Skyr substitute

Best substitute

Greek yogurt

Use the same amount by volume or weight as the skyr you are replacing

Best for breakfast bowls

Close match

Greek yogurt is the swap, 1:1, in absolutely everything. Buy the 0% or 2% version and you are within a hair of skyr; expect it to taste a little more sour and a little more sharply lactic, because skyr is the milder of the two. Quark is the other excellent option, also 1:1, and it is even closer on protein, just slightly more crumbly, so whisk in a tablespoon of milk to smooth it out. If you only have regular plain yogurt, strain it through a coffee filter or cloth for two hours: two cups will give you about one cup of something very close to skyr.

Other skyr substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Quark
Close match
Use the same amount by weight, whisked with 1 tbsp milk per cup
The German and Central European fresh cheese made the same way skyr is, by culturing milk and draining the whey.
What changes
Best for
baking, cheesecakes, savoury dips, high-protein breakfasts, spreading on rye bread
Arguably the closest relative to skyr of anything you can buy, since both are strained fresh cheeses rather than true yogurts, and both land around 10 to 12 grams of protein per hundred grams. Quark is slightly chalkier and more crumbly straight from the tub, and less tangy again than skyr, so a quick whisk with a spoon of milk gets the glossy spoonable texture back. In baking it behaves identically.
3Plain yogurt strained yourself
Close match
2 cups plain yogurt yields about 1 cup
Ordinary full-fat or low-fat plain yogurt drained in a cloth-lined sieve for two to four hours in the fridge.
What changes
Best for
when only regular yogurt is available, dips and tzatziki, baking, dollop on soups and stews
The best flavour-and-texture match you can make from scratch, and the whey you drain off is useful in bread or smoothies rather than being waste. Straining concentrates the acidity as well as the solids, so the result is tangier than skyr. Two hours gives a Greek-yogurt thickness, four hours gives something you can almost slice. Do not skip the straining and use yogurt straight, in a sauce or dip it will be visibly loose.
4Cottage cheese, blended smooth
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Full-fat or low-fat cottage cheese run through a blender or food processor for a minute until no curds remain.
What changes
Best for
high-protein bowls, savoury dips, pancake batters, baked cheesecakes
Matches skyr on protein better than almost anything, and once blended the texture is remarkably close. The catch is salt: cottage cheese is seasoned and skyr is not, so a sweet application tastes distinctly savoury unless you use an unsalted brand, and any savoury dish needs its own salt cut back. It is also much less acidic, which matters in baking, so add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup if the recipe relies on skyr to react with baking soda.
5Labneh
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Middle Eastern strained yogurt cheese, drained much further than Greek yogurt and usually lightly salted.
What changes
Best for
savoury uses, dips and mezze, spreading, dolloping on roasted vegetables
Thicker than skyr, sometimes thick enough to roll into balls, and salted, so it belongs in savoury cooking and not in a fruit-and-granola bowl. The tang is pronounced and the texture is denser and more spreadable than spoonable. Loosen it with a little milk or water if the recipe wanted something pourable.
6Sour cream or creme fraiche
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by volume
Cultured cream, for the times when skyr was in the recipe as a creamy body rather than as a protein source.
What changes
Best for
sauces, baking, dolloping on soup, cake batters
This is the swap that changes the dish most, and it is worth being clear about why: skyr is roughly 0 to 2 percent fat and 11 percent protein, and sour cream is the reverse, around 20 percent fat and 3 percent protein. The result is much richer, silkier and heavier, and any nutrition claim in the recipe is gone. In a cake or a sauce it is delicious and often better. In a breakfast bowl or a protein-focused recipe it defeats the purpose.

What is Skyr?

Skyr is Skyr is a very thick strained Icelandic cultured dairy product, technically a fresh cheese rather than a yogurt, with high protein, almost no fat and a mild clean tang.

Cooking tips

Skyr and Greek yogurt are close enough that the label is the only reliable difference. Skyr uses a specific Icelandic culture and is drained from a larger volume of milk, roughly four times as much for the same finished weight, which is why it is so protein-dense and mild. If a recipe names one and you have the other, use it and stop worrying.
Skyr is acidic, so in baking it will activate baking soda the same way buttermilk does. If you swap to something less acidic, such as blended cottage cheese or plain sweetened yogurt, add a teaspoon of lemon juice per cup or the crumb will rise less and taste slightly soapy.
Do not boil skyr or any of its substitutes. Strained cultured dairy splits into grainy curds and watery whey above a simmer, and once split it does not come back. Stir it into a hot sauce or soup off the heat, or temper it first by whisking a ladle of the hot liquid into the skyr before it goes into the pot.
Traditional Icelandic skyr is eaten with cream poured over it, not because it needs help but because it is so lean that a little fat makes it taste luxurious. A tablespoon of cream or whole milk stirred into any low-fat substitute closes most of the perceived gap in richness for very little cost.
Because skyr is thick and low in fat, it makes an unusually good marinade for chicken and lamb: the acidity tenderises, and there is not enough fat to stop it clinging to the meat. Any Greek yogurt or quark does the same job. Wipe most of it off before it hits a hot pan or it will scorch before the meat browns.

Frequently asked questions

Is skyr the same as Greek yogurt?

Not technically, but for cooking purposes yes. Both are strained cultured dairy, but skyr is made with Icelandic cultures and classified as a fresh cheese, and it is drained from a larger quantity of milk, which makes it higher in protein, thicker and milder. Greek yogurt is tangier and more often sold at higher fat levels. They substitute for each other 1:1 in every recipe.

Can I use skyr instead of sour cream?

Yes, 1:1, and it works well on baked potatoes, in dips and dolloped on chilli or goulash. It will taste noticeably tangier and much leaner, because sour cream carries around twenty percent fat and skyr almost none. In a hot sauce, stir it in off the heat, since skyr splits more readily than sour cream does.

Which has more protein, skyr or Greek yogurt?

Skyr is usually a little higher, typically around 11 grams of protein per hundred grams against roughly 9 or 10 for a plain Greek yogurt, though this varies by brand and fat level. The gap is small enough that a 0% Greek yogurt from a good brand can match a supermarket skyr. Read the panel rather than trusting the name.

Can I just leave skyr out of a recipe?

Only if it is a garnish. A spoonful on top of soup or fruit can simply be skipped. But in a batter, a dip, a cheesecake or a marinade, skyr is providing both liquid and acid, so removing it leaves the recipe dry and flat-tasting. Substitute the closest thing you have rather than omitting it, even if that means plain yogurt loosened with nothing at all.

Can I use skyr in baking?

Yes, and it is very good in it. Use it 1:1 for Greek yogurt, sour cream or quark in muffins, loaf cakes, pancakes and cheesecakes. It is leaner than sour cream, so the crumb comes out slightly less tender, which you can offset with an extra tablespoon of oil or melted butter per cup.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Skyr substitute

Other skyr substitutes

2Quark

3Plain yogurt strained yourself

4Cottage cheese, blended smooth

5Labneh

6Sour cream or creme fraiche