Piped yogurt drops are a favorite snack for kids and adults: they melt on the tongue and taste exactly like the yogurt you started with. Flavored and Greek yogurts both work. Greek yogurt holds a piped shape best.
Freeze-drying is the method labs use to preserve bacterial cultures, so many of the live cultures in yogurt can survive. How many survive a home batch is not something anyone has measured reliably, so don’t count on dried yogurt as a probiotic or as a starter for new yogurt.
Prep and loading
- Fill a piping bag or zip bag and pipe dime-size dots onto parchment or a silicone mat.
- Or spread ⅜ inch deep for bark you break up later.
- Mix in pureed fruit for colored drops; keep added sugar modest.
- Freeze the tray solid before loading.
How to tell it’s done
- Drops pop off the liner and crunch through the middle.
Not sure? The weight check compares two weighings and the expected dry weight for yogurt.
Problems and fixes
Drops are sticky
Sugary flavored yogurt. Use plain or Greek yogurt sweetened with fruit puree, and give it more time.
Drops spread flat
Thin yogurt. Use Greek yogurt or strain regular yogurt first.
Rehydrating and storing
Rehydrate: Eat drops dry; stir powder into water for yogurt or dip. By weight, 100 g of dried yogurt takes back about 708 g of water to return to fresh weight; the rehydration calculator does any amount.
Store: Jars or mylar with oxygen absorbers. Drops crush easily in bags.
Ways to use it
- Kid snacks
- Cereal and granola topping
- Powder for dips and dressings
- Smoothie booster
How much fits per batch
At a normal single layer, yogurt load at roughly 2.2 lb of fresh food per square foot of tray. That works out to:
| Machine | Fresh per batch | Dried per batch |
|---|---|---|
| Harvest Right Countertop 360 | 5.5 lb | 10.8 oz |
| Harvest Right Small | 6.6 lb | 13.1 oz |
| Harvest Right Medium | 10.3 lb | 1.28 lb |
| Harvest Right Large | 16.9 lb | 2.09 lb |
| Harvest Right X-Large | 34.4 lb | 4.25 lb |
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central: yogurt, plain, whole milk (water content)
- Utah State University Extension: Can I Freeze-Dry That? (2026)
- Penn State Extension: Let’s Preserve: Freeze-Drying
- USDA FSIS: safe minimum internal temperatures
- Iowa State University Extension AnswerLine: Preserving by home freeze drying
Water content rounded from USDA FoodData Central (yogurt, plain, whole milk). Cycle times are typical ranges at default settings; thickness, load and your room change them. How we put these together.