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Whether you make your own kefir at home or have a bottle of store-bought that’s a bit too tart, you can add your own fruity flavors easily! With just three ingredients, you can learn how to flavor kefir at home to get your daily probiotics.
save this recipe!Plain kefir tastes like a sharp, tangy yogurt drink, which some people love and many people don’t. As a nutritionist, I appreciate what it does: the live cultures are significantly more diverse and numerous than most yogurt, and the fermentation process breaks down most of the lactose, making it easier to digest than regular milk for people with lactose sensitivity.
But taste matters too, and the fastest way to make kefir a daily habit is to make it taste good. The fruit does more than just sweeten. It adds body, color, and enough natural sugar to balance the tartness without masking the slight tanginess that makes kefir interesting in the first place.
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Why I love kefir
During nutrition school, we learned the importance of eating probiotics, but it’s not very affordable on a student budget. So, I learned long ago how to make it at home. At its core, it’s a fermented food that is often easy to digest. Kefir grains feed on the lactose in milk, meaning they are usually gut-friendly, even for those with lactose intolerance. And once you purchase kefir grains, you can keep them working for you practically forever, churning out batch after batch of easy homemade kefir!
grab these ingredients
Two or three ingredients are all you need to enjoy a cold fruit-flavored glass of kefir! Jump to the recipe card for the quantities.
- Kefir: Plain whole milk kefir produces the richest, creamiest result. Low-fat works but produces a thinner drink. If you want to make your own from scratch, my homemade milk kefir guide walks through the full process.
- Fresh fruit: Strawberries, blueberries, and peaches all work well and produce distinctly different results. Strawberry is the most crowd-pleasing. Blueberry is the most visually striking. Peach is the sweetest and mellowest. Mango, raspberries, and banana all work too.
- Sweetener: Honey adds a floral depth that works especially well with strawberry and peach. Maple syrup is slightly more neutral and pairs well with blueberry. Plain sugar dissolves cleanly and lets the fruit flavor come forward without adding anything extra.
frozen fruit is best
Use frozen berries or fruit to have a dose of summer all year round. No need to thaw – you aren’t using as much fruit as you would in a smoothie, so there’s no worry about it being too thick.
This works as a standalone morning drink, but it pairs naturally alongside something with substance. High protein overnight oats are the natural companion since both can be prepped the night before for an easy weekday morning. For something warmer, strawberry oatmeal pairs especially well with the strawberry kefir variation.
If you’re interested in other ways to get probiotics from fermented drinks you make at home, my kombucha brewing guide is worth a read.
How To Flavor Kefir
Ingredients
- 4 cups kefir, 950 mL
- 1 cup fruit, like chopped strawberries, blueberries, or chopped peaches
- 2 Tbsp sweetener, like sugar, honey, or maple syrup
Instructions
- Flavor: Choose your desired flavor and sweetener, then add them to a blender along with kefir.
- Blend: Blend until smooth. Serve chilled!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information calculated by Sarah Bond, degreed nutritionist.
did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag @liveeatlearn on social media! I love seeing what youāve made!more gut-loving recipes
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I had a bunch of extra kefir grains which I usually give to the chickens. Today the Dog got them. He loved them!
I’ll have to try giving my Rhubarb the grains! Great idea.
Could I add frozen fruit like strawberry or mangoes to the kefir? How long would it last in the fridge? Or is it something you would have to use straight away? Thank you!
Yes! You can store it for 3 to 5 days š
Can you use non sugar sweetener?
Yes, non sugar sweeteners work well for flavoring kefir š
I made kefir for the first time, thank you for your VERY helpful and informative post on how to do that! Then, I blended it to make blueberry kefir. It’s delicious, but now very thin (even thinner than whole milk). I put it in the fridge. Will it thicken back up? Or did I do something wrong? It was nice and thick before I blended.
Blueberries can be pretty high in water so I’m guessing they’re causing that issue. Next time, try blending the blueberries and straining out some of their juices before mixing it with the kefir! š
I bought some Kefir Yogurt at a farmers market and it was delicious. There were so many different flavors.
Do you have a recipe for Kefir flavored Yogurt? It was pretty pricey at the market ($6 for 6 ounces!)
Hi Mindy! Are you wanting kefir or yogurt? Or a combination of the two? Here’s our guide to making kefir, and here’s how to make yogurt. You could combine the two maybe?
We went with the blueberry option. Fantastic and easy.
Hi! When you puree and refrigerate, is there a second fermentation? Should you let it rest for any time after adding the puree?
Thanks!
You can do a second fermentation I believe, but I usually just flavor and refrigerate!