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What is toum? Lebanese garlic sauce, explained, with a recipe that doesn't break
Toum is the fluffy white garlic sauce on every Lebanese table in Dearborn: garlic, salt, lemon and oil, no egg. What it is, why it works, how to make it at home, and how to fix it when it splits.
What it is
Toum is a Levantine sauce, traditionally pounded in a wooden mortar and pestle and now made in a food processor. It looks like mayonnaise and behaves like one, but the thing holding the oil and lemon juice together is the garlic.
As the recipe developers at Serious Eats put it, "Toum is essentially a mayonnaise, but it's stabilized with garlic instead of egg." Crushing garlic into a completely smooth paste releases natural emulsifiers from inside its cell walls. Those are weaker than egg yolk, which is why toum is fussier than mayo and why the method matters.
It has been on tables for a long time. An Arabic dictionary published in 1881 already records a white garlic sauce under the name muthawwamah. Nobody has a reliable date for when it started, and anyone who gives you one is guessing.
What it tastes like
Sharp, lemony, salty and unapologetically garlicky. Fresh toum has real heat. After a few days in the fridge it rounds out. More oil makes it thicker and milder; less makes it looser and more pungent.
Toum in Detroit
Hour Detroit wrote in 2025 that toum "has made a home out of Detroit," where "you'll find this starkly white condiment on just about every table." Local kitchens vary it: some add potato, yogurt or egg white for body. The magazine called Cedarland's version in Dearborn "smooth, creamy, and pronounced." The late Sameer Eid of Phoenicia in Birmingham, who called his "garlic whip," told the magazine that making it "is a delicate process, and it's hard to get right."
A few places in the directory known for theirs:
Family-owned Lebanese restaurant on Warren Avenue that says it has served Dearborn for 25 years and operates what it calls the only Middle Eastern drive-thru in the city. Its storefront was renovated in 2026 under Dearborn's Warren Avenue facade program.
What to order: Rotisserie chicken, Complimentary lentil soup, Shish combo.
Restaurant states it serves 'the best HALAL food available'; Zabihah lists it as fully halal (HalalRank 90).
13007 W Warren Ave, Dearborn, MI 48126DirectionsWebsiteDetails
Casual Lebanese grill on Warren Avenue known for its rotisserie chicken and garlic sauce, with a second location in Dearborn Heights at 25412 Ford Rd. The restaurant describes its food as family recipes.
What to order: Rotisserie (BBQ) chicken with garlic sauce, Chicken shawarma, Shish kafta.
Fully halal per Zabihah listing (staff assurance); no certifier named.
13251 W Warren Ave, Dearborn, MI 48126DirectionsWebsiteDetails
Build-your-own shawarma chain (six locations, including Wayne) founded by 'Sami' with family recipes from Beirut; known for crisp-edged shawarma and garlic sauce.
What to order: Fattoush chicken shawarma, Garlic toum, Cajun and lemon-pepper fries.
Management states wraps, platters and trays are 100% halal; no alcohol per Zabihah.
14796 Hall Rd, Sterling Heights, MI 48313DirectionsDetails
How to make it
This follows the widely used Serious Eats method. It makes about two cups.
You need
- 1/3 cup (85 g) peeled garlic, about 25 medium cloves
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) ice water
- 3 cups (720 ml) neutral oil, such as grapeseed or canola
That is roughly one part garlic to nine parts oil by volume.
Method
Split each clove and pull out the green germ if there is one. It is where the bitterness lives. Use fresh, firm garlic.
Pulse the garlic and salt in a food processor until finely minced. The salt adds friction. Scrape down the sides.
Add 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and run the machine for a minute or two, until you have a smooth paste. Do not rush this step. The garlic has to be fully broken down.
With the motor running, drizzle in 1/4 cup of oil in a thin stream. Then add 1 tablespoon of ice water.
Keep alternating: 1/4 cup oil, then 1 tablespoon of ice water or lemon juice, until everything is in and the sauce is white and holds a peak.
Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.
Why it breaks, and how to fix it
- Oil too fast. This is the usual culprit. Pour too quickly and the emulsion flips inside out, leaving a greasy, separated sauce.
- Too much oil at once. Alternating oil with lemon and water keeps the mixture from being overcrowded with oil droplets.
- Warm ingredients. Use ice water. If the bowl of the processor gets warm, stop for a few minutes.
- Lumpy paste. If the garlic was not fully smooth before the oil went in, there is not enough emulsifier released to hold it.
The rescue: process one egg white with 1/4 cup of the broken sauce until fluffy, then slowly stream the rest back in. It works. It is also no longer vegan.
Storage
Up to a month in the fridge in an airtight container. It mellows as it sits.
Can you sell homemade toum?
Not from a home kitchen in Michigan. The state's cottage food rules exclude sauces and anything made with garlic in oil. The details are in selling homemade food in Michigan.
Sources (4)
Recipe quantities and method follow Serious Eats' Traditional Toum. Detroit context from Hour Detroit, April 2025.
Questions people ask
Is toum the same as aioli or garlic mayo?
No. Mayonnaise and most aioli are held together by egg. Traditional toum has no egg and no dairy: the garlic itself is the emulsifier. It is vegan.
Why did my toum break?
Almost always because the oil went in too fast. It can also split if there is too much oil for the amount of garlic or if the ingredients are warm. Use ice water, add oil in a thin stream, and alternate with lemon juice or water.
Can you fix broken toum?
Yes. Process one egg white with a quarter cup of the broken sauce until fluffy, then slowly stream in the rest. It will no longer be vegan, but it will come back together.
How long does toum last?
Up to a month in the fridge in an airtight container. The garlic bite mellows over the first few days.
What do you eat toum with?
Chicken shawarma, shish tawook, rotisserie chicken, kafta, fries, and warm pita. In Dearborn it arrives on the table before you order.
