Smoked Labneh
This creamy, luxe, smoked labneh is made with a stovetop smoker donabe, but other stovetop smokers will work as well. The resulting flavor is unexpected and savory - a wonderful compliment to other spreads and mezze.
Continue reading Smoked Labneh on 101 Cookbooks
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Smoked Labneh
This creamy, luxe, smoked labneh is made with a stovetop smoker donabe, but other stovetop smokers will work as well. The resulting flavor is unexpected and savory - a wonderful compliment to other spreads and mezze.
[Image: author Heidi Swanson]
by Heidi Swanson
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[Image: Smoked Labneh]
If you have a stovetop smoker, or a smoker donabe (ibushi gin), smoked labneh should be high on your list of things to make. Labneh is made simply by straining yogurt. The resulting consistency is rich, creamy and beautiful. Amazing on its own, you can also incorporate herbs, spices, or other ingredients. I know the number of you with a stovetop smoker is probably slim, but I love experimenting with mine, always trying to come up with more ways to use it, especially now that we have a gas range again. A long way of saying, if you want to play around with your smoker more, I see you. I use mine for all sorts of things - nuts, cheeses, tofu, vegetables, and on and on. So I'll try to post more as I'm using it.
[Image: Smoked labneh in a bowl]
Smoked Labneh: The Inspiration
Smoked labneh has been on my list of things to make for some time now. Late last year we made a few trips to San Francisco to make sure we were ready to make the move back from LA. I would walk through the Presidio to lunch at Dalida, in part, because I love their homemade pita situation - called Breaking Bread. The pita comes with a trio of spreads (hummus, muhammara, smoked yogurt), some pickles and olives. The smoked yogurt is a show-stopper - rich, creamy, luxe. The server wasn’t sure how it was prepared but I started thinking about how to approach it once I could get my smoker unpacked. I already make homemade labneh regularly, so it wouldn't be too much of a jump. Flash forward, and I’ve made smoked labneh a number of times in the weeks since!
The Technique
I've been using a cold-smoke technique and it works nicely. It's where you keep the yogurt cold but flood the area around it with smoke. Every smoker is slightly different, so you might need to tweak your approach, but this will give you the general idea of how to think about it. You can see in my diagram below how things are layered in the smoker. Starting at the bottom: a piece of foil, wood chips, the grate, a bowl of ice and some water, the shallow container of labneh, the lid eventually goes on above that.
[Image: Illustration diagram of how to arrange labneh in smoker donabe]
You can see the aluminum foil sitting on the bottom of the smoker topped with wood chips. The foil makes for easy cleanup.
[Image: Setting up a donabe smoker with applewood chips]
Below, a stainless steel bowl of ice and some water sits on top of a grate, which keeps the bowl from having direct contact with heat or the wood chips. The labneh sits in the ice, keeping the yogurt cool through the smoking process.
[Image: Labneh in a donabe smoker in an ice bath]
Alternate approach: There's also a method for smoking Labneh in the NOPI cookbook, but I haven't attempted it yet. The labneh is formed into a puck shape and placed on a piece of parchment paper inside the smoker - no ice. They also use different aromatics for smoking (oolong tea, caraway seeds, pink peppercorn, etc). I suspect the biggest difference would be texturally, with the parchment version losing more moisture and possibly taking on more flavor because more surface area is exposed? Excited to take this version for a spin as well.
Video: How To Make Smoked Labneh
How Long Should I Smoke the Labneh?
Every smoker has its own quirks and personalities. My advice here is to take good notes. You want a nice, round, balance of smoky notes. Aim for the sweet spot between too subtle and too strong acrid (yikes). Every time I use the smoker I make note of: what I’m smoking, what type of wood chips / herbs, etc., and how long. Then note how I would increase or decrease the time in the future. Good notes are key to getting a good working relationship with your smoker. Twenty minutes seems to be the sweet spot here for the labneh using applewood chips. A similar timeframe worked well for this smoked chocolate mousse.
[Image: Donabe smoker on a gas range]
What if I don’t Have a Stovetop Smoker?
Here's what my smoker looks like, I loooove it (not sponsored). If I didn’t have my Ibushi Gin (donabe smoker) another way to get smoky flavor into the labneh might be to use a smoked salt. I’d grind it finely with a mortar and pestle and go from there. I’ve never really liked liquid smoke, so that wouldn’t be my move, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t experiment a bit as yet another approach. There could very well be better liquid smokes on the market compared to the last time I played around with it.
[Image: Smoked labneh and other mezze on a marble table]
Smoked Labneh: Serving Ideas
- Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with red gomashio (pictured above), along with candied nuts with rose water, seeded flatbread, and assorted cookies.
- In place of the poblano yogurt in this mushroom tartine.
- In place of the ricotta on this roasted mushroom sandwich.
- In place of the green chile yogurt in this sourdough galette.
- Rolled into 1-inch balls, rolled in spices, herbs, and/or seeds, and kept, refrigerated, in a jar topped off with olive oil.
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[Image: Smoked labneh, seeded flatbread, candied peanuts on a marble table]
More Yogurt Recipes
- Homemade Labneh
- Frozen Yogurt
- Pomegranate Yogurt Bowl
- Mast-o-Khiar Yogurt
- Fresh Mint Chip Frozen Yogurt
More Ways to Use Stovetop Smoker
- Smoked Chocolate Mousse
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Smoked Labneh
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I use a stovetop donabe smoker (ibushi gin) for smoking. If you’re using another smoker, follow guidance related to your specific smoker. I’ve been having good results with applewood chips here, but feel free to experiment with hickory, sakura, walnut, etc. And I’ve had great results using labneh made with both full-fat plain yogurt, and full-fat Greek yogurt. Reminder: keep good notes so you can replicate your successes!
Ingredients
cup
labneh
Instructions
Arrange 2 tablespoons (.4 ounce) wood chips across a piece of flattened aluminum foil placed in the bottom of your smoker. Place a grate above the chips so your bowl won’t be resting directly on the wood chips. See the above diagrams if this is confusing.
If your smoker has a water seal or moat, add the water now. Heat the smoker over medium heat until you start to see tendrils of smoke coming from the smoker.
In the meantime, partially fill a heat-proof bowl with ice cubes and fill 1/4 full with water. It needs to fit completely inside the smoker. In a smaller, heatproof bowl place the labneh (this is the method I use to make homemade labneh). Nestle the labneh container down into the ice cubes a bit. When you start to see smoke tendrils coming from the smoker place the nested bowls into your smoker and close it.
When you start to see a bit of smoke escaping the closed smoker, usually after a couple of minutes, turn off the heat and allow the smoker to sit for 20 minutes.
Remove the labneh from the smoker and store, refrigerated for up to a week.
Notes
Makes 1 cup.
Serves
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
30 mins
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nutrition info nutrition info
February 13, 2026
Calories 20
Fat 0.1g
Saturated Fat 0.04g
Trans Fat 0.002g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.003g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.01g
Cholesterol 2mg
Sodium 12mg
Potassium 47mg
Carbohydrates 1g
Sugar 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin A 1IU
Calcium 37mg
Iron 0.02mg
Nutrition Disclaimer: All information presented on this site is intended for informational purposes only. This nutritional information on 101cookbooks.com is auto-generated and should only be used as a general guideline, not as nutritional advice.
If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it - tag it #101cookbooks on Instagram!
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[Original source](https://www.101cookbooks.com/smoked-labneh/)