Vegan Garlic Aioli

My family LOVES vegan garlic aioli. We could eat it on practically anything. I have seen Zander eat it on orange slices, and a member of our “adopted family,” Peter Hammarstedt, even jokes about eating it on chocolate chip cookies (at least I think this is a joke)! We once flew a jar of Wildwood Zesty Garlic Aioli all the way to Tasmania and hand-delivered it to Peter before his ship embarked on a mission to defend the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, off the coast of Antarctica. So it occurred to me last weekend that I should really try making this household staple from scratch, using organic ingredients.

Sunday was my first attempt, and I think that with a few minor tweaks, we will be able to achieve the exact flavor we are looking for. For now, I will share with you the base recipe (which we slightly adapted) for Homemade Vegan Mayo, by Molly Patrick. Coincidentally, this recipe made the perfect amount to fill an empty Wildwood garlic aioli jar. 🙂

VEGAN GARLIC AIOLI

Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic unsweetened soy milk
1/2 tsp sea salt (I increased this to about 3/4 tsp, but it’s good to start with 1/2 tsp and add more as needed)
1 tsp ground mustard
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp agave nectar
1 cup organic canola oil

I added:
– 4 large cloves raw garlic (next time, I will use more garlic–and I might try sautéing it first, as Molly suggests, although we do really like the bite of raw garlic)
– the juice of 1 small lemon (next time, I will use at least 50% more fresh lemon juice)

Instructions:

Combine soy milk, sea salt, ground mustard, garlic powder, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, garlic, and lemon juice in a high-speed blender.

Remove the middle part of the blender’s lid (while the blender is still running) and slowly pour in the canola oil.

Place the lid back on and continue blending until the garlic aioli is thick and creamy.

Molly suggests all sorts of yummy flavor variations, which I look forward to trying once we have nailed our basic garlic aioli. This one is really good (the texture is absolutely amazing!), but it’s not quite as tangy as it should be. I think more lemon juice will help to brighten it up a bit. I might also try substituting grapeseed oil for the canola oil, although on second thought, I should probably stick with canola, since that is what Wildwood uses.

On a semi-related note, I am planning to try and make some fluffy whipped garlic soon, like the kind we pay big bucks for at the local farmers’ markets each weekend. It should be pretty straightforward, with only garlic, lemon juice, and sea salt, but you never know… I’ll let you know how that turns out once I’ve made some. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy our yummy homemade garlic aioli!