This easy horseradish aioli recipe is the best way to enhance burgers, pot roast, steak, and vegetables. Plus– it’s a tasty dipping sauce for french fries and sweet potato wedges.
For more like this, try horseradish cream sauce and lemon dill aioli.
What is Horseradish?
Horseradish is a root vegetable known for its strong-tasting flavor and aroma. It belongs to the same family as mustard, wasabi, broccoli, and cabbage. Once grated, the root has a sharp and spicy flavor – making it a tasty addition to sauces, dressing, and marinades for meat and seafood.
What is Horseradish Aioli Made of?
- Egg Yolks: Egg yolks combine with the garlic and oil to create a smooth aioli base.
- Garlic: I use three fresh garlic cloves for the best flavor.
- Horseradish: Flavor the creamy aioli with store-bought prepared horseradish. Use as much or as little as you want, depending on how strong you want the flavor to be.
- Mustard: Dijon mustard adds creaminess and prevents the aioli from breaking.
- Lemon Juice: Include fresh lemon juice from one lemon. You can use lemon juice concentrate, but it won’t have the same fresh flavor.
- Spices: Add salt and pepper as needed for extra flavor.
- Oil: Include a neutral oil like avocado or canola oil. You can use extra-virgin olive oil, but it will change the color.
Additions and Substitutions
- Use mayonnaise instead of preparing homemade horseradish aioli from scratch. Combine the ingredients for the aioli in a small bowl and stir in one cup of high-quality mayonnaise; I prefer Duke’s or Hellman’s.
- Use prepared horseradish (not horseradish cream sauce) from the grocery store to make it easy. You can buy fresh horseradish root and grate it for texture and even more flavor. However, I recommend reducing how much you include since the flavor will be more intense.
- Replace the lemon juice with aged white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Include fresh herbs like dill, parsley, basil leaves, and chives.
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
Use an immersion blender, food processor, or high-speed blender to make the creamy horseradish aioli. However, I highly recommend using an immersion blender when making salad dressing and sauces that require emulsification.
Use the tall cup provided with the immersion blender, wide-mouth jar, or one of these meal prep containers to ensure the blender works correctly and to avoid a big mess.
How to Make Horseradish Aioli
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Combine the egg yolks, garlic, prepared horseradish, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender.
Step 2: Pour the oil into the cup or blender in a slow, steady stream. Process until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Expert Tips
- Ensure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting – especially the eggs. Cold ingredients can make it more challenging to achieve a proper emulsion.
Tips for Emulsification
What is Emulsification?
Emulsification is a fancy 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.
Whip up the tasty aioli and pair it with these dinner recipes!
Serving Suggestions
The creamy aioli is a perfect topping for beef tenderloin, a delicious roast beef sandwich, French dip, or prime rib for special occasions and holiday meals.
Pair the creamy horseradish sauce with vegetables like asparagus, red potatoes, green beans, and broccoletti.
It can also be used as a dip for sweet potato fries, fried plantains, quinoa balls, and crispy onion rings.
What to do with the Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the leftover horseradish aioli in an airtight container or glass jar for one week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use fresh horseradish?
If you can find fresh horseradish root, it will give the creamy sauce a more intense flavor.
1. Start by peeling the root with a vegetable peeler.
2. Then, use a fine grater or microplane to grate the horseradish. Like cutting onions, this process may result in a few tears.
You will want to reduce how much fresh, grated horseradish you include in the aioli. I recommend adding a little at a time and tasting as you go.
What does horseradish aioli taste like?
The delicious horseradish aioli sauce has a bold and tangy flavor. Horseradish gives it a sharp, peppery kick to contrast the smooth aioli base.
More Aioli Recipes:
Horseradish Aioli
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- fresh lemon juice, 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- avocado oil
- Combine the egg yolks, garlic, prepared horseradish, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender.
- Pour the oil into the cup or blender in a slow, steady stream. Process until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Ensure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting – especially the eggs. Cold ingredients can make it more challenging to achieve a proper emulsion.
- The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for professional advice.