Lazy Person’s Toum (Easy Greek Yogurt Garlic Sauce)

Here’s the thing about traditional toum: it’s a beautiful, ancient Lebanese garlic sauce made with exactly three ingredients—garlic, oil, and ice water—and it will absolutely humiliate you if you’re not careful. One wrong move, one degree of temperature off, one second too long of blending, and the whole thing breaks into a greasy, separated mess. People have strong feelings about it. There are toum forums. There are toum debates. There are people who have failed at toum and are still processing the trauma.

I respect the craft. I really do. But I also respect my own mental energy, and I’d rather not spend an evening coaxing an emulsion into existence while sweating over whether my water is the correct temperature.

So here’s what I do instead: I make toum the way someone who has actual things to do makes it. Greek yogurt, mayo, garlic, lemon, a couple of seasonings, and five minutes. No anxiety. No emulsification disasters. No greasy aftermath. Just a tangy, garlicky, ridiculously good sauce that tastes like you tried way harder than you actually did.

The Recipe

Ingredients

• ½ cup 0% Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp Best Foods Light Mayo
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp Kinder Greek seasoning
• Pinch of salt
• 1–2 tsp water, only if needed to thin
• Optional flavor boost: Add a tiny pinch of dill-ranch seasoning if you want it extra tangy and savory.

Instructions

1. Put the yogurt and mayo in a bowl.
2. Add the minced garlic, garlic powder, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, optional dill-ranch, and salt.
3. Stir it all together until combined. Taste it. Adjust seasonings if you want.
4. If it feels too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time until you get the consistency you like. You want it thick, creamy, and spoonable — thin enough to dollop or drizzle, but not runny
5. Chill for at least 15 minutes (or however long you have).
6. Serve and accept the compliments you’ll definitely get.

What to Do With It

This sauce is your new best friend. Dollop it on grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, shawarma, falafel, crispy potatoes, or literally any protein you’re tired of eating plain. It’s especially good with anything Mediterranean-ish, but honestly, I’ve put it on everything from tacos to fish to last night’s rotisserie chicken and regretted nothing.

Storage & Tips

Keep it in the fridge: This sauce will last about a week in a covered container. After that, the garlic gets a little weird, so make a fresh batch.

Make it ahead: You absolutely can make this the night before. The flavors actually get better as they hang out together, so this is peak meal-prep energy.

Don’t skip the chill: A cold sauce is a better sauce. Even 15 minutes in the fridge makes a difference.

Seasoning is flexible: Don’t have Kinder Greek seasoning? Use whatever Greek seasoning blend you have, or just go heavier on salt and lemon. The garlic, mayo and yogurt are doing the heavy lifting anyway. You’re not trying to win a toum competition. You’re trying to eat delicious food without spiraling.

That’s it. That’s the whole thing. You’ve now made a sauce that tastes fancy and involved without any of the emulsification anxiety, temperature anxiety, or existential dread. You’re welcome.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size	2 tbsp
Calories	35
Protein	3g
Carbohydrates	2g
Fat	2g

Serve It With

Already thinking about what to pair this with? Here are two recipes that’ll make this sauce really shine:

• High Protein Pita Bread
• Greek Chicken Dinner