Homemade Garlic Aioli Recipe

3 from 2 votes

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More than just a simple garlic sauce, this homemade garlic aioli recipe is the secret to amping up any of your favorite dishes. Oftentimes you will find it when eating at restaurants, and even better, you can make it in your kitchen with an immersion blender or whisk. 

Homemade Garlic Aioli Recipe

What Is Aioli?

Aioli is a Mediterranean sauce with bold garlicky flavors. People often use it as a condiment on meat and sandwiches or a dip with french fries, like Steak Frites! It’s an emulsion of garlic and olive oil. Some versions (like mine) include egg yolks, as well, which makes the aioli fluffy and creamy. 

Is aioli the same thing as mayonnaise? While both creamy sauces, aioli is made from garlic and olive oil, while mayo is egg yolks and canola oil. This version is made with egg yolks, so it could also be considered a hybrid between mayo and aioli. 

What Ingredients Do You Need For Garlic Aioli Recipe? 

Garlic cloves: This is what gives the creamy sauce the pungent and slightly spicy flavors. 

Egg Yolks: These are essential because they help the oils emulsify with the garlic, mustard, and lemon juice. 

Mustard and Lemon Juice: Dijon mustard and fresh lemon juice brighten the aioli and add a tangy sharpness to the zesty sauce. They also help emulsify the aioli. 

Oils: Olive oil is a classic ingredient in aioli. Use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil because it will have a buttery taste that isn’t so bitter that it stands out too much. Then, add a neutral oil to help with the creaminess without altering the flavor. We like grapeseed or avocado oil, but canola oil or vegetable oil will work well here, too.

Salt and Pepper: You only need a little bit of both to enhance and complement the other spices and flavors. Always adjust to your taste!

Herb Parmesan Fries with Lemon Garlic Aioli

Garlic Aioli Instructions

The idea is to slowly emulsify – or completely mix – the olive oil with the garlic, mustard, egg yolks, and lemon juice. There are two ways to do this. You can either use an immersion blender or whisk it by hand. 

Immersion Blender

To do it this way, you’ll mix everything together in a mason jar or narrow, deep cup. 

Then, put the immersion blender into the cup, with the blade at the very bottom. 

Turn it on low speed and keep the blade at the bottom of the jar. Let it mix with the blade at the bottom until it’s creamy and emulsified. After the oils mix with the egg yolk, start pulsing with the immersion blender. Slowly move it in an up and down motion. Keep doing this until you form a creamy aioli. 

Whisk

The idea is the same as using the immersion blender. Mix everything together slowly. Here’s how you do that with a whisk. 

Place the egg yolk, garlic, mustard, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Whisk until creamy. Continue until airy and fully combined.

Then, slowly start adding the oils. Mix with the whisk until it forms a thick aioli and all the oils are added. This usually takes about ten minutes.  

Homemade Garlic Aioli Recipe

Tips, Tricks and Substitutions 

How do you use aioli? 

This is the perfect dip for French fries (like our Herb Parmesan Fries with Lemon Garlic Aioli ), with Steak Frites, or baked potatoes. It’s also a delicious condiment for burgers and can be served as a dipping sauce with vegetables. 

Should I use a food processor to make aioli?

We don’t recommend using a food processor. The key is to combine everything slowly. If you use a food processor, it might overmix it, leading to a broken aioli where the oil sits on top. However, you can definitely do this in a food processor, your aioli might become a tad more watery, and not as emulsified as doing by hand, though.

Is it safe to eat raw egg yolks in aioli? 

This is completely safe to eat, even with the raw egg yolks. If you’re worried about it, use pasteurized egg yolks instead. 

Should I roast garlic before adding it to the aioli? 

This is entirely optional, but it will add a really nice caramelized flavor, and subtle sweetness to the aioli. Roasting the garlic in the oven is easy. The full instructions can be found in this Roasted Garlic Dip Recipe. Slice the garlic in half, place it in aluminum foil, and roast it until it’s soft. Then, let the roasted garlic come to room temperature and add it to the rest of the ingredients. 

Check out more of our favorite dips and sauces!

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Garlic Aioli
3 from 2 votes

Homemade Garlic Aioli Recipe

More than just a simple garlic sauce, this homemade garlic aioli recipe is the secret to amping up any of your favorite dishes.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 0 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Servings: 1 /2 cup

Ingredients 

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, from about 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup neutral oil, such as avocado, vegetable, canola, or grapeseed oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions 

Using an Immersion Blender

  • In a mason jar or narrow deep cup, add in all your ingredients: egg yolks, minced garlic, dijon, lemon juice, olive oil, neutral oil, salt, and pepper. Take your immersion blender and put the blade at the bottom.
  • Start on low speed and keep the blade on the bottom of the jar. Allow it to get creamy this way and emulsify. Once you see the oils mixing in with the egg yolk from the bottom, slowly start pulsing and bringing the blender up and down until a creamy aioli is formed. Store on the fridge until ready to use.

If making by Hand

  • In a medium bowl, add your egg yolk, garlic, dijon, and lemon juice, and using a whisk, whisk until creamy and mixed throughout. Keep going until your mixture is completely combined and airy.
  • Slowly, start streaming in your oils and mix well with a whisk until a thick aioli forms, keep whisking until all your oil is finished up and the mixture becomes thick and creamy, about 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 607kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 64g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 44g, Cholesterol: 389mg, Sodium: 47mg, Potassium: 83mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 522IU, Vitamin C: 8mg, Calcium: 60mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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1 Comment

  1. 1 star
    Calling aioli garlic aioli is like saying you’re making chocolate brownies with chocolate in them. It isn’t aioli without garlic. However, the difference between aioli and mayonnaise is that aioli is emulsified with garlic whereas mayonnaise is emulsified with eggs, which differentiates the two dishes and the reason why they have different names. If you’re putting eggs in your aioli because it doesn’t get thick enough then you’re doing it wrong and need to learn how to do it properly rather than making mayonnaise and calling it aioli because it has garlic in it. Because mayonnaise with garlic in it is just garlic mayonnaise, not aioli. The only reason anyone thinks garlic mayonnaise is aioli is because cheap fast food chains have used the word in order to sell something for a higher price to ignorant people who don’t know the difference. So please, stop getting your recipe ideas from Panera and actually do some research.