Garlic Mayonnaise – or aioli in France – is one of my favorite condiments. It’s traditionally used with seafood but I love it on French fries, baked veggies (watch out for my oven baked sweet potato recipe), bread, tartines and sandwiches. You can pretty much use it on anything, and the taste of homemade mayo is nothing like the over-processed supermarket stuff.
Making your own mayonnaise is not easy. For me, it was always a two-man operation with my husband and things got really messy. Also, you have to make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature and when you start to incorporate the oil and the egg yolk, the timing has to be right. The oil is added very slowly until it emulsifies, if you add too much too soon you need to start all over again. This recipe is based on Serious Eats and it increases your success rate dramatically. Using a hand blender makes things a lot easier but also helps with the emulsification.
Traditionally, aioli is made with just olive oil but I’m using 1/2 cup of canola to tone down the strong olive oil flavor. Feel free to experiment with different ratios of olive oil to neutral tasting oils like grapeseed or canola. Leave out the garlic for regular mayo.
Click for recipe…
I prefer white pepper for mayo and a mix of olive and canola oil.
Keep blender at bottom and turn on.
Within seconds mayonnaise will form and begin to emulsify. Move blender up slowly.
Remember to be patient and to not blend all at once. Once mixture is thick, add garlic, salt and pepper.
Voila! The mayonnaise is ready!
Homemade Garlic Mayonnaise Recipe
Make sure ingredients are at room temperature before starting to mix. Place eggs in a cup of warm water to speed up the process if needed.
Add oil, egg yolks and lemon juice into a blending container. Place hand blender at the bottom of the container and turn on. Within seconds you will see the mayonnaise start to form at the bottom. It will begin to emulsify and become thick. IMPORTANT: make sure to not lift up blender until most of the oil has been incorporated; then begin to move up slowly.
Once your mixture feels like real mayo, add the chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well and enjoy. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge and consume over the next few days (make sure to use the freshest, high-quality eggs available).
Total Time: 5 minutes
Yield: Makes about 1 1/4 cups
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I use canola in making homemade mayo because I think the olive oil kind of ruins the richness of the basic mayo taste. I love how this amazing condiment was flavored with garlic. Makes me want to look for potatoes to bake like right now! lol! The photo tutorial is very detailed – super cool 🙂
Thanks, Karen! Glad the photos were helpful. I agree, too much olive oil is overpowering and can turn the mayo bitter.
Try using your food processor- put all of the ingredients except the oil into the bowl, put the cover on and put the “pusher” into the opening. There should be a tiny hole at the bottom of the pusher that you may not have noticed before…pour the oil into the pusher while operating the processor and the oil will dribble through the hole into the bowl and emulsify nicely.
Easy peasy, and then put it all into the dishwasher.
Wow the photo is so wonderful… I almost feel like I’m seeing this up close in person 🙂 The mayo looks so creamy and delicious 🙂
Thank you so much, Tes! Using a hand blender makes the mayo super thick and creamy. I don’t think I can go back to doing it by hand anymore! 🙂
Wow, I’ve been waiting for a recipe like this to make homemade mayo seem much less intimidating! Can’t wait to try!
Awesome, Kelly! Let me know how it turns out. Great blog BTW 🙂
What a great way to make mayo! I always want to make homemade mayo, but I don’t feel like working my arm to death. This looks so easy and delicious. It’s seems so strange that you don’t have to add the oil slowly. But I’ll give it a shot, it looks so easy!
Thanks for the comment, Jana. After I tried this technique out I was thrilled! And you’re right, no need to add the oil slowly, but you need to make sure to not lift up the blender until the mixture becomes thick.
For someone who loves homemade dressings, dips, jams, purees and everything else, I can’t help but smile everytime I see a recipe I can add to my growing list. This is my next project…Thanks!
i thought i was going to make sweet potato leek soup tonight… then i saw this. THANK YOU!
A MILLION THANK YOUS!
This recipe saved my lunch today! I have NEVER been able to make mayo from scratch. I had to dump a batch right before I found this. I tried a blender, a food processor, my magic bullet, and even the hand blender, but nothing worked.
Then I found this and I was able to complete my chicken salad check it out: http://instagr.am/p/Q7Rb2/
You’re very welcome, Kristina – I’m so glad the mayo saved your lunch…it sounds yummy!
I used to make mayo by hand with a whisk but it took too long and if your timing isn’t right, then you’d have to start all over. But this method is great. With a hand blender, the key is to not mix everything at once…
Thanks for the comment 🙂
nice technique!
I would like to add that in my region (Catalonia, south of Provence where this is from), we have a variant where no egg is used: just the garlic (all) and oil (oli), and that’s there the name comes from (allioli, aioli in occitan). It’s a bit more difficult to make, normally involves lots of pounding on a mortar rather than blending, but if you like the kick of strong garlic – as I do – you will love it!
Hi Fran,
Thanks for the insightful comment. I’ve always used the term aioli loosely meaning “garlic mayo” but I’ll definitely want to try the authentic version you’ve described. And yes, I absolutely do love a strong garlic kick 🙂
It was my first time to make home-made mayo, but it didn’t work out so well for me..Iwonder what went wrong…The result looks like some kind of yellowish oil. Was it because my blending container was not narrow as the picture above depicts? The blending container I used was just a wide ceramic bowl. Please help!
Hi Athena – A wide bowl will probably mix everything all at once, making it runny. A narrow blending container will help with the emulsification, making the mixture thick. Let me know if you make it again and need more help!
Check out the video from where I based my recipe from: http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/10/the-food-lab-homemade-mayo-in-2-minutes-or-le.html
Thank you so much for your help! This time I used a narrower blending container and poured the oil slower. Now I got a smooth and creamy version. Thanks again!
Of course Athena, anytime!! I’m so happy it turned out well for you this time.
Ok I have done this four times and it has never worked! I’m so sad because I really want to make my own I’m using half olive oil and half coconut oil. With free range eggs. I throw it in all at once. What could I be doing wrong??
Sorry to hear that, but I really think it’s because of the coconut oil you’re using. I’ve never tried that but knowing that it’s solid at room temperature I can’t see that working out too well. Why don’t you try it without the coconut oil? Also make sure you only use the egg yolks, not the whole egg. Hope this helps.
I had no luck tried everything room temp, yolks only whole egg canola oil. Absolutely no luck
Sprouts in our area now sell pasteurized eggs. Check out your natural grocery stores
How long do you think that will keep in the fridge?
Hi Tiffany – As long as you use the freshest, high-quality eggs available, I would say you could keep the mayo for 10-14 days…maybe even longer.