Dill Aioli

This Dill Aioli recipe is easy, filled with garlicky lemony flavor amplified with fresh dill. It is creamy, velvety and perfect for dipping fries, roasted veggies, chicken or fish. Best part? It takes no time to make thanks to a genius shortcut hack.

What is aioli?

Aioli is cold thick sauce made with oil, emulsified eggs, lemon juice and garlic. It comes from the Mediterranean region, especially France (Provence), coastal Spain, Italy and Malta.

Aioli resembles mayonnaise but it’s definitely not the same. The main difference is that aioli is traditionally made with olive oil and lemon juice, while mayo uses neutral tasting oil and vinegar. Both are made with emulsified egg yolks, although some variations of aioli use no egg at all and have a more pasty texture.

The biggest difference between aioli and mayo is that aioli MUST contain garlic. The word “aioli” literally means “garlic” and “oil” in Provencal and Catalonian.

Despite all the differences, “aioli” is a word that can be found in restaurant menus all over United States but it’s usually a fancy word to describe flavored mayo.

Love the idea of aioli? Try this sweet and spicy Gochujang aioli, too. It's perfect for dipping fries.

What’s special about this aioli recipe

While I love the idea of emulsifying fresh garlic and olive oil in a store mortar and pestle into a paste, it is not the most practical and definitely not quick. Instead, I decided to use a genius trick seen on Cookie & Kate and make aioli using good quality mayo and garlic infused lemon juice.

It sounds complicated but it’s really not and anybody can make it, as long as you have a fine mesh strainer. Fresh garlic added directly to mayo can be pretty harsh, plus it adds coarse “bits” to the texture. To fix this problem, pressed or finely minced garlic is added to freshly squeezed lemon juice where it sits for 10 minutes, and then it’s strained and added to mayo.

This trick produces the most velvety and deliciously garlicky, lemony aioli. Add as much or as little finely chopped fresh dill and enjoy as dipping sauce or with literally anything. I absolutely love it with shrimp or fish.

• Mayonnaise: use good quality mayo. I like avocado oil mayo and my favorite brands are Sir Kensington’s and Primal Kitchen
• Lemon juice: freshly squeezed lemon juice works best
• Garlic: there is no aioli without garlic!
• Salt: use coarse salt such as kosher or sea salt
• Fresh Dill: I highly recommend fresh dill weed over dried

Storage suggestions

Store Dill Aioli in an airtight container for up to 5 days. I love these 4-ounce mini mason jars for storing homemade aioli.

What to serve dill aioli with?

My favorite way to enjoy dill aioli is with these Air Fryer Sliced Potatoes or French fries. It also goes really well on chicken, pork, shrimp or fish. Here are some ideas on what to serve the aioli with:

• Air Fryer Butternut Squash Fries
• Pork Kebabs (Air Fryer or Oven)
• Brined Chicken Wings
• Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

Here are more suggestions on how you can use Dill Aioli

• On fried or grilled white fish in place of tartar sauce
• With baked or seared salmon (so good!)
• As burger sauce
• On fish or shrimp cakes
• As dipping sauce for shrimp skewers or shrimp cocktail
• With smoked salmon – add it as part of this Smoked Salmon Charcuterie Board
• As fancy sandwich spread or in veggie wraps
• Try marinading chicken tenders in this aioli for 30 minutes and bake them in the oven for the juiciest chicken ever. I use the mayo marinade trick in this recipe for Chicken Caprese Sheet Pan