How To Transform Your Yogurt Parfait Into A Decadent Pie

No-recipe dishes are some of our favorites year-round, but particularly in the summertime. The warmer seasons are all about getting outdoors and enjoying the sunny weather, not spending endless hours in the kitchen laboring over a finicky list of instructions. Plus, no-recipe meals are typically customizable, difficult to mess up, and yet still completely delicious.

If you're looking for this exact type of dish this summer, try turning your yogurt parfait into a decadent pie. You'll still get all the elements you love out of a parfait: Yogurt, fruit, granola, and any other yummy tidbits you usually toss in there. But instead of layering these components in jars, you'll make a yogurt filling to spoon into a store-bought pie crust. From there, you can sprinkle on all your favorite toppings. Not only is this pie an impressively pretty dish that looks like it took a lot of effort to make, but it's simple to whip up and easily customizable, making it the ideal no-recipe dessert. Plus, you don't need to turn on your oven — just smooth the filling in the crust, and you're ready to serve.

When choosing the yogurt for your filling, consider how sweet you want it to be. Plain regular or Greek yogurt will give you more tartness, while vanilla or flavored options will bring the sweetness. If you do want to go with Greek yogurt (considering there are plenty of good reasons to), you can mix it with a sweetener (like honey, maple syrup, or agave) or spices like cinnamon and nutmeg before spooning it into your crust. For the smoothest consistency, choose cups that don't have any fruit filling in the bottom — but if you don't mind a little texture, feel free to go for versions with blueberry, strawberry, peach, or whatever taste you prefer. As for toppings, fresh fruit slices or chunks and a sprinkle of granola are no-fail options. But you can also experiment with nut butter or Nutella drizzles, chocolate or peanut butter chips, chopped nuts, pretzel pieces, coconut flakes, fruit syrup, jam, or pomegranate seeds.

While this formula is the easiest, you can transform your parfait into a dessert even more with the addition of a whipped topping (like Cool Whip). Simply stir together twice as much yogurt as (defrosted) whipped topping. Then once it's in the crust, freeze the whole thing until it's solid and add your garnishes. Whether you go with this frozen option or the creamier original, you'll be able to eat your breakfast for dessert with hardly any extra effort.