Greek Breakfast Recipes · The Mainland · No-Cook · The Sunday Table
Greek Yogurt with Grape Must Syrup (Yiaourti me Petimezi)
Γιαούρτι με πετιμέζι yah-OOR-tee meh peh-tee-MEH-zee · Yiaourti me petimezi
In short
Yiaourti me petimezi is thick, strained Greek yogurt drizzled with petimezi, grape must syrup, a genuinely old-fashioned pairing from before honey became the more familiar everyday topping. The syrup's deep, faintly fruity sweetness plays against the yogurt's tang in a way distinctly different from the more common honey and walnut version.
Yogurt with Grape Must Syrup
- Prep
- 5m
- Cook
- None
- Total
- 5m
- Serves
- 1
- Level
- Beginner
Ingredients
Ingredients
Tick ingredients off as you go. Quantities rescale with the buttons above.
Method
- 01Spoon the yogurt into a bowl.
- 02Drizzle generously with the petimezi.
Grapes Do not be shy with the petimezi.Yiayia - 03Serve immediately.
Nutrition, per 1 portion
- Calories
- 218
- Protein
- 11 g
- Carbs
- 22 g
- Fat
- 9 g
- Sat fat
- 6 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
These figures are calculated estimates based on the ingredients listed, not laboratory analysis. Actual values vary with brands, cuts and portion size.
Yiaourti me meli karydia, yogurt with honey and walnuts, is the pairing most people picture today, but yiaourti me petimezi is genuinely the older combination, from a time when petimezi, grape must syrup, was a more common household sweetener than honey in many parts of Greece.
The flavour difference is real and worth noticing: petimezi carries a deeper, rounder, faintly fruity sweetness, closer to a light molasses, quite distinct from honey's cleaner floral note, and it plays beautifully against thick, tangy strained yogurt.
This needs genuinely nothing beyond good yogurt and good petimezi, and it says something that a combination this simple has stayed a real household favourite for so long, needing no embellishment at all.
Key preparation steps
- Use thick, strained Greek yogurt.
- Drizzle generously with petimezi.
- Serve immediately.
Choosing the yogurt
Thick, strained Greek yogurt, full fat for the best texture, is what this pairing depends on, since a thinner, unstrained yogurt will not hold up against the syrup in the same satisfying way, becoming a puddle rather than a proper contrast of textures.
The petimezi
A generous drizzle, more than a token amount, is traditional, letting the syrup's deep, fruity sweetness genuinely come through against the yogurt's tang rather than disappearing into it. See the petimezi recipe on this site for how to make your own, or look for it in a Greek grocer.
What matters in this dish
Use full-fat, thick strained yogurt
A thinner yogurt will not give the same satisfying contrast against the syrup, turning watery rather than staying a proper spoonable pairing.
Do not be shy with the petimezi
A generous drizzle lets its deep, fruity sweetness genuinely come through, rather than a token amount that gets lost against the yogurt's tang.
Make your own petimezi if you have the time
See this site's petimezi recipe. It keeps for months, so a single batch covers a great many breakfasts.
Questions people ask about Yiaourti me petimezi
What is the difference between yiaourti me petimezi and yiaourti me meli karydia?
Both are simple yogurt pairings, but petimezi, grape must syrup, gives a deeper, rounder, faintly fruity sweetness quite different from honey's cleaner floral note, and this version is genuinely the older of the two pairings.
Where can you buy petimezi?
Greek and wider Mediterranean grocers commonly stock it, often labelled grape molasses or grape must syrup. It can also be made at home by reducing fresh grape must or good quality grape juice.
Can you use regular sugar syrup instead of petimezi?
You can, but it will not give the same distinctive, rounder sweetness. Petimezi's specific flavour is really the point of this particular pairing.
