During the high-temperature synthesis of carbide reinforced Al matrix composites, as a result of a chemical reaction between carbide particles and a metal matrix, aluminum carbide is formed, which embrittles the system. To eliminate the negative effect of aluminum carbide in the material, the dispersed phase of TiC was pre-metallized with a thin Ni layer. Our work also evaluates the effect of Ni-plated particles of TiC and aluminum nickelide, formed as a result of the chemical reaction of Ni with molten Al, on the hardening of the Al matrix composite. The mechanisms of hardening of the aluminum matrix composites with a dispersed phase of micro- and nanometer size are proposed. The analysis of the contributions of the above mechanisms to the hardening of the TiC reinforced Al composite considered in this article, shows that the main contribution to the hardening due to the low bulk concentration of reinforcing particles is provided by the dispersion hardening Orowan-Ashby mechanism and the dislocation mechanism caused by a thermal expansion coefficients mismatch between the matrix and reinforcing particles.