THE GREEN LINE GUIDE TO...
Spiced Labneh with chickpeas and nuts
Chef Mehyo El Jawhary shows how to plate spiced labneh with chickpeas and nuts.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
SAHAANA RANGANATHAN
Toronto Metropolitan University Master of Journalism graduate with a passion for community-based storytelling. Currently living in the Annex. Always down to get matcha or milk tea.Â
ANTHONY LIPPA-HARDY
Mississauga native currently studying journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University. Loves to explore different visual mediums to tell impactful stories that need to be seen.Â
Sept. 15, 2025
With files from Lucas Bustinski and Amartya Smaran.
Craving a fresh yet filling dish that can be done in 15 minutes?
This recipe is for you. Chef Mehyo El Jawhary shared with us a recipe based on labneh, a strained and salted yogurt that's a staple in Lebanese households. His twist on the dish is adapted from a meal his grandfather used to make him.
“The memory of tasting it the first time is ingrained in my brain forever," El Jawhary says. "Every time I do something culinary, I think about that dish. It's so good and well-balanced. It has acid, it has salt, it has umami, it has fat. It has everything.”Â
Want to make El Jawhary's recipe? Watch his video below, download the PDF of his recipe, or scroll down for the step-by-step instructions.
Ingredients
To make this recipe, you'll need:
- 2 cups of labneh
- 1 bunch of dill
- 2-3 stems of green onions
- 3-4 tbsp of pickle juice
- 1 tsp of lemon juice
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of nuts of your choice (for example, sesame seeds and walnuts)
- 1/2 cup of chickpeas (boiled for half an hour, then rinsed)
- 1/2 tsp of chili flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
If you're making your own labneh, you'll need:
- 1 cup of whole Greek yogurt Â
- 1 tsp of salt
The ingredients, from top left to bottom right: Chili flakes in oil, olive oil, salt, black pepper, boiled chickpeas, labneh or strained yogurt, pita bread, lemon juice and pickle juice, sesame seeds, crushed walnuts, chopped dill and green onions.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
Step 0: Make your own labneh
In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt and salt.
Scoop the mix into a cheesecloth. You can tie the cheesecloth around a wooden spoon, and then place the spoon across the top of a medium bowl so that the labneh hangs in the centre but does not touch the bottom of the bowl. You can also tie it around your kitchen sink tap.
Alternatively, you can scoop the mix into a strainer and close it.
Leave it out overnight.
The next morning, your labneh is ready. You can store it in the fridge in an airtight container, with a drizzle of olive oil.
Step 1: Prepare your spiced labneh mix
In a bowl, mix the labneh with salt, pepper, pickle juice and lemon juice. If the mixture is too thick you can add water or more pickle juice.
Finely chop the dill and the stems of the green onions. Add them to the labneh and mix well.
Step 2: Prepare your chickpeas
Boil the chickpeas for half an hour. Then rinse them in cold water and drain them.
In a pan, toast the chickpeas with some olive oil until they start to get a nice golden colour. Add the chili flakes — make sure not to burn them. Now, add the nuts of your choice and remember to toast them for a minute or two.
Step 3: Plate your dish
Plate the labneh in a dish and garnish it with the chili-toasted chickpeas and nuts.
Finish off with a generous drizzle of olive oil and enjoy with a side of pita bread.
Cost breakdown
Grocery prices will vary from one store to the other, so the costs below are just an estimate.
- Container of Greek yogurt - $7Â
- 1 kg of salt - $1.68Â
- 900 g of dry chickpeas - $3
- 100 g of crushed chilli fakes - $2.47
- Bunch of dill - $2.77
- Bunch of green onions - $0.77
- Jar of pickles - $4.83
- 1 lemon - $0.76
- 1 L extra virgin olive oil - $14
- 120 g of sesame seeds - $3
- 250 g of walnuts - $6
About the chef
Mehyeddine “Mehyo” El Jawhary is a private chef and partner of a restaurant in Lebanon. He recently moved to Toronto's West End, where he hosts pop-up dinners at Daymi restaurant on Queen Street West.
El Jawhary says that the biggest challenge people have when cooking at home is assuming that good and nutritious food requires expensive ingredients and complex techniques. But he believes you don’t need to use truffles to make a good dish, you just need to get the best quality products.Â
“'I’m a big believer that sometimes just the simple things — just three or four elements — can make an amazing dish,” he says. Â
For example, he remembers often eating tomatoes, salt, oil, some cheese and bread on the side. Â
“Simple, but the product speaks for itself,” says El Jawhary.
Fact-Check Yourself
Sources and
further reading
Don't take our word for it —
check our sources for yourself.
