Learn how to make mayonnaise at home in 10 minutes with only 4 simple ingredients (5 if you count salt). This recipe offers an excellent hack for healthier living. Creamy, flavorful, easy DIY mayonnaise with no added preservatives is a versatile base for dressings, sauces, and spreads.
A dear friend was having health issues and discovered she had a chemical sensitivity. All of a sudden, she’s making all her own condiments with no additives or sugar. Impressively, her mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup tasted better than store-bought!
Not only is making mayonnaise from scratch super easy, but it’s also a versatile base for other recipes. Plus, most people have eggs, vinegar or lemon juice, and oil already in the pantry.
Making a Versatile Mayonnaise Recipe
The cool thing about homemade mayonnaise isn’t just avoiding additives. You can swap the acidic ingredient with apple cider vinegar, rice vinegar, lemon juice, lime juice, or white wine vinegar. Whatever you have available.
The neutral-flavored oil in store-bought versions is usually vegetable, soybean, or canola. However, you can use sunflower, safflower, and avocado oils. And feel free to mix in olive oil for a flavor twist.
How to Make Homemade Mayonnaise
- Whisk – In a medium glass bowl, combine egg yolk, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, mustard, and a pinch of salt. Whisk briskly until smooth. (Or use a regular or immersion blender for an easier way.)
- Add Oil – Gradually add oil while whisking until the egg yolk mixture thickens and lightens in color. Drizzle in the remaining oil in a steady stream while whisking constantly.
- Serve – Once all the oil has been incorporated, you can whisk in a few drops of water to lighten it up. After that, the mayonnaise is ready to use. Store it in a covered jar in the fridge for up to a week.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- If you’re worried about using raw eggs, get pasteurized eggs or pasteurize them yourself. Heat them in a pan of water to 140℉ (60℃) for three minutes while stirring gently. That temperature is hot enough to make them safe but not enough to cook them.
- Bring ingredients to room temperature before making your mayo.
- Fermented mayonnaise lasts longer than regular mayo. If you love lacto-fermenting vegetables, save a tablespoon of the leftover brine and add it with the lemon juice. Let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 6-8 hours, then refrigerate and use as usual.
- Add two or three cloves of fresh garlic at the same time as the Dijon mustard for aioli.
- Broken mayo is heartbreaking, but there is a fix. The first one is adding a splash of hot water and whisking vigorously. If that doesn’t work, put an egg yolk in a glass mixing bowl with a teaspoon of vinegar. Then, whisking continuously, gradually add the broken mayo as you would the oil.
- Replace lemon juice with vinegar if needed. Apple cider and white wine vinegar are my usual replacements.
- Using 100% olive oil can create a bitter mayo. I like using half olive oil and half sunflower oil for a slightly healthier version. Of course, any neutral-flavored vegetable oil will work.
How to Make Vegan Mayonnaise
Veganaise is becoming popular, so I’m happy to offer an egg-free version!
Blend ½ cup of unsweetened soy milk or tofu, 1½ tablespoons vinegar (white wine, rice, or ACV), a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, and a pinch of salt in a food processor (or use a jar that fits an immersion blender). Then, drizzle in a cup of neutral-flavored oil as you continue blending. It will thicken into a delightful vegan spread or dressing base.
Delicious Recipes Great for Homemade Mayo
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By Imma
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in June 2020 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
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