How to Use Toum, the Garlic Dip We Can't Get Enough Of

You may have seen people talking about toum on your FYP lately. Rightfully so, because the Mediterranean garlic sauce—traditionally made with garlic, salt, oil, and lemon juice—is long overdue for the fanfare it deserves. The world is a better place when there’s more garlic in it, that’s what I’ve always said.

Videos by Sporked

I first experienced this gift from the heavens at Zankou Chicken, a Lebanese-Armenian chicken restaurant here in Los Angeles. You, however, may have seen the more accessible version, Toom, in a Costco near you or the generically-named Garlic Dip & Spread at Trader Joe’s. Regardless of where you get it, if you love garlic, you need to get it.

You get it? Okay, good. Now that you’ve grabbed it, you’re probably wondering: How do I use toum? There are the typical applications (on shawarma, marinating meats, etc.), but that’s a little too boring for us to cover here at Sporked. We’re about the crafty, the unexpected, the downright “that’s too crazy but I trusted them and tried it and I’ll be damned, it really works.” Let’s dig into the exciting ways you should be using the viral garlic dip that will get you excited to dig into more of that white ambrosia.

Add It to a Charcuterie Board

Imagine topping a cracker with some cheese, a cured meat, and a fat ol’ dollop of toum. Are you imagining it? Okay, good. Folks online suggest it pairs well with softer, milder cheeses like muenster, mozz, and havarti. As for meat, we’re going with mortadella on this one.

Use It as a Dip for Pizza

Really, what we’re learning as time goes on is there are very few condiments you can’t pair with a slice of pizza—ranch! hot honey! the blood of your enemies! Toum is no exception to that rule. There’s probably already garlic in the sauce and your local pizza place might even garlic-butter the crust—but nothing brings concentrated garlic flavor to the (pizza) party quite like toum.

Slather It onto Corn on the Cob

Cover those ears of corn with a heavy smear of toum, wrap it in foil, and cook it over the grill like you otherwise would. Skip the butter and let all the juicy, oily goodness take over for a hell of a summer BBQ treat.

Make the Easiest Garlic Bread Ever

Grab a loaf of French or Italian bread, cut that beaut in half, cover it with toum, and broil it until it’s golden brown. A quick fixin’ that’s a hell of a showstopper.

Pair It with Potatoes (in Every Form)

There are the expected potato pairings for toum, for instance, fries or even roasted potatoes—but what about the less expected. Replace the butter in your mashed potatoes with a dollop of toum. Cover your gnocchi with a saucy serving of toum. Add it to your boxed scalloped potatoes. If this were a meme, all the potato products would be shaking hands with toum.