Homemade Garlic Sauce, also known as Toum, is a thick, creamy, and flavorful Lebanese garlic sauce. Served as a dip, a spread, or as a stand alone sauce, it only requires four ingredients! It tastes so good and we always order it with extra on the side!
It’s no surprise that we love garlic and there’s nothing more delicious than Toum, a Lebanese garlic sauce. You may have already had it alongside a shawarma, or falafels, or any grilled dish at a Lebanese restaurant. It’s actually surprisingly easy to make garlic sauce at home yourself. It only needs four simple ingredients that you more than likely already have in your kitchen. You’ll be making this regularly in no time.
Want recipes you can have with garlic sauce? Try my Chicken Shawarma Recipe , Grilled Kafta Recipe or my Shish Tawook Recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Lebanese Garlic Sauce
- It’s easy. This garlic sauce takes less than 30 minutes to make. It just goes into the food processor and that’s it! It’s even faster if you get peeled the garlic from the store.
- It’s tasty. The name garlic sauce may give away how the sauce tastes. It’s packed with garlicky flavor. It’s light. It’s fluffy.
- It’s versatile. Use garlic Toum sauce as a dip, as a spread, as a marinade, in soup, and more! This garlic sauce can be added to anything that needs an extra kick of flavor.
Ingredients in Garlic Sauce
- Fresh Garlic — since garlic is the main ingredient here, you’re going to want to get the freshest garlic!
- Neutral flavored oil-like canola oil, vegetable oil or avocado oil. I do no recommend olive oil for this recipe, as it’s flavor is over powering for the recipe and also changes the color of the toum.
- Lemon Juice– use fresh lemon juice only.
- Salt-to taste
How To Make Toum (Lebanese Garlic Sauce)
- In your food processor, add the salt and the peeled garlic cloves.
- Pulse the garlic, taking breaks to scrape down the sides with a spatula and continue to pulse until finely chopped.
- With the food processor running, very slowly pour down 2 tablespoons of oil and a tablespoon lemon juice at a time.
- Continue to add the remainder of the oil and lemon juice slowly in tablespoon into the processor in batches until the garlic sauce thickens up and becomes fluffy. It should take about 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer into a glass container and allow the sauce to cool before serving.
Tips to Make Toum Recipe at Home
- Soak the garlic in gold water for 20 minutes to reduce the bold garlic flavor if you don’t like the super garlicy taste.
- Use a processor not blender.
- Be sure to alternate the oil and lemon juice as you process the garlic. Add them slowly into the mixture and not everything at once or else it will be hard for the sauce to emulsify right.
Frequently Asked Question
I suggest using a neutral flavored oil that you have on hand. I like avocado oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. You don’t want your garlic sauce taking on the flavor of oil you use. So avoid olive oil for this recipe.
I suggest you use fresh lemon juice only. Bottled lemon juice has less flavor to it and it just doesn’t taste as fresh. The lemon juice helps combine and emulsify the garlic sauce and balance out the flavor, so skip the bottled stuff.
Homemade Lebanese garlic sauce (toum) needs to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. When stored correctly, it can last for 1-2 months in the fridge.
If you’re worried that the garlic is too pungent and want it to mellow out, you can soak your garlic cloves in ice water for 20 minutes beforehand. However, you have to make sure you dry the garlic cloves with paper towels or linen to make sure there isn’t any water in the mixture.
If you add your oil too quickly to the food processor, it can cause the garlic sauce to break. If your food processor has water in it, it can cause the sauce to not emulsify. If it breaks, alternatively, you can remove half of the garlic sauce, process 1 egg white into the mix, and then add the sauce back and combine. I personally do not do mine like that but most people do.
What to Serve With Garlic Sauce
Here are some more delicious recipes you can enjoy with garlic sauce.
- Vegetarian Cauliflower Pita Wrap
- Crispy Potato Wedges
- Beef Shawarma Bowl
- Lebanese Fattoush Salad
- Lebanese Spicy Potatoes (Batata Harra)
I hope you enjoy all the recipes I share with you, including this easy Homemade Toum Garlic Sauce recipe. I hope you try it, enjoy it, rate it and share it with your friends and family!
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Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum)
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh garlic peeled
- 2½ cups neutral flavored oil like canola or vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp Salt
Instructions
- In your food processor, add the salt and the peeled garlic cloves.
- Pulse the garlic, taking breaks to scrape down the sides with a spatula and continue to pulse until finely chopped.
- With the food processor running, very slowly pour down 2 tablespoons of oil and a tablespoon lemon juice at a time.
- Continue to add the remainder of the oil and lemon juice slowly in tablespoon into the processor in batches until the garlic sauce thickens up. It should take about 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer into a glass container and allow the sauce to cool before serving.
Notes
- If you add your oil too quickly to the food processor, it can cause the garlic sauce to break so be sure to stream in the oil slowly in tablespoon quantities for the sauce to emulsify right.
- Soak the garlic in gold water for 20 minutes to reduce the bold garlic flavor if you don’t like the super garlicy taste.
- Use a processor not blender.
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