Yogurt Cheese Marinated in Olive Oil: A Mediterranean Treat

Use this guide to learn how to add to the variety of cultured products in your home by making your own nutritious yogurt cheese marinated in olive oil.

Are you looking into dairy animals for your homestead and need recipes that use up a lot of milk? Whether you’ve purchased a dairy cow or want to make cheese from store-bought milk, you are in the right place.

Why I Love Yogurt Cheese Marinated in Olive Oil

Yogurt cheese marinated in olive oil (aka Labneh) is a delicious way not only to make homemade dairy products practical but also to boost your immune system with good bacteria from fermented foods. 

In our home, we often refer to it as “Dream Cheese” because its dreamy consistency makes for a delicious appetizer served with crackers and vegetables or an easy lunch served with a couple of slices of fresh artisan bread. 

The fermentation process can preserve the cheese for up to a year, but it’s so delicious that we always consume it long before then. Whether you call it yogurt cheese marinated in olive oil, cheese balls, labneh, or dream cheese, it’s bound to become a staple recipe in your pantry, too.

What Is Labneh

Labneh is a soft cheese made from cow’s milk that originates from Middle Eastern cuisine. You can substitute sheep or goat milk, but I recommend making chevre cheese (or goat cheese) if you have goat’s milk on hand.

You might be wondering if Labneh and cream cheese are the same thing, but they are not. Though many of these products can be used interchangeably, here’s a quick comparison to better understand Labneh versus other dairy products:

Product	Base Ingredient	Texture	Common Uses
Labneh	Strained Yogurt	Creamy, Spreadable	Meze Platters, Spreads, Dessert Toppings
Greek Yogurt	Strained Yogurt	Thick, Creamy	Breakfast Bowls, Smoothies, Snacks
Cream Cheese	Cow’s Milk	Soft, Spreadable	Bagels, Frosting, Dips

This recipe for yogurt cheese marinated in olive oil uses Labneh, but you can substitute a soft cheese you have made from kefir or clabbered milk. The entire process takes a few days, but the active work on each of those days is just a few minutes.

How to Serve Yogurt Cheese Marinated in Olive Oil

You can use yogurt cheese marinated in olive oil the same way you would use any other soft cheese such as ricotta, cream cheese, etc. It’s delicious on homemade crackers, crusty bread, spread onto bagels, or even sliced on top of a green salad.

Here are some popular ways to enjoy this versatile cheese.

Serving Style	Ingredients	Details
Spread on Bread	Crusty Bread, Fresh Herbs	Spread the cheese on slices of fresh baguette and garnish with thyme or oregano.
With Fresh Vegetables	Bell Peppers, Cucumbers, Cherry Tomatoes	Arrange veggies around a bowl of marinated yogurt cheese for a healthy option.
Cheese Board	Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Olives, Crackers	Include the cheese with a variety of Mediterranean accompaniments.
Garnished	Toasted Pine Nuts, Honey	Top the cheese with pine nuts or a drizzle of honey for added elegance.

How to Make Yogurt Cheese Marinated in Olive Oil

Supplies Needed

• Unbleached Muslin – I used a true cheesecloth. When I say “true cheesecloth,” I’m not talking about the cloth that looks a lot like gauze. You should not use that product for cheesemaking. You will need a cloth that is made from unbleached muslin. A food-grade muslin bag that is for making Greek yogurt, leftover muslin from a sewing project, or butter muslin all work well, as does cheesecloth with a thread count of 50 or more. If you don’t have any of these, you can use an old plain white T-shirt. You will just need to properly prepare it by washing it thoroughly and then boiling it to make sure the residual detergent is rinsed out.
• Large Bowl & Colander – Make sure your bowl is large enough for the colander to fit inside.
• Kitchen String – This is just twine or cotton string.
• Small Bowl – You can use the larger bowl to catch the whey, but a second smaller bowl will save counter space.
• Mason Jar – The size of your jar depends on the amount of cheese you intend to make. I use a half-gallon jar because I make several batches over the course of a few days, and keep adding to my jar. If you plan to make just one batch, a quart jar should be sufficient.
• Clean Hands – It is important to use freshly clean hands whenever working with a cultured product. This will prevent foreign bacteria from interfering with the cultures already present in your food product.

Ingredients Needed

• Yogurt, Kefir or Clabbered Milk – We make our own yogurt, but if you don’t have homemade yogurt, you can buy a quality yogurt from the store. Look for plain yogurt (not flavored or sweetened) without thickeners like pectin, milk powders, or gelatin. The ingredients should simply be milk and live active cultures. We make kefir by the half-gallon every day during the dairy season. We use it for smoothies or to culture cheese instead of buying a store-bought culture. If you don’t know what clabbered milk is, go ahead and check out our video on clabbered milk.
• Salt – You will need 1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of yogurt, clabbered milk, or kefir you begin with. Salt not only enhances flavor but also acts as a preservative, inhibiting the growth of bad bacteria so that the cultures already present can continue to develop. Homesteading Hack: We love Redmond Real Salt. Using that link for Redmond Salt will automatically give you 15% off your order!
• Herbs and Spices – The moisture from fresh herbs will cause spoilage, so make sure to use fully dried herbs in this recipe. Feel free to play around with this recipe and use any savory seasonings of your choice.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Use the best quality organic extra virgin olive oil your budget can afford.

Step-by-Step Directions

1. Line the colander with cloth, and pour in the yogurt, clabbered milk, or kefir. I had all three on hand but chose to use the kefir and save the yogurt for breakfast and the clabbered milk for making homemade raw milk cottage cheese, plus as a treat for our backyard egg-laying chickens. 
2. Cut about three feet of string, bring the ends together, tie in a knot, and then loop the string through itself to make a slip knot (demonstration at 5:00 in the video). 
3. Gather muslin on all sides to make a pouch for the yogurt, clabbered milk or kefir at the bottom. Slip the string over the ends of the muslin and pull tight. 
4. Lift the pouch out of the colander and hang it to allow the whey to drain out through the muslin. I use the cup hooks in my pantry to hang the pouch, and a small bowl sits below it to catch the whey as it drains. 
5. Allow the pouch to hang for 12-24 hours. 
6. Remove the whey from the hook, drain any whey that has collected in the bowl, and open the pouch. At this point, you have what is called “labneh.” You can eat this soft cheese as it is, seasoned with salt and herbs and served on crackers or topped with jam, fruit preserves, or even seasonal fruit. We are going to move onto the next stage, though, to make our cheese into yogurt cheese marinated in olive oil. 
7. Add salt, and mix thoroughly with a spoon, removing all cheese that has adhered to the muslin as you go. 
8. Gather the ends of the muslin, make a pouch again, and secure it with the string. Resist the temptation to not use your cheesecloth at this point. It may seem messy, but the original cheesecloth has now been inoculated with good bacteria. By switching to clean cheesecloth, you will reduce the strength of the good bacteria, making it easier for the bad bacteria to cause spoilage. 
9. Hang for another 24 hours to allow the salt to pull out as much residual moisture as possible. This is an important safety step before marinating in olive oil because moisture under the oil will spoil. 
10. Remove from the hook, drain any whey that collects in the bowl, open the pouch, and remove the cheese from the cloth into the bowl. 
11. With clean hands, form cheese into 2” balls, roll in the seasoning of choice and place in a clean jar. 
12. Pour in enough olive oil to completely submerge the cheese, and cover with a lid. 
13. For best results, allow the cheese to marinate for a week before consuming. The cheese is safe to eat right away, but waiting will allow the flavor to fully develop. 

Storing Yogurt Cheese Marinated in Olive Oil

If you have cold storage that stays consistently cool (50-65°F), you can store the jar of cheese on the shelf as long as the olive oil stays above it.

You can also store the cheese in the refrigerator. However, the olive oil will solidify, and you’ll want to allow the container to come back to room temperature before trying to scoop out the cheese. 

If you try scooping them out when everything is solid, you’ll end up with some cheese and some oil and make a big mess. Trust me when I say let this come up to room temperature for about an hour before getting the cheese out.

Did you make this recipe? If you did, please leave a star⭐rating and your comments on the recipe card below. We’d also love to see your finished yogurt cheese, so tag us on social media @homesteadingfamily.

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