This refreshing drink is the best way to rehydrate on a hot summer day. Mixed with sea salt, Ayran is a Turkish yoghurt drink frothed to perfection in seconds and served up icy cold. It pairs perfectly with a hot meal like Karniyarik.
Why We Love This
We adore this Middle Eastern drink because it’s so easy to whip up a fresh batch at home in less than 5 minutes. Made with only 3 simple ingredients – yoghurt, water (or soda water) and salt means you can blend it up in no time.
Ayran contains no added sugar when using natural yoghurt, so it’s a healthy way to cool down. You’ll be free to enjoy the spiciest curry dish with an icy cold glass of ayran on hand to put out that fire.
What is Turkish Ayran?
Ayran is a popular Middle Eastern beverage, especially in Turkey where it’s considered the national drink. In Iran, there’s a similar drink that goes by the name of “doogh” but is usually served up with fresh mint.
A deliciously simple recipe of diluted natural yoghurt mixed with sea salt and water, you’ll often find ayran paired with cooked meats, burek, or even pizza – but almost never with seafood which is superstitiously bad luck for your health.
Ayran reminds us a little bit of Indian lassi, just without the common additions of mango or strawberry flavour and sugar.
What You’ll Need
All you need is natural yoghurt, water, and sea salt. That’s it!
How to make Ayran:
This couldn’t be easier. You’ll just need a blender and pop in all the ingredients. Blend until super frothy (10-20 seconds should do it as there’s no solids!) and you’re ready.
If you don’t have a blender, you could use a rocket or stick blender instead. In a pinch, you could try popping it in an airtight container and giving it a good shake before pouring it into a glass!
Wandercook’s Tips
- Use soda water instead of still water to help your ayran become nice and frothy after blending! This will also add a little tingle to each sip!
- Serve alongside spicy or heavy meals to help cool things down.
FAQs
If you’ve never tried it before, ayran can be an intriguing experience. It has a slightly tart/sour taste from the natural yogurt, but the biggest surprise is the saltiness. Our first ever sip stopped us in our tracks. After the second sip our taste buds were starting to understand. And by the third? We were completely hooked!
They’re essentially the same, although sometimes you’ll find mint more frequently in Doogh.
Variations & Substitutes
- Add some finely diced cucumber, mint or crushed thyme for extra flavour, similar to Iran’s Doogh drink.
- Throw in some ice cubes before blending for an icy crunch.
- Or if you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even add a sprinkling of cracked black pepper for a spicy hit
Want more drink ideas, whip these up next:
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 400 g natural yoghurt
- 2 cups cold water still or soda
- 1 pinch sea salt
Optional ingredients:
- handful ice cubes
- mint finely chopped
- cucumber finely ficed
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Place natural yoghurt, cold water and sea salt in a blender along with any of your chosen optional ingredients: ice cubes, mint, cucumber and black pepper.400 g natural yoghurt, 2 cups cold water, 1 pinch sea salt, handful ice cubes, mint, cucumber, pinch black pepper
- Mix until ingredients are combined and drink is frothy. This should be around 10-20 seconds. Serve chilled.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Use soda water instead of still water to help your ayran become nice and frothy after blending! This will also add a little tingle to each sip!
- Add some finely diced cucumber, mint or crushed thyme for extra flavour, similar to Iran’s Doogh drink.
- Throw in some ice cubes before blending for an icy crunch.
- Or if you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even add a sprinkling of cracked black pepper for a spicy hit
Nutrition
46 Comments
Kay
19/08/2022 at 3:04 amThe yoghurt used in that video looks like it has the consistency and thickness of ice cream…..what type is this please?
Wandercooks
19/08/2022 at 3:31 pmHey Kay, it was natural pot set yoghurt. 🙂
Archana
02/08/2022 at 10:47 amHi, we love this drink as it reminds us of a similar Indian drink, but not Lassi, that you mention. Lassi is sweet but Mattha is savory. It’s made exactly the same way with yogurt, cold water and salt. Except you can also add cumin powder for that extra zing.
Wandercooks
12/08/2022 at 11:44 amThanks for the tip Archana, we’ll update this, as we’d only tried Lassi and not Mattha yet for the comparison!
Zeenath
22/09/2022 at 7:01 pmWe in the South Indian state of Kerala, blend curd (our substitute for yogurt) with water and salt and add finely chopped coriander leaves and a dash of chopped green chilies to it, and drink. Instead of coriander leaves, you can add curry leaves (leaves of Murraya koenigii) if you prefer that.
Wandercooks
24/09/2022 at 5:15 pmHey Zeenath, thanks so much for sharing your version of this drink. We’ll have to try it Kerala style next time ;). We have a curry tree too, so we can put the fresh leaves in :D.
Andrew
30/06/2022 at 6:16 amThis hit the spot. I used goat yoghurt from the farmer’s market. Thank you!
Wandercooks
30/06/2022 at 12:03 pmAmazing, great idea to use local yoghurt too. Glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Runa Laila
13/04/2022 at 5:42 pmThe Ayran recipe is awesome, we tasted it and was so cool.
Wandercooks
19/04/2022 at 1:52 pmYay, so glad you enjoyed it Runa!
Jamil Brownson
18/01/2022 at 2:33 pmHaving lived for years in Turkey I’m addicted to Ayran & sour cherry juice, both national soft drinks & with Boza as a slightly alcoholic fermented bread drink – coupled with mainly natural ingredients it’s about living a healthy probiotic lifestyle
Wandercooks
19/01/2022 at 11:10 amHey Jamil, that’s awesome with the boza – we’ve never tried it. We make our own kombucha though and love having that at home. 🙂
Vera
19/11/2021 at 2:22 amDelicious!! Thank you very much!
Quick question: Can you use ayran as a “base” to make more ayran? Or perhaps mix it with plain yogurt as part of the recipe?
I live in Southern California. I’ve noticed that certain imported “authentic” ayran lists good bacteria strains not found in plain yogurt or even local store-bough ayran. I also notice it has a distinct taste that I really enjoy 🙂
Wandercooks
19/11/2021 at 3:57 pmHey Vera, you’re very welcome!
I wouldn’t use ayran to make ayran, instead I would make yoghurt and THEN turn that into ayran.
For the type of good bacteria found in ayran – this would depend on the yoghurt they’ve used to make it. I would look for natural or Greek style unsweetened yoghurts at the store, as these usually contain the most cultures. You can also check the labels, as sometimes certain brands advertise that they have more than others.
Hope this helps! 🙂