Garlic and herb labneh balls keep for a month in the fridge when submerged in olive oil, and plain labneh balls keep for up to two months! Serve as part of a delicious mezze platter or squash them onto your morning toast for a delightful spread.
Servings20 balls
Ingredients
- 4 cups full-fat yoghurt (Greek-style yoghurt is perfect)
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
For garlic and herb labneh (optional)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
To preserve labneh balls in olive oil (optional)
- 2 cups extra virgin olive oil or more to submerge labneh balls
Instructions
Make labneh
- Mix 1 teaspoon salt with the yoghurt. Balance a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and line the strainer with muslin (cheesecloth) – leaving a large enough overhang of cloth to secure the yoghurt inside. Spoon the yoghurt and salt mixture into the muslin-lined strainer. Secure the yoghurt inside the muslin by folding it or tying it with string. Yoghurt should not leak out. Instead, liquid whey should strain through the fabric. Place a heavy object on top of the secured yoghurt to speed up straining.
- Place everything in the fridge and leave the yoghurt to strain for 24 to 48 hours until the labneh is thick – almost like cream cheese. Be sure that there is enough room for the liquid to collect without touching the yoghurt – discard liquid as needed.
Flavour the labneh (optional)
- Once the labneh is thick enough to roll into rough balls, place the labneh in a bowl and add the garlic powder, dried herbs, and salt to taste – I add ½ teaspoon salt. Mix very well with a fork until the herbs are distributed evenly.
Roll the labneh balls
- With lightly oiled hands, roll the labneh into rough even-sized balls. I use a heaped tablespoon – between 20 and 30 grams – per ball.
- Place the rough labneh balls on a plate lined with a clean, damp tea towel or muslin. Refrigerate it to set overnight (or for at least 2 hours).
- Remove the balls from the fridge and, again using lightly oiled hands, smooth over the labneh balls by applying gentle pressure and rolling the labneh balls between your palms.
Storing labneh balls
- Refrigerate the balls in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Or preserve them in olive oil. Place half a cup of extra virgin olive oil in a sterilised, sealable jar. Drop in the first few labneh balls and cover with olive oil. Repeat until the container is filled and all the labneh balls are completely submerged in olive oil. Refrigerate garlic and herb labneh balls in olive oil for up to 1 month, or plain labneh balls in olive oil for up to 2 months.
Notes
- For more in-depth notes on making labneh, see this post on how to make labneh.
- Different yoghurts will have different labneh yields. The yoghurt I use yields about 2 cups of labneh. I use roughly 1½ teaspoons of dried herbs per cup of labneh.
- You can use fresh herbs if you plan on eating the labneh balls within a few days. Don't store fresh herbed labneh balls in olive oil.
- When you refrigerate the labneh balls in olive oil, the olive oil will eventually solidify. Simply leave it at room temperature for an hour for the oil to soften before fishing out the labneh balls. Return the jar to the fridge until needed again.