Zabadi substitutes

Unsweetened full-fat set yogurt, which is the same product zabadi is under a different name.

Best for

eating as a side with bread and olives, marinades for chicken, kofta and fish, cold sauces and salads, desserts and yogurt cake, thinning into a salted drink

There is essentially nothing to compensate for; this is the same food. The only nuance is fat and body: traditional Egyptian zabadi made with buffalo milk is richer, denser and slightly sweeter tasting than cow-milk yogurt, so a European or American whole-milk yogurt can feel a shade lighter and tarter. A tablespoon of cream or a spoonful of labneh per cup makes up the difference if you are eating it plain. Avoid low-fat, which goes chalky.

Strained yogurt loosened back to the soft, unstrained consistency of a cup of zabadi.

Best for

marinades, dips and sauces, baking and desserts, any dish where you want extra body

Good, provided you thin it. Undiluted Greek yogurt is far thicker than zabadi and will sit in a lump instead of spooning out softly, and it is usually more sour, so a dessert made with it tastes sharper than intended. The upside is that the higher protein makes it more stable in a hot dish and less prone to weeping in a marinade. Whisk smooth before thinning.

Levantine strained yogurt cheese let down to zabadi consistency.

Best for

rich yogurt sides, dips and mezze, sauces for grilled meat, spreading on bread

Closest to zabadi in richness, which makes it a good choice if you are trying to match buffalo-milk zabadi rather than ordinary cow-milk yogurt. It is much more concentrated, so it must be thinned, and it is often lightly salted, which is welcome in a savoury dish and wrong in a dessert. Check the label before using it in something sweet.

Fermented milk drink cultured with bacteria and yeasts, thin, sour and faintly effervescent.

Best for

marinades, drinking, baking and batters, cold soups

Fine where zabadi is a liquid and poor where it is a solid. As a marinade it is arguably better, since the thinner consistency coats meat evenly and the acidity is comparable. As something to eat with a spoon it fails outright: it is pourable, sharper, and has a bready yeasty aroma that zabadi does not. It also has a faint fizz that reads as odd in a dessert.

Cultured cream, which shares zabadi's smooth thickness but is far richer and much less tangy.

Best for

sauces that will be warmed, rich dips, spooning over grilled meat or roast vegetables

The one real advantage is stability: because it is high in fat, it resists splitting in a warm sauce where yogurt curdles. The cost is that it tastes distinctly heavier and blander, and it will not read as zabadi in anything where the yogurt is meant to feel refreshing. Lemon juice restores most of the missing acidity but not the lactic depth.

Icelandic strained fresh dairy, very high in protein and very low in fat, loosened to zabadi thickness.

Best for

high-protein swaps, marinades, savoury sides, smoothies

The least like zabadi of the set options, because it is very lean where zabadi is rich, and quite sharply acidic where zabadi is gently tart. Even well thinned it tastes brisk and slightly chalky rather than creamy. Usable in savoury dishes and marinades; disappointing eaten plain unless you add honey or a spoonful of cream.