Strained Yogurt substitute

Best substitute

Plain yogurt you strain yourself (hung curd)

2 cups plain full-fat yogurt yields about 1 cup strained yogurt

Best for hung curd for shrikhand, dahi kebab and thick raita

Close match

Set a sieve lined with cheesecloth, a paper coffee filter or a clean thin tea towel over a bowl with room underneath for the whey, spoon in the yogurt, cover it and refrigerate. Time is the only dial: 2 hours for Greek thickness, 6 to 12 hours for spreadable labneh, 24 hours for a firm curd you can roll into balls.

Other strained yogurt substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Plain Greek yogurt
Close match
Use the same amount
The same ingredient sold ready-made, since commercial Greek yogurt is yogurt with the whey strained out.
What changes
It slots in with no adjustment.
Best for
any recipe calling for strained yogurt, dips and sauces, cheesecakes and desserts, dolloping on curries and soups, baking
The fast option, with one thing to check on the tub. Products labelled Greek-style are often thickened with added milk protein or starch rather than actually strained; they taste fine but feel faintly gluey in a dip, and they will not drip any further if you try to strain them thicker. Buy full-fat for dips, sauces and desserts, because 0% versions read chalky and sharper and can turn grainy when warmed.
3Labneh
Different texture
Use the same amount loosened with a teaspoon of milk or water per ¼ cup if the recipe needs it softer
Strained yogurt taken several hours further, so it is thicker, saltier and tangier, closer to a soft fresh cheese than to yogurt.
What changes
Best for
dips and mezze, spreads and toast, savoury sauces, stuffing pastries
In a dip or a spread this is an upgrade rather than a compromise, because the extra concentration makes it richer and more savoury. In a batter, a smoothie or a marinade it is too stiff to distribute and needs thinning back toward yogurt consistency first. Shop-bought labneh is usually already salted, so taste it before you season the dish.
4Skyr
Different texture
Use the same amount
Icelandic skyr is drained the same way and stands up in a spoon, but it is made from skim milk, so it is very lean.
What changes
Best for
marinades, smoothies, breakfast bowls, high-protein swaps
The thickness is right and the tang is actually brighter and sharper, which suits a marinade well. What is missing is fat, so the mouthfeel is drier and slightly crumbly rather than creamy, and in a dip you notice it immediately. Whisk in a teaspoon of olive oil per half cup to put some richness back.
5Full-fat quark
Different taste
Use the same amount
A fresh drained curd cheese, as thick as strained yogurt but mild, milky and only faintly sour.
What changes
Best for
cheesecakes and baked desserts, dips, creamy sauces, pancake and bread batters
The body is spot on and the flavour is not: a tzatziki or a marinade made with quark tastes soft and a little flat where it should taste sharp, and a squeeze of lemon juice closes most of that gap. Its advantage is heat tolerance, since it has already lost most of its free water, so it holds together in a hot sauce better than yogurt does.
6Unstrained plain yogurt, with the recipe adjusted
Different texture
Use the same amount by volume, with another liquid in the recipe cut by about a third
Ordinary plain yogurt used as it comes, with the extra water accounted for somewhere else.
What changes
Best for
cakes, muffins and quick breads, batters, marinades, stirring into soups and curries off the heat
Perfectly fine wherever the yogurt is going into something wet anyway, and a bad idea where the thickness is the point. In a dip, a pastry filling, a cheesecake or a piped topping the mixture slumps and can weep a puddle of whey overnight. Pour off the liquid sitting on the surface of the tub before you measure, which buys you a little thickness for free.
7Sour cream or cream cheese
Different taste
Use the same amount for sour cream; for cream cheese, beat ¾ cup with ¼ cup milk
The dairy-aisle fallback when there is no yogurt of any kind in the house.
What changes
Best for
cold dips and dressings, frostings and cheesecake fillings, spreads
Both give you thickness and tang, but they get their body from butterfat rather than concentrated milk protein, so a dip comes out heavier and glossier and reads rich rather than fresh. Cream cheese is salted, which shows up in sweet recipes. Poor choice for a marinade: yogurt's lactic acid and live cultures are part of why it tenderises meat, and sour cream does not do the same work.

What is Strained Yogurt?

Strained Yogurt is Strained yogurt is plain yogurt that has had its watery whey drained off through cloth or a fine sieve, which leaves a dense, tangy curd that holds its shape on a spoon; recipes also call it hung curd, thick yogurt or yogurt cheese, and the shop version of it is sold as Greek yogurt.

Cooking tips

Straining does two separate things, and knowing which one your recipe cares about decides the swap. It removes water, which is what keeps a dip thick and a filling from leaking, and it concentrates the tang and the protein, which is why it tastes stronger than the yogurt you started with. A dip needs the first. A marinade mostly needs the second.
Salt the yogurt lightly before you strain it for savoury use, about 1/4 teaspoon per cup. The salt pulls whey out faster and seasons the curd all the way through instead of sitting on the surface.
Straining time is the only control you need: 2 hours for Greek thickness, 6 to 12 hours for spreadable labneh, 24 hours for a firm curd you can roll into balls and keep under olive oil. Nothing else about the method changes.
Stabilised yogurt will not strain. If the tub lists gelatin, pectin, modified starch or added milk protein, it is designed to hold its water and will sit in the sieve for hours doing nothing. Look for a short ingredients list: milk and live cultures.
The whey that drains off is an ingredient, not waste. It is mildly acidic and full of flavour, so use it in place of water in bread or pizza dough, in a chicken brine, or as the liquid in a smoothie.
Strained yogurt is more heat-tolerant than thin yogurt but it is not heat-proof. Whisk it smooth, take the pan off the boil, temper it with a ladle of the hot liquid, then stir it back in. A teaspoon of cornstarch whisked through it first makes it noticeably harder to split.
Do not use strained or soured dairy to adjust the acidity of a canning, pickling, fermenting or curing recipe. Those recipes depend on measured acidity for safety, so follow tested instructions exactly and check National Center for Home Food Preservation guidance rather than improvising.

Frequently asked questions

Is strained yogurt just Greek yogurt?

In the shop, effectively yes: Greek yogurt is the retail name for yogurt with its whey strained off, so it swaps in 1:1 and you can stop reading. The reason recipes say strained yogurt instead is that the phrase describes a step you can do at home to any plain yogurt, to whatever thickness you want, which a sealed tub does not let you do. That matters when a recipe wants it thicker than commercial Greek yogurt goes, which is the case for labneh, shrikhand and anything you intend to pipe or roll.

How do I strain yogurt at home, and how long does it take?

Line a sieve with cheesecloth, a paper coffee filter or a clean thin tea towel, set it over a bowl with a couple of inches of clearance underneath, spoon in plain full-fat yogurt, cover it and refrigerate. Two hours gives Greek thickness, six to twelve hours gives spreadable labneh, twenty-four hours gives a firm curd. Expect to lose about half the volume, so start with two cups of yogurt for every cup you need.

Is hung curd the same as strained yogurt?

Yes. Hung curd is the South Asian name for exactly this: plain dahi tied in a muslin cloth and hung over a bowl until the whey drips out. Shrikhand, thick raita and dahi kebab all mean strained yogurt when they say hung curd. Full-fat Greek yogurt is the direct shop-bought equivalent, though hung curd made at home from whole-milk dahi usually tastes fresher and less sharp.

Can I use regular yogurt instead of strained yogurt?

Sometimes, with an adjustment. In a batter, a cake or a marinade the extra water rarely matters, so swap it 1:1. In a dip, a sauce, a cheesecake or a pastry filling it matters a lot: the mixture will be loose and can weep a puddle of whey overnight. Either strain it for a couple of hours or cut another liquid in the recipe by roughly a third, and pour off the liquid sitting on top of the tub before measuring.

My yogurt is not draining. What went wrong?

Almost always the yogurt rather than the method. Yogurts thickened with gelatin, pectin, starch or added milk protein are built to hold their water and will barely drip, so check for a short ingredients list of milk and cultures. The other two causes are a sieve sitting in its own whey, so the drained liquid soaks back in, and a cloth so thick that it clogs. Give it clearance and use cheesecloth or a coffee filter rather than a heavy towel.

Can I just leave it out?

Rarely, because in most recipes that call for it the strained yogurt is the dish rather than a seasoning. In tzatziki, labneh, shrikhand or a yogurt cake it supplies both the tang and the entire body. If you have no cultured dairy at all, the closest workaround is thick sour cream with a squeeze of lemon juice, and you should expect something richer, heavier and less fresh-tasting than the original.

Related substitutes

More dairy substitutes

Strained Yogurt substitute

Other strained yogurt substitutes

2Plain Greek yogurt

3Labneh

4Skyr

5Full-fat quark

6Unstrained plain yogurt, with the recipe adjusted

7Sour cream or cream cheese