Trader Joe’s Icelandic Skyr Lowfat Yogurt Review

My wife got back from a trip to Iceland this summer and was just raving about something called Skyr yogurt, or just Skyr in Iceland. She went out and bought everyone she could find at other grocery stores. I don’t know why we didn’t try to look at Trader Joe’s since they are always on trend with the latest yogurt trends. We were at the store last weekend shopping for the week and picking up some milk and stuff for the kids when we saw the Skyr yogurts and picked up a couple of them.

First, Skyr is not technically yogurt, according to Wikipedia. It’s a “fresh sour milk cheese” which is how cottage cheese is made. It’s been made in Iceland for centuries and was once known outside of Iceland, but was forgotten for some reason later on.

Traditionally, it is served with milk and sugar. Both of those cut the sourness that comes with it. That’s why this low fat option tastes much better than nonfat ones which can be almost too sour to eat on their own and are often mixed with fruit and sugar.

Skyr since it is more like cheese than yogurt, has a much higher protein content than yogurt, around 13-15% which can be quite filling on its own. A cup of this comes in at 130 calories and about 1.5% fat which is all very good.

I had the Cherry one to test, but they come in a couple of different flavors. I’m not a big plain yogurt fan, or in this case Skyr fan, so I always opt for some flavor in my yogurt plus the fruit adds a bit of sugar which softens the sourness.

The first thing I noticed is how dense this stuff is. It’s like digging into a tub of Philadelphia cream cheese. Maybe not as dense, but not far behind that. It’s almost like eating really soft cheese, but the sourness really hits you upfront. It’s no wonder they cut this stuff with sugar, fruit, and milk.

But after the first couple of bites, my palate got used to it and it was quite enjoyable. My wife had one as well and she is REALLY into sour stuff and she absolutely loved it. All it needs is a little Muesli or Granola to round out your breakfast and you are going to be the healthiest person on the planet eating this yogurt. I asked my wife if she thought it was any different than stuff straight from Iceland and it wasn’t much different and she found the Trader Joe’s Skyr just as good as the stuff from Iceland. We will definitely be buying this again!

I am going to rate this Trader Joe’s Skyr Yogurt Eight Bells!

INGREDIENTS:

GRADE A PASTEURIZED MILK (PASTEURIZED SKIM MILK, PASTEURIZED CREAM), CHERRY BASE (CHERRY PUREE, CANE SUGAR, WATER, MODIFED CORNSTARCH, NATURAL FLAVOR CITRIC ACID [ACIDIFIER] VEGETABLE AND FRUIT JUICE FOR COLOR), LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES (BIFIDORACTEO LACTIS, LACTOBACILLUS, ACIDOPHILUS, L. BULGARICUS, L. PARACASEI, STREPTOCOCCUS THERMOPHILUS DIST. &SOLD EXCLUSIVELY BY: TRADER JOE’S, MONROVIA, CA 91016.

CONTAINS MILK.