Naturally vegan and gluten free, this Lebanese Garlic Sauce is light, fluffy and packed with flavor. Serve with grilled meat, shish kebobs or warm pita.
I am so lucky. As much as I would love to say that I am a self-taught, self-made home chef, I really can’t take credit. It’s in my blood. It’s in my DNA. It’s in my genes. My family is full of incredible cooks on both sides but today’s post is about one woman in particular, my Aunt Paula.
She won’t let anyone photograph her, ever. As you know, I’m a bit camera happy and always have it out at family gatherings and parties. Whenever she seems me come near she looks the other way.
My Aunt Paula is known for gifting friends and family with food all year round. If you’re sick, she will defrost homemade chicken soup and deliver it with a bag of fritos – the best chicken soup topping in the world. Just have a baby? She’ll stop by at dinner with a platter of Hushwee rice.
At Christmas, she is notorious for The Gift of Butter (Clarified Butter). If we happen to stop by for a walk during the weekend, it’s almost a guarantee she is baking up a loaf of barley bread for my Uncle Randy to pack in his lunch box during the week. Inevitably, she’ll have a loaf to send you home with. Aunt Paula is the best and I owe all of my Lebanese food skills to her.
As you probably guessed, this Lebanese Garlic Sauce was the most recent food gift I received from my Aunt Paula. The recipe is just four simple ingredients but with a little love it turns into a magical, intoxicating and addictive sauce you’ll be spreading on pita sandwiches, serving with Beef Shawarma or dipping with Chicken Tawook.
Recipe Notes
What is Lebanese garlic sauce made of?
It’s a fairly basic recipe containing garlic cloves, salt, and canola oil.
Is there mayo in garlic sauce?
One of the best qualities of garlic sauce is that there is no mayo
What type of oil can be used in garlic sauce?
Only use canola or vegetable oil. Do not use olive oil.
How long does garlic sauce last in the refrigerator?
Up to 7 days in an air tight container.
What causes my garlic sauce to fall apart when I’m making?
This process requires you to drizzle in the oil — not dump in the oil right away. When you see it begin to thicken up THEN you start with the lemon juice.
Can I use diced garlic from a store in lieu of fresh garlic?
I would not recommend. Garlic in a jar is quite bitter.
If you’re a visual person and need to see the process I encourage you to take a look at this video for help. Your fork is waiting.
Take a look at my Lebanese Pinterest board to see more recipe ideas!
Lebanese Garlic Sauce (Toum)
Ingredients
- 1 cup garlic cloves peeled (roughly 3 heads of garlic)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups canola oil you may not need all of this
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (about one lemon)
Instructions
- Place the garlic cloves and salt in a large food processor and puree until smooth. It's a good idea to scrape down the sides two or three times to ensure that all of the garlic is finely processed.
- Turn the machine back on and slowly drizzle in the oil through the lid starting with 1/2 cup. After the first 1/2 cup has been added, pour in a teaspoon of the lemon juice.
- Continue alternating between 1/2 cup of the canola oil and a teaspoon of the lemon juice until you've added all of the oil and lemon juice. Alternating between the two is the key to proper emulsification which creates the light and fluffy garlic sauce.
- You know it's done when the sauce is white and thick with a similar consistency of mayonnaise. It usually takes about 10-15 minutes.
Recipe Notes:
Need more delicious, homemade Lebanese food in your life? Check out my Pinterest board!
Tried to make this but a half recipe, and ended up with an oily mess. Nothing came together, and I only put in a cup of oil. It never came together, and it basically became flavoured oil. I kept thinking “maybe if I just put a bit more, itll finally work” but no. 15 minutes in the food processor and it looked the same as the first 2 minutes. I even tried putting it in my kitchenaid to whip it, thinking maybe if I just whip some air into it itll thicken up, and nope. Extremely disappointed! Thank goodness garlic is cheap or else I’d be really angry because I wasted 2 heads for nothing.
Hi Olivia – I’m so sorry this recipe wasn’t a success for you. By chance did you watch the video tutorial? Perhaps that can help you pinpoint where you went wrong. This is one of my most popular recipes so I want to help you enjoy it like thousands of others have.
I was hoping for a more refined sauce, almost like fluff, light and airy. This one is more of a mayo/butter consistency (I just noticed in your description “mayo like”. A restaurant in NYC serves the fluffy type, but of course – it’s a secret recipe! Also, theirs is purely White, my has the mayo color. Tastes great just visual disappointment.
Interesting! :)
Do you know if this can be made in a Vitamix?
I’m not sure – I’ve only used a food processor!
I have made this in my vitamix, but its difficult until you get enough ingredients for the blades to do their job