Skordalia-Greek Potato Garlic Dip

A bowl with skordalia, the Greek potato garlic dip on a wooden table.

Skordalia-Greek Potato Garlic Dip

Traditional skordalia-potato garlic dip is made with mashed potatoes, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Skordalia is usually served with fried cod or/and boiled beet salad, but you can enjoy it with various other dishes.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Greek

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Servings

Calories 282kcal

Author by Jenny Skrapaliori Graves

Equipment

aluminum foil
Stockpot
Large bowl
potato masher or potato ricer

Ingredients

2 lbs medium russet potatoes peeled and quartered
1 garlic head
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon juiced
sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220°C / 425°F
Cut the top of the garlic bulb and place it in a large piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle a bit of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Wrap in the foil and roast in the oven for 3- minutes.
Boil potatoes in well-salted water until tender, about 15 minutes.
Drain the potatoes well.
Place them in a large bowl, and while they are still very warm, mash them with a potato masher or ricer.
Squeeze the garlic paste out of the roasted garlic. Add it to the potatoes. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Adjust sea salt to taste.
Serve skordalia with boiled beets salad and fried codfish.

Notes

Different garlic methods

If you use raw garlic for this recipe, mince 4 -5 cloves. As every mincing method produces different strength results, I suggest adding garlic to the mashed potatoes a little at a time until you find the flavor you like.

Hand-Minced With a Knife

The trick is to keep passing the knife over the garlic until it's all been finely chopped. This method releases more fluids from the garlic cells.
In terms of flavor, the hand-minced garlic has a relatively gentle, pleasant garlicky flavor that is not overpowering.

Garlic Press

The garlic from this method tastes quite strong and overpowering compared to the hand-minced cloves.

Mortar and Pestle

Pulverizing garlic in a mortar and pestle produces a sweet flavor with a not-too-strong burn.

Knife-Blade Puréeing

This is the most challenging method. Start by roughly mincing the garlic. Then, by placing the edge of your knife, push down and crush it into a purée. I suggest doing it gradually with one clove first; adding too many will not be beneficial with this method. Next, sprinkle salt on top of the garlic; it helps break it down. The raw, pureed garlic will have an intense flavor.

Using a microplane

Microplanning garlic cloves produce the most intense, strong flavor of all.

Roasting

With this method, you can use one whole garlic head or more. Roasted garlic will have a sweet, mild flavor because it slightly caramelizes as it roasts in the oven.

Place a head of garlic on a piece of aluminum foil. Cut the top, sprinkle some salt, and add a few dried herbs, like thyme, oregano, or sage. Drizzle some olive oil and wrap the garlic tight in the foil. Roast in a scorching oven, 220°C / 425°F for about 30 minutes until garlic is very soft. Remove the foil and let the garlic cool. Squeeze the cloves and push out the garlic paste.

For more info about garlic mincing methods, check this article at seriouseats.com.

Nutritional Info – Please remember that the nutritional information provided is only estimated and can vary based on the products used.

Nutrition