Easy Yogurt and Fruit Parfait Recipe

This easy yogurt and fruit parfait recipe is a super simple, healthy breakfast or treat. It uses only fresh ingredients including luscious homemade yogurt and crunchy granola. This refreshing and nutritious breakfast will start your day off right and give you and your family all the energy you need to power your morning.

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 What is a Parfait?

Parfait is a layered breakfast or dessert. In our recipe, we use granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit. With these ingredients, you can enjoy a healthy breakfast parfait that is easy to make and ready in less than 5 minutes.

When used as a dessert, it can involve layers of cake, whipped cream, fruit, or other treats. Our recipe is not exclusively a dessert, but it is a refreshing, healthy treat that you can eat after a meal.

Why you will love making this yogurt parfait at home?

Homemade yogurt parfait is a tasty, healthy treat you can serve your family for breakfast nearly any time of year. But the best time to serve a parfait is during the summer.

In part this is because the fruit is fresh, juicy, and tasty. The other reason is that parfaits are a great breakfast on a hot day over the summer.

Another great reason to enjoy this recipe is that is so easy to make. It comes together in less than five minutes. 

And if you are like us, you love making fresh foods at home. For this recipe, you can use either our homemade yogurt or granola. This allows you to skip the preservatives and extra sugars.

 

Ingredients Needed to make this Fruit Parfait

When you are ready to make this simple yogurt and fruit parfait, you will need:

• Yogurt - Homemade or plain works best
• Fresh raspberry
• Blueberries
• Nectarines or peaches
• Granola - We use homemade for this recipe.

For garnish, we use:

• Mint leaves
• Honey or maple syrup

How to make yogurt parfait

• First, wash and thoroughly dry the fruits and berries. If the fruits are wet, it will affect the taste of the parfait.
• Next, deseed the nectarine or peach and cut it in small bite size pieces.
• Place all the fruit in a bowl and then toss them together.

• Next, spoon the yogurt into the bottom of 4 or 6 cups. Clear cups work great for this so you can see the different layers when you serve it. As you add the yogurt, try to avoid the whey in the yogurt.
• Alternate layers of fruit, granola, and then yogurt. Repeat layers until glasses are filled to the top. Finally, garnish with mint and drizzle of honey.
• You should enjoy the parfait fresh since the granola won’t save well and the fruit will run.

Pro tips and tricks to make this fruit parfait

We love making this parfait and we find the following tips are very helpful for the best flavor:

• When we make this, we use our own homemade yogurt recipe.
• Use our tasty granola recipe for a much healthier version without the preservatives.
• After washing the fruit, make sure you thoroughly dry them.
• If your yogurt separated at all, try to avoid the whey when adding the yogurt.

What type of yogurt is needed to make the best yogurt parfait

When we make parfait, we love to use our 2 ingredient, Instant Pot yogurt recipe. It is delicious and free of preservatives and other unnatural flavors.

If you don’t want to make your own yogurt, you can use a plain Greek or regular yogurt. Flavored yogurts are often sweetened and can be overpowering in the parfait. They are also less healthy since they typically include added sugars..

How to serve

Parfait makes an excellent breakfast or healthy dessert. You can serve it along side other breakfast flavors, like:

• Breakfast Rice Porridge
• Chia Oats Breakfast Parfait
• Vegan Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
• Breakfast On-The-Go

Of course, you can also serve with toast, bagels, muffins, or any of your other favorite breakfast recipes.

 

What is the difference between parfait and a sundae?

A sundae uses ice cream to create a dessert. You typically use hot fudge, caramel sauce, whipped cream, nuts, cherries, and other sweets to top the sundae. It is definitely a dessert and not really meant for breakfast.

A parfait uses yogurt and fresh or occasionally frozen fruit to create a layered treat. Unlike ice cream, there is limited added sugar and you can serve it as a healthy breakfast for your family. 

Like ice cream, it is a great summer or warm weather treat. It is a great way to stay cool when the temperature gets hot.

Variations of Yogurt Parfait Recipe

Parfaits go great with fresh, in-season fruit. As the seasons change, you can change the fruits and berries you use. Some variations include:

• Use fresh strawberries
• Use only peaches or nectarines when they are in season
• Cut up fresh cherries and use them
• Use different flavors of granola

How to make Granola at home from scratch

For more detailed instructions, visit our post on granola here.

You’ll need:

• Oats
• Almonds
• Pecans
• Cranberries, raisins, or other dried fruit
• Maple syrup or honey

First, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Next, mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl. 

Once they are mixed, line a baking container with parchment paper and then pour in the mixture and press it down firmly.

When it’s ready, bake for 30 minutes at 425 F.

Next, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool.

Finally, crumble it once it is cool to the touch.

How to make homemade yogurt in Instant Pot

For more details on making homemade yogurt, check out our post here.

When you are ready, you’ll need:

• ultra-filtered, pasteurized milk
• fresh yogurt starter

To make, start by pouring the ultra pasteurized milk into the inner pot of the Instant Pot. 

Next, add in the starter, live culture, or fresh yogurt to the milk and whisk to combine.

Once it is mixed in, seal the lid on top and push the yogurt button. Next, set the time to 8 hours on “Normal.”

When the yogurt cycle is finished, carefully open the lid to avoid letting too much of the condensation drip into the inner pot.

Next, place paper towels on the top of the inner pot. Remove the inner pot and then place a lid or plate on top. Finally, place the inner pot in the fridge to chill for about 1 to 2 hours.

How to store the healthy yogurt parfait

We recommend making the parfait fresh the morning you want to eat it. But you can make it a day or two ahead if you want. Just don’t assemble it. Instead, prep the fruits, granola, and yogurt and then store them separately.

To store, cover each in an air tight container and then assemble when ready to serve.

Can I make the fruit parfaits ahead of time?

You can make the components ahead, but we would recommend assembling it fresh. If you assemble it ahead, the fruit juices can leak and spread throughout and the granola can become soggy.

But you can make each component, including prepping the fruits, and then store each separately until you are ready to serve and assemble.

Why should I alternately layer the fruit and yogurt in the parfait

If you don’t alternate the layers, you end up with large sections of fruit, yogurt, and granola. The point of the parfait is to get a spoon full of each ingredient with every bite. So that’s why we layer the fruit, yogurt, and granola.

Let us know what you think

If you make this delicious recipe, let us know how it went! When you make this, be sure to take a pic and tag us on Instagram @dbellyrulesdmind or Facebook @thebellyrulesthemind!