Toum is a creamy, bold, and totally addictive Lebanese garlic sauce with just 4 ingredients: garlic, oil, lemon juice, and salt. Once you make this simple recipe, you’ll be hooked!
I first learned about this Lebanese garlic sauce from my mother-in-law, Dina, who owned a Mediterranean restaurant in grand Rapids, Michigan. Toum was one of the most requested items at the restaurant, where they served it with all their grilled meat and veggies. Every morning, Dina would whip up a large batch of her special toum recipe, and it was inevitably sold out by the end of the night! That’s how good it is!
Growing up in Egypt made me a firm believer that it’s the dips and sauces that take a meal to next-level delicious. You may already be familiar with tahini, tzatziki, and hummus. But toum may be the most under-rated! Once you master this easy 4-ingredient garlic sauce recipe, you’ll be using it in all sorts of ways. Some of my go-tos:
- To dip pita chips and fresh vegetables.
- With grilled meat and fish.
- As a sauce for sandwiches, wraps like gyros, and burgers.
If you love big flavor and you’re not afraid of a little garlic–or a lot of garlic, rather–this recipe is for you!
What is in Toum?
Some toum recipes call for mayonnaise, but this traditional recipe is completely vegan. To me, it tastes far better while remaining nice and creamy. You only need 4 ingredients:
- A whole head of garlic: Toum means “garlic” Arabic, after all!
- Kosher salt
- Neutral oil: As much as I love my extra virgin olive oils, grapeseed or sunflower oil is best for toum. The lighter flavor lets the garlic do all the talking.
- Lemon juice: Or substitute lime.
How to Make Toum
Making toum (or touma) is all about the very slow and steady emulsification process that whips the garlic and oil together. Traditionally, a mortar and pestle are used to make this garlic sauce recipe, but I have found a small food processor to work just as well.
- Process 1 whole head of garlic. Smash the garlic with the side of your knife, then remove the peels. Optionally, remove the green germ from the center as you go (it can be bitter). Place the peeled garlic and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in the small bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until the garlic looks minced, stopping to scrape down the sides. Add the juice of 1 lemon and pulse a few times to combine, again scraping down the sides.
- Slowly incorporate 1 3/4 cups neutral oil. With the food processor on low speed, drizzle in the oil in ever so slowly through the opening at the top. After you’ve used about 1/4 cup or so, add in about 1 tablespoon of the ice water. Stop to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl.
- Finish, adjust the seasoning, and serve. Keep the processor running and continue to slowly drizzle in the oil, adding a tablespoon of ice water after every 1/4 cup of oil. Continue on with this process until you have used up the oil entirely. The garlic sauce has thickened and increased in volume (it should look smooth and fluffy). This should take somewhere around 10 minutes or so. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and or lemon juice if necessary. Enjoy!
Toum Tips
I have a few tips for this toum recipe before you get started, which will ensure a light and airy sauce that’s beautifully emulsified:
- Use the best fresh garlic. This toum recipe is all about garlic! Avoid using peeled garlic from a package, which won’t pack quite the same punch.
- Slice the garlic in half and remove any green sprouts. This is optional, but it prevents the bitter flavor it can impart.
- Don’t skip the lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice adds brightness, and it should be added at the beginning to help the emulsification. (Some recipes add the lemon juice toward the end, which causes the sauce to break.)
- Do not rush the emulsification process. Adding the oil ever so slowly is what makes this sauce! Alternating the oil with a small amount of water prevents the emulsion from breaking.
- Use a small food processor. For the amount of garlic used in this recipe, a smaller processor works well because the blade can easily mince the garlic without it flying all over the bowl. (I use the small bowl attachment on this one). If you double or triple the recipe, you can easily use a large food processor.
Too(m) Strong? Three Ways to Mellow
For some who need their toum to be less powerful, three things you can do:
- Leave it in the fridge a few days. Time in the fridge will take a bit of the edge off.
- Place the peeled garlic in ice water for 30 minutes or so before making the garlic sauce. But be sure to dry the garlic very well before you start.
- Add boiled potato (mashed) or a couple tablespoons of Greek yogurt. Either of these items will thicken the toum sauce and take a bit of the garlic edge off. You would add a little bit at a time during the process.
What to Serve with Toum
This Lebanese garlic sauce is a versatile condiment you will use over and over. Pretty much anything you think might need a kick of garlic, you can use toum! It’s a great swap for mayo and aioli. Some ideas:
- Meat: Chicken kabobs, shawarma, grilled lamb, Shish Tawook.
- Vegetarian: Falafel and the traditional Greek roasted vegetables, Briam, are both delicious.
- Fish: The garlicky punch is absolutely delicious with fresh and smoky grilled seafood.
Love Garlic? Try These Recipes Next!
I always say I would wear garlic as a perfume, so you’re in good company! I know you’ll love these recipes as much as I do:
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 3/4 cups grape seed oil or sunflower oil a neutral tasting oil
- 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Process the garlic. Smash the garlic with the side of your knife, then remove the peels. Optionally, remove the green germ from the center as you go (it can be bitter). Place the peeled garlic and kosher salt in the small bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times until the garlic looks minced, stopping to scrape down the sides. Add the lemon juice and pulse a few times to combine, again scraping down the sides.
- Slowly incorporate the oil. With the food processor on low speed, drizzle in the oil in ever so slowly through the opening at the top. After you've used about 1/4 cup or so, add in about 1 tablespoon of the ice water. Stop to scrape down the sides of the processor bowl.
- Finish, adjust the seasoning, and serve. Keep the processor running and continue to slowly drizzle in the oil, adding a tablespoon of the ice water after every 1/4 cup of oil. Continue on with this process until you have used up the oil entirely. The garlic sauce has thickened and increased in volume (it should look smooth and fluffy). This should take somewhere around 10 minutes or so. Taste and adjust the seasoning with more salt and or lemon juice if necessary. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including olive oils, honey, jams, and spices.
- For best results, do not rush the emulsification process. Remember to add the oil very slowly as the processor is running, alternating with a little tiny bit of ice water. If your processor does not have a top opening to drizzle the olive oil, still add the oil very slowly, about a tablespoon or so at a time, and run the processor to whip the garlic well. And again, don’t forget to add a bit of the ice water as well. Keep whipping the garlic until you have used up all the oil. Alternating the oil with a small amount of water prevents the emulsion from breaking.
- It helps to use a smaller food processor. I used an older version of this one.
- Storage: toum can best be stored in a tight-lid mason jar or container in the fridge for 4 weeks or so. You can also freeze some for later use (do not thaw out, use from frozen). I do prefer the fridge method.
- This recipe is adapted from Maureen Abood’s cookbook Rosewater and Orange Blossoms.
Nutrition
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*This post has recently been updated with new information for the readers’ benefit.
This was a disaster. I see several had the same problem… it is watery. I have made toom before and it turns out wonderful. This needs to be took down or rewrote.
I’ve made toum before and it turned out great. Unfortunately, this recipe didn’t work well for me. It was pretty watery and very lemony (maybe my lemon was too big). I think I’d use more garlic next time. But thanks for the recipe!
I tried this recipe twice and it didnt emulsify. I did the second batch way and it still didn’t work.
I just finished making this. It was very watery. I simply whisked in arrowroot starch and it thickened perfectly. Arrowroot has no taste, so it doesn’t affect this at all taste wise.
Thank you for sharing, Kat!
You’re welcome. Just a little kitchen hack I thought I’d pass on. Also, for those who follow a Paleo lifestyle, arrowroot is a healthier option than cornstarch due to being grain-free.
Had to make a lot of changes to this recipe for it to work. Used less oil and more garlic. Eventually I read the other reviews and added an egg white. Only then did it thicken up. The author should make a video or change the recipe.
Thank you for the feedback, Loretta.
Could avocado oil be used in this recipe with success?
Hi, Dianne. Sure! That should work.
I haven’t tried this yet but wonder if it would work if I first roasted the garlic, to mellow it out a bit?
Hi, Angela. It’s best to stick with raw garlic for this recipe. I have seen recipes for toum with roasted garlic out there, but I’ve never tried it myself, so I can’t speak to how well it will work here.
Can’t wait to make this as I love the sauce when I have it at restaurants. Question on the mini food processor. I have the same one and I’m wondering if you pour the oil through the tiny holes in the top or if you stop it, then open and pour in a bit of oil at a time, it’s not like using a larger version of this food processor that has a larger opening. Would a hand blender work too?
Hi, Ruth. I add the oil while the food processor is running, alternating with ice water. I’ve not tried this with a hand blender before, so I’m not sure if that would work.
I tried 3 times tonight, FINALLY success. It came out great. My errors: needed to make less, slow down, and smaller amounts of water in between the oil.
Thanks for the tips!!
Thanks, Lynette! Glad you stuck with it!
We came across the item at our Farmers Market and fell in love. I have made it several times but only successfully once. My success was using grapeseed oil. But I have not been able to make it again. It’s always too thin. I like it light and fluffy. What can be done if it’s too thin? I have heard to add an egg white.
Can’t figure out what I am doing wrong?
Hi, Lynette. I have never tried it myself, but other commenters have mentioned adding the egg white has helped.
I have tried to make toum numerous times and sometimes it was very thin and sometimes a little ticker but never the consistency it should be. Because we love it so much though and I don’t like to give up, I started researching and somewhere saw a mention that the ingredients should be cold. Because we live in California, none of the ingredients were cold (besides the ice water of course). I decided to put the oil I needed, as well as the garlic and lemon in the fridge for this, tried again and voila. I just made the best toum ever. Thick and creamy and perfect. I think it is such a key point that maybe you would consider putting it in your tips section?
Thank you for that tip, Ragna! We will give it a try, for sure!
I have also made this recipe (four times) without success. It has a great taste, but it is very watery. The first time I made it, my adult kids said it tasted so good they drizzled on their chicken kabobs and ate it anyway. The next two times I made it, I ended up throwing away those expensive ingredients. I made it again today with no success again. Is there any way to fix the recipe when it fails to emulsify?
I live in California also, so next time I will try refrigerating the ingredients as Ragna suggested to see if that does the trick.
I know you posted tips to mellow out the garlic, but I was wondering if it could be made with roasted garlic or garlic confit? If not, I’ll follow CI’s tip as well as yours. Thanks!
Just a little FYI for others who might want a mellower garlic, Cook’s Illustrated tested 4 methods for tempering the harsh bite of garlic and while 3 out of 4 worked well, they preferred heating garlic cloves in the microwave to blanching them. Microwave the cloves in a small bowl for 2 to 3 minutes, or until warm to the touch but not cooked.
Garlic soup, waste of a full garlic head and almost two cups of oil. Followed the recipe to a t. This recipe is unspecific, please make a video as everyone is requesting. Not everyone has a mini food processor.
Worked perfect the first time! Then no dice the next two times. One thing I noticed was that I had it nice and fluffy in my vitamix – then turned up the speed and tbe higher speed broke the emulsion. So I’d be interested to know what speed you recommend. No waste here though, because it’s delicious at any consistency and I can stir fry in it ir use as dressing if too liquidy. Will try the hand blender next. Thank you 🙏🏼
Hi, Mary! I’m so sorry you’ve had some issue with this one. Since I don’t have a vitamix, it’s hard for me to recommend an exact speed. Based on what you’ve said here, sounds like keeping it low and slow works better for your machine.
I am so disappointed in this recipe. I used a very high quality oil and it came out like soup. I don’t know if you need a magic want to go along with it? Perhaps a video would be more effective in showing how to make this recipe. Thank you for trying but maybe go back to the drawing board.
Hi, Jamie. I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you. Thanks for the suggestion of doing a video… I will make a note for sure! I’m not sure what may have gone wrong for you, but I have found that one critical key to success with this is using ice water and slowly alternating between the oil and the ice water. Rushing this at all can end in soupy toum.
Hi – a little trick I learnt this evening I wanted to share,
If once all of the oil has been added and the mixture is still liquid (emulsification hasn’t worked) add a little egg white (half an eggs worth or so) and mix.
Worked a great to bring mine back from “soup”.
Which I had this trick before today. I’ve been successful previously but I have had my fair share of soupy white mess too.
Thanks for sharing that tip, Nick!
I made this tonight and I put extra garlic in it because I think I put in too much lemon juice. It was perfect! It was pungent, spicy and thick. I chopped the garlic into a paste and then did the rest in the blender. I didn’t even particularly go slow like a tiny drop at a time but I didn’t dump a quart of a cup in at time either. It’s a lot like making mayonnaise really. Thanks for the recipes! I made it for my chicken shawarma today which is also your recipe! I am back here looking for what else I can cook this week to put toum on!
Thanks for sharing, Tendai!
Mine does not thicken too much. After a while in the fridge I feel it thicken a little more. Anyway I don’t really mind the thickness I am getting. Fine with me. But I just feel it’s coming too lemony flavored. I don’t know if my lemons are maybe too big and juicy compared to my garlic heads. Any comments? I still enjoy it though. Second time doing it.
Hi, Samia! There are some tips listed in the post related to the emulsifying/thickening… it really comes down to the balance of oil to cold water and the technique in adding them ever so slowly as you continue to whip it. As for the lemon flavor… yes, I would try to use smaller lemons next time and see if that works better for you.
Hi. I have done it again…it’s yummy…just not too thick……I’ll try to the egg whites next time. Little Mashed potatoes also helps
We love toum so much and I was very excited to make it. I made sure I even bought the mini food processor you use so that it would turn out right. I followed everything and the taste was amazing but I could not get it too thicken as much as it should no matter how hard I tried. I wonder if you have a video so I can see if I am missing something?
Oh no :(. I don’t have a video for this one at the moment, but it’s something we’re looking into doing.
Do you know what cause the garlic sauce to not emulsify? I used grape seed oill
Hi, Charles. As shared in the tips, it really is all about the balance of oil to cold water and the technique in adding them ever so slowly as you continue to whip it.
Will freezing the garlic and thawing it out help? I do that for my hummus so it will blend smooth;y with the garbanzos, oil and lemon juice. Would it eliminate the cole/ice water mixture some?
I would not recommend that, Shirley. I have found that the big key to success with this is using ice water and slowly alternating between the oil and the ice water. Rushing this at all is what tends to end up in soupy toum.
I was so terrified that my emulsion wouldn’t hold, but this turned out fabulous!!
I used sunflower oil (about 1/4 cup less than the recipe called for, my processor is small and was making a huge mess at the end). Totally worth the effort and mess!
Wonderful!! Thanks, Blaire!