This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Toum is a small-batch Lebanese garlic sauce made with garlic, kosher salt, fresh lemon juice, and neutral oil. An immersion blender brings everything together into a creamy, garlic-forward sauce with plenty of lemony brightness and a fluffy, white finish.
The small batch is the win here. If I want a strong garlic sauce for dinner, I’d rather make a focused amount in a narrow blending cup than pull out a large food processor for more than I need. You still get that dramatic change in texture without committing to a huge batch.
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Why You’ll Love This Toum
This toum recipe is focused, punchy, and made for people who really love garlic.
- Four focused ingredients: Garlic, kosher salt, fresh lemon juice, and neutral oil are all you need for this version.
- A practical small batch: The immersion-blender setup is designed for a focused amount of sauce rather than a large food-processor batch.
- You can watch it come together: The mixture visibly thickens and lightens as the emulsion develops, giving you a useful visual cue while you work.
- Made for gyros and kebabs: That strong garlic and lemon flavor is such a good addition to Greek Chicken Gyros and Doner Meat.
- Easy to work into a meze spread: Serve it with pita chips, hummus, or roasted vegetables when you want another bold sauce on the table.
What Is Toum?
Toum means “garlic” in Arabic, and the name is commonly used for the fluffy Lebanese garlic sauce made by emulsifying garlic, lemon juice, salt, and neutral oil. Recipes and equipment vary, so this version uses a small-batch immersion-blender technique.
Emulsification is what turns those loose ingredients into a creamy sauce. The blender breaks the oil into tiny droplets that stay dispersed through the garlic and lemon mixture instead of separating back into a layer of oil, creating its light and fluffy texture.
Key Ingredients and Why They Matter
With an ingredient list this short, every flavor comes through clearly. Garlic leads, lemon brings brightness, and the oil gives the sauce its body.
Garlic Cloves
Fresh peeled garlic is the foundation of Toum and gives the sauce its unapologetically strong, savory bite.
Kosher Salt
Kosher salt seasons the garlic and helps bring the flavor of the finished sauce into focus.
Fresh Lemon Juice
Fresh lemon juice brings acidity and brightness, giving all that garlic a sharp, fresh counterpoint.
Neutral-Flavored Oil
A neutral-flavored oil gives the emulsion its body without competing with the garlic and lemon. Grapeseed, avocado, and sunflower oil all work here.
If you’re building a larger spread, add Hummus as a separate dip alongside the Toum.
How the Immersion Blender Emulsion Works
The immersion-blender setup is all about controlling the beginning of the emulsion. Use a narrow container so the blender head stays close to the garlic mixture rather than spreading everything across a wide vessel.
- Start from the bottom: Begin with the blender head at the bottom of the container. Keeping it there while the emulsion starts helps the first portion of oil become incorporated before the blender moves upward.
- Let thickening be your cue: Once you see the mixture begin to thicken, the blender can move upward slowly to bring in the remaining oil. The visual change is more useful here than trying to guess based on the clock alone.
- Watch the finish: You’ll know it’s ready when the sauce becomes pale and fluffy once the oil is incorporated.
Ways to Use Toum
Toum is strong, bright, and garlicky, so a little spoonful can bring a lot to the plate.
With Greek Chicken Gyros
Add it to Greek Chicken Gyros for a punch of garlic and lemon alongside the chicken and pita.
With Doner Meat
Serve it with Doner Meat as another garlicky sauce option for a kebab-style meal.
With Pita Chips
Set out a bowl with Crispy Pita Chips for dipping as part of a meze-style spread.
Alongside Hummus
Pair it with How to Make Hummus when you want two very different dips on the table.
With Roasted Vegetables
Spoon it alongside Briam to add sharp garlic and lemon flavor to a vegetable-centered meal.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Refrigerate in an airtight container and use within four days. For longer storage, freeze it rather than extending the refrigerated storage time.
To make ahead, chill the freshly made Toum for at least one hour, or overnight for best flavor, before serving.
FAQs
“Toum” means “garlic” in Arabic. The word is also commonly used as the name for the Lebanese garlic sauce.
They’re both emulsions, but they aren’t the same sauce. Mayonnaise generally relies on egg as its emulsifier, while Toum uses garlic to help stabilize the oil-and-liquid mixture.
No. This recipe is made with garlic, kosher salt, fresh lemon juice, and neutral-flavored oil.
Blending breaks the oil into tiny droplets that remain suspended in the garlic and lemon mixture. As that emulsion forms, the loose ingredients become cohesive, pale, and fluffy.
Save this recipe for later
Ingredients
- ½ cup garlic cloves, about 1 large bulb of garlic or 10-12 small-medium cloves, peeled
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lemon juice, about ½ large lemon
- 1 cup neutral-flavored oil like grapeseed oil, avocado oil or sunflower oil
Instructions
Start Cooking- Add the garlic cloves, salt and lemon juice to the immersion blender container (or wide mouth jar or other similar container) and pulse / blend until a paste forms.
- Pour all of the neutral oil on top of the garlic paste.
- Place the immersion blender all the way to the bottom of the container with the garlic paste. Start blending at the bottom of the container, do not raise up the immersion blender. As the garlic mixture starts to thicken and emulsify, start to slowly raise the hand blender up to incorporate more oil. Keep blending until the mixture is fluffy and white and all of the oil is incorporated. This process should take 5-7 minutes.
- Put a lid on the container and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight for best flavor.
Notes
- Store this sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month for best flavor.
- This sauce is exceptional when paired with our Greek Chicken Gyros (Authentic Cooking Method) or Homemade Doner Kebab Recipe 🍢 (Viral)
Be the first to discuss this recipe.