Difference Between Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream

Nothing can beat the charm of having a mouth-watering scoop of ice cream or frozen yogurt on a hot summer day.

While there are people who tend to enjoy these all around the year, creamy frozen treats during hot summers just hit differently. As opposed to earlier simpler times, there are numerous options now to choose from: ice cream, frozen yogurt, gelato, frozen custards, and many more frosted desserts!

However, in this article, we are going to focus primarily on frozen yogurt vs ice cream. Although these items might taste and even look identical to you, carry on reading to find out some interesting differences between them below!

Frozen Yogurt vs Ice Cream: An Overview

One of the most important differences between ice cream and frozen yogurt lies within what it is made up of. The key ingredient that differentiates ice cream from frozen yogurt is cream. Other than this, both fro-yo and ice cream go fifty-fifty in the two principal components: dairy and sugar.

While ice cream comprises milk, frozen yogurt includes cultured milk, in other words, yogurt. This fact makes fro-yo appealing to the people who are lactose intolerant; since they cannot bear milk, they can always resort to frozen yogurts during cravings!

In addition, frozen yogurt is conventionally referred to as “healthier” when choosing a sweet treat. As far as texture is concerned, ice cream has more of a gooey, creamy finish, whereas frozen yogurts are much more rigid and not creamy.

Apart from these, most of the other differences lie in the nutrition and calorie content of these icy desserts. To help you understand better, there is a comparison table drawn out below!

You can also read the differences between Frozen Custard and Ice Cream.

What Is Ice Cream?

Ice cream is fundamentally a blend of dairy commodities, sweeteners, and artificial flavors. Basically, ice cream is manufactured by combining all the mentioned items and churning these in a cooling vat.

After the churning process, the air is added to the ice cream mixture, leaving behind a light and fuzzy texture. Finally, the ice cream is served in cups or cones as sundaes with various toppings on them.

What Is Frozen Yoghurt?

On the other hand, frozen yogurt, or froyo, is a very similar frozen dessert, except it is made from yogurt instead of cream, making it tarter than ice cream!

Given that the yogurt is cultured milk, frozen yogurts adopt a rather sour and tangy flavor. However, some frozen yogurts do have a soft texture similar to soft-serve ice creams.

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Frozen Yogurt Vs. Ice Cream: The Comparison Table

Parameter of comparison	Frozen Yogurt	Ice Cream
Definition	Frozen yogurt is a sweet, frosted dessert where flavored yogurt is the primary ingredient.	Ice cream, on the other hand, consists mainly of artificial flavors and preservatives. It contains more air and milk fat.
Composition	Contains 0.5% to 6% milk fat and 15% to 17% sugar or sweetener. Made by adding live cultures to milk.	Have 10% to 18% milk fat weigh at least 4.5 pounds per gallon. Contain 12% to 16% sweeteners.
Texture	Frozen yogurt has a denser consistency and is not creamy.	Mushy and creamy texture with hint of ice crystals.
Flavors	Mostly fruity flavors; however, more flavors close to ice cream are being manufactured now.	Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, caramel, etc. are very popular. Small chunks of chocolates and fruits are often used in ice creams.
Calorie Content	One scoop serving of frozen yogurt usually contains around 214 calories.	One scoop serving of ice cream commonly contains around 267 calories.
Lactose Content	Lactose content in frozen yogurt is very low because of its cultures.	Regular ice creams have high proportions of lactose due to the presence of direct milk.
Sugar Content	One cup serving of froyo traditionally contains around 15 to 20 grams of sugar.	One cup serving of ice cream typically contains around 30 grams of sugar.

Conclusion

Despite all the differences between froyo vs ice cream, at the end of the day, it ultimately depends on you and what you want to have! While ice creams are higher in fat, frozen yogurts have higher levels of sugar.

In light of health concerns, if consumed on a rather regular basis, frozen yogurt is definitely the way to go. However, you should not worry too much and go easy on yourself because ice cream or frozen yogurt, whatever it may be, just cannot go wrong!