Labneh (Strained Yogurt)

Labneh is distinct from "Greek yogurt" which is another thick, strained yogurt. Greek yogurt is usually just strained overnight. This strains off most of the whey and results in a deliciously thick and creamy yogurt. Labneh takes it a step further. You add salt to the yogurt before straining and let it drain for a full 24 hours, with a weight on top. This draws out even more moisture. So, rather than having a thick, spoonable yogurt, you end up with something that's more akin to a fresh cheese. It can be used as a spread or even shaped into balls.

The recipe I have says that 500mL of plain yogurt should make ~250mL of labneh. I started with just of 1L of yogurt, and by the looks of it I'm going to end up with maybe 300mL of labneh. I suspect that the recipe authors may be used to working with richer yogurt with a higher concentration of milk solids. I did add a little bit of skim milk powder to my milk to help produce a thicker yogurt, but I think next time I'd be inclined to add some cream as well. It should still work fine regardless. Just be aware that you may lose a lot of volume depending on how rich the milk/yogurt you're starting with is.

Labneh

Slightly adapted from Our Syria by Itab Azzam and Dina Mousawi

Ingredients

• 1L plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• olive oil
• fresh mint, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. If making your own yogurt be sure to use whole milk. I recommend adding a bit of cream and/or dry milk powder as well.¹ If using store-bought yogurt, be sure that it doesn't have any gelatine or other stabilizers added as those will likely prevent it from draining properly.
2. Stir the salt into the yogurt.
3. Line a fine mesh seive with a double layer of cheesecloth and pour the salted yogurt into it.
4. Fold the cheesecloth over the yogurt and place a weight on top.²
5. Allow yogurt to drain at room temperature for a full 24 hours.
6. Once drained, it should be thick enough to handle and shape into balls. (Almost like a slightly dry ricotta.)
7. Shape into several small balls (maybe ~1 Tbsp. each) and store submerged in olive oil in the fridge or transfer to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh mint, and serve as a spread.

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¹ I used 1L of whole (3.25%) milk + 1/4 c. skim milk powder. Next time I'd probably replace 250mL of milk with cream (either 18 or 35%) as well. This version worked fine. I just ended up with a lot less labneh than expected. ^Back
2 I let my yogurt drain for several hours first. Once it had stiffened up a bit, then I folded the cheesecloth over and placed the weight on top. (This wasn't actually an intentional decision at the outset; I simply forgot that you were supposed to use a weight. But, now that I've had a chance to think about it, I think that it would've been difficult to press the very runny yogurt that I started out with. Better to let it firm up a little first and then press that. ^Back