Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Labneh with Za'atar
Thick strained yogurt swirled with olive oil and za'atar, scooped with warm taboon bread.
Palestinian · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 0 min
~267 cal · 11g protein · 14g carbs · 19g fat · 2g fiber · 9g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Labneh, yogurt strained until it is thick, tangy, and spreadable, is the cornerstone of a Palestinian breakfast, and one of the simplest pleasures of the Levantine table. Made by hanging salted yogurt in a cloth until much of its whey drains away, it sits somewhere between a yogurt and a soft cheese.
The classic way to serve it for breakfast is generous and beautiful: spread across a plate, pooled with a good amount of green olive oil, and dusted with , then scooped up with warm taboon bread. Around it go olives, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, and perhaps a little mint.
It is an unhurried, -style start to the day, a table of small plates shared and picked at rather than a single dish, in a culture where breakfast is something to linger over. Cool and tangy, labneh with is how many in the West Bank start the day.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups labneh (strained yogurt)
4 rounds taboon or pita bread
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp
1/2 cup green olives
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced
a small handful fresh mint leaves
Instructions
1
To make labneh from scratch, stir 1/2 tsp salt into 3 cups whole-milk yogurt, spoon it into a cloth-lined sieve, and hang it over a bowl in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours until thick and spreadable. Skip this if using ready labneh.
✎ Chef’s note
The longer it drains, the firmer and tangier it gets. Overnight gives a soft, scoopable labneh; a full day makes it firm enough to roll into balls.
2
Bring the labneh to cool room temperature so its flavour opens up, and warm the taboon or pita bread.
3
Spread the labneh across a shallow plate, swirling deep grooves in it with the back of a spoon.
4
Pour the olive oil generously into the grooves so it pools, then dust the whole plate with za'atar.
5
Arrange the olives, sliced tomato, cucumber, and mint around the plate.
6
Scatter a little flaked salt over the top and serve straight away, scooping the labneh, oil and za'atar up with torn warm bread.
✎ Chef’s note
Do not stir the za'atar through the labneh. It belongs on top, sitting in the olive oil, the same way it does on manakeesh. And assemble it at the last minute rather than in advance: good olive oil stiffens in the fridge and the plate loses the point of itself.
West Bank tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
West Bank. The West Bank is terraced hill country where olive oil, za'atar, and sumac define the table. Musakhan, sumac-stained onions and roast chicken on taboon bread, is the dish most tied to Palestinian identity, alongside maqluba and mounds of fresh mezze.
🗺️
Palestine. Maqluba is old enough to appear in thirteenth-century Baghdad cookbooks, so the upside-down turn is not a recent trick. Several dishes compete for the title of national dish here, which is why it is better to say a dish is often considered one than to declare it. Za'atar, the thyme-sumac-sesame mix, is made at home and differs family to family.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Palestine
MusakhanSumac-and-onion roasted chicken over olive-oil-soaked taboon bread, showered with toasted pine nuts, Palestine on a platter.
MaftoulHand-rolled Palestinian couscous simmered with chicken and chickpeas in a warmly spiced broth, a warming village dish.
QatayefLittle stuffed pancakes filled with sweet walnuts, fried or baked and soaked in syrup, the classic sweet of Ramadan.
Browse all Palestine recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best the day it is made. Wrap well and refresh in a warm oven, or freeze and reheat straight from frozen.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Labneh with Za'atar?
Thick strained yogurt swirled with olive oil and za'atar, scooped with warm taboon bread.
Where does Labneh with Za'atar come from?
Labneh with Za'atar is a Palestinian dish from West Bank, Palestine.
Can Labneh with Za'atar be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Labneh with Za'atar recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Labneh with Za'atar safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Labneh with Za'atar take to make?
About 10 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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