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Garlic Mayonnaise

4.3

(17)

A person dipping french fries into a bowl of garlic mayonnaise.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

Looking for a 5-minute way to improve any meal? Garlic mayonnaise is the answer. This zingy condiment couldn’t be easier to make (just combine all the ingredients and whisk until smooth), and it boosts the flavor of just about everything it touches. 

Think of this garlic mayonnaise recipe as a shortcut to classic French-style aioli, a rich and garlicky emulsified sauce popular around the Mediterranean. Instead of building your own emulsion—a process that involves raw eggs and lots of whisking—you’ll doctor up store-bought mayonnaise (though you could start with homemade mayonnaise if you’d like) using grated garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Note that this recipe calls for pressed, not finely chopped garlic. Grating the garlic with a microplane or pushing it through a garlic press results in a smooth paste that practically melts into the mayonnaise—plus, it saves you time. You can use a sharp knife to finely chop the garlic in a pinch, but it’s not as easy to achieve a completely smooth texture when chopping by hand.

Spread this garlic mayonnaise on sandwiches, use it as a dipping sauce for french fries (or any permutation of potato), or slather it on your Thanksgiving turkey. Anywhere you’d typically use mayonnaise, this garlic mayonnaise is a welcome upgrade (except maybe in that mayo chocolate cake).

Garlic lovers, find more meal inspiration right this way →

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    5 minutes

  • Yield

    Makes about ½ cup

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, finely grated
6 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

Preparation

  1. Stir 2 garlic cloves, finely grated6 Tbsp. mayonnaise1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, and 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice in a small bowl to combine. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

    Do ahead: Mayonnaise can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover and chill.

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