Sweet Lassi: Five Ingredients, One Blender, a Pale and Frothy Glass
Keep it plain: yogurt, water, ice, sugar and a pinch of salt, blended at high speed until frothy. Any extra yogurt is a separate spoonful on top, not part of the blend.
Under the title "My summer drink," the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star presented sweet lassi as a well-loved drink for the season. Its recipe is short and direct: everything goes into a blender at high speed and comes out frothy, with a little plain yogurt on top if you want it.
This article follows that sweet, plain version. It is one published example from Bangladesh, not the origin of lassi and not the only standard formula. Sekai Gohan has not kitchen-tested this recipe as a whole, so treat the amounts and steps as written from the published recipe and adjust with care. Other recipes and households may make it differently, and you can explore more of the country's dishes on our Bangladesh page.
Ingredients for Sweet Lassi
Equipment
- Blender with a secure lid, suitable for crushing ice
- Measuring cup
- Teaspoon
- Spoon for the yogurt
- Clean glass for serving
Choosing the Yogurt and Setting the Sweetness
Yogurt. This recipe is limited to purchased plain yogurt made from pasteurized milk and sold ready to eat. Yogurt fermented at home and anything made from unpasteurized milk are outside its scope.
Sugar. Start with 3 tsp, and move up to as much as 5 tsp in total if you prefer a sweeter glass.
Water. Chill the water, or chill the other ingredients beforehand, to serve the drink cold.
What stays out. Milk, lemon, fruit, mint, spices and nuts are not part of this version. The optional topping is additional yogurt, so don't take it out of the 1 cup that goes into the blender.
Method: Load, Close, Blend and Pour
Everything is blended together at high speed until frothy. The loading is split into separate steps to make it easier to follow, and this order is not required. Timing depends on your blender, so go by how the drink looks rather than by the clock.
Fixing Problems in the Blender
Whatever the problem, stop the motor before you open the lid or add anything.
| What you notice | What to do |
|---|---|
| The drink isn't frothy yet | Check the lid is secure, then keep blending at high speed |
| Large pieces of ice remain | Blend a little longer. If your blender struggles with ice, use one that is suitable for crushing it next time |
| It isn't sweet enough | Add more sugar, staying within 5 tsp in total, then close the lid and blend again |
| The lid feels loose | Stop the motor and press the lid firmly back into place before continuing |
| It tastes sharper than you expected | Plain yogurts differ, so adjust the sugar within the same range or try another plain yogurt next time |
Cold Handling, Hygiene and Allergens
This drink contains milk through the yogurt, and we can't promise it is free of any allergen. Check the labels on your products. The recipe has no heating step, and you don't need to add one for this store-bought, ready-to-eat yogurt, but that doesn't make the drink safe indefinitely. Handle it as a cold dairy drink.
Our handling advice draws on general household food-safety guidance from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:
- Before you start: Wash your hands and use clean utensils, a clean blender jar and a clean glass.
- Before blending: Check the yogurt's label and keep the yogurt refrigerated until you need it.
- Serving: Serve the lassi cold, and don't leave it sitting at room temperature for long.
- Leftovers: Lassi is meant to be served freshly made. If you don't drink it right away, keep it refrigerated at 10°C or below.
The 10°C figure is general guidance for refrigerated food, not a shelf life or safety guarantee for lassi. We don't give a storage period for this drink. If a product label gives stricter instructions, follow the label.
How It Differs from Other Lassi and Borhani
The Daily Star separates lassi into sweet, salted and mango or orange flavors, and its salted lassi has its own recipe. Treat each of these as a separate drink rather than adding pieces of them to this one.
| Drink | How it relates to this recipe |
|---|---|
| Sweet plain lassi | The version made here |
| Salted lassi | A separate recipe in the same newspaper feature; not a matter of simply leaving out the sugar here |
| Mango or orange lassi | Flavors the newspaper distinguishes from plain; no fruit is used here |
| Borhani | A separate drink with its own formula; its ingredients don't belong in this glass |
| Zurana's Recipes sweet lassi | Another sweet lassi listed under Bangladeshi cuisine, using tok doi, cool milk, sugar, black salt and lemon juice |
The Zurana's Recipes version is a useful reminder that one sweet lassi doesn't speak for every kitchen. However, its ingredient list names cool milk while its method says water. Because of that mismatch, and because it is a single personal recipe site, we did not use its amounts, timing or servings here.
If you try one of these other drinks, follow its own recipe. For this one, come back to the five basics: yogurt, water, ice, sugar and salt.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many glasses does this make?
The Daily Star doesn't give a yield or define its cup, so we don't state a number of glasses or servings. Measure with one cup throughout to keep the proportions consistent.
Can I use more sugar?
Yes, up to a point. The newspaper's range is 3 to 5 tsp, and this recipe uses 3 tsp as the starting point.
Can I use milk instead of water?
Not in this version, which uses water. Milk appears in the ingredient list of the separate Zurana's Recipes sweet lassi, but that recipe's method says water, so we did not adopt it.
Can I make it with homemade yogurt or raw milk?
This recipe doesn't cover either one. It is written only for purchased, ready-to-eat plain yogurt made from pasteurized milk.
Can I add mango, lemon, mint or spices?
Those are not part of this plain sweet lassi. The newspaper treats mango and orange as different flavors of lassi, so we don't give amounts for fruit or other additions here.
Is the yogurt on top required?
No. The topping is optional, and the drink is complete without it. If you use it, take it from extra yogurt rather than from the 1 cup in the blender.
Is sweet lassi good for my health?
We make no health claims for this drink and don't provide nutrition values. If you have a milk allergy or other dietary restriction, check the labels and choose accordingly.
Sources
- The Daily Star, "My summer drink." Basis for this recipe's ingredients, the 3 to 5 tsp sugar range, the optional plain yogurt, the high-speed blending until frothy, the summer context, and the distinction between sweet, salted and mango or orange flavors. The issue header reads Tuesday, 19 April 2011, and that date is used here rather than the one suggested by the web address. https://childrights.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/2011/04/03/centre.htm
- Zurana Masud, Zurana's Recipes, "Sweet Lassi/Sweet Yogurt Drinks." Used only as a comparison: a separate sweet lassi listed under Bangladeshi cuisine, with tok doi, cool milk, sugar, black salt and lemon juice, whose ingredient list and method disagree on milk and water. https://zuranazrecipe.com/?p=4070
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan), "家庭でできる食中毒予防の6つのポイント" (Six points for preventing food poisoning at home). General guidance on hygiene, clean utensils, label checks, refrigeration at 10°C or below, cold service and avoiding long periods at room temperature. It is not specific to lassi and does not set a storage period for it. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/syokuchu/01_00006.html
