Learn how to make creamy, tangy, garlicky aioli at home with this easy recipe! You'll just need good mayonnaise, lemon juice and garlic. Recipe yields 1/2 cup aioli; multiply as necessary.
Recipe by Cookie and Kate on July 18, 2019
Prep time: PT15M
Total time: PT15M
Rating
4.9 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
aioli, garlic mayonnaise
Ingredients
5 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons lemon juice, to taste
Sprinkle of salt
½ cup good quality mayonnaise (I like Sir Kensington’s), to taste
Optional: ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
Categories
Condiment
Cuisine
French
Steps
In a small, shallow bowl, combine the pressed garlic and lemon juice. Stir to combine and spread it into an even layer so the juice can work its magic. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes, so the lemon juice can absorb the garlic’s flavor.
Place a fine mesh strainer over another bowl. Using a silicone or rubber spatula, scoop the contents of the bowl into the strainer, then press on the garlic with the spatula to get as much juice out as possible. Discard the garlic.
Stir the mayo into the garlicky lemon juice until combined. Taste, and adjust only if necessary—if the garlic flavor is overwhelming, stir in more mayonnaise by the tablespoon. If you want it to taste a little more interesting, add the Dijon mustard. For more tang, add another little squeeze of lemon juice.
Aioli will keep well in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 10 days. It will thicken up more as it chills.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
Calories: 101 calories
Carbohydrates: 0.3 g
Protein: 0.1 g
Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 15 mg
Sodium: 121.5 mg
Sugar: 0 g
Reviews
Roberto Vite on 2023-07-18 (5 stars): I'll have to give the reason to your husband, both are emulsified oils which would make them second cousins, Both Garlic and Eggs contain emulsifier ingredients, and the main difference between mayo and alioli is that the emulsifying agent is egg for mayo and garlic for alioli. The original availability of Olive oil in the Mediterranean caused it to be made with it and the actual original process was with a mortar and is really tedious... while your recipie is delicious, it is more a sister of Mayo as it is garlic mayo instead of Alioli. For sure is really similar and good enough.
If you have a hand blender, try taking out the vein of the garlic cloves, add some oil, sea salt and lime juice and slowly go from bottom up following the emulsion untill everything is fully integrated. No vein makes garlic to taste smoother while it is fully egg free.
Juliet on 2023-09-23 (5 stars): Best sauce in the world. I’ve put it on just about any vegetable I can think of and suddenly I can’t get enough. Thank you for this gift of a recipe!
Katharine Cummings on 2023-10-15 (5 stars): We had a lot of potatoes I wanted eaten so I tried this as a new twist. I ended up straining only about half of the garlic (I do love garlic) and used Hellman’s. We loved it! This recipe was so simple but really feels special. Thank you!!
Nina on 2023-10-30 (5 stars): My go to recipe Aoili I have been making this for yonks! I make it extra garlicky when it’s for the two of us. I used to be able to purchase the fab ‘vegannaise’ here in the UK but sadly no longer. For anyone who might be reading this from the UK I now make it now with Lucy’s Vegan Mayonnaise (it’s good quality and I purchase it on Ocado) it works perfectly… I’m not vegan but don’t like egg products.
A special message for you Kate… I hope you are recovering from your sad loss of Cookie… the loss of a pet leaves a huge hole in your heart. Remember the happy times you had together and take care of yourself sending love and hugs x
ps I love your cookbook… maybe another one day!!
shelley on 2023-11-14 (5 stars): So good. I always wondered how to get the piece of garlic out of the sauce. Perfect. I will also try with fresh lime juice. I left out the mustard. Great basic aioli. I am going to make a bigger batch to keep in a squeeze bottle in the fridge.
Carroll on 2024-01-09 (5 stars): Outstanding! Tonight we had oysters, fries and your aoli. My husband and I devoured it and I saved a few spoonsful for fish and zucchini tomorrow night. We love your recipes. Thank you.
Grace on 2024-02-03 (5 stars): Made this with homemade mayonnaise I needed to use up. It was great on our burritos!
Bonny Petrovsky on 2024-02-29 (5 stars): Love the pressed garlic and lemon.
Yummy
Kate Williams on 2024-03-05 (5 stars): Thanks Kate for the easy recipe.
We had it on tortilla bread with salad and left over roast lamb.
I made this tonight (minus the mustard) and have just printed for future.
My name is Kate also, I’m 60, live in Dondingalong NSW AUS, have a little dog named Pixie, cats Mr Tiggs and ⬛ Slinky Malinky. I live on 25 acres and have tons of fruit trees. Love to cook. Will check out more of your recipes. Hi to Cookie.
Chris T on 2024-04-04 (5 stars): Fried up my first oysters and the cocktail sause I had was not doing for me, so I went looking for a dipping sause. I found this this recipeand it did not disappoint! I used everything in the ingredients including the Dijon mustard. I only had pre minced garlic so thats what I used. Can't wait to try it with fresh garlic next time. I would highly recommend this for fried oysters!
Valerie Wells on 2024-05-14 (5 stars): Love this recipe - using this as a dip for skinny fries, normal fries, warmed ciabatta/pannini rolls, sourdough bread rolls, prawns, sweet potato, - just anything that can be dipped!
Pam Edson on 2024-05-17 (5 stars): I loved this recipe. Similar to my favorite ceasar dressing in that you temper the garlic in the lemon juice to "cook" it a bit which reduces the raw garlic bite. I used Best Foods Mayo made with Olive oil and added just a touch more olive oil to the recipe. Turned out great and it is our new favorite artichoke dip. Thank you so much!
Katy on 2024-05-19 (5 stars): What an absolute winner! Thank you for this simple but spot on recipe.
chrismar on 2024-06-08 (5 stars): I made this for the first time last month and it was delicious. I used it on fried shrimp and french fries. I usually use a spicy cocktail sauce and since I only eat this meal once a year on my birthday so to change was a little scary. On my gosh, it was so good. I used the left over on a sandwich wrap. Again added so much flavor. I did use the mustard, I think it added something. I am going to make it again today to have in the fridge. I eat sandwich wraps for dinner a lot. I will use the garlic in lemon juice for my tahini recipe also. It is a great technique. Thanks again.
L Tallman on 2024-06-18 (5 stars): Tried your recipe...sorta.
Did modify due to I am vegan. (More on that in a minute! Spoiler...it went well...so read to the end if you require same!)
Please don't be an omniv snob...vegan mayos are a whole lot better than they used to be.
I have subbed best foods vegan mayo in picnic potato salad...non vegans have only asked, "where are the eggs?"
But still had no problem going back for 2nds & 3rds...
Soaking the garlic in lemon juice is genius! Do not skip this step.
I went off script a bit & used jalapeno salt.
I drained liquid (am reserving garlic for a 2nd use, plenty of life & flavor yet!) & added approx 2 tbsp best foods vegan mayo. Added approx 1/4 tsp Kala namak (aka "black" or "sulfur" salt...this is a specialty item, optional but worth it, adds a deep "egg" flavor...fyi, it is not really "black", colorwise, more a pinky-tan...) Do not use black Hawaiian salt, it is dark from mineral content, flavor is basically sea salt, best as a sprinkle, strong dark color can mess up what you're doing....
Added approx 2 tsp nutritional yeast for color & umani.
Added approx 1 tsp of good olive oil....
In part bcuz I agreed with the hubs...aioli needs to have olive oil! Plus...this added a richness I do not think I could have otherwise achieved.
Hey, this is going on a lunch prep vegan sandwich.
Whole grain rye, peppered tofurky, mustard greens & possibly tomato...
Carrot sticks, sliced bell peppers & fruit side....
I am already looking forward to lunch tomorrow...!!!
Nenette on 2024-11-01 (5 stars): Delicious! I made it to accompany a Spanish style rice with chorizo and it was fabulous. The garlic infused lemon juice gave it that garlicky tang without being too aggressive. This is a keeper.
Stacie on 2024-11-19 (5 stars): Perfection! Absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing another one of your delicious recipes! :)
SusanB on 2024-12-21 (5 stars): Whew! Potent sauce - of course, I have no reference point, so no argument in my household. Made this to go with roasted russet potato cubes (that are supposed to be Garlic roasted potatoes but the garlic chars) so we decided to serve the potatoes with aioli - perfect. Always enjoy your recipes, thanks for another winner!
Dan on 2024-12-22 (3 stars): Recipe looks fine to me. However…as you seem to understand the intended flavors of a genuine aioli, I suggest aioli-ish. Say second cousin twice removed?
Bob on 2025-01-04 (5 stars): I use this recipe a lot. Depending on what I'm adding it to, sometimes I'll add a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Recently, I added a 1/4 teaspoon of black truffle oil. OMG, it was awesome.
Bec on 2025-02-22 (5 stars): I made this for the first time last night. My husband and two kids loved it for dipping our homemade sweet potato fries, dolloped on top of our steak and salmon, and mixed through our raw cauliflower "tabbouleh." Absolutely delicious.
Will definitely make again.
Paul Fisher on 2025-07-02 (5 stars): This was amazing. The trick of soaking the garlic in the lemon juice was genius. Probably the best aioli I've had.
marie M gilbert on 2025-10-13 (5 stars): what a find this aioli is!! I made it last night to serve w/spanakopita triangle & it was a huge hit...so simple, so delicious!
Jo caldwell on 2025-11-17 (5 stars): No straining for garlic lovers! Touch more lemon. So yum
Diana Lee on 2025-12-30 (5 stars): I love this aioli recipe.
I don't really like raw garlic so I always have roast garlic in the fridge.
This method of infusing the lemon and the roast garlic works really well.
Alicooks on 2026-03-03 (5 stars): Simple and delicious aioli that elevated the roasted green beans from this site to the nth degree. It was great with the baked potatoes too. Can’t wait to try this on a shrimp po boy. Thanks Kate for another winning recipe.
