This Lebanese-inspired Garlic Dip is thick, creamy, and fluffy and has the consistency of a thick spread. My Garlic Dip recipe is a small batch recipe using an immersion blender. This delicious dip recipe is made with a generous amount of fresh garlic, an egg white to help emulsify, oil, and lemon juice. An easy, delicious dip this garlic sauce goes well with roast chicken or as a side for baked pita chips.
Small batch garlic dip inspired by Lebanese Toum
My Garlic Dip recipe is inspired by Lebanese Toum. My local shawarma restaurant serves up pots of this heavenly dip with their shawarma bowls and wraps and as a dip for their crispy, crunchy fried pita chips - I could eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And dessert.
If you know, you know.
And if you know - if you've had Toum and have been like "Ok, I need this is my life 24/7" then you've probably searched for an easy Toum recipe to make.
My recipe is not authentic but rather inspired by the flavors of Toum. I've turned my recipe into a quick two-minute Toum with the use of an immersion blender. I'm not Middle Eastern, I'm a Canadian prairie girl and a Winnipeg food blogger, so when I have something I like (read: LOVE), I immediately try to make my own version of it.
I make a small batch Toum the same way I make homemade mayonnaise, in a tall container with my immersion blender. It takes only 30 seconds to blend this garlic dip recipe.
A lot of recipes for Toum, or garlic dip use a food processor - but they are using larger quantities which makes it easier to mix in a large food processor bowl. If you don't have an immersion blender, try a mini food processor, maybe even a mini blender would work (think magic bullet), I haven't tried it.
Ingredients for this recipe
- Garlic: Use fresh garlic for the best flavor. it's the main flavor in the dip. Take the little green sprout out from the middle if you want to go to the effort - it helps prevent a bitter flavor in your garlic dip.
- Egg white: There are recipes that don't use egg white but they are often large batch recipes, using a head or two of garlic and 3-4 cups of oil in a food processor. I make a small batch with an immersion blender for my garlic dip recipe so the egg white really helps this dip come together, like making mayo. Emulsification FTW - yay science.
- Neutral Oil: I use either grapeseed oil or canola oil. (The flavor of olive oil can be overwhelming in this dip and will change the color.)
- Lemon juice: To balance the flavor.
- Salt: The salt helps to crush and puree the garlic and adds flavor.
Recipe Tips
EXPERT TIP: Use very fresh garlic. Because this is a garlic dip and the main flavor is the garlic itself, make sure to use fresh garlic bulbs. We're only peeling about 6-7 cloves, not a head or two like big batch recipes, so peeling is quick.
To make peeling the garlic easier, smash the garlic bulbs first or twist them a bit to loosen the peel. You can also place them in a container with a lid and shake for about 30-60 seconds to loosen the peels.
What to serve with Garlic Dip
Recipe
Garlic Dip
Ingredients
- 6-7 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 large egg white
- 1 cup of neutral oil canola, vegetable, grapeseed, or similar
Instructions
- Add the peeled garlic and the salt to a tall container. Pulse a few times with the immersion blender to break up the garlic and start pureeing it. It won't be completely smooth at this point.
- Remove the blender and add the rest of the ingredients.
- Settle the blender squarely on the bottom of your container and start blending. Once the mixture is about ⅔ mixed, slowly pull the blender up while continuing to blend until the mixture comes together fully.
Equipment
Notes
Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used. Read our full Nutrition Disclaimer.
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How to make a garlic dip with an immersion blender
Using an immersion blender to make emulsified dips and spreads like homemade mayonnaise or this garlic dip gives quick and reliable results.
Dips come together in just a minute or two this way, as opposed to the traditional method of very slowly drizzling oil into the mixture in a thin stream. Mixtures can break easier this way if you add the oil in too quickly. I find this doesn't happen using an immersion blender.
To make this garlic dip, first, peel the garlic cloves. You can also remove the center sprout which is supposed to help prevent bitterness. I do this sometimes, and sometimes I get lazy 😉
Add the garlic cloves and the salt to a large, tall container that you will mix in. It should have enough room for all of the ingredients and for your immersion blender to sit flat on the bottom of it.
With the garlic and salt in the container, start pulsing with the immersion blender. The salt will help break up the garlic. Pulse for about 30 seconds, or until the garlic is broken up. It probably won't be pureed because of the lack of volume.
Take the immersion blender out of the container and add the rest of the ingredients. (Traditional methods would have you drizzle the oil but I like this shortcut!)
Add the blender back to the container, settling it flat on the bottom. Turn it on and start blending. Keep blending until it's ⅔ mixed, then slowly pull the blender up while continuing to mix. This only takes about 60 seconds or so!
Once the mixture is fully combined, stop the blender and remove it from the container. Tap any excess mixture back into the container. (Mix sure to stop the blender before pulling it out of the mixture or it could go everywhere!)
How to store garlic dip
Serve now, or add a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate. The finished garlic dip will last in the fridge for as long as the best before date on the egg white you used. Because the egg white isn't cooked, I wouldn't keep it longer than this.
Recipes FAQs
Toum is a thick and fluffy middle eastern spread made with garlic, lemon juice and oil.
A Toum or garlic dip recipe using egg white as an emulsifier lasts in the fridge for as long as the best before date on the egg white, usually a couple of weeks.
Marian says
I’ve tried to make toum many times. This was the first time I’ve succeeded. It literally took me less than 2 min start to finish, and it tasted exactly like my local shawarma shack’s garlic! Thank you!!!
Jacqueline Piper says
Oh that's excellent Marian! Thanks for taking the time to comment! I love an easy recipe too and this one is so tasty 🙂
Anne Proctor says
Mine is a little salty for my taste. What can I add to make it a less salty? I hate to throw out the entire batch, it’s so good.
Jacqueline Piper says
Hi Anne,
That's too bad about the salt level - sometimes in recipes you can add lemon juice to lessen the salty taste, so you could try that with this recipe. I've never had that with this recipe, so that's the only suggestion I can think of. When I make mayonnaise and need to adjust flavors (the method is similar to this recipe), I'll add a bit of oil and blend again so you could try that but I've never tried it with this particular recipe. Sometimes flavors blend after time in the fridge also. Let me know if you try one of these suggestions!
Jacqueline