Aioli has an undeserved reputation as a tricky, finicky condiment that takes a lot of skill and patience to make at home. The truth, however, is that it’s actually simple to throw together. All you have to do is whisk a few ingredients together (no food processor or immersion blender needed), and you have a luxurious sauce that improves everything it touches.
The key to making this flavorful garlic aioli recipe is to do two things: First, you’ll want to thoroughly smash your garlic into a nice paste. This is easy to dowith the side of your knifeif you add a pinch of kosher salt on top—the salt will act as a rasp, kind of like sandpaper, helping to break down the cloves’ fibers. Then you use a sturdy whisk to mix the oil into the other ingredients, little by little, until you have a nice smooth emulsion. Slather the aioli on bread, serve it with afish stew,crab cakes, or aSpanish egg-and-potato tortilla, or use it as a dipping sauce forfrench fries, poached shrimp, or veggies (especiallyartichokes). There’s really no wrong way to enjoy it.
If you’re worried about using a raw egg yolk, you can coddle it first by gently dropping the whole egg—in the shell—into a pot of boiling water and cooking for one minute before shocking in ice water and separating the yolk from the rest of the egg.
Ingredients
Makes about ½ cup
Step 1
Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt using a large heavy knife. Whisk together yolk, lemon juice, and mustard in a bowl. Combine oils and add, a few drops at a time, to yolk mixture, whisking constantly, until all oil is incorporated and mixture is emulsified. (If mixture separates, stop adding oil and continue whisking until mixture comes together, then resume adding oil.)
Step 2
Whisk in garlic paste and season with salt and pepper. If aïoli is too thick, whisk in 1 or 2 drops of water. Chill, covered, until ready to use.
This recipe was originally published in the September 2002 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared on Epicurious in August 2004.
Leave a Review
Reviews (43)
Back to TopAioli only has two ingredients and egg isn't one of them, this is a recipe for mayonnaise
Anonymous
Toronto
11/16/2022
精准医疗tty good may try roasted garlic next time, but a great recipe to have up your sleeve when you run out. I even halved the quantity as I needed a small amount.have
Msmoo
Nz
7/14/2022
This was fast, easy ...and delicious!
abbygirl2423
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
9/1/2019
it was delicious and I personally would make it again
Anonymous
south australia
3/20/2019
Perfectly delicious!
molly_woodard
Allen, TX
11/18/2018
I am going to try this one today.
Anonymous
stoney creek, canada
4/1/2017
Super easy and fast. I used this with fish tacos and added two chopped chipotles in the beginning of recipe, excellent result.
carinam
Cancun, Mexico
3/27/2017
Wow! Excellence in less than 5 minutes using the whisk attachment to my 700 watt immersion blender. I liked the texture after 1/4 C EVOO, so stopped there
velda3
Santa Fe NM
4/7/2016
I agree with the reviewer who stated that the recipe calls for too much oil. The 1/4 cup of olive oil suffices with no need to add vegetable oil. I wanted to transform this into a dill aioli using a cup or so of dill--perfect for fish. It turned out beautifully. Given all the dill, I used 1/4 c. olive oil and one TBS of canola oil. Without the bulk of dill, I'd skip the canola oil.
blakejoant
Chicago, IL
2/29/2016
Needs two egg yolks. Too much oil here, and too much olive oil which dominates; instead put 3 tablespoons in a measure and fill with grapeseed or canola to 1/4 cup line. Also double the amount of lemon juice. This recipe is imbalanced.
Anonymous
巴黎,FR
1/7/2016
I made this to go with sweet potato fries. It was my first time trying my hand at aioli, and it turned out perfectly. I used spicy brown mustard.
foodisnice
2/28/2015
FANTASTIC (use the mustard) ... took me less than 15 minutes by hand. I added the oil incredibly slowly to start ... a couple drops at a time is right. Once the emulsion was established, I increased the flow. So nice.
Anonymous
Minneapolis, MN
12/18/2014
Very versatile, I can not recommend it enough. You can easily add herbs or spices such as dill, basil, oregeno, capers, paprika or cumin. I made zuchinni and eggplant chips with grilled salmon, roasted potatoes and kale salad. The aoli was great for dipping the chips and on the salmon. I mistakenly thought that the recipe made plenty but it was such a huge hit with my wife and three teenagers that I should have doubled it. As other posters have said, the key is getting the emulsion early. I wrecked the first batch because I used my stick blender in a bowl which was too shallow. The next batch worked perfectly because I used the whisk attachment on my handheld mixer. I learned that if you slowly drizzle the oil in the aoli comes out great. Like some other posters I did not use mustard but I have seen other recipes, including Julia Child's, which call for mustard.
jmcinerny
suburban Washington DC
7/20/2014
This is a phenomenal recipe! Added two habaneros for a truly great hamburger topping. Don't fear the heat, it has a nice little back burn, just enough to let you know it's there. The recipe calls for two large cloves of garlic, I found one large and one small was plenty to get the job done.
mrdodd
Daleville Indiana
8/11/2013
精准医疗tty simple, though the mustard is hardly necessary. Did half a recipe because I don't need to have half of it go to waste. Very tasty. I usually only make enough for a single evening...which is tricky when you waste half an egg yolk, but we all gotta watch that cholesterol.
chrisjuricich
Berkeley, ca
7/19/2013
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