A healthy and delicious savory pesto chickpea yogurt parfait packs 17 grams of filling protein for a lower sugar afternoon snack! (gluten-free, vegetarian)
With the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans finally putting a cap on added sugar recommendations, many of us are trying to watch our intake of added sugar. One place where I think a lot of sugar sneaks into our diets is in our snacks.
Even if you’re trying to eat healthy, snacks on the sweet side can have plenty of added sugar if you aren’t careful. Snack bars, trail mixes, smoothies, and even fruit and yogurt parfaits made with flavored yogurts can have hidden sugar in them if you don’t know what you’re looking at. While plain unflavored yogurts have naturally occurring sugar from milk, which is not considered added sugar, any flavored yogurt likely contains much more sugar.
Rather than try to decrease the sugar so much that your afternoon snack tastes bland, I decided to add lots of flavor by taking my snack to the savory side with this pesto chickpea yogurt parfait!
Like my Savory Granola (which I used as a crunchy topping in this recipe), this savory yogurt parfait uses herbs and spices to punch up the flavor with zero added sugar, so that you still get tons of flavor without having to choose between taste and health. Plus, it has 17 grams of filling protein from chickpeas and greek yogurt to keep you full, and it even sneaks in a few veggies!
If the thought of a savory yogurt parfait sounds strange, it’s okay. My husband was pretty skeptical at first, too. But as soon as he tried it, he loved it! It has so much delicious flavor that you don’t even miss the sweetness one bit.
If you’re tired of trying to dodge sugar in your snacks, try the savory side of yogurt with this savory yogurt parfait. I just know you’ll be converted to the savory side of healthy snacking after trying this recipe!
Savory Pesto Chickpea Yogurt Parfait
A healthy and delicious savory pesto chickpea yogurt parfait packs 17 grams of filling protein for a lower sugar afternoon snack! (gluten-free, vegetarian)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 parfaits 1x
- Category: snack
Ingredients
- 1 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
- Small handful arugula leaves
- 2 tbsp arugula pesto (see recipe below)
- 1/4 cup savory granola (or plain granola)
Arugula Pesto:
- 1 small clove garlic
- 1/4 cup arugula leaves
- 3–4 large basil leaves
- Juice from 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Make pesto: Combine arugula, basil, garlic, lemon, oil and water in a small food processor or Bullet. Blend until it forms a thin paste. Set aside.
- Assemble parfaits: In 2 small glass jars or bowls, layer yogurt then arugula and chickpeas, then more yogurt, pesto and granola. Repeat layers, topping with granola.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: snack
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Strength and Sunshine says
March 23, 2016 at 2:03 pmSuch a fun idea!! Unique and totally works!
Kaleigh M says
March 29, 2016 at 7:34 amThanks, Rebecca!