Recipe for Skordalia (Greek Garlic Sauce) at Life's Ambrosia

Garlic lovers listen up. This stuff has your name written all over it. There are not 1, not 2 , not 5, not 6 but 8 cloves of garlic in this dip. Oh and potato lovers listen up too because I’ve got a little surprise for you. There are potatoes in it too. Yep you heard er…read me. Potatoes and garlic. Really how could you go wrong?

I recently had this at a local Mediterranean restaurant and was mighty surprised by the fact that it is made very similar to aioli. The result is a little thicker almost paste like dip but still full of garlicky goodness. And like aioli this dish is traditionally made with a mortar and pestle but alas, I find that a food processor is much, much easier. But if you need to work on your arm muscles for upcoming swimsuit season, by all means give the traditional route a shot.

Skordalia (Greek Garlic Sauce) Recipe

Garlic and potato lovers rejoice. This dip will please both of you.

Makes 2 cups

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ingredients:

2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
8 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
3/4 - 1 cup olive oil

Instructions:

Place potatoes in a pot with enough water to just cover them. Boil until fork tender. Drain. Allow to cool.
Run cooled potatoes through a food mill or ricer.
In a food processor combine potatoes, garlic, lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Turn food processor on and process until smooth.
With food processor running, slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup of olive oil in a steady stream until mixture emulsifies. Check for consistency. If you would like a little creamier, turn on food processor and slowly drizzle in remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil.
Season to taste with salt.
Serve with veggies or pita bread.

Be sure to check back later this week, I am going to show you one heck of a fish dish that uses this recipe. It was seriously one of the best fish dishes I've had in a long time and its easy to boot.

Responses to "Skordalia (Greek Garlic Sauce)"

“
I have everything to make this recipe at home. I will have to try it. Looks great!
”

- Maria

“
This sounds really interesting! I know pureed potatoes can be used to thicken up dishes, like soups or stews for instance but I never considered using it as an ingredient for dip. Simple yet so intriguing!
”

- Fun and Fearless in Beantown

“
I can’t wait to see what you do with the fish! This dip sounds so good.. and I love the idea of potatoes in it!
”

- Jenn's Food Journey

“
Skordalia is a wonderful dip.

I used to eat it in Greece.

Thank you for sharing the recipe +_+
”

- Thailand Breeze

“
Try replacing the potatoes with walnuts. This is how we like our skordalia in Northern Greece
”

- Katerina

“
I made this, followed the recipe to a tee yet the end result was a goopy, gelatinous glop. (I think I heard somewhere that you shouldn’t puree potatoes in a food processor because this is what happens.) It also was quite lemony. I then tried to coat fish with it and that wasn’t happening either. I smeared it on anyway, dunked them in panko and baked them. The fish was flakey and delicious but lemon flavor was not very prevalent. Weird. This recipe sounded so good. Any advice?
”

- Marie

“
Hi Marie- I’m sorry that this didn’t turn out like you hoped. Many of the skordalia’s I have tried have been kind of “goopy” for lack of a better word but if you want to try something else you could try combining the garlic, lemon juice, salt and oil in the food processor and then stir that into the potatoes. This might help with the goopiness. Also, if it was a tad bit lemony try reducing the amount of lemon to 1 tablespoon. Then taste and add more if desired. I hope this helps!
”

- Deseree

“
Thanks Deseree. That’s a great idea. I love aoli and this recipe should reduce that nasty cholesterol when using mayo. I hate all those low fat or cholesterol free mayos. They all taste too sweet! BTW, your Taste Spotting Panko recipes look fabulous. I’m looking forward to trying more.
”

- Marie

“
I’ve never had skordalia before so no point of reference, but I can say I really enjoyed this. I might have gone a little overboard with the garlic and as such couldn’t get my wife to try it, in fact I couldn’t get her to come near my garlic breath all day. But I made your cod tonight and we both absolutely loved it! We declared it a definite repeat so thanks for the recipe.

p.s. For reference, I used 3 Tbsp lemon and found that to give just a nice hint without taking over.
”

- LB