Bulgarian Yogurt substitute

Best substitute

Plain whole-milk yogurt

Use the same amount as the bulgarian yogurt you are replacing

Best for tarator and cold cucumber soup

Close match

Plain whole-milk yogurt is a 1:1 swap and will work in essentially any recipe - it is just milder, so stir in about 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice per cup to sharpen it up. Greek yogurt also works if you thin it with a tablespoon of water per half cup, since Bulgarian yogurt is unstrained and softer set. Kefir is a good match for soups and drinks. Skyr gives you plenty of tang but almost no fat, so it tastes lean.

Other bulgarian yogurt substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Greek yogurt thinned with water
Different texture
Use 1 cup Bulgarian yogurt for every ¾ cup Greek yogurt + 2-3 tablespoons water
Greek yogurt already has the tang, arguably more of it, but it has been strained, so it is much thicker than Bulgarian yogurt's soft spoonable set.
What changes
Used undiluted it makes tarator pasty and a marinade sticky. Whisking water back in gets both the consistency and the acidity into the right place.
Best for
tarator, dips and dressings, marinades, baking
Add the water gradually and whisk hard. Poured in all at once it sits in pockets and the yogurt looks curdled.
3Kefir
Different texture
Use the same amount in liquid applications
Cultured with a wider mix of bacteria and yeasts, so it is sharper still, thinner and sometimes faintly effervescent.
What changes
In a cold soup, a drink or a marinade that is a genuine match for Bulgarian yogurt's sourness. In anything that needs to hold a shape, it is too loose and will make the dish watery.
Best for
tarator and cold soups, drinks, marinades, bread and pancake batters
For thicker uses, strain kefir through a cloth-lined sieve for an hour to get closer to yogurt consistency.
4Skyr
Different texture
Use 1 cup for every ¾ cup skyr + 2-3 tablespoons water or milk
Very tangy, very thick and very lean, since it is made from skim milk and drained.
What changes
The acidity lands close to Bulgarian yogurt but the missing butterfat is obvious: the texture is drier and slightly crumbly, and a dip made with it feels less creamy and coats the mouth less.
Best for
marinades, high-protein swaps, breakfast bowls, cold sauces
Whisk in a teaspoon of olive oil or cream per half cup for savory dishes to make up for the fat.
5Labneh thinned with milk
Close match
Use ¾ cup yogurt-consistency for every ½ cup labneh + ¼ cup milk
Strained yogurt from the Levant, so once thinned it is functionally close: sour, creamy, dairy-forward.
What changes
The main difference is that most shop-bought labneh is salted, which suits a savory tarator or dip and is wrong for anything sweet.
Best for
savory dips and spreads, cold soups, sauces for grilled meat
Taste before you salt the rest of the dish, and avoid it in yogurt desserts where the salt would be noticeable.
6Sour cream thinned with milk
Different taste
Use 1 cup for every ¾ cup sour cream + ¼ cup milk
Reach for this only when there is no yogurt in the house.
What changes
Sour cream provides tang from a much fattier base, so a cold cucumber soup made with it tastes rich and heavy where the original tastes light and cleansing, and it will not tenderize meat in a marinade the way yogurt does. Its advantage is that it survives heat far better.
Best for
cold sauces and dips, baked dishes, creamy soups where richness is welcome
Add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup to push the acidity toward Bulgarian yogurt's level.

What is Bulgarian Yogurt?

Bulgarian Yogurt is Bulgarian yogurt, known in Bulgaria as kiselo mlyako, is plain whole-milk yogurt cultured with a Lactobacillus bulgaricus-forward starter and fermented long enough to taste distinctly sharper than most American plain yogurt.

Cooking tips

The reason a recipe specifies Bulgarian or sour yogurt is acidity. In tarator, snezhanka, cucumber salads and yogurt marinades the tang is the flavor of the dish, not a background note, so if a substitute tastes too mild the fix is a small amount of lemon juice rather than more yogurt.
Bulgarian yogurt is unstrained, so it is softer and wetter than Greek yogurt. In a dip or a dressing that extra whey is fine, but if you are making something that needs to hold - a thick spread, a pastry filling - drain it in a sieve for an hour first.
Whole milk matters more here than with most yogurts. Bulgarian-style yogurt is quite acidic, and butterfat is what keeps that acidity tasting full and pleasant instead of thin and biting.
It curdles in heat like any yogurt. Whisk it smooth, take the pan off the burner, stir a ladle of the hot liquid into the yogurt to temper it, then combine - or add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch per cup if the dish must simmer.
If you want a genuinely sharper yogurt and have time, make it: whisk 2 tablespoons of a Bulgarian-style plain yogurt into 4 cups of milk warmed to about 110F and hold it warm for 8 to 10 hours rather than the usual 6. The longer ferment is what produces the extra sourness.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bulgarian yogurt and how is it different from regular yogurt?

It is plain yogurt cultured with a starter dominated by Lactobacillus bulgaricus and generally fermented longer, which makes it noticeably more sour than a typical American tub. It is usually whole-milk and unstrained, so it is soft set rather than thick. In Bulgaria it is called kiselo mlyako, literally sour milk.

Can I substitute regular plain yogurt for Bulgarian yogurt?

Yes, one for one, and in most recipes it will pass without comment. The difference is tang: stir about 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice into each cup if you want to match the sharper Bulgarian-style flavor, and choose whole-milk yogurt so the acidity tastes full rather than thin.

Is Bulgarian yogurt the same as Greek yogurt?

No. Both are tangy, but Greek yogurt has had its whey strained out, so it is much thicker and denser. Bulgarian yogurt is unstrained and softer set, closer to ordinary plain yogurt in body. To use Greek yogurt in its place, thin it with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water per 3/4 cup.

Can I just leave it out?

Not in the dishes that call for it. In tarator, snezhanka, a yogurt marinade or Bulgarian-style baking, the yogurt is both the liquid and the acid, so removing it leaves the dish with no structure and no flavor backbone. Any plain cultured dairy in the same volume will do, though - it does not have to be labelled Bulgarian.

Does the label really mean anything, or is it marketing?

A bit of both, and worth being straight about. There is no requirement that a tub labelled Bulgarian-style be made in Bulgaria or with a particular culture, so some are barely distinguishable from ordinary plain yogurt. A genuinely long-fermented Bulgarian yogurt, though, really is sharper and more complex, and that difference is what recipes are asking for.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Bulgarian Yogurt substitute

Other bulgarian yogurt substitutes

2Greek yogurt thinned with water

3Kefir

4Skyr

5Labneh thinned with milk

6Sour cream thinned with milk