Lebanese Garlic Sauce (toum)

Lebanese Garlic Sauce called toum is a super flavorful creamy garlic sauce recipe that can be used as a dip, marinade, dressing and more!

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What is toum?

Lebanese garlic sauce called toum is a delicious condiment made from garlic paste and water swirled together and emulsified into a creamy garlic sauce that traditionally served as a dip for chicken but can also be used in so many ways.

Toum is a traditional Lebanese garlic sauce. It’s very much like a garlic and oil only aioli in that it’s made with just a few simple ingredients that together emulsify into a thick mayo like sauce.

I was first introduced to this emulsified garlic sauce from Cosette of Cosette’s Kitchen.

My mind was blown the first time she shared her toum recipe. Cosette always has a way of making the unknown approachable. And following her recipe and tips I have been able to keep a jar or two in my fridge consistently.

Ingredients

• Garlic – the garlic for making toum must be fresh and not dry. If the cloves feel dry or have any green sprouts they will not emulsify correctly to make garlic sauce and you will end up with a garlic oil instead.
• Light oil – canola oil or other light cooking oil. If you chill the oil before using it will aid in emulsification.
• Salt
• Lemon juice

Step by step instructions

1. Peel garlic cloves and trim slightly to remove the dry brown stem end. Rather than smashing garlic to quickly and easily peel you have to carefully cut the stem (dried end of the garlic) off and remove peel from there to prevent losing the precious garlic oil.
2. Add cloves to fill a 1 cup measuring cup then add cold water to fill the cup.

3. Process garlic and water in a large food processor until a smooth paste forms, about 1 minute.
4. Slowly begin to stream oil into the processor at a rate of about 2 minutes per cup of oil. Be patient. There’s no speeding up the process. Garlic and oil mixture will slowly begin to emulsify and thicken.
5. Once the oil has been completely incorporated and mixture is thick, add salt, then pulse in the lemon juice which will thicken the garlic sauce even more.
6. Enjoy!

Yield

This recipe yields a generous 23 ounces, 4 cups, or 64 one tablespoon servings of garlic sauce.

Typically you can adjust the batch size but be careful with adjusting the serving size of this toum recipe as it may not emulsify correctly if there is not enough garlic in the machine.

But with a long shelf life and so many uses you’ll likely run out of toum long before it ever expires!

How to store

Store toum garlic sauce covered and refrigerated for up to 30 days.

How to use toum garlic sauce

You can use toum anywhere you would fresh garlic.  The possibilities are endless!

Throw a dollop in salad dressings, marinades or use it as a potent garlicky vegan mayo.

Spread it on cold sandwiches and wraps as a mayo substitute.

Use toum in place of butter in baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and grilled cheese sandwiches

Rub toum on chicken, turkey and vegetables before roasting.

Use it as a base to give a flavorful start to stir fries, soups, sauces and gravy.

Use it as a base to roux and bechamel sauces like alfredo and mac and cheese.

Or use this creamy sauce as a dip for chips, crackers, grilled meats and vegetables.

📖 Recipe

Lebanese Garlic Sauce (toum)

Lebanese Garlic Sauce called toum is a delicious creamy super flavorful garlic sauce recipe that can be used as a dip, marinade, dressing and more!

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Course: Condiment

Cuisine: Lebanese

Servings: 64 servings

Calories: 123kcal

Author: Tristin Rieken

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh garlic cloves
• cold water to fill
• 4 cups light oil like canola oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice or citric acid

Instructions

• Peel garlic cloves and trim slightly to remove the dry brown stem end. Do not smash the cloves.
• Add peeled garlic cloves to fill a 1 cup measuring cup then add cold water to fill the cup.
  1 cup fresh garlic cloves, cold water
• Then add garlic and water to a large food processor. Process on medium until a smooth paste forms, about 1 minute.
• Once the garlic is smooth begin to slowly stream oil into the processor at a rate of about 2 minutes per cup of oil. Garlic and oil mixture will slowly begin to emulsify and thicken.
  4 cups light oil
• Once the oil has been completely incorporated and mixture is thick, add salt, then pulse in the lemon juice which will thicken the garlic sauce even more.
  2 teaspoons salt, 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• Store refrigerated until ready to use.

Nutrition

Calories: 123kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 73mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 0.05g | Sugar: 0.03g | Vitamin A: 0.2IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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