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    Home » Recipes » Dips

    Published: Sep 24, 2016 · Modified: Oct 1, 2020 by Usha Rao

    Labneh

    Labneh is a popular spread/dip in the Middle East, prepared with yogurt. It is thick yogurt which looks like cheese. Yogurt is drained overnight or longer by hanging it in a cheesecloth. It is served as a dip with pita or with vegetables. It also makes a great spread for sandwiches.

    Blogging Marathon, Cooking Carnival, Protein Rich Food, Cooking With Protein Rich Ingredients, Cooking With Yogurt, Cooking with Curds,  Middle Eastern Food, Middle Eastern Dip, Labneh,  Spread,

    Labneh is usually prepared with full fat yogurt and have read online that it tastes better with homemade yogurt. I tried to make it with homemade yogurt but I had nonfat. Once I put nonfat yogurt in the cheesecloth, it just drained through the cloth :p Hence I used Greek yogurt. I let it drain in the fridge for almost 2 days.

    Blogging Marathon, Cooking Carnival, Protein Rich Food, Cooking With Protein Rich Ingredients, Cooking With Yogurt, Cooking with Curds,  Middle Eastern Food, Middle Eastern Dip, Labneh,  Spread,

    For today's lunch, I replaced cheese with some labneh in a very simple cucumber tomato chickpeas salad. I really liked labneh with crunchy vegetables and chickpeas. Greek yogurt is rich in protein and 1 cup 2% yogurt has 23 grams of protein, 46% of daily value with 170 calories. This is the last yogurt recipe for this week, in this Cooking Carnival. I will be back on Monday with another protein rich ingredient.

    Blogging Marathon, Cooking Carnival, Protein Rich Food, Cooking With Protein Rich Ingredients, Cooking With Yogurt, Cooking with Curds,  Middle Eastern Food, Middle Eastern Dip, Labneh,  Spread,

    Ingredients:

    • 1 cup 2% Greek Yogurt
    • Few drops Lime Juice
    • ⅛ - ¼ tsp. Salt
    • ¼ - ⅓ cup Extra Olive Oil (depending on how it is served)
    • Herbs (I used 1 teaspoon each of chopped fresh mint and cilantro)

    Preparation:

    • Take yogurt, salt, lime juice in a bowl and mix until combined.
    • Take a cheesecloth and fold it in 3-4 layers. I used one cheesecloth. Place yogurt and tie a knot. Carefully glide a wooden spoon in that knot such that the yogurt cheesecloth is hanging on the handle of the spoon. Place wooden spoon on a high bowl such that whey from the yogurt drips into the bowl. Put it in the fridge. Below pictures is not clear but this how I placed it.
    • Let the yogurt drain overnight to up to 2 days. For Greek yogurt overnight to a day will suffice.
    • Next day squeeze cheesecloth to remove any whey this is still hanging on the cloth, transfer yogurt to a bowl.
    • If using as dip, season with herbs and spices, add 2 tablespoon of oil and mix. Taste and add salt. It is ready to use as dip and also as a spread for sandwiches.
    • If using in salads, crumble and add to salads.
    • Storage - The dip will stay good in the refrigerator upto a week. If you want to store it longer, don’t add any seasoning. Shape it into small balls. In a storage container, take about ¼ - ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, add finely chopped fresh herbs. I used about 1 teaspoon each of mint and cilantro. Herbs should be chopped finer than what you see in the pictures. Add labneh balls to oil, store in the fridge. This is the first time I made labneh at home but from what I read online, these labneh balls stay fresh upto a month in the refrigerator.

    Suggestions:

    • I wished I spiced labneh with either little bit of black pepper powder or chili flakes. Another spice would be zaatar spice blend as it is a middle eastern spice, that might be an interesting spice to spice up labneh.
    • I used cilantro & mint and other herbs one could use are parsley or basil.

    Salad

    • I used 2 mini cucumbers slices, 10 grape tomatoes cut in half, ½ small red onion slices, 4-5 labneh cut crumbled into 2-3 pieces, ¼ cup cooked chickpeas, little bit of pepper powder, salt, few drops of lime juice, finely chopped mint and cilantro, and some extra virgin olive oil. Toss everything and serve. Add salt just before serving.

    This day in 2008 - Broccoli Moong Dal Stir Fry
    This is day in 2014: Ukrainian Vushka
    This day in 2015: Lablabi ~ Chickpeas Soup from Tunisia

    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68

    Here is a recap of Cooking Carnival. I will be back on Monday with a new ingredient.

    Week 1 - Eggs
    Day 1 - Spicy Bombay Toast
    Day 2 - Steamed Eggs Curry
    Day 3 - Baked Omelet

    Week 2 - Moong Bean/Dal
    Day 1 - Ram Ladoo
    Day 2 - Moong Dal Laddu ~ Pesaru Pappu Muddalu
    Day 3 - Moong Dal Vegetable Rice ~ Khichdi
    Day 4 - Homemade Sprouts & Spouts Stir Fry
    Day 5 - Moong Dal Dhokla
    Day 6 - Sprouted Moong Beans Chaat

    Week 3 - Chicken
    Day 1 - Chicken Kheema
    Day 2 - Doro Wat ! Ethiopian Chicken Stew
    Day 3 - Desi Style Chicken Soup
    Day 4 - Penne Pasta with Hot Italian Chicken Sausage
    Day 5 - Buttermilk Fried Chicken
    Day 6 - Chicken Curry with Cashew Powder

    Week 4 - Yogurt
    Day 1 - Daddojanam ~ Yogurt Rice
    Day 2 - Dahi Vada
    Day 3 - Potlakaya Pachadi ~ Snake Gourd in Yogurt Sauce
    Day 4 - Rose Flavored Yogurt ~ Rooh Azfa Shrikand
    Day 5 - Fenugreek Flavored Buttermilk ~ Menthi Majjiga

    [inlinkz_linkup id=648419 mode=1]

    « Rose Flavored Yogurt ~ Rooh Afza Shrikand
    Shrimp Dum Biriyani »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      October 26, 2016 at 8:23 am

      The labneh looks wonderful and I love how you replaced it for cheese in a salad. Would work great with many dishes. Bookmarking to make soon.

      Reply
    2. themadscientistskitchen says

      October 24, 2016 at 12:42 pm

      Looks yum. Will try for our sandwiches

      Reply
    3. cookingwithsapana says

      October 14, 2016 at 5:53 am

      I also make labneh at home.Yous looks so perfect.

      Reply
    4. Sowmya:) says

      October 13, 2016 at 9:49 am

      Yum yum yum ....it looks gorgeous. I am off to put the curd in the cheesecloth right away!

      Reply
    5. Smruti | Herbivore Cucina says

      October 11, 2016 at 5:49 pm

      Bookmarked to make this for our next Greek dinner!! Such an amazing recipe and perfect pictures too.

      Reply
    6. Nalini says

      October 05, 2016 at 12:51 pm

      You made the labneh at home,never knew it can be made at home.Great clicks and the salad looks so colorful and must have tasted so so delicious with the homemade lebnah..

      Reply
    7. Pavani says

      October 03, 2016 at 6:39 pm

      Wow you made your own labneh. That is awesome. I bought some from Turkish grocery and absolutely loved how creamy and delicious it tastes. Didn't know that it can be even made at home.

      Reply
    8. Suma Gandlur says

      October 01, 2016 at 5:04 pm

      Lab eh preparation sounds simple and love that healthy colorful salad.

      Reply
    9. srividhya says

      September 28, 2016 at 2:35 pm

      absolutely gorgeous and needless to say its very inviting. Bookmarking to try it out soon.

      Reply
    10. Vaishali Sabnani says

      September 28, 2016 at 12:40 am

      Awesome..I love Labneh specially when it is soaked in oil..I made it for one of the previous BM's where I used Dukka to spice it up..Dukka is a Egyptian spice mix.

      Reply
    11. Harini-Jaya R says

      September 27, 2016 at 8:57 pm

      The hung curd looks very attractive. And the salad looks equally tempting.

      Reply
    12. Kalyani says

      September 26, 2016 at 12:46 am

      great job with yoghurt, must say 🙂 this looks relish ! my elder would love the salad as well as the flavoured labneh - perfect for the summer days !

      Reply
    13. Priya Suresh says

      September 25, 2016 at 2:28 pm

      Now am tempted to prepare Labneh at home, fantastic post Usha, will give a try very soon.

      Reply
    14. Deepa - Veg Indian Cooking says

      September 25, 2016 at 2:35 am

      This looks so healthy and delicious. Great share dear!

      I'm following you in g plus... The way you do the food presentation is simply awesome..

      Would be very much delighted... if you can visit my blog page.... Thanks .

      Reply
    15. Gayathri Kumar says

      September 25, 2016 at 12:20 am

      When I made labneh, my daughter spread it on crackers and enjoyed it. Yours with the salad looks so delectable..

      Reply

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    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

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