ZeroPoint cheat sheet: yogurt & cottage cheese

While “zero” usually means “nothing,” at WeightWatchers®, ZeroPoint® foods are everything! If yogurt and cottage cheese* are your ZeroPoint foods and you’ve got some questions, you’re in the right place.

• Cottage cheese, plain, nonfat

• Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat

• Quark, plain, up to 1% fat

• Soy yogurt, plain

• Yogurt, almond, plain

• Yogurt, plain, nonfat

The foods in this category are a good source of nonfat or lean protein and other nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D, and contain no added sugar.

Go sweet with a sliced banana,roasted fruit sauce, or asweet fruit salsa. Or you can add dessert-y toppings like mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts and dried fruit, and toasted coconut. Savory more your speed? Top your yogurt with veggies, nuts, beans, and fresh herbs. Just make sure to track the Points™ for any additional food items.

Absolutely! Cottage cheese can be used as the base for creamy pasta sauces and dips, almond and soy yogurts are terrific in acai breakfast bowls and frozen yogurt bark, and dairy yogurt—especially Greek yogurt which is thicker and higher in protein than regular yogurt—makes baked goods, cream soups, marinades, salad dressings, and sauces taste richer.

How about dough? Yep, justmix self-rising flour with nonfat plain Greek yogurt. Think lower Points pizza crust, bagels, calzones, dessert hand pies, and bread bowls to name a few!

If your yogurt has a touch of liquid on top, that’s okay. The clear liquid in yogurt containers is naturally occurring whey. Don’t drain it; stir it back in.

Greek yogurt can be a little more sour than regular yogurt. Add some citrus zest to sweeten its flavor.

*not a ZeroPoint food on the Diabetes Program