Lassi substitutes
Lassi substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Plain yogurt whisked with water
Per 1 cup lassi
½ cup plain yogurt + ½ cup cold water
This is not really a substitute, it is the recipe. Lassi is thinned yogurt, so whisking the two together gives you the genuine article in under a minute. Add sugar and a pinch of cardamom for sweet lassi, or salt, roasted cumin and chopped mint for a savory chaas.
If a recipe lists lassi as an ingredient, use plain yogurt thinned with water - ½ cup yogurt whisked with ½ cup cold water gives you 1 cup of lassi's consistency. To drink, kefir and ayran are the closest ready-made stand-ins, though ayran is salted and kefir is fizzier and sharper. Cultured buttermilk works anywhere the lassi is going into a batter, marinade or kadhi. Sweetened commercial mango yogurt drinks are the nearest thing to mango lassi off the shelf.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- drinking
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 cup lassi| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup lassi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain yogurt whisked with waterdrinking | ½ cup plain yogurt + ½ cup cold waterWorks | Works |
| 2 | Kefirdrinking | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Ayran or dooghsalted lassi and chaas | Same amountFor savory uses onlyWorks | Works |
| 4 | Cultured buttermilkkadhi | Same amountWorks | Works |
| 5 | Greek yogurt with milk and sugarsweet lassi | 1/3 cup Greek yogurt + 2/3 cup milk + 1-2 teaspoons sugar per 1 cup sweet lassiWorks | Works |
| 6 | Bottled drinkable yogurt or a mango yogurt smoothiedrinking | Same amountTweak it | Tweak it |
Plain yogurt whisked with water
similar taste and texture
This is not really a substitute, it is the recipe. Lassi is thinned yogurt, so whisking the two together gives you the genuine article in under a minute. Add sugar and a pinch of cardamom for sweet lassi, or salt, roasted cumin and chopped mint for a savory chaas.
- Best for
- drinking, marinades, kadhi and yogurt curries, chilled soups, batters
Whisk the yogurt smooth on its own first, then add the water in stages. Adding all the liquid at once leaves stubborn lumps that no amount of stirring fixes.
Kefir
different taste, similar texture
Already drinkable, already cultured, and it needs no preparation. Kefir is fermented with a broader mix of cultures, so it is sharper, slightly effervescent and faintly yeasty, and a glass of it tastes distinctly livelier and more sour than a sweet lassi. Extra sugar or a ripe mango evens it out.
- Best for
- drinking, smoothies, marinades, cold soups
For a sweet lassi swap, blend 1 cup kefir with 2 teaspoons sugar and a few cardamom seeds to mask the fermented edge.
Ayran or doogh
similar taste and texture
Turkish ayran and Persian doogh are the same idea from a different kitchen: yogurt thinned with water and salted. As a stand-in for salted lassi or chaas it is essentially identical. As a stand-in for sweet or mango lassi it is wrong, because the salt fights the sugar and the result tastes broken.
- Best for
- salted lassi and chaas, savory chilled soups, drinking with spicy food
Doogh is often carbonated and flavored with dried mint, which is pleasant on its own but noticeable if you cook with it.
Cultured buttermilk
similar taste and texture
Tangy and already thin, so it drops straight into any recipe where lassi is functioning as sour liquid rather than as a drink. In a kadhi or a pakora batter you would struggle to tell the difference. Drunk plain it is thinner and blander than lassi, with a chalkier finish.
- Best for
- kadhi, marinades, pancake and pakora batters, quick breads
Cultured buttermilk is usually saltier than homemade lassi, so hold back on the salt in the rest of the dish until you taste it.
Greek yogurt with milk and sugar
similar taste and texture
The best route to a rich sweet lassi if thick Greek yogurt is what you have. Using milk instead of water makes it creamier and less sharp than a traditional lassi, closer to what a restaurant serves.
- Best for
- sweet lassi, mango lassi, smoothies, desserts
Sugar dissolves badly in cold dairy. Use superfine sugar, honey or a spoon of simple syrup, or blend for a full 30 seconds.
Bottled drinkable yogurt or a mango yogurt smoothie
different taste, similar texture
Convenient and close in body, but almost always sweeter than homemade and often flavored with vanilla or fruit purees, so the clean dairy sourness of a real lassi is buried. Fine to drink, risky in cooking, where the added sugar can scorch and taste out of place in a savory dish.
- Best for
- drinking, smoothie bases, quick sweet lassi
Read the label for added gelatin or pectin, which make it cling unpleasantly if you use it in a marinade.
Questions
5 questionsWhat can I use instead of lassi in a recipe?
Plain yogurt thinned with water in equal parts. That is what lassi is, so it is an exact match rather than an approximation. If the recipe is savory, cultured buttermilk or ayran also work directly; if it is sweet, thin the yogurt with milk instead of water and add sugar.
Is lassi the same as a yogurt smoothie?
Close, but a smoothie is usually thicker, built on more fruit, and often has ice or banana in it. A lassi is yogurt thinned to a drinkable consistency with water or milk and seasoned simply - sugar and cardamom, or salt and cumin. A mango lassi is the point where the two overlap almost completely.
Can I use kefir instead of lassi?
Yes, one for one. Kefir is thinner, sharper and slightly fizzy because of its wider range of cultures, so it tastes more fermented than lassi does. In a marinade or a cold soup the difference disappears. As a drink, add a couple of teaspoons of sugar and some cardamom to smooth out the sourness.
Can I just leave the lassi out?
If it is the liquid in a curry, batter or marinade, no - but you do not need lassi specifically, just thinned yogurt or buttermilk in the same volume. If you are simply making a drink, there is nothing to leave out; the lassi is the recipe and it takes two minutes with yogurt and water.
What is chaas and how is it different?
Chaas is the thin savory version - more water, less yogurt, seasoned with salt, roasted cumin, ginger and fresh herbs. Salted lassi sits between chaas and sweet lassi in thickness. Ayran and doogh are the Turkish and Persian equivalents and can be swapped for chaas directly.
Tips for substituting lassi
5 tips- Work out which job the lassi is doing. In a drink it is refreshment and cooling fat and sugar. In a marinade or a kadhi it is thin acid that tenderizes and adds tang. A savory ayran will ruin a mango lassi and a sweetened bottled yogurt drink will ruin a kadhi, even though both are technically thinned yogurt.
- Ratio is the whole craft of lassi: roughly equal parts yogurt and water for a drinkable version, two parts yogurt to one part water for a thick restaurant-style one, and one part yogurt to two parts water for a thin, quenching chaas.
- Salted lassi and chaas want roasted ground cumin, black salt if you have it, and fresh mint or coriander. Sweet lassi wants sugar, crushed cardamom and sometimes a strand or two of saffron. Do not mix the two directions.
- Blend lassi for less time than you think. Over-blending warms the yogurt and thins it out permanently, and the drink loses its slight body. Ten to fifteen seconds is plenty.
- If you are using lassi as the liquid in a hot dish, add it off the heat and do not let it boil, or the yogurt proteins will separate and the sauce will look curdled.