breakfast
Shakshuka
Eggs poached in a richly spiced tomato and pepper sauce — a simple, satisfying dish from North Africa and the Middle East.
⏱ 35 min🔥 380 kcalEasy
★4.8(3,240)
🇱🇧
Lebanese Cheese Recipes
9 recipes using cheese — Hummus, falafel, kibbeh and the jewels of Levantine cuisine.
These 9 lebanese cheese recipes are ready in about 49 minutes on average, with 320–620 kcal per serving, and 44% are rated easy enough for a weeknight. Every recipe includes exact ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition per serving.
9
recipes
49 min
average time
455 kcal
avg per serving
44%
easy recipes
How Lebanese cuisine cooks with cheese
Lebanese food is fresh, herb-forward and built around the table of meze — bright with lemon, garlic and good olive oil. When Lebanese cooks work with cheese, they reach for olive oil, lemon, garlic, tahini, sumac and za'atar, and the techniques that come up most across these recipes are baking, simmering, boiling and poaching.
A concentrated hit of savoury, salty richness used to melt, gratinate, crumble or finish a dish. In this collection it's most often cooked with lemon juice, olive oil, rose water, orange blossom water, orange food coloring and kataifi dough. The dishes here span lebanese classics ready in as little as 20 minutes to slower, more involved cooking that rewards a relaxed afternoon.
Reader favourite: Knafeh is the highest-rated dish in this collection at 4.9★ from 3,200 ratings.
9 Lebanese Cheese Recipes
dessert
Knafeh
Lebanese cheese pastry soaked in rose water syrup — the king of Middle Eastern desserts.
⏱ 60 min🔥 480 kcalHard
★4.9(3,200)
dessert
Halawet el-Jibn
Lebanese cheese-filled semolina rolls in rose water syrup — a Hama sweet.
⏱ 50 min🔥 360 kcalHard
★4.9(1,200)
✨ Newdessert
Knafeh Nabulsi (Levantine Cheese Pastry)
Palestinian-Levantine cheese pastry — shredded kataifi pastry layered over melting cheese, soaked in rose-orange syrup, dusted with pistachio.
⏱ 60 min🔥 620 kcalMedium
★4.9(1,820)
✨ Newstarter
Kibbeh Nayyeh (Lebanese Raw Meat Kibbeh)
Delicate Syrian-Lebanese raw lamb and bulgur paste seasoned with cinnamon and allspice, served with olive oil and mint.
⏱ 20 min🔥 320 kcalEasy
★4.6(980)
✨ Newdessert
Knafeh (Palestinian Cheese Pastry with Orange-Blossom Syrup)
Nablus-style knafeh: a molten white cheese filling encased in vermicelli-thin kataifi pastry soaked in aromatic sugar syrup, served orange-hot from the copper pan.
⏱ 65 min🔥 480 kcalHard
★4.9(1,720)
✨ Newdessert
Knafeh (Lebanese Cheese and Shredded Pastry Dessert)
Classic Lebanese knafeh with stretchy akkawi cheese layered beneath crispy golden kataifi pastry, soaked in rose-scented syrup and crowned with crushed pistachios.
⏱ 55 min🔥 480 kcalMedium
★4.9(2,100)
✨ Newbread
Byblos Lemon Herb Flatbread
Byblos Lemon Herb Flatbread turns lebanese pantry flavors into a complete flatbread with flatbread dough, tahini, lemon, allspice and olive oil, and a fresh parsley finish.
⏱ 45 min🔥 485 kcalEasy
★4.5(4,805)
✨ Newbread
Lebanese Festival Lemon Herb Flatbread
Lebanese Festival Lemon Herb Flatbread brings lebanese flavor to a practical flatbread built with flatbread dough, tahini, lemon, allspice and olive oil, and a fresh parsley finish.
⏱ 47 min🔥 490 kcalEasy
★4.5(4,695)
Choosing & preparing cheese
How to choose
Buy in blocks and grate fresh — pre-shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking starch that hampers melting. Match the cheese to the job: good melters (mozzarella, gruyère) versus crumblers (feta, parmesan).
Prep & storage
Let cheese come to room temperature for the fullest flavour. Add delicate cheeses off the heat to stop them splitting; build a smooth sauce with a roux or a starch.
Nutrition
A calcium- and protein-rich food; it is also high in saturated fat and sodium, so a little sharp cheese goes a long way.
Classic flavour partners: tomatoes, bread, wine, pasta, black pepper, honey
Lebanese Cheese Recipes — FAQ
How long do Lebanese cheese recipes take to make?
Most of these 9 Lebanese cheese recipes are ready in around 49 minutes from start to finish. The quickest, Kibbeh Nayyeh (Lebanese Raw Meat Kibbeh), takes about 20 minutes, while the slower-cooked dishes run up to 65 minutes.
How many calories are in Lebanese cheese dishes?
Across this collection they range from about 320 to 620 kcal per serving, averaging 455 kcal — Kibbeh Nayyeh (Lebanese Raw Meat Kibbeh) is the lightest option at 320 kcal.
What is the easiest Lebanese cheese recipe for beginners?
Shakshuka is a great place to start — it's rated easy and comes together in about 35 minutes. 44% of the recipes here are beginner-friendly.
What goes well with cheese in Lebanese cooking?
In these recipes, cheese is most often paired with lemon juice, olive oil, rose water, orange blossom water, orange food coloring and kataifi dough. Lebanese kitchens also lean on olive oil, lemon, garlic, tahini, sumac and za'atar.
More Lebanese Recipes by Ingredient
Cheese Recipes from Other Cuisines
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