Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)

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Toum is a Mediterranean garlic dip, made with garlic, oil, lemon juice and a pinch of salt and water. 

It’s often served in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurants, but it’s quick and easy to make at home with a little help from a food processor.

You’ll find it is very similar to aioli or mayonnaise but made without eggs. It tastes great on grilled meats, falafel, kebabs, bread and vegetables. 

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About This Recipe

Toum (pronounced toom) is a smooth, creamy and bold garlicky dip. It has a white, creamy texture similar to mayo or sour cream

If you like your flavors to be subtle, this dip probably isn’t for you — toum is very strong and intense.

It’s similar to a mayonnaise but is stabilized with garlic rather than eggs. It is essentially a slow emulsion process of garlic and oil.

It is a staple in Lebanese cuisine but is found in many other cuisines under different names. In Egypt it is called ‘tooma’, in Greece, a similar version is called ‘skordalia’, in Spain it’s called ‘aioli’.

Although it is usually referred to as a sauce, it’s more like a thick and fluffy paste.

Why Try This Recipe 

  • Delicious, bold Lebanese flavors that work with any dish. Let’s be honest, garlic can add extra dimensions of flavor to so many different types of dishes. Wherever you might use something like mayo or aioli, you can use toum instead. 
  • Easy to make big batches in little time. You can make as much or as little toum as you want since it’s easy to adjust the quantities. It’s ready within 15 minutes too, so you know you can also whip it up in a pinch as long as you have a food processor close by. Or just create big batches and store in containers for a few days to use whenever you need it – simple!
  • Uses only a few ingredients you probably already have. You only need garlic, oil, lemons and salt, plus the food processor. 

Ingredients (+Substitutions)

You only need 4 ingredients to make this toum recipe:

  • Garlic: this is the heart of the recipe, so you want to make sure you get the best quality and freshest garlic bulbs possible. If you see the garlic cloves sprouting, that’s usually a sign they are spoiling (and will taste more bitter). Firmer garlic will be fresher and give the best flavor. 
  • Oil: olive oil is more traditionally used, but it can overpower the garlic flavor and create a denser dip without the light, white color. Neutral oils have more subtle flavors and enhance the garlic. Some of the best neutral oils to use in this recipe are canola and sunflower oil. Avocado oil can also be used, but it may turn the color green.
  • Lemon juice: the lemon juice helps the emulsification process so the oil doesn’t overpower the garlic. Use fresh lemons, not concentrated lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice tastes worse and can ruin the emulsification process.  You can adjust the quantity depending on taste preference – just don’t forego it, as it’s still needed to bind the oil and garlic.
  • Salt: the salt adds traction to the garlic at the beginning of the emulsification process and helps flavor the toum.

How to Make Toum (Step-by-Step)

This recipe can be a little trickier to get right to begin with, particularly since the emulsification can easily go wrong. Emulsifying toum is probably a bit harder than something like mayonnaise as well.

However, that shouldn’t stop you. As long as you arm yourself with these tips and tricks, you can get this Mediterranean garlic dip right first time.  

STEP 1 – PREPARE THE GARLIC

Peel the garlic cloves, crush them, then add to the food processor with the salt. Blend the garlic for about a minute until you get a smooth paste.

Since you’ll need to prepare 48 garlic cloves for this recipe, here are a few tips to speed things up:

  • If you have extra time, remove the germ from the center of the cloves. This is the bitter part of the clove.
  • A good method for quickly peeling the garlic is to bash the garlic bulb on a hard surface to break up all the cloves, then get two bowls with lips (or jar), wet the inside a little, add the cloves and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds. This will remove all the skin and the water will catch the little pieces of garlic skim. 
  • Our tip for crushing the garlic quickly is to get the cloves and smash down on it with the flat side of a knife and fist.
  • Occasionally pause the food processor and scrape down the sides with a spatula to ensure everything is blended together.

STEP 2 – ADD THE OIL AND LEMON JUICE

  1. Once you have a garlic puree, slowly start adding the oil. Give the food processor a few seconds after every tablespoon to fully incorporate the oil and garlic. 
  2. After a few tablespoons of oil, the garlic should look emulsified. At this point it should have a creamy texture.
  3. From this point on, you can increase the speed that you add the oil and can begin adding the lemon juice. Alternate between adding roughly 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of oil until the oil and juice are used up. This can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes.

Some extra tips for the emulsifying process:

  • If you don’t have a steady hand or don’t know how much oil to put into the food processor, use a tablespoon measuring spoon. If you’re more confident, you can drizzle straight from the bottle.
  • If your food processor starts to warm, pause for a moment to cool down. Heat can break the emulsification.
  • You need to have patience with the emulsion process. Adding the oil while the garlic is whipping is what makes this recipe.

  •  

Step 3 – SERVE IMMEDIATELY OR STORE IN THE FRIDGE

Either serve the toum straight away or store in the fridge with a paper towel. The paper towel absorbs some of the moisture and sets the flavor. After 24 hours, you can remove the paper towel and store it in a normal airtight container.

FAQS

How Do I Fix the Toum Emulsion If It Breaks?

If the mixture does not get fluffy and looks more liquidy, there’s a good chance it hasn’t been emulsified. If the emulsion doesn’t come together or breaks, then don’t fret – there are still ways around it that don’t involve starting from scratch!

Essentially you’ll want to add another type of binder to fix the emulsification.

  1. Add an egg yolk: if you’re vegan, then obviously you this isn’t suitable. However, egg yolk is a good emulsifier. Simply whisk the egg yolk and add a small amount to the toum until the emulsification forms. Then continue adding the oil and lemon juice whilst the processor is mixing
  2. Add potatoes: mash up 1-2 white potatoes, then slowly add it to the food processor to encourage emulsification. Note that this will reduce the shelf life of the toum to about 7-10 days.

How Can I Mellow the Taste?

Toum has some bold flavors that aren’t to everyone’s taste. If you want to tone things down a notch, here are some suggestions:

  1. Soak the peeled garlic for 30 minutes in ice water. Ensure you dry the garlic before you crush and process it.
  2. Leave it in the fridge for a couple of days. A bit of time will soften the taste.
  3. Add some Greek yogurt. A few tablespoons will thicken up the sauce and give it a lighter taste. It’s not the same taste but will do the job.

How Long Will Toum Last?

Toum will keep for about 4 weeks if kept in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also divide it into smaller portions and freeze for later. In the freezer it will last for about 6 months.

What to Serve with Toum

So many things go well with garlic, so it’s no surprise that you can serve it with some many different foods. Grilled meat chicken or fish work really well, but it also works as a dip for bread, crackers, or fries.

Here are some recipes to try it with:

Toum

toum

This Lebanese garlic dip is thick, creamy and packed with bold flavors that can be eaten with all kinds of dishes. It's also gluten-free and vegan.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (or 48) garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3 cups (720ml) neutral oil (e.g canola or safflower)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 ½ lemons, juiced (or ½ cup lemon juice)

Instructions

    1. Peel the garlic cloves, crush them, then add to the food processor with the salt.
    2. Blend the garlic for about a minute until you get a smooth paste. Scrap up the sides occasionally to ensure everything is blended together.
    3. Once you have a garlic puree, slowly start adding the oil. Give the food processor a few seconds after every tablespoon to fully incorporate the oil and garlic. 
    4. After a few tablespoons of oil, the garlic should look emulsified. At this point, it should have a creamy texture. You can increase the speed at that you add the oil and can begin adding the lemon juice. Alternate between adding roughly 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of oil until the oil and juice are used up. This can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes.
    5. Either serve the toum straight away or store in the fridge with a paper towel to absorb some of the moisture.

Notes

  • If you have extra time, remove the germ from the center of the cloves. This is the bitter part of the clove.
  • A good method for quickly peeling the garlic is to bash the garlic bulb on a hard surface to break up all the cloves, then get two bowls with lips (or jar), wet the inside a little, add the cloves and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds. This will remove all the skin and the water will catch the little pieces of garlic skim. 
  • Our tip for crushing the garlic quickly is to get the cloves and smash down on them with the flat side of a knife and fist.
  • If you don't have a steady hand or don't know how much oil to put into the food processor, use a tablespoon measuring spoon. If you're more confident, you can drizzle straight from the bottle.
  • If your food processor starts to warm, pause for a moment to cool down. Heat can break the emulsification.
  • If the emulsification breaks, then add an egg yolk or 1-2 mashed white potatoes to the food processor. Add this very slowly to encourage emulsification.

Nutrition Information

Yield

32

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 106Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 0mgSodium 780mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 2g
© Alex Johnson

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