Garlic Sauce - Toum | The Curry Guy

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If you’ve ever had Lebanese grilled chicken, shawarma, or kebabs, you’ve probably enjoyed it slathered with garlic sauce, also know as toum. Creamy, bold, and ultra-garlicky, this traditional Middle Eastern condiment is a culinary powerhouse that transforms any dish it touches.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to make the easy version which uses egg white. Toum is usually vegan friendly as it contains no egg but adding the egg white help achieve that creamy texture much easier.

Garlic sauce with a kebab in the background.

What is Lebanese Style Garlic Sauce -

Lebanese style garlic sauce, or toum, is a fluffy, white emulsion made primarily from raw garlic, neutral oil, lemon juice, salt and sometimes egg white. The result is a potent, cloud-like sauce that’s vegetarian, gluten-free, and bursting with bold garlic flavour.

Toum is commonly served with grilled meats like chicken shawarma, shish tawook, lamb kebabs, or falafel, and it's often spread inside wraps or used as a dip for pita bread. It's similar in texture to mayonnaise.

About this Garlic Sauce Recipe

I make the authentic version of the garlic sauce all the time but decided to show you this easy version with egg white first. The reason for this is simple. I wanted you to see exactly how the sauce should look when it’s ready to serve.

Making garlic sauce without egg white can be difficult for beginners but not impossible. You might just need to see what works for you. Just so you know, I spent weeks, experimenting with different blenders before I finally got the eggless version and I still prefer the texture of the egg white version.

Ingredients

Get all your ingredients prepared and ready before you start. You will need them to hand! The exact measures of each ingredient are in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Garlic
Lemons
Egg white
Vegetable oil
Salt

See recipe card for quantities.

Step by step photos

Check out the photos below to see how I made this delicious and easy garlic sauce. I prefer whisking the sauce by hand to finish but you could also use a high-powered small blender or food processor. The exact measures for the ingredients are in recipe card below.

Removing the green core in each piece of garlic.

Step 1: Cut the ends of each clove of garlic and then slice them lengthwise in half. If you see that the core is turning green or is at all discoloured, slice it out as this will make your garlic sauce bitter.

Adding the garlic and salt to a blender.

Step 2: Pour your prepared garlic and the salt into a blender or food processor.

Blending the garlic and salt in a blender using the pulse function and adding a little oil.

Step 3: Slowly add about 3 tbsp of oil while blending.

Blending the garlic until really smooth.

Step 4: When the garlic is really smooth, you can continue using your food processor or blender. I prefer to finish this off in a bowl with a whisk. If continuing with your food processor or blender, add the egg white now.

Whisking the egg white and the whisking in the blended garlic.

Step 5: Whisk the egg white in a bowl for a minute or two until it begins to thicken and look creamy. Then slowly pour in the blended garlic, salt and oil mixture while continuing to whisk.

Adding the oil and lemon juice slowly while whisking the sauce.

Step 6: Slowly drizzle in the remaining oil and lemon juice, adding a little of each at a time while whisking. As you do this, the sauce will thicken and become creamy smooth like mayonnaise.

Pour the garlic sauce into a bowl for serving or storage. You can flatten it out some to stop the top from discolouring.

Step 7: Taste the garlic sauce and adjust the salt and lemon flavours, if needed. Pour the thick garlic sauce into a bowl for serving or storage. You can use a spatula to flatten it which will stop the top from discolouring when stored.

Step 8: This garlic sauce is so good and just like you find at the best takeaways. Serve it how you like. It’s delicious on almost everything savoury.

Why You'll Love Lebanese Garlic Sauce

There are many reasons to fall in love with Lebanese style garlic sauce:

Intensely Garlicky: If you love garlic, this sauce is for you.
Bright & Tangy: Lemon juice balances out the sharp garlic.
Multipurpose: Use it as a dip, spread, marinade, or salad dressing base.

How to Use Lebanese Garlic Sauce

There’s almost no wrong way to enjoy this garlicky masterpiece. Here are some of my favourite serving suggestions:

Serving Ideas:

Sandwich Spread: Replace mayo with toum for a zesty upgrade.

Shawarma Wraps: Spread inside flatbread for an authentic street-food flavor.

Falafel: A bright, bold contrast to earthy chickpeas.

French Fries or Roasted Potatoes: Garlic sauce as a dip = addictive.

Veggies: Try it with steamed broccoli, carrots, or roasted cauliflower.

Equipment

Blender or Food Processor: A blender or food processor is needed to blend the garlic until smooth. You can also use it to finish off the garlic sauce.

A large mixing bowl: To whisk and emulsify the garlic sauce.

A whisk: if using the whisking method in a bowl.

Plastic spatula: For scraping the sauce off the sides of the blender or food processor.

Measuring cups or kitchen scales: For measuring out the ingredients.

Storage

Refrigerator: You can store this garlic sauce with egg white for about a week in the fridge in an airtight glass jar. The flavours improve after 1–2 days.

Freezer: You can freeze garlic sauce in ice cube trays and transfer cubes to a zip-top bag for up to 3 months.

Avoid Contamination: Always use a clean spoon to scoop out sauce to prevent spoilage.

Top Tip

Use fresh, firm garlic cloves for the best flavour and emulsion results, avoid pre-minced or old garlic.

FAQ

What if the garlic sauce splits?

This rarely happens when using egg whites. If it does, just whisk or blend a little more and it should come together. If not using egg white and your sauce splits, you can always add the egg white and it will fix the problem.

Can you substitute olive oil for the vegetable oil?

I don’t recommend doing this. Olive oil can turn bitter when processed like this. It will also turn the garlic sauce yellow.

Looking for other recipes like this? All of these sauces are delicious on a kebab!

Pairing

This garlic sauce, Taum, is delicious spooned over any of these, even if they aren't Lebanese:

Yield: 8

Garlic Sauce (Taum)

When I made this garlic sauce, I doubled the ingredients as I needed more. You can do the same. This delicious Taum is easy to upscale or downscale.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

320g (1 cup) Garlic, peeled
375ml (1 1/2 cups) vegetable oil
Juice of 1 to 2 Lemons
1 Egg white
Salt to taste

Instructions

Cut the ends of each clove of garlic and then slice them lengthwise in half. If you see that the core is turning green or is at all discoloured, slice it out as this will make your garlic sauce bitter.
Pour your prepared garlic and 1/2 tsp salt into a blender or food processor.
Slowly add about 3 tbsp of oil while blending or a little more if needed to blend..
When the garlic is really smooth, you can continue using your food processor or blender. I prefer to finish this off in a bowl with a whisk. If continuing with your food processor or blender, add the egg white now.
Whisk the egg white in a bowl for a minute or two until it begins to thicken and look creamy. Then slowly pour in the blended garlic, while blending or whisking.
Slowly drizzle in the remaining oil and lemon juice, adding a little of each at a time while whisking. As you do this, the sauce will thicken and become creamy smooth like mayonnaise, which when using egg white it actually is: a mayonnaise.
Pour the thick garlic sauce into a bowl for serving or storage. You can use a spatula to flatten it which will stop the top from discolouring when stored.