Lebanese Labneh Yoghurt Balls – easy to store for 1 year or more & no refrigeration

Lebanese Labneh Yoghurt Balls

🎼Music by Sabah & Rola – Yana Yana🎼

What is Labneh??? It is a delicious, thick & tangy strained yoghurt curd-like cheese, which is eaten for breakfast, lunch & dinner across the Middle East. It’s the go-snacks for something savoury, tangy & slightly salty goodness.

Here, mummy dear likes to make home-made yoghurt known as laban, which she turns into Labneh & left in the fridge. Or golf-sized ball shapes in sterilised jars & topped with extra virgin olive oil. They can last for a year in a cupboard. After the balls have all been eaten, the oil is not thrown away but can be added to other meals or filtered & reused for making more Labneh balls.

There is a video already on Café Najat’s page on how to make home-made yoghurt.

2 kg natural /bio yoghurt – home-made or 2 x 1kg shop-bought yoghurt
1 tbsp salt
750ml – 1 ltr olive oil (personal choice to have extra virgin or blended olive oils)

Equipment needed:
Large plastic or glass bowl
Plastic metal sieve
2 x 20×20 inch Muslin cloth or bag for cooking (can be purchased from Amazon)
3 x 300ml sterilised jars with lids & labels

‼️This is a 2-stage process. First you make labneh, which is extremely thick & tangy strained yoghurt curd-like cheese. From this you then make 2nd stage with golf-sized shaped balls, which you place in jars & fill up with oil.
🥘Start off by preparing equipment to strain yoghurt from. It’s important to use either glass, stainless steel or plastic items. Anything else may have a risk of rust or eroding.
🍶In bowl, add yoghurt & salt, gently stir then pour or spoon in yoghurt onto cloth/bag. Tie securely then leave overnight either on kitchen counter in cool area or in fridge. This may take 24-48 hours to strain the whey (water) from the yoghurt.
🥛After 24 hours, check strained yoghurt by taking a tsp & roll into a small ball. If it doesn’t feel like a dough ball or it’s still clammy/ wet moist texture, put back, tie again & strain for another 24 hours.
🍥After checking again next day, prepare another muslin cloth folded in half on worktop. This should be an area where it’s cool & left undisturbed.
⚽️Make a golf-sized shaped ball using your hands until it’s smooth & place ball onto cloth. This may make approx 21 balls. Cover with clingfilm or clear plastic sheet (like inside of cereal packet).
⏳After 24 hours, sterilise 3 jars – add 6-7 balls in each jar stacking them in & fill each one with oil to the top. Place lid on top securely. Add labels & place in cupboard – open after a week & can be stored for 1 year or more.

🎼Music by Sabah & Rola – Yana Yana🎼

⚠️All products shown are our own purchases & not sponsored ⚠️

⁉️If you have a question, please leave a comment below and I will try to help. ⁉️

✅Connect with Café Najat on social media via✅
Instagram: cafe_najat_uk
YouTube: Cafe Najat UK
Facebook: Café Najat UK
Twitter: Café Najat UK