The Great Pumpkin Yogurt Smackdown

Chobani Pumpkin Spice Blended Greek Yogurt vs. Oikos Pumpkin Pie Flavor Traditional Greek Yogurt

For those who love all things pumpkin and pumpkin spice, autumn has come early this year with pumpkin products already popping up in stores. Wandering down the yogurt aisle I couldn’t help but notice Chobani and Oikos both had pumpkin yogurt offerings and I just had to try them!

First off, kudos to both brands for having pumpkin puree in the ingredients list – and fairly high up in it, at that. Chobani listed it third, behind only low fat yogurt and evaporated cane juice while Oikos listed it fourth, behind cultured grade A milk, fructose, and sugar.

I opened the containers and noticed right away that the Chobani yogurt was a lighter color than the slightly darker, slightly orange Oikos. Little flecks of spices can be clearly seen in both yogurts. Chobani lists cinnamon and nutmeg as ingredients while Oikos lists only cinnamon (and less than 1% at that).

For no particular reason, I tried the Chobani first. It was creamy, with a definite pumpkin and cinnamon flavor along with the expected characteristic tang of yogurt and just a hint of sweetness.

After a palate cleansing sip of water, I tried the Oikos. I suspected it would taste sweeter and it indeed it did. Also smooth and creamy, I immediately got the sense of tasting the entire pumpkin pie – pumpkin, spices, graham cracker crust, whipped cream and all. I was actually a little surprised at the complexity of the flavor profile coming through.

Trying to decide a winner was tough. When I first grabbed the two containers of yogurt off of the shelf, I didn’t realize they were two slightly different things. Comparing these two flavors of yogurt is a bit like trying to compare apple juice and apple cider. Because of this, I’m going to have to declare a draw. Having said that, I have some thoughts and recommendations:

The Chobani yogurt is best for the pumpkin and yogurt purist. It is also the better choice for those watching their waistline as the Chobani has 130 calories and 2.5g total fat while Oikos has 170 calories and a whopping 4.5g total fat (both are 5.3 ounce containers). However, the Oikos is autumn in a cup and can definitely help stave off your pumpkin pie craving until you can have the real thing at Thanksgiving.

Either way, both these yogurts promise pumpkin and deliver!

(Want more pumpkin smackdowns? Coming up I’ll be pitting Pumpkin Cheerios against Joe’s Pumpkin O’s or you can click here to see how Pumpkin Oreos and Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Joe-Joe’s stacked up!)