This Homemade Cava Garlic Dressing Dupe packs a serious garlicky punch! Easy to make in a blender or food processor with only 5 simple ingredients, you’ll want to put this toum-style sauce on everything.
I could literally drink this creamy garlic dressing. It’s seriously garlicky, nice and creamy, and ridiculously easy to make.
This recipe is a dupe of the dressing from Cava. If you’ve never been to Cava, think of it like a Mediterranean version of Chipotle. One of their dressing options is their garlic dressing, which is essentially a looser version of the Lebanese garlic sauce, toum!
Now, what is toum exactly?
Well, it’s a lot like mayo, except instead of using eggs as a stabilizer and emulsifier, it uses garlic cloves. The ingredients are traditionally mashed in a mortar and pestle until you’re left with a creamy sauce to pair with shawarma, falafel, and all kinds of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes.
If you love toum or garlic sauce in general, you need this recipe in your life. It goes so well with this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Bowl, this Vegan Kale Salad, shawarma, falafel, veggie wraps, and more!
Table of Contents:
Why you’ll love this toum-style dressing
- Garlicky Punch! A whopping ½ cup of garlic cloves gives this creamy blended sauce a serious punch of garlic.
- 5 Ingredients. This sauce—made only from garlic, aquafaba, lemon, salt, and oil—takes maybe 5 minutes to blend together.
- Dairy- and Egg-Free. It’s hard to believe this creamy garlic dressing contains no cream, eggs, or dairy. That’s the magic of blended aquafaba and oil, baby!
🎥 Watch the video of this recipe
@emily.eggers cava garlic dressing dupe! aka toum!🧄 basic recipe below garlic dressing: 1/2 cup garlic cloves 1/4 cup aquafaba 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup oil - add garlic, aquafaba, lemon juice and salt to a blender or food processor. blend until smooth. - continue blending on low, slowlyyyyy drizzling in the oil until smooth and fully emulsified. - taste and add more salt if needed
♬ original sound - Emily Eggers
🥘 What you need for this recipe
Ingredients
- Garlic Cloves - And no, I don’t mean the jarred pre-minced stuff or the garlic that’s been in your cupboard for weeks. We need fresh, amazing-quality garlic cloves straight from the farmer’s market. Trust me, the better your garlic is, the better your garlic sauce will be.
- Aquafaba - This is the liquid in a can of chickpeas. Just open the can, drain the liquid into a bowl, and blend it into the sauce! If you have leftover aquafaba, you can use it in a batch of these Eggless Brownies. Two egg whites should work as a substitute if you’re out of canned chickpeas, but since CAVA uses aquafaba in their recipe, your sauce will no longer be a dupe.
- Lemon Juice - A spritz of freshly squeezed lemon juice will give this otherwise bold and garlicky sauce a balancing bright flavor.
- Salt - Remember to taste the sauce before adding extra salt.
- Oil - Use a high-quality neutral-tasting oil, like grapeseed, olive, or avocado oil. There’s a good amount of oil in this mayo-like sauce, so make sure you like the taste of the one you choose!
See recipe card for quantities.
Tools and Equipment:
- Can Opener
- Sharp Knife
- Blender or Food Processor
- Spatula
- Squeeze Bottle or Glass Jar
📋 How to make Creamy Garlic Dressing
Step 1: Blend the Ingredients
Add the garlic cloves, aquafaba, lemon juice, and salt to a blender or food processor.
Blend the ingredients until the sauce is very smooth.
Step 2: Drizzle in the Oil
With the motor running, slowly drizzle the oil into the blender or food processor until the sauce is smooth and emulsified.
Step 3: Taste and Enjoy
Taste the lemon garlic salad dressing and blend in more salt, lemon juice, or garlic as needed. Transfer the finished sauce to an airtight container or enjoy it right away.
💭 Expert Tips & Tricks
- Is raw garlic a little too strong for your liking? No problem. Drop the cloves into a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds, then drain and pat dry. The water will remove some of its strong bite.
- Pour in the oil suuuper slowly. By streaming in a little at a time, you give the oil plenty of time to incorporate with the mashed garlic and aquafaba. You’ll know the dressing is ready when it looks light and fluffy.
- This is optional, but you can blend in a splash or two of ice water right after adding the oil to fluff up the sauce. It’s the secret to making the best homemade hummus and works like a charm here, too!
- No blender or food processor? Whisk the sauce by hand instead. Just finely grate the garlic cloves with a microplane, then whisk the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Slowly drizzle in the oil at the end for that perfect emulsion.
Serving Suggestions
Just like the version you’d get from Cava, garlic dressing is good on almost everything. These are just a few ways you can enjoy it:
- Dipping sauce: Serve it on the side of your shawarma, falafel, tofu nuggets, french fries, pita, or chicken wings.
- Salad dressing: Thin the dressing with a little water and drizzle it over the salad of your choice, like this Arugula Pear Salad or this Vegan Instant Pot Pasta Salad.
- Finishing sauce: If you want to give your Sour Cream and Onion Chicken Thighs or Shrimp Saganaki a burst of flavor, pour a little garlic dressing over the top right before serving!
Recipe FAQs
You sure can. Roasting the garlic is a great way to mellow its strong bite while infusing the sauce with more depth and an indulgent nuttiness.
First, slice the tops off of 2 to 3 garlic heads, drizzle some oil on top, and wrap each head in foil. Roast in a 375ºF oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Once the garlic heads are cool to the touch, squeeze the soft and golden cloves into the blender or food processor and blend as normal.
The blended garlic sauce will keep for up to 1 month in the refrigerator. Store it in an airtight jar or container to keep it fresh and flavorful.
Yes, the sauce should freeze well for about 2 months. I recommend thawing it in the fridge overnight before serving. It may separate a little, but just give it a good stir to bring it back together!
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Love a recipe you've tried? Please leave a 5-star🌟 rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Don't forget to tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook when you try one of my recipes!
📖 Recipe
Cava Garlic Dressing (Toum)
Equipment
- Can Opener
- Sharp Knife
- Blender or Food Processor
- Rubber Spatula
- Squeeze bottle or Glass jar for storage
Ingredients
- ½ cup Garlic cloves peeled
- ¼ cup Aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas)
- ¼ cup Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¾ cup Neutral oil
Instructions
- Add the garlic cloves, aquafaba, lemon juice, and salt to a blender or food processor.
- Blend the ingredients until the sauce is mostly smooth.
- With the blender/processor motor running, slowly drizzle the oil into the blender or food processor until the sauce is smooth, glossy, and emulsified.
- Taste the lemony garlic dressing and blend in more salt, lemon juice, or garlic as needed. Transfer finished sauce to an airtight container or enjoy it right away.
Notes
- Is raw garlic a little too strong for your liking? No problem. Drop the cloves into a pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds, then drain and pat dry. The water will remove some of its strong bite.
- Pour in the oil suuuper slowly. By streaming in a little at a time, you give the oil plenty of time to incorporate with the mashed garlic and aquafaba. You’ll know the dressing is ready when it looks light and fluffy.
- This is optional, but you can blend in a splash or two of ice water right after adding the oil to fluff up the sauce. It’s the secret to making the best homemade hummus and works like a charm here, too!
- No blender or food processor? Whisk the sauce by hand instead. Just finely grate the garlic cloves with a microplane, then whisk the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Slowly drizzle in the oil at the end for that perfect emulsion.
Basketball says
This recipe is incredibly easy and delicious! The aquafaba makes it creamy without any dairy, and the tips for adjusting garlic intensity are super helpful. Perfect for drizzling on falafel or mixing into salads. Highly recommend!
Emily says
One of my favorite recipes to make a Cava bowl at home!