Sun Dried Tomato Aioli

Sun dried tomato aioli had all the garlicky flavor you love about aioli with the added nuance of deep, umami sun dried tomato flavor.

Whipping up a quick aioli or other flavorful sauce is a nice way to add pizzaz to a meal or appetizer spread.

This sun dried tomato aioli is so flavorful and really a crowd pleaser. I made a batch for a dinner party recently and our guests were really talking it up throughout the evening.

That's a win in my books.

Ingredients

The ingredients to make sun dried tomato aioli are simple and you can easily make it either with store-bought or fully whole-food ingredients.

Mayonnaise

Aioli wouldn't be aioli without the mayo. Since it makes up a lot of the flavor base, the flavor of the mayo will make a big impact on the resulting aioli.

Use your favorite brand of store-bought mayo or make your own (it doesn't take long at all). You can also substitute vegan mayo if that's your preference.

Sun dried tomato pesto

Sun dried tomato pesto can be found in stores (usually in the Italian section/aisle or the deli if you're lucky enough to find fresher store-made pesto.

Alternatively you can whip up your own red pesto - it only calls for a few ingredients and you can whip it up in the food processor in just a few seconds

Garlic clove

Garlic basically belong in aioli right? I mean you can take some mayo, throw in a mashed garlic clove and it's garlic aioli. So yeah, garlic clove is essential to amp up the flavor.

Fresh lemon juice

Lemon juice brings a bit of acid to balance the richness of the other ingredients. The touch of acid enhances the other flavors and brightens up the overall flavor palette.

Since aioli is often served with quite rich food like fries, I find it can taste somewhat greasy if you skip the acid element.

Fresh lemon juice is best since you can be sure it hasn't been pasteurized and is still acidic.

Seasoning

For seasoning I kept it simple with salt, black pepper and dried oregano.

Since the red pesto and garlic are already bringing a lot of flavor, you really don't need to add much more.

But as always taste and adjust the seasoning to your preference.

Equipment

If you're starting with premade mayo and red pesto then you don't need anything besides a small bowl and a spoon.

If you're making your own red pesto then a food processor is very handy. If you're also making your own mayo then you'll need a whisk or immersion blender.

Instructions

It's so easy I'm not sure I really need to explain but here goes just to be sure we're on the same page.

Peel and ash or grate the garlic cloves then just mix up all the ingredients in a bowl and it's done!

Taste and adjust the lemon juice and seasoning to your liking.

If you add a bit too much lemon juice and it ends up more sour than you like, just add an extra teaspoon of mayo - taste and repeat as needed.

Making Ahead & Storing

Red pesto aioli will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days but it tends to separate if frozen to best to make it within a 4 day window of when you intend to serve it.

Just a note: The oil could still separate after a few days in the fridge but it should be mild and can be fixed with a bit of whisking (unlike the separation that happens when it's frozen when can't really be corrected with whisking).

Serving Suggestion

Red pesto aioli can basically be used anywhere you'd use regular aioli. Fries are a great choice but you can also just make it as an element of a charcuterie board or appetizer spread.

I also love the idea of serving sun dried tomato pesto with other types of fried or roasted vegetables like sweet potato fries, roasted root vegetables, or fried yucca = so yum.

You could also lean more into the Italian vibe and serve it alongside fried arancini or a vegetable-based dish like roasted radicchio or marinated artichokes.

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