Silky and garlicky, this roasted garlic aioli blends sweet, caramelized garlic with mayonnaise, lemon juice, sea salt, and olive oil for a creamy, restaurant-style dip or spread. Use it on burgers, fries, sandwiches, and seafood—easy to make ahead and keep chilled for weeknight flavor on demand.
Aioli Vs. Mayonnaise
Traditionally, aioli is an emulsion made by pounding fresh garlic with salt, then slowly working in olive oil (sometimes with a splash of lemon) until it thickens—no eggs required. Modern day version use egg yolk to thicken and stabilize it, making it very close to mayo.
Mayonnaise is an egg yolk based emulsion of oil, acid (lemon or vinegar), and salt with no garlic (unless you are making roasted garlic aioli!).
However, the lines blur. Many restaurant “aiolis” are really flavored mayonnaise (garlic mayo, sriracha mayo, truffle mayo) because egg yolk makes emulsifying fast and reliable.
Why You’ll Love This Roasted Garlic Aioli
An all purpose condiment that tastes great on almost anything- what’s not to love!
- Multi-use – Not only is this aioli great as a sandwich spread, but it can be used as a dip for fries, slathered on burgers, paired with seafood or dunking veggies.
- 5 ingredients – For all the flavor that’s packed into one condiment, you’d be surprised to know it only takes 5 ingredients to make!
- Roasted garlic = sweet, mellow flavor – As opposed to the stronger, harsher flavor of fresh garlic, roasted garlic has a sweeter, more mellow flavor.
Gather This
You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make this roasted garlic aioli. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Mayonnaise – I suggest using a good quality mayonnaise here; in fact, I prefer making my own homemade mayonnaise. But any higher quality store brand will work too.
- Head of garlic
- Olive oil
- Coarse sea salt
- Fresh lemon juice
Uses for Leftover Roasted Garlic
Roasted garlic is a condiment in my home. Here are some other creative ways to use roasted garlic.
- Stir into mashed potatoes or cauliflower
- Whisk into aioli, mayo, or salad dressings
- Smash onto garlic bread or toast
- Stir into risotto, polenta, or creamy grits
- Whisk into scrambled eggs or frittata base
- Blend into mashed avocado or guacamole
- Toss with roasted veggies or greens
- Mash into butter for steaks or seafood
- Spread under pizza sauce or over flatbreads
- Mix into ricotta for lasagna, stuffed shells, or toast
- Swirl into soups (tomato, potato-leek, butternut)
- Melt into pan sauces for steak, chicken, or pork
- Fold into hummus, white bean dip, or baba ganoush
- Finish pasta with roasted garlic + olive oil + Parmesan
- Add to burger or meatball mix for mellow garlicky depth
How to Serve
For plating, you can serve your aioli in small ramekins or scoop it into a plastic baggie and snip one corner, creating a makeshift pastry bag and “pipe” it onto your dish in a artful way. This works best with a really chilled sauce or even throw it in the freezer for a few minutes to get it nice and tight.
Serve it with roasted or grilled veggies, as a dipping sauce for French fries or sweet potato fries, on crostini as a topping for chicken or crab cakes, even use it as a sandwich spread.
My favorites are probably for Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts, Hearts of Palm cakes and Blue Cheese Stuffed Fried Olives.
Commonly Asked Questions
Yes and no… yes, the base is typically egg or just egg yolks, but these days it is common for most eggs to be pasteurized and this already heat treated for safety. Look for this on packaging.
Yes and no, there is a much more detailed response above (in case you are skimming).
Roasted Garlic Aioli Recipe
Ingredients
Roasted Garlic:
- 1 head garlic
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- sprinkle coarse sea salt
Aioli:
- 1 cup good-quality mayonnaise*
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Roasted Garlic:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice the top ¼ inch off the 1 head garlic head to expose cloves. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle coarse sea salt and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Set it on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Roast the garlic for 35–40 min until the cloves are soft, golden and fragrant. Remove and allow to cool before squeezing out the paste into a bowl set aside.
Aioli:
- In a small food processor, combine the 1 cup good-quality mayonnaise*, 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil with 1 tablespoon of the roasted garlic paste. Taste test and decide if you want to add more to make it bolder.
- Chill and use as needed.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Notes
Nutrition
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
If you know me, you know how much I love a homemade sauce. Here are some of my favorites.
This is amazing and yet sooo simple! Even with missed garlic in a jar and real lemon in a bottle,, the flavor combination was great!
I love aioli, but you take it up a notch with the garlic!
Absolutely beautiful. Quick and so easy! Saving this recipe right now! Thanks for sharing!
This stuff is addicting! I love to make it with roasted potatoes. Delish!!
This aioli is super simple to make. Made this for spanish tortilla and it was the perfect topping.
This was such a delicious condiment! And I didn’t realise the difference between aioli and mayonnaise was the oil! The whole time I thought aioli was just something we made with mayonnaise to give different flavours. My daughter loves sauce and she’s always experimenting. She said this was a winner!
Its good
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
Looks great! i assume the calorie count of 1536 is for the 1 cup batch of aioli and not per individual serving or we’re all gonna die! (ie happily)
LOL- yes, the whole batch 🙂 Individual servings will really depend on what you put it on.