Aioli substitute

Best substitute

Garlic mayonnaise (mayo, garlic, lemon)

½ cup mayonnaise, 1 grated garlic clove, 1 tsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt makes ½ cup

Best for fries

Close match

Grate the garlic on a microplane straight into good mayonnaise, add lemon and salt, and rest it for ten minutes.

Other aioli substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Homemade emulsified aioli or quick mayonnaise
Close match
1 egg yolk, 1 small garlic clove, ½ tsp lemon juice and ½ cup oil makes about ⅔ cup
Whisk the yolk with crushed garlic, salt and lemon, then dribble the oil in slowly while whisking until thick.
What changes
Best for
fish, steamed vegetables, fries, bouillabaisse, grilled meat, crudites
The real answer if you have five minutes and an egg, and it tastes fresher, sharper and more olive-forward than anything from a jar. It uses raw egg yolk, so use pasteurised eggs if you are serving anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised, and keep it refrigerated.
3Thick Greek yogurt or labneh with garlic and lemon
Taste and texture differ
½ cup thick yogurt, 1 grated garlic clove, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil and salt
Stir everything together and let it sit; drain loose yogurt in a sieve for 20 minutes first.
What changes
Best for
grilled fish, lamb, roasted vegetables, flatbreads, salad dressing
Much lighter and distinctly tangy, so it reads as tzatziki-adjacent rather than as aioli, and it will not cling to a hot fry the same way. Genuinely excellent with grilled fish, lamb and charred vegetables. Add more salt than feels right, because yogurt mutes seasoning.
4Sour cream or creme fraiche with garlic
Taste and texture differ
½ cup, 1 grated garlic clove and a squeeze of lemon
The closest dairy option in mouthfeel: rich, thick and spoonable.
What changes
Best for
dipping, potatoes, fish tacos, sandwiches, baked potatoes
Richer and creamier than yogurt with a gentler tang, so it holds a dollop and coats a chip well. It is still noticeably sour compared with aioli's clean fatty richness, and it thins if you stir it hard, so fold gently. Best where a little sourness is welcome anyway.
5Blended cashew or silken tofu garlic sauce (egg-free and vegan)
Different taste
½ cup soaked cashews blended with ¼ cup water, 1 garlic clove, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp oil and salt
Blend until completely smooth, then rest it in the fridge to thicken and let the garlic bloom.
What changes
Best for
fries, sandwiches, roasted vegetables, grain bowls, dipping
Genuinely thick and rich, holds a dollop, and needs no egg or dairy at all. It tastes faintly nutty and a little sweet where aioli tastes of oil and garlic, so push the lemon and salt harder than you would normally. Silken tofu gives a lighter, more neutral version if cashews are a problem.
6Mayonnaise plus garlic powder
Different taste
½ cup mayonnaise plus ¼ tsp garlic powder
The last resort when you have no fresh garlic at all.
What changes
Best for
burgers, sandwiches, fries, wraps
Worth being honest about: garlic powder gives a rounded, toasty, slightly sweet garlic note with none of raw garlic's heat and bite, and that bite is the entire character of aioli. The result is pleasant garlic mayonnaise, not aioli. A scrape of Dijon restores some of the sharpness the raw garlic was providing.

What is Aioli?

Aioli is Provence and Catalonia's thick cold garlic sauce, listed on English-language menus as garlic aioli or garlic mayonnaise, and traditionally nothing more than raw garlic pounded to a paste with salt and emulsified with olive oil; its job on a plate is fat plus raw garlic pungency plus salt, served cold and clinging, which is what makes lean things like fish, fries and plain vegetables taste rich and sharp at once.

Cooking tips

Raw garlic is the entire point. Grate it on a microplane or mash it to a paste with salt in a mortar. Chopped garlic leaves harsh chunks floating in the sauce, and cooked garlic goes sweet and loses the pungent bite that makes aioli aioli.
Salt the garlic first. A pinch of coarse salt gives the pestle something to grind against, so a clove becomes a smooth paste in seconds and disappears into the sauce instead of sitting in it.
Give it ten minutes before serving, and make it slightly under-garlicked. Raw garlic keeps getting stronger for the first half hour once it is in fat, so a sauce that tastes mild when you mix it can be aggressive by the time it reaches the table.
Traditional Provencal aioli is pure olive oil, which tastes wonderful but turns bitter if you whip it hard in a food processor. Whisk by hand, or use half olive and half neutral oil if you are using a machine.
If a homemade aioli splits, start a clean bowl with a fresh yolk or a teaspoon of mustard and dribble the broken sauce into it while whisking. It comes back almost every time. Aioli made with raw egg should stay cold and be eaten within a couple of days.

Frequently asked questions

Is aioli just garlic mayonnaise?

Traditionally no. Real Provencal aioli is garlic emulsified with olive oil, with no egg and no mustard. In practice almost every restaurant and modern recipe means mayonnaise with garlic in it, and that is what most people searching for an aioli substitute are actually looking for.

Can I just leave the aioli out?

Yes if it is a dip or a spread, but you lose fat, garlic and salt, which are the three things making a lean piece of fish or a plate of vegetables interesting. Replace it with something in the same family: good olive oil and lemon, garlic butter, or plain mayonnaise with a squeeze of lemon.

What can I use instead of aioli on a burger or sandwich?

Mayonnaise with a grated garlic clove and a squeeze of lemon stirred in, rested for ten minutes. If you have no fresh garlic, plain mayonnaise with a scrape of Dijon gives you the sharpness, though not the garlic heat.

Can I make aioli without eggs?

Yes. A traditional mortar-and-pestle aioli of garlic, salt and olive oil uses no egg at all, though it is fiddly and prone to splitting. A blended cashew or silken tofu version is far more forgiving, just as thick, and holds in the fridge for several days.

Why does my aioli taste bitter?

Almost always the olive oil, whipped too hard in a blender or food processor, which breaks the oil into tiny droplets and releases bitter compounds. Whisk by hand, or use half neutral oil and half olive oil if you want to use a machine.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Aioli substitute

Other aioli substitutes

2Homemade emulsified aioli or quick mayonnaise

3Thick Greek yogurt or labneh with garlic and lemon

4Sour cream or creme fraiche with garlic

5Blended cashew or silken tofu garlic sauce (egg-free and vegan)

6Mayonnaise plus garlic powder