Lassi: What It Is, Mango Lassi Nutrition and Yogurt Facts

Lassi is a chilled yogurt drink from the Indian subcontinent, made by blending yogurt with water or milk and then sweetening it, salting and spicing it, or mixing in fruit, most famously mango. If you are wondering what is lassi beyond the restaurant menu, it is close to a thin, drinkable yogurt, and its nutrition depends almost entirely on the recipe. One thing to know up front: the USDA SR Legacy database has no entry for lassi, so this guide builds mango lassi nutrition from clearly labeled USDA entries for yogurt, mango and sugar rather than inventing numbers.

Peptide Labs does not sell lassi or yogurt drinks. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

What is lassi?

Lassi is a traditional drink of Punjab and much of northern India and Pakistan. A 2026 scientific review described it as a traditional yogurt-based fermented beverage with sweet and salty versions and spiced, buttermilk-style relatives. Recipes vary by family and region, but most fall into a few types:

• Sweet lassi: yogurt blended with sugar and often cardamom or rose water.
• Salted lassi: yogurt with salt and often roasted cumin, sometimes with mint. It is savory and served with spicy meals.
• Mango lassi: yogurt blended with ripe mango or mango pulp, usually with sugar. It is the version most often found in US restaurants and grocery stores.
• Chaas and other thin, spiced drinks: closer to a diluted buttermilk, often with ginger, cumin or herbs.

Bottled lassi in US stores is a packaged dairy drink with a Nutrition Facts label, so its numbers are easy to check. Restaurant and homemade lassi vary much more, because the yogurt, fruit and sweetener amounts are up to the cook.

Mango lassi nutrition: building it from USDA entries

Because SR Legacy lists no lassi and no canned mango pulp, the table below shows the main ingredients separately, each at a standard USDA portion. The percent Daily Value (%DV) uses the FDA Daily Values printed on Nutrition Facts labels. Mango nectar is included because some recipes use canned mango products; it is not the same as mango pulp.

The math is simple addition. For example, the USDA rows for one cup of plain low-fat yogurt plus one cup of raw mango add up to about 253 calories, 14 grams of protein, about 40 grams of total sugars, 36% of the Daily Value for calcium and 69% for vitamin C. That is an illustration of how the numbers combine, not a serving suggestion; restaurant glasses can be larger or smaller, and every teaspoon of sugar adds about 16 calories and 4.2 grams of added sugar according to USDA data.

Two details matter more than people expect. First, the sugars in plain yogurt are mostly lactose, the natural milk sugar, and the sugars in fresh mango are natural fruit sugars; only sugar or syrup the cook adds counts as added sugar on a label. Second, mango nectar has far less fiber than mango pieces (0.8 grams vs 2.6 grams per cup in USDA data), so a lassi made from nectar or strained pulp loses most of the fruit fiber. Our mango guide covers the fruit in detail.

What the yogurt base brings

Most of the nutrition in any lassi comes from the yogurt. Here is one cup of plain whole-milk yogurt, the traditional base, from USDA SR Legacy.

Low-fat yogurt has less fat and, per cup, a little more protein and calcium in USDA data, as the first table shows. Strained yogurts are thicker and higher in protein; our guide to strained Greek-style yogurt compares them, and our list of calcium sources puts dairy next to other foods. A salted lassi adds sodium from the salt, which matters if you are watching sodium.

Is lassi a probiotic drink?

Sometimes, but not automatically. Under the FDA standard for yogurt, yogurt is made with two characterizing cultures, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, from dairy ingredients that are pasteurized before culturing. Yogurt can also be heat-processed after culturing to extend shelf life, and then its label must say it does not contain live and active cultures. A “contains live and active cultures” statement is allowed only when the product meets the FDA’s minimum culture count.

For lassi, that means the culture content depends on the yogurt used and how the drink is stored. A fresh lassi made from yogurt with live cultures will carry those bacteria; a shelf-stable bottled drink may not. A 2026 review of the lassi research literature noted that human studies of lassi itself are sparse, and that gut or immune effects are hypotheses inferred from broader fermented dairy research rather than confirmed lassi trials. Our guide to cultured and fermented foods, the kefir guide and our explainer on prebiotics vs probiotics cover what the research on cultured foods does and does not show, and our gut health guide puts it in context.

Lassi and lactose

Yogurt tends to be easier to digest than milk for many people with lactose maldigestion. A 2014 review in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition explained that lactose in yogurt is digested more efficiently than lactose in other dairy foods because the yogurt bacteria help break it down. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) suggests yogurt as one of the dairy foods people with lactose intolerance can try, along with lactose-free products. A lassi diluted with milk adds more lactose, so the base matters. Our lactase guide covers lactose-free options, and anyone with ongoing digestive symptoms should talk with a clinician.

Who should be careful with lassi

• Milk allergy: milk is one of the nine major food allergens under US law. Lassi is a milk drink; dairy-free versions exist, so check their labels.
• Mango sensitivity: mango peel and sap contain compounds similar to urushiol from poison ivy, which can cause a rash in sensitized people; mango lassi uses the flesh, but people who react to mango should ask an allergist.
• Added sugar: sweet and mango lassis can carry a lot of added sugar, especially from restaurants. Bottled versions list added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label.
• Raw milk: the FDA yogurt standard requires pasteurized dairy ingredients. Homemade yogurt or lassi made from raw milk does not have that safeguard.
• Sodium: salted lassi adds salt; our guide to low-sodium foods explains label terms.

Balsamic vinegar is another traditional food with strict rules behind its name; our sibling guide to balsamic vinegar covers its labels and nutrition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about a label? Contact us or read our Buyer’s Guide. Food comes first; follow the label and ask a healthcare provider before starting a supplement, especially if you take medicines, are pregnant or have a food allergy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Last reviewed October 2026.

Related guides: Balsamic Vinegar: Nutrition, Labels, Lead and Health Facts, Kefir Benefits: What Kefir Is, the Evidence and Kefir vs Yogurt, Fermented Foods: List, Benefits and Live vs Pasteurized.