The Best Dairy-Free Yogurts, Ranked by Taste, Texture, and Nutrition

Whether you're lactose-intolerant or trying to go vegan, dairy-free yogurts make a great snack for any time of day. According to the market research firm Mintel, 1 in 5 Americans say they are consuming less dairy for health reasons. So, we tested over 20 different lines of dairy-free yogurt alternatives to help steer you towards the most delicious and healthy options at the grocery store. Criteria used to evaluate each yogurt included taste, texture, and nutrition. While many yogurts didn't make the cut, as some were described as "chalky," and tasters remarked that they would "rather eat dirt," several did prevail. We've rounded up the best performing varieties of our taste test, but first here's a few tips for when shopping for non-dairy yogurts at the grocery store:

1. Look at ingredients: On food labels, ingredients are listed in order of predominance. This means that the ingredients used in the greatest amount are listed first, followed in descending order by those used in smaller amounts. You'll also want to make sure the first ingredient is a whole food, such as almonds or coconut.
2. Flavors matter: For certain brands, our testers would hate the vanilla flavor but love the peach, so it does boil down to personal preference. Moral of the story is: don't knock a particular line of non-dairy yogurts until you've tried a few of the flavors first.
3. Check out the added sugar: Many manufacturers add quite a bit of sugar and emulsifiers to get the desired texture and taste, since obviously things like almonds and oats don't have the same consistency as regular dairy. A good rule of thumb is to look for 10 grams or less of added sugar per container. The plain varieties all have the least amount of added sugar for each line, but we get if you're sick of plain yogurt and want some more flavor.