! The yogurt containers come with a cute little fruit cup attached to the side so you can decide whether to mix the fruit into the yogurt or just add a little bit of fruit flavor to each bite.  The fruit, although definitely sweetened with sugar, tastes like real fruit!  And although the ingredient list does get a bit longer for the fruit-flavored yogurts, it’s certainly shorter than most store-bought fruit flavored yogurts!

For example, here is the ingredient list for FAGE Total 2% with Strawberry:  Grade A pasteurized Skimmed Milk and Cream, Live Active Yogurt Cultures, Strawberries, Sugar, Corn Starch, Strawberry Juice Concentrate, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor, Xantham.

And here are some quick nutrition facts for one 5.3 oz. container of fruit-flavored FAGE Total 2%: 130 calories, 2.5 grams fat (1.5g saturated), 18 grams total carbohydrate, 10 grams protein.

Not too bad for something that tastes like an indulgent dessert!  In fact, I’ve already purchased some more of the fruit-flavored FAGE and I’ve been using it to satisfy the after-dinner sweet tooth I’ve recently developed.  Trust me, eating a container of FAGE is a better choice than a bowl of ice cream!  And quite frankly, I feel just as satisfied.

Now I know that many of you are already as addicted to FAGE as I am.  I see it in your shopping carts, I’ve read your blog posts and I’ve heard you talking about it on twitter.  But what I want to know is, what’s your favorite way to eat it?  I love eating it both plain and drizzled with honey.  But it’s also wonderful topped with fresh fruit…especially chopped mangoes!  I also like to add a handful of granola when I’m feeling a little crunchy.

Greek yogurt is also great to use in place of sour cream or mayonnaise when you want to lighten things up without losing a creamy texture.  I use it often in dips and dressings and Greek yogurt is a must if you want to make a great tzatziki.  Once you start using it, you’ll find the possibilities are endless!

So have I convinced you to try FAGE yet?  Would it help if you got your own free case of FAGE delivered to your door?  I thought so!

BlogHer is giving away a case of FAGE yogurt every single day for the next 30 days!  SERIOUSLY! All you have to do is leave a comment sharing your thoughts about FAGE and you could have the chance to win a case for yourself! Just head over to BlogHer now to find out the details!

And to learn even more about FAGE products, they have a wonderful interactive Web site that will tell you anything you need to know. In fact, why don’t you head over there now?

And one last thing…

If you’re going to eat FAGE Greek yogurt, you need to learn to pronounce it!  No, it doesn’t rhyme with ‘rage.’  FAGE is pronounced “fah-yeh.” Now say it aloud with me…FAH - YEH!

Enjoy!

Recipes using Greek-Style yogurt:

• Curried Turkey Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Walnuts at Pinch My Salt
• Creamy Cilantro Lemon Dipping Sauce at Pinch My Salt
• World’s Best Tzatziki Sauce at Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Greek Yogurt Cupcakes at Big City, Little Kitchen
• Rich and Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing at Dani Spies
• Frozen Yogurt to Rival Pinkberry’s at 101 Cookbooks

Tagged as: fage, greek, greek yogurt, review, yogurt