If you’re like me, you love the taste of a freshly toasted bagel with a dollop of cream cheese spread thinly across, melting into the porous openings. It’s my children’s favorite too, especially on a chilly morning with a cup of cocoa. My daughter, who loves cream cheese, was a toddler when we moved from the U.S. to Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean pocket, southwest of Greece and due south of Turkey. I would complain to fellow expats about the lack of certain Western foods on the island such as cream cheese and sour cream. Finally, a Cypriot friend who had lived in the U.S. for many years suggested I try their variation: labneh. My husband (who is Cypriot) was kind of surprised I hadn’t heard about labneh before. My daughter got her fresh, toasty bread with a “cream cheese” schmear, and I got hugs from a happy toddler.
Labneh is a Middle Eastern yogurt spread packed with protein and probiotics. Made by straining yogurt to remove excess water and whey, labneh has a slightly tangier taste than traditional cream cheese but is just as creamy and spreadable. On a Lebanese table, labneh is molded into little ping-pong-sized balls and soaked in olive oil, served with pita bread and as an appetizer for guests. On a Turkish table, labneh is drizzled with olive oil and mint and served as a dip as a tangy dip. My favorite use of labneh is eating it at breakfast drizzled with local, organic honey, cinnamon and some chopped walnuts.
Labneh has a smooth consistency, spreads easily and is a bit more tangy and tart than cream cheese. It’s not as rich or heavy, and is more easily digestible, most likely because of its probiotic benefits. I was elated to find labneh in the refrigerated shelves in U.S. markets, and this is my go-to “cream cheese” in my home.
Regular cream cheese (per 2 tablespoons) has 80 calories, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of carbohydrates. Compare it with regular labneh, which has 60 calories, 6 grams of fat and 1 gram of carbohydrates.
Doesn’t sound like much of a nutritional difference? It adds up if you use it in cooking! Consider the amount of cream cheese you would use in a homemade cheesecake. Use the same amount of labneh as you would cream cheese in your favorite cheesecake recipe, and you add in the probiotic benefit. No one will know the difference, but you will know you made a healthier dessert.
Some of the benefits of labneh:
• Better consistency. Rather than coming in a rectangular block, labneh is creamier, softer and spreads easily.
• Filled with probiotics because it is made from Greek yogurt.
• Good source of protein (10 grams per 3-ounce serving versus 6 grams for cream cheese).
• Longer shelf-life: Cream cheese gets moldy after a couple of weeks. Because of the live bacteria and probiotics, a tub of labneh can last weeks.
• Increased versatility: I use labneh as a cream cheese substitute on bagels and to make cheesecake. However, it is lovely as a spread with mint and olive oil sprinkled on top. It is generally served with warm pita or lavash bread. Add it to your cheese plate for dinner guests and watch them marvel.
Like natural Greek yogurt (sans all the sugary flavors) became a huge phenomenon in the West and replaced mayonnaise as a superior alternative in the last eight years, I predict labneh will do the same to cream cheese and become more mainstream the coming years. Once unheard of, I now find labneh at specialty grocers, Middle Eastern grocers and high-end grocers, such as Food of All Nations.
Claudia Hanna earned a bachelor of arts in economics and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and an MBA in corporate finance from Emory University. She was a management consultant for years before trading power suits for flip-flops and beach sarongs for a simpler, healthier life in Cyprus. She now writes her own blog, Live Like a Goddess.com, and is working on her book, Live Like a Goddess: Discover Your Inner Aphrodite.