• About
  • Recipes
  • Med Diet
  • Subscribe

The Matbakh

menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Med Diet
  • Subscribe
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Med Diet
    • Subscribe
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » Recipes » Dips and Sauces

    Lemon Garlic Aioli

    lily from the matbakh
    By Lily Guidry · Updated on Oct 24, 2025 · 2 Comments. This post may contain affiliate links.
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Lemon garlic aioli is an easy dipping sauce that jazzes up any vegetable, like blanched asparagus or roasted brussels sprouts. It's a simple dipping sauce made with freshly mashed garlic, squeezed lemon juice, mayonnaise, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

    Aioli is traditionally an emulsion sauce made from garlic and olive oil. In fact, it's just like Lebanese toum garlic sauce. For this lemon garlic aioli, I use mayonnaise to make things easier.

    garlic lemon aioli in a small bowl

    What I Love About This Recipe

    I love that his sauce comes together in 5 minutes, and it tastes fabulous. It's a great dipping sauce for any type of roasted or steamed vegetable: blanched asparagus, roasted zucchini, fried cauliflower, roasted brussel sprouts, homemade french fries, and roasted butter baby Yukon potatoes.

    Ingredient Notes

    ingredients needed to make lemon garlic aioli

    How To Make Lemon Garlic Aioli

    Peel and cut off the ends of the garlic cloves. Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves with some salt and pepper. Add the mashed garlic to a bowl.

    mash the garlic with a mortar and pestle
    add the mashed garlic to a bowl

    Measure out the mayonnaise into the bowl with the mashed garlic. Squeeze the lemon making sure not to get any seeds inside the lemon garlic aioli. Mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and mashed garlic together.

    add the mayonnaise and squeeze the lemon on top
    mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and mashed garlic

    Mix in the olive oil gradually until fully blended.

    slowly add in the olive while continuing to mix
    mix until the olive oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise, and mashed garlic are blended entirely

    Serve with blanched asparagus, roasted brussel sprouts, or as a hamburger spread.

    dipping blanched asparagus in lemon garlic aioli

    Tips and Tricks

    • The biggest tip in making this sauce is mashing the garlic. A garlic press creates a similar end result, but the best way to finely mash garlic is using a mortar and pestle. I don't recommend using minced garlic from a jar for this sauce.
    • Use freshly squeezed lemons. I don't recommend using lemon juice from a bottle.
    • Add freshly ground black pepper. Ground pepper is an appropriate substitute, however, if you have a black pepper grinder, use it.
    lemon garlic aioli on a spoon

    Variations and Substitutions

    • Reduce the garlic cloves. Maybe you aren't as much of a garlic lover like me, and 3 cloves of garlic feel like a big committment. Start with 1 clove and add more if you desire.
    • Add some spice. Add some chili oil or mash some fresh spicy pepper with the garlic using a mortar and pestle. Make sure to mash the fresh pepper really well so there aren't large chunks in the sauce.

    Eat Garlic Aioli With

    • homemade Russet french fries.
      Easy Homemade French Fries
    • quartered baby Yukon gold potatoes on a plate with herbs.
      Butter Roasted Baby Gold Potatoes
    • batata harra garlic and cilantro fried potatoes
      Batata Harra (Lebanese Fried Potato Chunks)
    • close up view of cauliflower florets
      Fried Cauliflower Florets (No Batter)

    📋 Recipe

    lemon garlic aioli in a bowl

    Lemon Garlic Aioli

    Author: Lily Guidry
    Course: Sauces
    Cuisine: American
    Prep: 5 minutes mins
    Total: 5 minutes mins
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate Email
    Servings 12
    This 5 minute lemon garlic aioli sauce is made with freshly mashed garlic, squeezed lemon juice, mayonnaise, and olive oil. It's the perfect dip for roasted vegetables.

    Ingredients
     
    US Customary - Metric

    • 1 cup mayonnaise
    • 3 garlic cloves mashed or pressed
    • 1 lemon ¼ cup lemon juice
    • ⅛ cup olive oil
    • salt and pepper to taste about ⅛ teaspoon each

    Instructions

    • Peel and mash the garlic with salt and pepper using a mortar and pestle. Mash the garlic very finely, so it will disperse evenly in the dipping sauce. Alternatively, use a garlic press to press the garlic. If using the garlic press, there's no need to add the salt and pepper at this stage.
    • Cut the lemon in half. Squeeze the lemon juice and remove the seeds.
    • In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, mashed garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add the olive oil slowly while continuing to stir the sauce. Mix until the olive oil is fully blended.

    Notes

    1. Use freshly mashed garlic and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best banging lemon garlic aioli sauce.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 2 tablespoon | Calories: 146 kcal | Carbohydrates: 1 g | Protein: 0 g | Fat: 16 g | Saturated Fat: 2 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Cholesterol: 8 mg | Sodium: 117 mg | Fiber: 0 g | Sugar: 0 g

    More Homemade Dips and Sauces

    • Spices to make homemade blackened cajun seasoning.
      Blackened Cajun Seasoning
    • fire roasted eggplant dip with garlic and mint
      Mediterranean Grilled Eggplant Dip
    • freshly mashed garlic guacamole in a bowl
      Garlic Guacamole With Tomatoes
    • steamed shrimp and garlic butter sauce
      Homemade Garlic Butter Sauce

    About Lily Guidry

    Howdy! My name is Lily Guidry. I'm the founder and one of the recipe authors here at The Matbakh. I enjoy sunsets, long walks to the fridge, meaningful relationships, and anything related to food. I'm so happy you are here!

    Comments

      5 from 2 votes

      Leave A Comment Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




    1. Travis says

      December 19, 2021 at 7:36 pm

      5 stars
      The fresh garlic adds a bite to the sauce and the lemon makes it tangy. Very flavorful and simple to make.

      Reply
      • Lily says

        December 19, 2021 at 7:37 pm

        5 stars
        I agree, the fresh garlic and lemon add a lot of flavor to the aioli!

        Reply
    lily at the matbakh

    I'm Lily

    I'm an American Lebanese living in Texas. My kitchen, or matbakh, is a hodgepodge of recipes from the U.S. and Mediterranean region.

    ABOUT ME

    Mediterranean Food

    • koshari
      Egyptian Koshari Recipe (The Best I've Had)
    • chunky chicken noodle soup in a large pot
      Whole Chicken Noodle Soup From Scratch
    • roasted steelhead trout with garlic lime butter
      Baked Steelhead Trout with Garlic Butter Sauce
    • kibbeh nayeh Lebanese raw kibbeh appetizer
      Kibbeh Nayeh Recipe (Lebanese Raw Kibbeh)
    • homemade lasagna tomato sauce in a pot.
      Meat Lasagna Tomato Sauce (From Scratch!)
    • bulgar wheat tabouli
      Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad

    Footer

    Stay Connected

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
    • X

    ↑ back to top

    Legal

    Privacy

    Terms

    Accessibility

    About

    The Matbakh

    About Me

    Med Diet

    Resources

    Shop

    Recipes

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020 - 2026 Amooni Media LLC

    Rate This Recipe

    Your vote:




    A rating is required
    A name is required
    An email is required

    Recipe Ratings without Comment

    Something went wrong. Please try again.