Coated in a selection of spices, seeds and nuts, homemade labaneh balls (also known as labneh balls) hide within them a perfectly creamy and tangy centre.
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Homemade Labaneh - a Part of any Middle Eastern Breakfast
As befitting the land of milk and honey, no Middle Eastern or Israeli breakfast would be complete without cheese.
And though you can go and buy a selection of briny feta and Bulgarian cheeses, or chop up a good block of Swiss Emmenthaler or Jarslberg, to really stay authentic at an Israeli breakfast you need to remember only one recipe: labaneh balls (also known as labneh balls). And when it's as is as easy to make as this, who needs store-bought cheeses?!
When Faith from An Edible Mosaic and I decided to pair up and make the ultimate Middle Eastern breakfast spreads, I knew that just showing you how to make Green Shakshuka just wouldn't do the meal justice, no matter how amazing it is. I also had to let you in on this labaneh balls recipe.
What are Labaneh Balls?
Labaneh balls are, as you may have guessed, balls made of homemade labneh cheese.
Coated in a selection of spices, seeds and nuts, labaneh or labneh balls hide within them a perfectly creamy and tangy centre. They are wonderful spread on challah, sourdough buns, toasty pita, homemade bread or eaten with fresh vegetables.
At their base, labaneh balls are just spheres of strained yogurt. They came out of the necessity of nomadic life in the dessert, where tricks for preserving yogurt and making it portable were highly sought-after. Fresh milk cheeses like labaneh and feta were common, but labaneh balls were one of their fanciest and most highly prized presentations.
What is Labaneh Cheese?
Labaneh cheese is a cheese made out of drained, aged milk curd - ie, yogurt. It became popular among nomadic Levantine tribes for its ease of preparation and short incubation time, much less than most aged cheese (labaneh balls take 12-24 hours to make).
Traditional labneh cheese is made out of goat's milk yogurt. To get the true Middle Eastern flavour, you try using goat's or sheep's milk yogurt - and roll your labaneh into balls. Living in North America, I have also grown accustomed to using whole cow's milk for its ease of finding.
I also like to serve whipped labaneh cheese with pomegranate seeds, a recipe you can find in my Middle Eastern Small Plates E-Book.
Labaneh or Labneh Balls?
Both spellings are correct! Homemade labaneh or labneh cheese is originally a Middle Eastern development, eaten around the Levant (which includes Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Israel) for thousands of years.
Because labaneh and labneh are both Anglicizations of an Arabic word, you can use both names interchangeably.
Serving Suggestions
As mentioned, homemade labaneh is a part of most Middle Eastern breakfast spreads. Serve it with the best eggplant shakshuka, Breakfast Rutabaga Rösti or any of my breakfast recipes.
Labaneh balls are incredibly impressive as in a Middle Eastern appetizer platter alongside homemade lavosh crackers.
Serve homemade labneh cheese as part of a cheese platter, especially when served swimming in a pool of olive oil spiked with chilli flakes.
For more Middle Eastern small plates recipes, for small gatherings or just for your own enjoyment, check out my Middle Eastern Small Plates Cookbook.
If you're short on time, you can make like a real badass and avoid the balling and flavouring itself, and just serve labaneh cheese spread on a plate and drizzled with olive oil.
Ingredients
For Labaneh balls:
- Whole Greek yogurt, preferably goat's or sheep's milk
- Salt
- Cheesecloth
- Strainer
Coating ingredients
- Spices and flavourings of your choice:
- Chives, finely chopped
- Za'atar and sesame
- Sumac
- Paprika, smoked or sweet
- Black sesame
- Crushed walnuts
- Extra virgin olive oil, for serving
- Chilli flakes, for serving
How to make this labaneh balls recipe?
- Lay out two layers of cheesecloth over a strainer, and pour the yogurt into it. Tie the yogurt in the cheesecloth, creating a little sack that can be hung up. Hang cheesecloth with yogurt to dry over a sink for at least eight hours, and up to 24 hours. On a hot summer's day, transfer draining yogurt to the fridge after the night, and hang it in there to continue draining.
- To prepare labaneh balls, lay out each spice or flavouring on a flat plate. With well-oiled hands, roll labaneh into small balls, and then roll each ball in a different spice mixture.
- Drizzle olive oil onto a serving platter, and sprinkle with chilli flakes. Serve labaneh balls in the oil, and drizzle with a bit more oil.
- If you're short on time, avoid balling the labaneh and just serve it spread out on a plate, drizzled with olive oil, za'atar and sesame and/or sumac.
Storage
This homemade labaneh balls recipe will keep in the fridge in a jar of oil for a couple of weeks in the fridge, so feel free to make them ahead of time.
Adaptations
This labneh balls recipe is also gluten-free, keto, grain-free and low carb.
To make it vegan, use the fattiest unflavored vegan yogurt you can find. I believe you'd have good results with coconut culture yogurt, though of course the flavor will be different and less tangy.
Pair with other Middle Eastern recipes:
Recipe
Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.
Homemade labaneh balls
Equipment
- Cheesecloth: https://amzn.to/3yxefk3
- Colander or strainer: https://amzn.to/2WxGYsl
Ingredients
- 500-1000 ml Whole Greek yogurt preferably goat's or sheep's milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Spices and flavourings of your choice:
- Chives finely chopped
- Za'atar
- Sumac
- Paprika smoked or sweet, both are fine; just make sure you're using high-quality paprika
- Black sesame
- Crushed walnuts
- Extra virgin olive oil for serving
- Chilli flakes for serving
Instructions
- Lay out two layers of cheesecloth over a strainer, and pour the yogurt into it. Tie the yogurt in the cheesecloth, creating a little sack that can be hung up. Hang cheesecloth with yogurt to dry over a sink for at least eight hours, and up to 24 hours. On a hot summer's day, transfer draining yogurt to the fridge after the night, and hang it in there to continue draining.
- To prepare labaneh balls, lay out each spice or flavouring on a flat plate. With well-oiled hands, roll labaneh into small balls, and then roll each ball in a different spice mixture.
- Drizzle olive oil onto a serving platter, and sprinkle with chilli flakes. Serve labaneh balls in the oil, and drizzle with a bit more oil.
- If you're short on time, avoid balling the labaneh and just serve it spread out on a plate, drizzled with olive oil, za'atar and sesame and/or sumac.
Dina says
Love these Ksenia. Never thought of rolling them in all these lovely toppings. Thanks for sharing. Also love the look of the table with all the delicious foods on it. Makes me hungry.
kseniaprints says
Dina, looking at your blog makes me hungry EVERY TIME, so I consider this payback 😉 I'm so glad you like them!
Katie @ Whole Nourishment says
I would be over at your house in a heartbeat for this breakfast spread. I have never made labaneh balls but they look seriously good with the spices. And what a fun and unique collaboration for the ultimate Middle Eastern breakfast. I'll be taking some cues from you two for my next weekend brunch!
kseniaprints says
Katie, you are welcome ANYTIME. Seriously. And you should definitely give the labaneh balls a try - they're one of the easiest impressive appetizers to throw together (and everyone loves homemade cheese).
Berta says
I need to make these ASAP! My mum was recently thinking about how to make the dinners for special occasions at our house a little lighter and healthier, because, at least from my experience, being from Soviet Union means that the salads are loaded with mayonnaise and the desserts are rich. Of course I said that will happily help her come up with recipes and I can't wait to impress her with these 🙂
kseniaprints says
I know what you mean... Happily, after a few years in the Middle East, my parents abandoned shuba and holodetz in favour of cheese boards and chopped salad for breakfast. The grandparents were a tougher sell... But we're working on them! And with these labaneh balls, it shouldn't be hard to convince your family to give lighter dishes a try 😉
Brianna says
Oooh, these will be a great addition to snack dinner!