Vegan Lebanese Cucumber Yogurt Salad (Khyar Bi Laban)

It’s taken me a while to post this one up because I just didn’t like the taste of the available plant-based yoghurts, but now I am delighted to be able to release this refreshing vegan Lebanese cucumber yogurt salad. See ingredient notes below.

We call this “khyar bi laban” in Arabic which translates to “cucumbers in yoghurt” and it’s the most wonderful taste of cucumber freshness, yoghurt tanginess married with garlic. 

Lebanese cucumber yogurt salad is paired with many delicious foods, I especially love it with any type of lentils and rice or mujadara hamra which is bulgur with lentils.

It also pairs well with Lebanese spinach pies, upside down rice called Maklouba, or Lebanese purslane fatayer.

There are several variations of this salad found in differing cultures. It’s called Raita in India, Tzatziki in Greece; Gurkensalat in Germany; and Mizeria in Poland. Each region offers a different way of making it, but the main ingredients of cucumber and yoghurt are always there.

😋Why you’ll love this recipe

• Vegan and gluten free
• It’s light and very refreshing
• Super easy to prepare
• A versatile Lebanese salad that pairs with many dishes

✔️What You’ll Need

🥘Ingredient Notes

Cucumbers whilst my family always uses Lebanese cucumbers for this salad, you can use similar ones such as a telegraph (continental) cucumber. Avoid cucumbers with hard seeds, if you can’t avoid this, then scoop out the seeds and work with the flesh only. Another salad with these cucumbers is my cucumber and onion salad- I'm addicted!

Cucumber skin can be left on or peeled off. I generally will leave my skins on after a really good wash.

Natural plain yoghurt - be sure to purchase a no added sugar plant-based yoghurt, avoid ones that have strong tastes e.g., some coconut yoghurts. The Lebanese cucumber with yoghurt salad is traditionally made with “laban” a natural plain yoghurt. 

I have recently found a brand that makes a plain kefir coconut yoghurt that has a nice mild sourness to it, this is the brand. I was sceptical at first, as I haven’t been able to find one with a more neutral flavour, but this one surprised me. Whilst this brand only delivers within Sydney, I recommend finding something similar; Kefir is sour, which works perfectly in this vegan salad. Otherwise, you can make you own vegan yogurt at home.

Garlic should be fresh, generally, one decent sized crushed garlic clove gives great flavouring, however, you can adjust the amount of garlic in this Arabic salad.

Dried mint is typically what my family uses within this salad, however, you can use fresh finely chopped mint too. I prefer the dried mint, which is ground up and easier to work with, one less item to chop up. It also makes this cucumber yogurt salad interesting to look at with all the tiny dark specks running through it.

Salt - my go-to is pink himalayan salt.

🔪Step-By-Step

Let’s get to how to make cucumber yogurt salad;

Step 1 - Finely dice one large cucumber and place it in a salad bowl. Add 1 cup of vegan plain yogurt, ½-1 teaspoon of dried mint, 1 crushed garlic clove, ½ teaspoon of salt and mix together.

Step 2 - Adjust salt if required and serve cold.

💭Pro Tips

Finely diced cucumber gives a crunchy texture and is easy to eat. Typically the cucumbers are cut immediately and not drained of their water content. It’s part of the appeal to eat this Arabic salad during hot weather.

If the yoghurt you choose is too thick, it can be watered down by adding one tablespoon of water at a time until the desired consistency is achieved.

🍲Variations

On very hot days, my mother will water this salad down into more of a soup consistency. We slurp this down - so refreshing!

To do this, just add filtered water until it is very runny. Adjustment of the ingredients may be needed to ensure the flavouring is good.

❓FAQ

🍴Serving Suggestions

As mentioned previously khyar bi laban can be served with many Lebanese foods, such as falafels, and so much more.

It can also be used as a cucumber yogurt sauce which is perfect with an open faced herb omelette, or tofu scramble with potatoes or part of a wider spread called mezze.

I also like to use a gluten-free chip made from pita to dip into this delicious salad.

🥘Related recipes

If you like creamy salads, you need to try this vegan tahini salad.

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