Sprinkled with fresh pomegranate seeds and served with pita chips – this easy labneh recipe is the perfect appetizer or can be served as part of a mezze platter.
Unless you’re buying the labneh, it is made overnight but keeps in your fridge for a month.
2 cups labneh (store-bought or home-made) replace that with 3 cups yogurt to make it from scratch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tbsp chopped pistachios (toasted preferably but optional)
1 tbsp chopped pitted Kalamata olives
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup Za’atar spice
2/3 cup Moroccan olive oil extra virgin
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
For the Za’atar Pita Chips:
2 large Pita breads (not Greek style) cut up into wedges
2 tablespoons Za’atar spice
1/4 cup good Moroccan olive oil
Making labneh from scratch
Start with the Greek full-fat yogurt. Mix it with the salt
Pour the yogurt/salt mixture over a cheesecloth in a sieve placed over a large bowl. Squeeze it out as best as you can to remove any moisture from the yogurt.
Place the cheesecloth with squeezed yogurt over the sieve overnight in the fridge squeezing as often as you can. This should take between 8 – 24 hours
Now remove the sieve and discard the excess water.The labneh cheese should be well dried out and has turned into a dry thick creamy paste like tangy cheese.
Pita chips
The easiest thing to make when you’re out of crackers is pita chips. They take less than 8 minutes in the oven and come out super crisp super thin and packed with flavor.
You’ll need quality olive oil here to taste the flavor of the za’atar, pita chips and labneh.
Start by cutting off your pita chips into wedges.
The best way to do that is to cut each pita bread in half, and then cut each half into three wedges. Another thing is to separate the layers in your pita bread. That way you have paper thin chips.
Mix together together the olive oil, za’atar and salt
Take a brush and thoroughly brush the chips with the mixture
Bake the chips at 350 for 6-7 minutes until crisp
Labneh dip
In a small bowl, add in the chopped mint, pistachios, olives, pepper flakes, za’atar spice and olive oil. Mix well.
Spread your labneh on a flat plate mounding the labneh to about an inch high. Swirl so there are dips and mounds, so the topping looks attractive when spooned over.
Spoon the topping ingredients over the top of the labneh and allow it to drip from the sides.
Sprinkle with some pomegranate seeds