How to Make Garlic Aioli

Garlic aioli is the perfect all-purpose condiment—you can use it to dress up so many of your favorite foods. This mayonnaise-like spread can be a decadent topping or dip for French fries, hamburgers, roasted vegetables, and more. Traditionally, it's served alongside raw and cooked vegetables, hard-boiled eggs, or steamed shrimp in the French presentation called "Le Grand Aioli." Once you know how to make garlic aioli, you'll want to serve it with everything! The best part is you probably already have all of the ingredients you need on hand. 

How do you make garlic aioli from scratch?

If you have egg yolks, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil, then you're on your way to making garlic aioli from scratch. The ingredients are simple. However, the technique makes all the difference. 

Garlic aioli is like mayonnaise—an emulsification of a fat into a liquid. Start by mixing your liquids together (egg yolks, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and little bit of water) with a large whisk in a medium bowl. The size of the bowl and whisk are very important—you need a large whisk and a big enough bowl so that you can incorporate more air into the mixture. This creates an aioli that's light in texture and flavor. At this point, you should also add any other seasonings, such as garlic, salt and pepper, so that they can be fully incorporated into your final aioli.

Next, roll up a kitchen towel lengthwise, so that it looks like a thin log. Wrap this around the base of your bowl on your countertop. This helps to stabilize the bowl while both of your hands are busy with the next step. While whisking constantly, start to add drops of the vegetable oil first. If the mixture looks cohesive and starts to thicken, you're on the right track! You can increase your speed to add the vegetable oil in a thin stream, always while whisking constantly. 

Use two oils for this aioli: vegetable and olive oil. Start with the vegetable oil to get the emulsion going and finish with a thin stream of olive oil, the traditional oil used in an aioli. Olive oil has a stronger flavor than vegetable oil. It can also get agitated by heavy whisking and create bitter flavors, so it's best to leave it to the end when you are finishing the aioli and whisking less intensely—that way your flavors stay bright and fruity.

If at any point the mixture gets too thick to whisk easily before all of the oil is added, you can add 1 teaspoon of water at a time to loosen it, then continue to whisk in the oil.

Is aioli just garlic mayonnaise?

Aioli and mayonnaise are both very similar, however there are a couple of distinct differences. Both are an emulsion of a fat and a liquid. Typically, mayonnaise combines a vegetable oil, like canola or avocado oil, into an egg yolk. Aioli, however, is traditionally made with egg yolk, garlic and olive oil. Though the process to make both is the same, the resulting flavors will be quite different.

How long will garlic aioli keep in the refrigerator?

You can store aioli in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Because aioli is made with raw eggs, you want to eat it while it's relatively fresh. Keep in mind that the longer that you hold the aioli, the more intensely garlic-y it will become. If you make this a few days ahead, you may want to cut down on the amount of garlic, depending on your taste.