Homemade Labneh Dip
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What is Labneh Dip?
Labneh is a popular Middle Eastern yogurt with a tangy, thick, and creamy texture similar to whipped cream cheese. Labneh dip is basically made by straining whole milk yogurt until it loses most if its liquid. The longer you strain it, the thicker it will get.
The Ingredients in Homemade Labneh Dip:
Yogurt. Labneh is usually made with full fat whole milk yogurt, but can be made with low fat yogurt as well. Use any plain yogurt including Greek yogurt.
Salt. A pinch of salt. I like to add salt after the yogurt is stained and turned into Labneh, but feel free to mix it with yogurt before the straining process.
How to Make Labneh Dip:
(Detailed recipe with printable option in recipe card below)
Making homemade labneh is super easy. Now if you really want to make this recipe from scratch, you can follow my recipe to make your own homemade yogurt and turn it into Labneh. Otherwise, just buy your favorite brand of full fat whole milk yogurt. To make this dip- Line a medium sized colander with a linen cloth or several layers of cheesecloth and place the lined colander into another fitted medium sized bowl. Pour yogurt over the cloth and cover gently with the overhang of the linen or cheesecloth. After several hours, the whey strains out, leaving you with a delicious thick spreadable cheese. This will take anywhere from 8-24 hours, depending on how thick you like you labneh to be- I usually leave it overnight. Some people have found success by hanging the cheese cloth filled with yogurt from the kitchen faucet and letting it drain into the kitchen sink. I personally have never tried this method, although it does sound cool!
How to store this Labneh spread:
Store homemade labneh in the fridge in a sealed container topped with extra virgin olive oil for up to 2 weeks. You can also freeze it without the oil, by placing it in an airtight freezer container without the olive oil for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before serving.
More Easy Dip Recipes:
This recipe was originally shared on the blog on March 8, 2018 and has been updated now to include new photos. Here’s the original photo!
Step By Step to Making this Labneh Recipe
Yield: 8
Homemade Labneh Dip Recipe
Prep Time
5 minutes
Additional Time
1 day
Total Time
1 day 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs plain whole milk yogurt
- 3/4 tsp salt- or to taste
Instructions
- Line a medium sized colander with a linen cloth or several layers of cheesecloth.
- Place the lined colander into another fitted medium sized bowl. The second bowl severs as a drainage basin. Make sure the colander sits in high in the bowl, leaving space for the drained fluid to collect below the colander. This colander works great.
- Pour the yogurt mixture into the cheesecloth lined colander.
- Cover gently with the overhang of the linen or cheesecloth.
- Drain for 24 in the fridge.
- Remove strainer from bowl; discard stained water
- Scoop labneh into a bowl; stir in salt.
- Top with extra virgin olive oil.
- Serve and enjoy!
If you’ve tried this healthy Middle Eastern Yogurt Dip or any other recipe on The Salt and Sweet Kitchen, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram or Facebook.