Toum (Garlic Sauce)
If you love Garlic, then you have to try the World’s Best Sauce, Toum, aka Garlic Gold! Great on Shawarma, Burgers and just about anything!
The first time I made Toum was for my Vegan Shawarma recipe a while back. It’s truly an amazing sauce, especially if you love garlic. It’s found throughout the Middle East, but it’s been popular in Lebanon for centuries. I’ve definitely had it many times at Lebanese restaurants and it’s always the highlight in my opinion!
Besides Shawarma, it’s great on Burgers, with Fries or Pita Chips, or even just dipping some veggies in it!
Heck I even made a Grilled Cheese using Toum instead of butter and that was probably the best Grilled Cheese of recent memory.
how to make toum
Luckily Toum is fairly easy to make (especially if you have an Immersion Blender!)
Grab a whole head of garlic. A quick tip to peel all the cloves is to add them to a bowl, then cover with another bowl, and just shake it with gumption. It’ll be loud, but eventually all that knocking around will jostle them out of their skins.
They might not all jump out of their shells, but the ones who don’t can be easily coaxed, the skin should just slip right off.
Another tip is to let the garlic cloves hang out in an ice water bath for 10 – 15 minutes. This can help reduce the heat and bite from the garlic.
Next add them to a tall glass (that can accommodate an immersion blender) along with some coarse salt and lemon juice. Pulse it to blend the garlic into a paste.
Then blend from the bottom of the glass, and slowly add the oil. Once all oil has been added, blend for about 10 seconds or so, slowly begin to lift the blender up. It should start to thicken and emulsify. Keep doing this process until you are left with a thick and fluffy garlic sauce!
It should be nice and jiggly. And very thick! Much thicker than mayo. Use it on anything, but a Shawarma is a great way to enjoy it of course!
do I really need an immersion blender?
You can use a food processor if you don’t have an immersion blender. I’ve never personally made this recipe with a food processor, but it’s fairly common. The only difference is you’ll need to stream in the oil very slowly as the food processor blends the garlic, lemon and salt.
storage
Store in the fridge, Toum should be good for about a week or so!
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Toum (Garlic Sauce)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 head Garlic (about 60 grams)
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Coarse Salt
- 1 cup Neutral Oil (Canola, Vegetable, etc)
Instructions
- Try to use the freshest garlic possible. If your garlic has green sprouts, remove them as they can cause the toum to taste bitter.
- Separate and peel the garlic cloves. A quick tip is to add the cloves to a metal bowl, then cover with another metal bowl, or a mason jar with the lid will work too. Shake them with vigor, the cloves will bounce around and shake off their skins (or they will be much easier to peel at least!)
- Another tip is to let the peeled garlic cloves hang out in an ice water bath for 10 – 15 minutes. This can help reduce the heat and bite from the garlic.
- Add the peeled garlic cloves, lemon juice, and coarse salt to a tall glass wide enough for an immersion blender.
- Blend the garlic and lemon juice and salt into a paste. Then blend from the bottom of the glass, and slowly add the oil. Once all oil has been added, blend for about 10 seconds or so, slowly begin to lift the blender up. It should start to thicken and emulsify. Keep doing this process until you are left with a thick and fluffy garlic sauce!
I have a recipe for toum with 1/3 c starchy potatoes
So tasty! I was super skeptical because that’s a lot of raw garlic but it is delicious! Absolutely love it and will be coming up with things to smear this on for the next several weeks.
Yes, it seems like a lot but it works! So glad you dig it! Try it on a Grilled Cheese instead of butter! So good!
Hi, sorry to hear that, it sounds like you might not have drizzled the oil in slowly enough. You have to do it comically slow. If you’ve never made an emulsion that way I would suggest watching a few videos for it! Here’s a recipe that specifically uses a food processor.
https://www.seriouseats.com/traditional-toum
If you like garlic this stuff is so good. Love it with the shawarma!
Yes, the best on shawarma!!
Followed the recipe to a T and had no luck with emulsification. Is it possible the garlic head I used was too small (so there was too much oil)? I’ve made dozens of your recipes and never had one come out this poorly.
That’s odd, what kind of immersion blender did you use? One person tried making my mayo recipe and was having issues with it, turns out they were using the low setting on their blender. Have you made emulsions with it before?
Wow wow wow!!! I’ve tried several recipes without success, and finally it worked! Thanks SO much for this simple lovely recipe with very clear instructions. YUM
Awesome, so glad you dug it!! Thank you!
Just made this!!!
Took a chance and doubled the recipe….. putting all the oil then blending had me worried….. but DAMN, IT CAME OUT GOOD!!!
Can’t wait till the dinner guests try later with Lebanese potatoes and doner pita!
Excellent, glad it worked!