Name: Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum)
Cuisine: Lebanese
Ingredients: 1 cup garlic cloves; 3 cups neutral cooking oil (grapeseed, sunflower, canola); 2 tablespoons salt; 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (cold)

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This Lebanese garlic sauce recipe is made with 4 ingredients: garlic, lemon juice, oil, and salt. This fragrant, tangy dip pairs well with grilled meats, veggies, or pita bread. So add more flavor to your meals with this unique Lebanese garlic sauce.

What Is Lebanese Garlic Sauce?

Lebanese garlic sauce is a dip or condiment made from fresh garlic, oil, and lemon juice with a bit of salt. It is also called toum or toumeyya. It has a creamy consistency and a pungent flavor that makes it ideal for pairing with grilled meats, crunchy vegetables, and warm pita bread. This condiment has been served in Middle Eastern cuisine for centuries and is an essential part of Lebanese cooking.

Ingredients You’ll Need for this Recipe

Garlic cloves
Neutral cooking oil (grapeseed, sunflower, or canola)
Salt
Cold fresh lemon juice

How to Make Lebanese Garlic Sauce

Peel the garlic cloves and slice them in half to remove the stem. Eating the stem of raw garlic can cause stomach upset.
Juice the lemon and place the container of lemon juice in the refrigerator to get it cold.
Place the peeled garlic clove halves, salt, and cold lemon juice in the food processor
Pulse 3 to 4 times until the garlic is chopped.
Scrape the mixture off the sides of the food processor. Slowly add the oil, pulsing until the sauce is smooth.
Once emulsified, the oil in the sauce should make it firm but wobbly in texture. Stir the sauce a final time before serving.

How to Serve Lebanese Garlic Sauce

You can serve this sauce cold or at room temperature. It’s great for dipping raw vegetables, grilled meats and seafood, falafel, and pita bread. Spread it on sandwiches, wraps, or burgers. Drizzle it over the top or stir it into a variety of dishes. Use it as a condiment for falafel or shawarma. You could also use it as a marinade or add it to salad dressings and other dips for extra flavor.

Tips and Variations for Toum

For the best Lebanese garlic sauce, it’s important to follow these tips:

Use fresh ingredients and a good quality oil.
Remove the green germ/stem inside the garlic bulb. Leaving it can cause a bitter flavor and an upset stomach.
Use fresh young garlic. Avoid using old garlic that has started to produce green sprouts or your sauce will be too spicy.
Use elephant garlic for a mild, distinctive flavor that will not be spicy or bitter.
Start with cold fresh lemon juice for optimal creaminess and flavor.
Add the oil to the food processor slowly to create a fluffy garlic sauce. Adding the oil to the food processor quickly will create a loose, watery sauce.
Adjust the amount of salt according to your taste preferences.
If you want a thinner sauce, add more oil. For a thicker sauce, use a little less oil.
Drizzle with olive oil or sprinkle with chopped fresh mint leaves for a garnish.

How to Store Leftovers

You can store Lebanese garlic sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 to 5 weeks. The sauce lasts this long because of its acidic and antimicrobial ingredients.

You can also freeze Lebanese garlic sauce for up to 6 months. You won’t be able to use thawed sauce as a sauce or dip because it will lose its fluffy texture. But you can still mix the sauce into many dishes to give them the strong garlic flavor.

Other Sauce and Dip Recipes

Layer Hummus and Caramelized Onion Dip

Quick and Easy Ragu Sauce

Bruschetta Dip with Soppressata

Low Country Boil Shrimp Dip

Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum)

Lebanese garlic sauce is a delicious condiment you may have never heard of, but it's also one you need on your next BBQ menu.

Ingredients

1 cup garlic cloves
3 cups neutral cooking oil (grapeseed, sunflower, canola)
2 tablespoons salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (cold)

Instructions

Preparethe garlic. Peel the garlic cloves and slice them in half to remove the stem. Leaving the stem can cause stomach upset after eating raw garlic.
Juice thelemon. Reserve the juice in a container by itself.
Place thepeeled garlic cloves, salt, and lemon juice in the food processor. Close the well and pulse the mixture 3-4 times until the garlic breaks up.
Add the oil. Scrape the garlic, lemon juice, and salt off the sides of the food processor and slowly add the oil to the mix, pulsing until the sauce is smooth.
Stir a finaltime before serving. Once emulsified, the oil in the sauce should make it firm and slightly wobbly in texture. Serve with grilled meats, roasted vegetables, or pita bread.

Notes

Use young garlic; it's more mild. Be sure to remove the green germ inside the
garlic bulb to reduce bitterness, and use elephant garlic for a mellow flavor.

Use olive oil for an authentic flavor. Olive oil is the traditional oil used in Lebanese garlic sauce, but canola or grapeseed oil are more neutral choices.

Use fresh lemons, not bottled lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice won't have the same emulsifying effect in the garlic sauce as using fresh-squeezed juice.

Add chopped mint to the garlic sauce for a more complex flavor profile. Mint and red wine can be added to garlic sauce to complement grilled meats, especially lamb.

Add the oil to the toum slowly. Adding the oil to the toum too quickly during the emulsifying process can negatively affect the texture of the sauce.

Freeze Lebanese garlic sauce for use in soups and casseroles. Even though thawed toum sauce won't have the texture to serve as a dip, it can still be mixed into dishes in place of garlic.