Middle East Labneh Recipe • Deliciously Versatile! | Club Foody

 

If you ask 50 people what their favorite cuisine is, most of them will give you one or two. Ask me the same question and I’ll tell you that I like them all. Although, I lean towards French, Italian 🍝, Mexican and Moroccan, there’s another one that fascinates me and it’s Middle Eastern. Its food is so tasty!
 
Not only colorful but also bold in flavor, I’ve shared many of their recipes like Shawarma, Pomegranate Molasses, Shish Tawook, Shakshouka, Falafel 🧆, Shish Kebabs, and many others plus the ones that are in backlog that I’ll be posting in the near future.
 
When it comes to smaller dishes also known as meze, mezze or mezé, there’s already a list to choose from on the site 😊. There’s Baba Ghanoush, Hummus either Red Pepper or Beet… both incredible, Tabbouleh, Kofta, Dolma, etc.
 
There’s another one among the meze that is extremely popular and it’s Middle East Labneh! It’s basically yogurt that has been strained to remove the whey which in return becomes a thick, creamy, tangy yogurt cheese similar to cream cheese. It takes not even 5 minutes to make it ⏳ with just 2 ingredients!
 
I love it because it’s incredibly delightful, versatile and healthy 💚 as well! It contains calcium, good bacteria, a great source of protein plus low in fat, low-carb and low-calorie with no added sugar. It also keeps very well in an airtight container stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
 
To successfully achieve this simple recipe is the kind of yogurt used. You need full-fat Greek-style yogurt or plain whole milk yogurt. Stay away from non-fat or low-fat… keep them for other applications. The reason is the dip will turn into a pasty, gritty texture with a sour taste to it… not appealing at all!
 
The other ingredient is salt 🧂 which helps to drain out the whey. The two combined ingredients are scooped into cheesecloths or muslin and strained for 24 hours. The hardest part of this recipe is to wait until the next day while Father Time looks after it!
 
When I make my Middle East Labneh, I line a colander with a couple cheesecloths, add the mixture to it, fold the cloths over and place in a bowl. If the colander touches the bottom of the bowl, you’ll have to tie the cheesecloths around a wooden spoon 🥄 and place the spoon across the top so the whey strains properly without making the bottom of the labneh wet.
 
From one country to another, container sizes may vary. Here in Canada 🍁, my Greek-style yogurt comes in 650 grams/23 ounces – not quite 3 cups – while in the states, grocery stores sell 32 ounces which is 4 cups. Because mine is a smaller size, I add ¾ teaspoon of ground sea salt. It’s roughly ¼ tsp. per cup therefore if your container is 32 ounces, use a full teaspoon of salt.
 
When the whey is removed, leaving you with a nice, thick, creamy texture, it’s ready to be served… well, almost! I like drizzling on extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle the top with Za’atar. There are other options to serve it; substitute honey 🍯 or pesto for oil, use other spices, add some chopped pistachios, lemon zest, etc.
 
Let’s go back to the whey…
After the yogurt is drained, don’t discard the whey and repurpose it for other recipes like in soups, smoothies or milkshakes, bread, cornbread, and muffins. Cook oatmeal, rice 🍚 or pasta with it. Reuse whey as a starter for another batch of yogurt.
 
Middle East Labneh is super easy to make with great results! This delicious creamy, tangy dip is perfect to serve with crostini, warm pitas, crackers, crudités or even man’oushe. In lieu of cream cheese, spread it over sandwiches 🥪, top pizzas with it or as an ingredient in salads. After making it a few times, you’ll find many other uses for this versatile strained yogurt cheese…
Bon Appétit! 🍽
 
Here are several more tasty dip recipes for you to enjoy… 😀
– Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip
– Pumpernickel Spinach Dip
– Six Layer Chip Dip
– Sausalito Smoked Salmon Dip
– Beer Cheese Dip
– Crab Artichoke Pepper Dip
– Pizza Dip
and for even more international recipes 🌏, click on this link… Recipe Category • International

For ingredient amounts, directions, and much more, visit ➡ https://clubfoody.com/cf-recipes/middle-east-labneh/

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