Toum – Recipe for Middle Eastern Garlic Sauce. Use on Shawarma, Falafel, Grilled Foods. Vegan, Garlicky, Creamy and Flavorful
I’ve been wanting to post this recipe for a while now, but it took some time to develop it and get it just right. Either the texture wasn’t quite right or the flavor wasn’t exactly where I wanted it to be. I can proudly say that finally, I’ve cracked the code. This toum recipe is da bomb. It’s smooth, creamy, garlicky and deliciously potent.
The key was using a big food processor (8 cups or more), making a large batch (big enough for it to easily emulsify in the food processor), using sunflower or canola oil (these mild oils work best for flavor and texture), and chilling the oil. Sound strange? The chilled oil is magic, it helps to keep the sauce from separating. Come on, don’t you trust me yet?
If you’ve never had the pleasure of trying toum, it’s a creamy garlic dipping sauce that is often served in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants. It’s similar to aioli or mayonnaise, but made without eggs.
It’s utterly fabulous on falafel, shawarma, grilled chicken, fish, and vegetables— really, anything that calls for a creamy garlic accompaniment. Be warned, this sauce isn’t for the faint of heart. Toum packs a powerful punch.
Raw garlic contains some pretty incredible health benefits, and has been used as both food and medicine for thousands of years. Ancient Olympic athletes used to eat raw garlic to boost their strength and stamina. It’s a great source of antioxidants; it also has anti-inflammatory properties.
Some studies have shown that eating garlic may help lower high blood pressure and high cholesterol. So toum is not only tasty, but it’s also good for you. Although I can’t promise it will have a very positive effect on your breath. Don’t go kissing anybody after a serving of this stuff!
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Garlic Sauce (Toum)
Ingredients
- 4 cups sunflower oil, avocado oil or canola oil, chilled (You may need less oil - detailed instructions below. For Passover safflower oil may be used)
- 1/2 cup garlic cloves peeled
- 1/2 cup lemon juice divided
- 1/2 cup ice cold water divided
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Please Note: this recipe must be made exactly as written, and it relies on a balance of ingredients with very specific amounts and temperatures. Please do not alter the number of servings, or your sauce may not emulsify properly. Before you begin, place your oil in the freezer or refrigerator so that it is chilled, but still liquid. While the oil chills, remove the ends from your garlic cloves, split them in half and remove any green layers from inside. In a food processor, combine garlic cloves, salt, 1/4 cup of the lemon juice and 1/4 cup of the ice cold water.
- Process until smooth, then stop and scrape the sides of the food processor with a spatula.
- Turn the food processor back on and drizzle the chilled oil through the top as SLOWLY as possible, one cup at a time. If you don't have a steady hand I suggest putting the oil in a squeeze bottle and drizzling it in that way. After each cup of oil, add 1 tbsp each of the lemon juice and cold water.
- Scrape down the sides of the food processor as necessary. Be sure that your processor does not get too hot, as this can cause your sauce to separate.
- Only add oil until you've reached the texture you desire - you may only need 3 1/2 cups to achieve the proper texture. The final result should resemble a soft mayonnaise. This recipe makes about 5 cups of sauce, a serving is calculated as roughly 2 tablespoons. Store toum in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This recipe makes a pretty big batch, but it should keep for up to 4 weeks and it can be used on so many things. You'll be happy you have extra. Enjoy!
NOTES
Nutrition
Hi! Just wondering if plain vegetable oil will work as well in this recipe
Thanks 🙂 so excited to try it!
Hi Sarah, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Sunflower or canola oil really is best for achieving the right flavor in this recipe.
What are the potential alternative equipment for this recipe if you don’t own a food processor?
Hi Nathasia, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. A high powered blender would likely do the trick. You need something that will produce a smooth consistency.
I can confirm that this worked just fine in a blendtec. I imagine most blenders will be okay because you really are just whipping air into the oil. You might not get as smooth a sauce since blenders won’t cut the garlic.
My Ninja (old school one with motor that sits on top) blended everything just fine. I poured in through the spout so I wouldn’t rush the oil.
How did the ancient people make it without a food processor? Is there any other way to emulsify oil? Is rice bran also fine as a replacement for sunflower and canola?
I am not very familiar with rice bran oil so unsure how it would taste in this recipe. My guess is that ancient people (if they made this at all) used good old fashioned elbow grease and some sort of whisk to emulsify– not an easy proposition. But I’m not really sure when this sauce developed, so it’s hard to say.
Elbow grease makes it taste weird. I’d stick with canola.
If they didn’t have food processors, they didn’t have refrigerators either. Ergo, smaller quantities were probably prepared using manual labor.
This recipe was the best ever. I made it with my young daughter and the family loved it!
I made this today and it was PERFECT! I followed the directions exactly. Everyone in our family loves it; we plan to use it to replace mayo because it has so much flavor. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to regular mayo since this is so delicious and easy to prepare. There are so many uses for toum… vegetable dip, salad, a side for meat. Thank you so much for posting this recipe!
Turned out nothing like mayo. It was the consistency of, well, oil. Wish I knew what went wrong. Put my oil in the freezer and everything. 🙁
Sara, another reader suggested this trick: put the mixture in the refrigerator for a while to allow it to separate, then use a stick blender to blend the mixture on high to emulsify. I haven’t tried it, but she recommended it, so worth a try.
You’re making an emulsion here, just like mayo. Making an emulsion is tricky and you can’t just dump the oil in to the processor. Add it very slowly, like by the drop until the emulsion starts. There are many youtube videos on this, just look for a mayo recipe.
Thanks and we tried it with olive oil and it came out well. Thanks
Absolutely amazing and thank you Tori for posting this! You have a new fan.
For those with the watery issue: I’ve made this several times over the last few months with perfect results – EXCEPT for yesterday! I failed 2 times and ended up with a watery garlic sauce, so I came back to this site. Lo and behold – the key to success was in the beginning of this recipe: “Before you begin, place your oil in the freezer or refrigerator so that it is chilled, but still liquid.”
I usually chill my oil in the freezer where it almost thickens (~30 mins) except yesterday and that was the key! After my 2 failed attempts I had great success.
Again, thank you very very much Tori!
My sauce was watery ? I placed the oil in the freezer and it was quite cold but not frozen. I don’t where I made a mistake. I used olive oil instead of canola oil, can it be the reason why my sauce was watery? Also, I added the oil very slowly. Someone please help!
Hello Hima– another reader suggested this trick: put the mixture in the refrigerator for a while to allow it to separate, then use a stick blender to blend the mixture on high to emulsify. I haven’t tried it, but she recommended it, so worth a try!
Perfect… Wish I could add a picture of how fluffy & light it turned out. Somewhere between whipped cream & Mayo… Made it in my juicer actually 🙂 Halved the recipe… but forgot to halve the salt… Turned out way to salty unfortunately but still going to use it! Thank you very much Tori for the reasonably simple recipe for an amazing dip & spread 🙂
Just made this and it easily came out perfect. Make sure your food processor is on high, and don’t rush – drizzle that oil patiently.
I took a few minor deviations that shouldn’t have any effect on the result: Instead of halving the garlic, I find it easier to just chop the bottom of the clove off, and then use my paring knife to pull the sprout out (if it exists). I used vegetable oil because that’s what I had on hand. I mixed icewater and lemon juice, then added the mix in the appropriate amount any time the recipe called for it, just to make it easier on myself.
This is pure magic! The taste is pretty awesome too. Whoever thought of this is a genius! Worked making half a recipe.
I made it but unfortunately it suddenly separated, I didn’t notice that it got too hot, but lucky for me I tried to add 2 tbsp of yoghurt and It worked, so if it got separated for some reason while you’re blending It don’t panic, just add some yoghurt and you will be back in business again,
this recipe is the real deal , I made it several times it was very good
thank you
When having problems, 1 other website suggests a small cooked potato. Another website suggested a touch of yogurt. So thought I’d pass these one.
This came out perfect! Letting it chill in the fridge beforef dinner ?If you follow Tori’s directions there shouldn’t be a problem
Thanks so much !
Works great came out fluffy and tastes like my favourite shawarma spot.
Please post how to make the shawarma hot sauce if you have a recipe
I used a blendtec and followed all instructions but only used half of all ingredients ..I cooled my canola oil in freezer till it was gel like then let it sit for 5 mins till it came back to liquid.
I put my blendtec blender on speed 1 and poured oil in 1/4 cup increments very slow with the thinnest stream possible. Used concentrate lemon juice (fridge temp)after each time I put oil in with very little water each time as well.
I’ve now made this recipe 3 times. It’s just such a lovely dairy free garlicky indulgent sauce. I put it on so many things. I’m vegan so it’s excellent for quick garlic bread, mayo replacer or just adding to other dishes to give it some welly. I’ve translated it to uk measurements and have made whole, half and now a quarter of the recipe and it still comes out well, although I added a little more oil when I quartered the recipe. Thank you for sharing this. I’m new to vegan eating and having this recipe has been so helpful for adding a wonderful garlic creaminess to dishes. I also love falafel so this has just changed my homemade offerings.
hi, thanks for the recipe, i been searching it for too long! but when i didi it the taste was too strong, i love garlic but it was zesty, hot, bitter, like raw garlic. i was wondering if it can be cooked somehow, or what else can i do? thank you sooo much!
Take a whole bowl of garlic, rub it in oil, fold in aluminum foil and put in an oven at 180c for 30 minutes. You can then easily squeeze out the garilic from its skin and use as per above recipe.
Dutchie…
My family does a quicker version using plain yogurt or lebanah, with finely minced garlic thrown in and a spoon or two each of oil and lemon to thin the consistency.
This way you can add as little or as much garlic as you’d like- the yogurts are refreshing enough to balance the heat of the garlic.
Or add some cucumber and dill and you have tzatziki!
we serve garlic sauce on top of freshly cooked spinach or rice cooked with orzo.
Hi, looking forward to making this Toum recipe with my mother. Just wondering, would coconut oil be a good substitute for canola oil? I also have a bottle of canola/olive oil blend?
Thanks for the recipe – looks great and will definitely be trying (had great success with your falafel recipe!).
I was wondering whether there’s a risk of botulism with this – as it has lemon juice added, would that be acidic enough to prevent the toxin forming if one were to keep airtight in the fridge for 4 weeks?
As an update, I tried it and got the oil and water very cold (didn’t bother with cooling lemon juice or garlic) and added very very slowly. I thought I’d got it right, although sauce seemed very watery (but tasted nice!) Unfortunately, when I looked at it the next day in the fridge, it had completely split. Do you have any suggestions of what to do with this? I don’t know if I could siphon of the oil and save it, rather than having to throw away? Thanks!
This is a year late but I’m having the same problem. My plan is to mix some of it with mayonnaise and see if that works. If not, I’m using the rest of it to marinate some steak!! It smells amazing and it tastes fabulous, why throw it away? It’s all good ingredients… no need to call it a waste.
I tried this tonight, a 1/4 recipe as it’s just for me, and it turned out perfect!! I don’t have a food processor, just a Ninja blender, so I was a bit worried – I had to stop a lot and add the oil a little bit at a time alternating with the lemon, but it was definitely worth it!