Very Garlicky Aoili Recipe (2024)

I swear by the mortar and pestle method, but you can really make this recipe much easier if, in step 1, you first grate the garlic on a fine-grate Microplane. Then mash with the salt until smooth. The rest, as they say, is a piece of cake.

Love the recipe. But the much easier way of making this is to use an immersion blender in a cup or bowl that is just a smidgen larger than the head of the blender stick. Put the ingredients in, oil last, submerge the immersion blender, hit on, then slowly begin to tilt the blender so all the oil is emulsified. Foolproof.

As a bonus, I keep a small container of garlic cloves in the freezer for just this purpose. When a recipe calls for garlic, I take out one (or more) cloves and grate them on the microplane. Makes it convenient to keep garlic AND shreds it like garlicky snow.

Dear Martha Rose,
Actually that's not a french recipe, but originary from Catalonia. And its correct name is Allioli (All=garlic, Oli=oil, in Catalan language, literally 'garlic and oil').
I would add a couple drops of good vinegar or lemon juice, and then it's perfect!
Thank you for your wonderful recipes.

Well, this is truly a forgiving recipe, because instead of using one egg and one egg =white= (food processor method), I accidentally used one egg and one egg =yolk=, and it still turned out great ... Last night, it made a delicious accompaniment to grilled salmon and roasted Brussels sprouts; I expect it will be just as tasty with grilled chicken and grilled broccoli tonight.

Does not include a teaspoon or two of water or lemon to keep it from breaking or separating. Vital. In most recipes.

Great tip to use the microplane. Also, a stand mixer with whisk attachment on 6 or 7 speed prevents juggling bowl, oil, and whisk and never tires, unlike my under-trained whisking arm, while giving superior results to the food processor method.

The immersion blender is the way to go. Food processor was a disaster-super messy and didn't emulsify. The immersion blender fixed my broken aioli without issue!

So I made this on vacation using a square plastic container and a fork. I had to sub some vegetable oil in for the rest of the oil, which I didn't even use all of the oil at the end. It turned out beautifully, must be foolproof. I used two egg yolks by the way.

Made 1/2 the recipe, but it still ended up a little too garlicky (hot) for me, and I like garlic. Could be b/c I used two very large cloves, and I should have done just one. But used it as the base for Pimentón Aioli, adding about 1.5 TBs of Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika) and some lemon juice, to spoon over grilled swordfish and grilled new potatoes/grape tomatoes. Yum!

This is so helpful! Worked way better for me than the food processor; in fact, by using this method with a fresh egg and my broken aioli, I was able to salvage the whole thing.

This was disgusting and did not emulsify. Most home cooks do not want to use a mortar and pestle method.

This worked perfectly for me, though instead of a mortar and pestle, I put my garlic cloves in a plastic bag and hammered on them with my knife sharpening stone. I also added 4 teaspoons of lemon juice. Oh and 1/4 tsp of Colman's dry mustard for a little kick. Delicious!

Used canola oil instead of the grape seed as that is what I had. Otherwise followed instructions exactly. Came together beautifully. I transferred the emulsion to metal mixing bowl from mortar after a time. After it was done, I folded in juice from half lemon. Very pleased!

I made this exactly exactly by the recipe and it came out so bitter that I couldn’t use it. I think it would have been better to have 1/2 olive and 1/2 canola or other neutral oil.

Followed some readers suggestions to replace half of EVOO with grapeseed oil and emulsify using an immersion blender. Ended up with a big cup of yellow oil. Fixed this by whipping a single egg yolk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with its whisk attachment and very very slowly dripping the bowl of oil into the fresh egg yolk. A very nice aioli resulted but next time, I'll just start with the stand mixer. The grapeseed oil was a good suggestion.

First time making aioli , and it was a total bust for me. True, I made it in the food processor. But did everything else according to directions. It was thin, then when I refrigerated it, it broke. I tried to fix it by whisking it drop by drop into another egg yolk, and it worked, sort of. It remained thin and oily, however. Not sure what I did wrong...

The food processor version thickened beautifully but, even using 1/2 grapeseed oil, the olive oil became somewhat bitter from the processing. Next time I’ll try canola.

So disappointed. I must have made a chemistry-level mistake. I wore my arm out whisking, then switched to a hand mixer. It never thickened. I wasted two good eggs on this bowl of yellow oil. What did I get wrong?

I went a little heavy with the garlic so I would recommend sticking to the 2-4 range...

Made 1/2 the recipe, but it still ended up a little too garlicky (hot) for me, and I like garlic. Could be b/c I used two very large cloves, and I should have done just one. But used it as the base for Pimentón Aioli, adding about 1.5 TBs of Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika) and some lemon juice, to spoon over grilled swordfish and grilled new potatoes/grape tomatoes. Yum!

Well, this is truly a forgiving recipe, because instead of using one egg and one egg =white= (food processor method), I accidentally used one egg and one egg =yolk=, and it still turned out great ... Last night, it made a delicious accompaniment to grilled salmon and roasted Brussels sprouts; I expect it will be just as tasty with grilled chicken and grilled broccoli tonight.

So I made this on vacation using a square plastic container and a fork. I had to sub some vegetable oil in for the rest of the oil, which I didn't even use all of the oil at the end. It turned out beautifully, must be foolproof. I used two egg yolks by the way.

The immersion blender is the way to go. Food processor was a disaster-super messy and didn't emulsify. The immersion blender fixed my broken aioli without issue!

Love the recipe. But the much easier way of making this is to use an immersion blender in a cup or bowl that is just a smidgen larger than the head of the blender stick. Put the ingredients in, oil last, submerge the immersion blender, hit on, then slowly begin to tilt the blender so all the oil is emulsified. Foolproof.

Dear Martha Rose,
Actually that's not a french recipe, but originary from Catalonia. And its correct name is Allioli (All=garlic, Oli=oil, in Catalan language, literally 'garlic and oil').
I would add a couple drops of good vinegar or lemon juice, and then it's perfect!
Thank you for your wonderful recipes.