An easy recipe for 3-ingredient, super garlicky, shortcut vegan aioli that comes together in just 5-minutes! It's the perfect sandwich spread and dip for your favourite veggies and finger foods.
This shortcut vegan aioli is a recipe I've been making for quite a while. It's a favourite in my home and I serve it in so many ways! But before we get into the recipe, let's get one thing out of the way...
This is NOT Your Classic Aioli Recipe!
If classic is what you're looking for, this recipe is not it.
Classic aioli is an emulsion made with olive oil, a few other ingredients, and a mortar and pestle. There are also aioli recipes from other countries that call for egg yolks.
What Makes This Recipe Different?
This recipe is dairy-free, egg-free, and olive oil-free and it's made with prepared vegan mayonnaise, so it's definitely not a classic aioli.
There are "from-scratch" recipes that walk you through making your own vegan mayo emulsion and then building up the flavours, but again, that isn't what this recipe is.
If what you're looking for is a quick, easy, homemade shortcut vegan garlic aioli, then you're in the right place!
What Makes this a Shortcut Recipe?
The base of this recipe is store bought mayonnaise, so there's no need to whip up vegan mayo from scratch.
There are also minimal ingredients in this sauce....just three! Mayo, fresh garlic, and fresh lemon juice.
How To Make It
(Note: I’ve outlined the step-by-step here, but find the full recipe, ingredients, and directions at the end of this post.)
You'll start out with your mayo, which serves as the base of the recipe.
What's the Best Vegan Mayo?
There are many brands you can buy, my personal favourite is Hellman's (also known as "Best Foods") Vegan mayo but if you can't find that one, other popular choices are Vegenaise and Just.
No matter which one you use, the important thing is that you use a vegan mayonnaise that you love since it will be the base of your vegan garlic mayo.
Next, you'll add the pressed garlic to the mayo. Be sure you're using fresh garlic and not garlic powder, garlic salt, or garlic granules. Fresh garlic only 🙂
To press your garlic, you're going to need a good garlic press like this one.
If you don't already have a garlic press, I highly recommend you get one because they're great to have in the kitchen and it will make preparing this recipe so much easier!
If you don't have one, you can still make this sauce, you'll just need to take some time to mince the garlic very fine so there are no big pieces.
Next, you'll add the lemon juice. It's important that you use freshly squeezed lemon juice and not the lemon "juice" that you can buy in the little plastic lemons.
Fresh is always best and the lemon flavour helps to give the vegan garlic aioli a slight mouthwatering tartness that mixes so well with the other flavours.
You'll then mix everything together until all the ingredients have combined.
After mixing, you can taste it to see if it needs salt. Whether it needs salt or not will depend on the mayo brand you use. I find that the Hellman's mayo that I use already has the right amount of salt, so I don't add any but if the brand you use doesn't contain much, then feel free to add some.
When you taste the aioli at this point, it will taste good, but it will not be the final flavour. The next step is to transfer it to an airtight jar and refrigerate for at least an hour.
That hour will give the ingredients a chance to mix, mingle and fully develop.
How to Serve It
My favourite way is in sandwiches, and my favourite sandwich to have it in is a TTLA sandwich.
If you haven't heard of or had this sandwich before, you need to try it! "TTLA" stands for tempeh, tomato, lettuce, and avocado. And it's SO good. Especially with a big slather of this vegan aioli. YUM!
You can also serve it with the following as a dip, sauce, or spread:
- burgers
- veggie and grain bowls
- fries
- burritos
- chickpea salad sandwiches
- roasted potatoes
- roasted vegetables
- raw vegetables
- vegan crab cakes
- so much more!
If You Make This Recipe...
...tell me about it in the comments below! I'd love to hear what you serve it with! You can also pin this recipe to Pinterest.
And for more easy vegan recipes, be sure to check out all of my recipes!
You can help others to find this recipe by pinning it to your recipe board on Pinterest. Click here to pin it now!
If You Like This Recipe...
...you may also like these:
- Garlic Herb Vegan Almond Cheese Spread
- Vegan Dill Dip
- Vegan Almond Cheese Ball
- Vegan Veggie Dip
- Vegan Parmesan
- Vegan Breakfast Burrito
Vegan Aioli
Suggested Equipment:
Ingredients:
- ½ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2-3 fresh garlic cloves pressed
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- salt to taste, optional
Instructions:
- Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk together until combined. Taste, and add optional salt, if needed.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 1-hour for flavours to combine.
Recipe Notes:
- Adapted from Epicurious' Easy Aioli.
- For best results, use fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice for this recipe.
- Start out with 2 cloves of garlic and taste. If you like your aioli extra garlicky, add an extra pressed garlic clove.
- Recipe can be doubled or tripled, if needed.
- Store leftover aioli in the refrigerator for up to 7 days..
- Nutrition info is based on 2 tablespoons of vegan aioli, made with the recipe as it is written, and no optional salt added. Data is only to be used as a rough guide, click to learn how nutrition info is calculated on this website.
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