Creamy Labneh with Olive Oil & Za’atar 🌿🥄

Description

Thick, tangy strained yogurt swirled into soft peaks, flooded with fruity olive oil, za’atar, and herbs—scoopable mezze in 10 minutes. 🫒

Hook
Strain overnight, salt just right, then serve extra-cold so every swipe of pita leaves a glossy trail of oil and spice. 🔥

Ingredients

• 🥛 Full-fat plain yogurt (at least 3.5% fat): 1 kg (4 cups / 2.2 lb)
• 🧂 Fine salt: 6 g (1 tsp / 0.21 oz)
• 🫒 Extra-virgin olive oil (for topping): 45 ml (3 tbsp / 1.5 fl oz)
• 🌿 Za’atar: 10 g (2 tbsp / 0.35 oz)
• 🍋 Lemon zest (optional): 2 g (1 tsp / 0.07 oz)
• 🌱 Fresh parsley or mint, finely chopped: 10 g (¼ cup / 0.35 oz)
• 🫒 Extra olive oil, for serving: 15 ml (1 tbsp / 0.5 fl oz)
• 🥒 To serve: warm pita or flatbread, sliced cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes

Preparation

1. 1️⃣ Salt the yogurt — In a bowl, whisk yogurt with salt until smooth.
2. 2️⃣ Strain — Line a sieve with a clean cheesecloth, thin dish towel, or 2–3 layers of paper towel. Set over a bowl, scrape in the yogurt, gather cloth edges, and tie loosely. Refrigerate 12–24 h until about ⅓ of the liquid drains and yogurt is very thick like soft cream cheese.
3. 3️⃣ Shape & chill — Discard whey. Transfer labneh to a shallow bowl; spread and swirl with the back of a spoon to make deep grooves. Chill at least 30 min before serving so it’s very cold.
4. 4️⃣ Top — When ready to serve, drizzle the surface with olive oil, letting it pool in the grooves. Sprinkle za’atar, lemon zest (if using), and fresh herbs over the top. Finish with a last thread of olive oil.
5. 5️⃣ Serve — Serve immediately with warm pita and crunchy vegetables for scooping. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days.

Total Time

⏱️ Prep: 10 min
🔥 Cook/Hands-on: 0 min
😌 Strain/Chill: 12–24 h
🕒 Total: 12 h 10 min+

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