Easy green chili aioli comes together in four simple steps. Use the smoky sauce for sandwiches, burgers, grilled meat, and roasted veggies.
For more like this, enjoy chili aioli, ancho aioli, or chipotle lime sauce.
What is Green Chili Aioli?
Green chili aioli is a flavorful sauce made by blending aioli, a classic Mediterranean condiment, with Hatch green chilies for extra flavor and a bit of a kick.
What is Green Chili Aioli Made of?
- Green Chilis: Use fresh Anaheim, Poblano, or Hatch chiles for the best flavor. You can use two to four tablespoons of canned Hatch green chilis or green chili sauce, but I love the taste of freshly roasted peppers. Being from the Southwest, hatch green chiles are the best; they are usually available toward the end of summer.
- Egg Yolks: Raw egg yolks, garlic cloves, and neutral oil are the creamy base for the green chili aioli recipe.
- Garlic: I use four fresh garlic cloves, but measure with your heart.
- Mustard: Dijon mustard gives the sauce a creamy texture and prevents the aioli from breaking.
- Lime Juice: Include fresh lime juice from two limes for a fresh burst of flavor.
- Oil: Incorporate avocado oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or canola oil with the other ingredients to create a smooth texture
- Salt: Taste and season the aioli with salt.
Additions and Substitutions
- Skip the step of preparing homemade aioli and use mayonnaise instead. Add the aioli ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir in one cup of high-quality mayonnaise; I like Duke’s or Hellman’s. You can also use a combination of mayonnaise and sour cream or full-fat yogurt for fewer calories.
- If you don’t have the time to roast the green chiles, use canned green chilis, fruity aji amarillo paste, or green chili sauce. You can also include 1-2 teaspoons of green chile powder.
- Incorporate fresh herbs like cilantro leaves, chives, or fresh parsley.
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
Use an immersion blender, food processor, or high-speed blender to make green chili aioli. I prefer an immersion blender when making salad dressing and sauces that require emulsification.
Use the blender cup that comes with the immersion blender, a wide-mouth jar, or one of these meal prep containers to ensure the blender works properly and to avoid a mess.
How to Make Green Chili Aioli
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Set the oven to broil. Meanwhile, rinse and dry the green chilis and transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet.
Step 2: Broil the chiles for 6-8 minutes, turning them every 2-3 minutes until they blister and char evenly on all sides.
Step 3: Transfer the peppers to a paper bag for 10-15 minutes to make them easier to peel.
Once cooled, gently peel off the charred skin. Remove seeds if you prefer a milder flavor and roughly chop them for the sauce.
Step 4: Combine the egg yolks, garlic, Dijon mustard, lime juice, and chopped green chilis using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender.
Step 5: Then, pour the neutral oil slowly into a blender cup or blender while processing until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Expert Tips
- Ensure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting – especially the eggs. Cold ingredients make it more challenging to achieve a proper emulsion. I recommend removing them from the fridge 30 minutes before you make it.
- Look for green chilis with smooth, firm skin and vibrant color. Avoid peppers with wrinkles or soft spots.
- Whether you’re using an oven or grill, higher heat blisters and chars the peppers, which is the key to achieving a smoky flavor.
- Use metal tongs to turn the chilis while they roast to ensure they soften and blister evenly on all sides.
- After roasting, transfer the chiles to a plastic or paper bag and seal it. Let them steam for 10-15 minutes to loosen the skin, making peeling easier.
Tips for Emulsification
What is Emulsification?
Emulsification is a cooking term for combining ingredients that do not naturally mix, such as oil and water, and helping them stay together using an emulsifier.
What is an Emulsifier?
An emulsifier acts like a bridge between two opposing ingredients, holding them together in a smooth, stable mixture. The best emulsifiers contain water and oil-friendly properties to help the ingredients combine. The most common emulsifiers are egg yolks, mustard, mayonnaise, soybeans, honey, and xanthan gum.
How to Create a Stable Emulsification
If you want to learn how to make homemade vinaigrette, dressing, hollandaise sauce, aioli, or mayonnaise, then learning how to create a stable emulsification is key.
- Choose an Emulsifier: Select an emulsifying ingredient based on what you are making.
- Combine the Ingredients: Mix the water-based ingredients, such as vinegar or lemon juice, with an emulsifier.
- Slowly Add Oil: Add a few drops, then pour the oil gradually in a slow, steady stream while whisking or blending the ingredients. The gradual addition helps to achieve a stable emulsion (so the two liquids combine instead of separate).
How to Save a Broken Aioli
Here is how to save your aioli if it fails to thicken. Begin by whisking a fresh egg yolk in a small bowl. Gradually incorporate some of the broken aioli into the egg. Then, add the new egg mixture to the aioli and whisk to combine.
If you enjoy the green chili sauce, pair it with one of these burger recipes!
Serving Suggestions
Green chili aioli is one of those sauces that makes everything better. I love spreading it onto a BLT, hotdogs, chicken sausages, grilled cheese sandwiches, bratwurst, and sheet pan burgers.
Plus, it is perfect for dipping French fries, air fryer smashed Brussels sprouts, sweet potato fries, and fresh vegetables; serve it on a vegetable crudite platter with butter bean hummus or beetroot dip.
The green chili sauce has the perfect balance of heat and flavor, ideal for juicy chicken tacos, grilled meats, and crispy roasted potatoes.
Use the sauce to replace the mayonnaise in recipes like deviled eggs, egg salad, and elotes Mexicano, or stir it into Dutch oven mac and cheese, black beans, and pasta salad with al dente elbow macaroni.
What to do with the Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover green chile aioli in an airtight container or glass jar for one week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is green chili aioli spicy?
It can be spicy, but it depends on what peppers you include. I recommend Anaheim, Poblano, or Hatch green chiles, all milder. And since the chiles combine with egg yolks, garlic, and oil to make the aioli, it balances some of the heat.
If you are concerned about the sauce being too spicy, remove the seeds and membranes from the chiles before roasting them in the oven.
More Aioli Recipes:
Green Chili Aioli
- Metal Tongs
- 2-4 roasted green chiles or 2-4 tablespoons canned green chilis
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- fresh lime juice, 2 limes
- ⅓ cup neutral oil
- kosher salt, to taste
- Set the oven to broil or turn all the burners on high on a gas grill for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and dry the green chilis and transfer them to a rimmed baking sheet (if using).
- Oven:Broil the chiles for 6-8 minutes, turning them every 2-3 minutes until they blister and char evenly on all sides.
- Grill: Lower the grill temperature to medium-high heat and arrange the chilis on the grill grate. Turn them regularly until they blister and char, for about 6-8 minutes.
- Transfer the peppers to a paper bag for 10-15 minutes to make them easier to peel.Once cooled, gently peel off the charred skin. Remove seeds if you prefer a milder flavor and roughly chop them for the sauce.
- Combine the egg yolks, garlic, Dijon mustard, lime juice, and chopped green chilis using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender.
- Then, pour the neutral oil slowly into a blender cup or blender while processing until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Taste and season the aioli with salt to serve.
- Ensure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting – especially the eggs. Cold ingredients make it more challenging to achieve a proper emulsion. I recommend removing them from the fridge 30 minutes before you make it.
- Look for green chilis with smooth, firm skin and vibrant color. Avoid peppers with wrinkles or soft spots.
- Whether you’re using an oven or grill, higher heat blisters and chars the peppers, which is the key to achieving a smoky flavor.
- Use metal tongs to turn the chilis while they roast to ensure they soften and blister evenly on all sides.
- After roasting, transfer the chiles to a plastic or paper bag and seal it. Let them steam for 10-15 minutes to loosen the skin, making peeling easier.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.