Skordalia substitute

Best substitute

Toum (Lebanese garlic sauce)

Use the same amount as the skordalia you are replacing

Best for fried salt cod

Different texture

Toum, the Lebanese garlic sauce, is the closest match at 1:1 and just as pungent, though it is a pure oil emulsion so it comes out fluffier and much richer. Aioli or garlic mayonnaise works at 1:1 if you want something creamier and milder. Romesco fits the same role on a plate of fried fish but tastes of red pepper rather than garlic. Or make it yourself: two boiled potatoes, four crushed garlic cloves, a third of a cup of olive oil and two tablespoons of vinegar.

Other skordalia substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Aioli or garlic mayonnaise
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
An egg-based emulsion with garlic, which fills the same creamy garlicky slot on the plate.
What changes
Best for
fried fish, fried zucchini, roasted vegetables, sandwiches, dipping
Easy and reliable, but noticeably milder and more mayonnaise-like, so the garlic sits in the background instead of hitting you first. The egg makes it much richer, and it can turn greasy in the mouth alongside deep-fried food, where skordalia's starch base cuts through. Grate in an extra clove of raw garlic and add a teaspoon of vinegar to push it closer.
3Romesco sauce
Different taste
Use the same amount
A Catalan sauce thickened with bread and almonds, which is the same construction as the bread or nut versions of skordalia.
What changes
Best for
fried fish, grilled vegetables, roasted potatoes, grilled meat
Textually the closest relative here, since it is bread and nuts emulsified with oil and vinegar. Flavourwise it is a different sauce: roasted red pepper, tomato and smoked paprika dominate, so the plate tastes sweet and smoky rather than sharply garlicky. Superb with fried fish, wrong when the dish depends on the garlic burn.
4Homemade potato skordalia
Close match
2 boiled floury potatoes, 3 to 5 garlic cloves crushed with ½ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
The five-minute do-it-yourself version, which is often faster than finding a substitute.
What changes
Best for
fried salt cod, beetroot salad, fried vegetables, mezze
Boil the potatoes whole and skin them warm, mash them and let them cool a little, crush the garlic with salt into a paste, then beat the oil in gradually by hand. This is the actual dish, so nothing is lost. Adjust garlic to taste and remember it will get sharper over the next few hours.
5Tzatziki
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Strained yogurt with cucumber, garlic and olive oil.
What changes
Best for
mezze plates, grilled meat, fried vegetables, mild alternatives
Serves the same function as a cool, tangy dip alongside fried food, but it cools rather than bites. Yogurt makes it dairy-sour and light where skordalia is dense, oily and pungent, so the plate loses its garlic backbone entirely. Grate in an extra clove and skip the cucumber if you want it more skordalia-like.
6Hummus with extra garlic and lemon
Different taste
Use the same amount
A chickpea and tahini dip, which shares skordalia's role as a thick starchy dip eaten with bread and fried food.
What changes
Best for
mezze plates, dipping bread, fried vegetables, vegan tables
Not Greek and not a flavour match, but practical. It is thicker and pastier, tastes nutty from the tahini, and needs two grated raw garlic cloves and an extra tablespoon of lemon before it reads as a garlic dip at all. Thin it with a spoonful of water and a good pour of olive oil to get closer to skordalia's texture.

What is Skordalia?

Skordalia is Skordalia, sometimes written skorthalia, is a thick Greek garlic sauce in which raw garlic is pounded to a paste and beaten with olive oil into a base of boiled potato, soaked bread or ground nuts, then sharpened with vinegar or lemon.

Cooking tips

Skordalia's job is pungent raw garlic heat plus acid, carried on a starch-thickened body of olive oil. That starch base is what separates it from aioli and toum, and it is why skordalia stands up to deep-fried food without feeling greasy.
Never put potato in a food processor for skordalia. The blades shear the starch and you get glue. Mash or rice the potatoes, then beat the oil in with a wooden spoon or a whisk by hand.
Crush the garlic with the salt first, using a mortar or the flat of a knife. The salt acts as an abrasive and gives you a smooth paste rather than sharp fragments, and the sauce tastes evenly garlicky instead of coming in bursts.
Raw garlic gets harsher and more sulphurous as it sits, so skordalia made in the morning will be noticeably fiercer by dinner. Make it the day you serve it, and start with less garlic than you think you want.
If it turns out too aggressive, do not add water. Mash in another boiled potato or another handful of soaked bread, which dilutes the garlic and thickens rather than thinning the sauce.
For the bread version, use stale crustless white bread soaked in water and then squeezed hard. Wet bread gives you a slack, pasty sauce that will not hold the oil.
Serve skordalia and its substitutes at cool room temperature, not fridge-cold. Cold blunts the garlic and stiffens the olive oil so the sauce tastes waxy.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between skordalia and aioli?

The thickener. Skordalia is built on potato, bread or ground nuts, so it is earthy, dense and pungent. Aioli is an egg or pure garlic and oil emulsion, so it is creamy, rich and milder. Both are garlic sauces, but skordalia is much more of a starch dip and aioli is much more of a mayonnaise.

Is toum a good substitute for skordalia?

The best on flavour, since it is equally garlic-forward and equally sharp. It is a pure oil emulsion though, so it is fluffier, whiter and much richer than skordalia. Mashing a plain boiled potato into it brings the texture and the intensity closer to the Greek version.

Can I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic in skordalia?

It will not work. Skordalia depends on the sharp, volatile heat of raw garlic, and garlic powder tastes cooked, dusty and slightly sweet by comparison. If you have only powder, make a different sauce rather than a disappointing skordalia.

Can I leave skordalia off the plate?

Fried salt cod without skordalia is quite plain, since the sauce is providing all the acidity and punch. If you have nothing else, a bowl of good olive oil with crushed garlic, lemon and salt whisked into it does most of the job even without a thickener.

How long does skordalia keep?

Three or four days covered in the fridge, though the garlic sharpens and the potato base stiffens. Let it come back to cool room temperature and loosen it with a little olive oil and a splash of water before serving again.

Related substitutes

More sauces & condiments substitutes

Skordalia substitute

Other skordalia substitutes

2Aioli or garlic mayonnaise

3Romesco sauce

4Homemade potato skordalia

5Tzatziki

6Hummus with extra garlic and lemon