Labneh
Ingredients
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- 32 ounces plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- extra-virgin olive oil – for serving
Instructions
1. In a bowl, whisk 32 ounces plain whole-milk yogurt with 1 teaspoon fine sea salt until smooth.
2. Line a fine-mesh sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth and set it over a deep bowl. Scrape the salted yogurt into the lined sieve and fold the cloth over the surface.
3. Refrigerate and drain until thick and spreadable, 12–24 hours, emptying the collected whey once or twice as needed. The labneh is ready when it holds soft peaks and no whey drips when spooned.
4. Transfer the labneh to a clean container and stir to smooth. For a firmer cheese suitable for shaping into balls, continue draining up to 48 hours.
5. To serve, spread the labneh in a shallow bowl and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil (for serving) over the top. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Labneh is a thick, tangy strained yogurt cheese with a creamy, spreadable texture and a clean, lactic brightness. It’s rich but refreshing, taking on a luxurious mouthfeel that sits between Greek yogurt and cream cheese. On the table, it’s often swooshed into a shallow bowl, glossed with olive oil, and accompanied by warm flatbreads and crisp vegetables.
Rooted in the Levant, labneh developed as a practical way to preserve dairy by removing whey. It’s a staple of mezze across Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan, and it appears at breakfast, lunch, and as a condiment alongside grilled meats. In rural traditions it’s sometimes drained further and rolled into balls, then packed in olive oil for longer keeping, a method that helped it travel and spread throughout the broader Middle East.