Toum (Lebanese Whipped Garlic Sauce)
A snow-white, cloud-light emulsion of garlic, oil, lemon and ice water, whipped until it holds soft peaks. Spoon it onto grilled chicken, kebabs or fries for a punch of pure garlic flavour.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Prepare the garlic
Peel the garlic cloves, slice each one in half lengthwise and flick out any green sprout in the centre with the tip of a knife — it is bitter and will spoil the sauce's clean flavour. Pat the cloves completely dry with a paper towel; any extra moisture can make the emulsion collapse later.
- 150 g garlic cloves
✅ Done when: all cloves are halved, degermed and dry
Make a smooth paste
Put the garlic and salt in a food processor and pulse until finely minced, then scrape down the sides and process until it forms a smooth, almost creamy paste. The salt acts like a mild abrasive here, helping break the garlic down fully so no stringy bits remain in the finished sauce.
- 150 g garlic (from step 1)
- 1 tsp salt
✅ Done when: the garlic looks like a smooth, pale paste with no visible pieces
Begin the emulsion
With the processor running continuously, add the oil literally drop by drop at first, just as you would when starting a mayonnaise. This slow beginning is the step that decides whether the sauce stays stable — rushing it now is the main reason splits.
- 120 ml oil (first portion, poured in drops)
✅ Done when: the mixture has turned pale and thick, like a loose cream
Build the sauce
Once it has thickened, keep the processor running and start alternating: a thin, steady stream of the remaining oil, then a splash of lemon juice or ice water, then back to oil, scraping down the sides whenever needed. Keep alternating until everything is used up — the cold water and acid keep the sauce light and stop it from turning oily or heavy.
- 360 ml remaining oil
- 80 ml lemon juice
- 60 ml ice-cold water
✅ Done when: the sauce is bright white, thick and fluffy, holding soft peaks on a spoon
Rest and serve
Scrape the into a jar or bowl and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes; this mellows the raw bite of the garlic before it goes fully bitter-sharp from the blade's heat. Serve alongside grilled chicken, kebabs, shawarma or fries, or refrigerate in a sealed jar for up to a week.
✅ Done when: the sharp raw-garlic smell has softened slightly and the sauce is cool
Prepare the garlic
Peel the garlic cloves, slice each one in half lengthwise and flick out any green sprout in the centre with the tip of a knife — it is bitter and will spoil the sauce's clean flavour. Pat the cloves completely dry with a paper towel; any extra moisture can make the emulsion collapse later.
- 150 g garlic cloves
✅ Done when: all cloves are halved, degermed and dry
Make a smooth paste
Put the garlic and salt in a food processor and pulse until finely minced, then scrape down the sides and process until it forms a smooth, almost creamy paste. The salt acts like a mild abrasive here, helping break the garlic down fully so no stringy bits remain in the finished sauce.
- 150 g garlic (from step 1)
- 1 tsp salt
✅ Done when: the garlic looks like a smooth, pale paste with no visible pieces
Begin the emulsion
With the processor running continuously, add the oil literally drop by drop at first, just as you would when starting a mayonnaise. This slow beginning is the step that decides whether the sauce stays stable — rushing it now is the main reason splits.
- 120 ml oil (first portion, poured in drops)
✅ Done when: the mixture has turned pale and thick, like a loose cream
Build the sauce
Once it has thickened, keep the processor running and start alternating: a thin, steady stream of the remaining oil, then a splash of lemon juice or ice water, then back to oil, scraping down the sides whenever needed. Keep alternating until everything is used up — the cold water and acid keep the sauce light and stop it from turning oily or heavy.
- 360 ml remaining oil
- 80 ml lemon juice
- 60 ml ice-cold water
✅ Done when: the sauce is bright white, thick and fluffy, holding soft peaks on a spoon
Rest and serve
Scrape the into a jar or bowl and let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes; this mellows the raw bite of the garlic before it goes fully bitter-sharp from the blade's heat. Serve alongside grilled chicken, kebabs, shawarma or fries, or refrigerate in a sealed jar for up to a week.
✅ Done when: the sharp raw-garlic smell has softened slightly and the sauce is cool
The Story Behind the Dish
Toum has long been a fixture of Lebanese cooking, served alongside grilled meats, roast chicken, mezze and fries. Unlike the roughly crushed garlic pastes found elsewhere in the Mediterranean, toum is deliberately whipped into a stable emulsion, closer in method to mayonnaise than to a simple garlic paste.
It is made in nearly every Lebanese household and restaurant kitchen, often in large batches, because its sharp, clean garlic flavour is considered essential to a proper spread of grilled food.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Its fluffy, snow-white texture and intensely fresh garlic flavour, with no raw harshness, make it instantly recognizable and endlessly craveable alongside grilled dishes.
💡 Fun Fact
Toum contains no egg or dairy at all — its stability comes purely from technique, patience, and the right balance of oil, acid and ice water.
Lebanon and the wider Levant
33.89°N, 35.50°E
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