Fluffy, powerful Lebanese garlic sauce — the essential condiment for shawarma and grilled meats.
Toum is Lebanon's gift to garlic lovers — a thick, fluffy, pure-white garlic emulsion as bold and creamy as mayonnaise but made entirely without eggs. Using just garlic, lemon juice, salt, and neutral oil, toum is whipped until it becomes a cloud-like spread. It is served with every Lebanese grilled meat, inside shawarma, on falafel sandwiches, and as a dip.
Serves 12
Process garlic and salt in a food processor until very finely minced, scraping down sides.
With processor running, very slowly drizzle in oil — a thin stream — alternating with small amounts of lemon juice. Add ice water to help emulsification.
Continue until all oil and lemon are incorporated and toum is thick, fluffy, and white. Taste and adjust salt.
Adding oil too fast will break the emulsion — go slowly.
Ice water helps achieve the fluffy texture.
Add a small piece of cooked potato to make it milder.
Use lime instead of lemon.
Refrigerate in a jar up to 1 month.
Toum is the essential condiment of Lebanese cuisine, present at every table and at every shawarma counter from Beirut to Detroit.
Oil was added too fast. Start over with a new garlic base and slowly drizzle the broken toum into it.
Per serving (40g) · 12 servings total
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