Mayonnaise

Why make Mayonnaise at home when you can buy it at the store? Because when made fresh, it tastes infinitely better, and it only requires 5 ingredients and 10 minutes! This recipe is easy, foolproof, and delicious, and can be used for numerous recipes.

Many people think of mayonnaise as a condiment, but it’s also an essential ingredient for so many favorite recipes like chicken salad, the best egg salad, deviled eggs, or homemade blue cheese dip.

The deliciousness of the mayo you’re using can totally make or break those kinds of recipes.

I know because I tried to use up a terrible avocado oil mayonnaise I had bought and “hide” it in egg salad with lots of fresh dill and celery. But nope, the flavor of the mayonnaise was still glaring. Which makes sense, right? It’s an essential flavor in those kinds of salads.

While the convenience factor is strong for mayonnaise purchased at the store, freshly made creamy mayo using quality ingredients is really worth the effort. It’s one of those things where if you care enough about the flavor and health factor, making it yourself becomes worthwhile. And actually, the effort we’re talking about is only 10 minutes.

What’s Great About this Recipe

✅ Fantastic flavor – The flavor here is quite pure, and you can really taste the difference between homemade and storebought. Most storebought mayo taste stale and contain preservatives and off-flavors.

✅ 5 ingredients – For the mayonnaise ingredients, we’ll use egg, oil, salt, ground mustard, and lemon juice. It’s a very simple recipe, and it doesn’t need more. No ground mustard in your pantry? You can also use any mustard in your fridge, like Dijon or yellow.

✅ 10 minutes to make it – It really doesn’t take long to mix this up. It’s truly quick and easy, and can be made in a food processor or whisked by hand!

✅ Healthier than storebought – Many storebought mayos are full of sugar, preservatives, and poor quality inflammatory oils. This homemade mayo is a much better choice.

I started making a lot of homemade mayonnaise during my Whole30 4 years ago, and anyone who has done the program knows why: it’s just about impossible to find a store-bought brand of mayonnaise that doesn’t have added sugar AND is made with a healthy oil.

(Okay okay, there is one brand that’s sugar-free and made with healthy avocado oil, but I find the flavor to be absolutely wretched. Reviews of the product on Amazon tell me I’m not alone on that one.)

So the only solution was to start making it myself and experimenting (I also solidified my recipe for Aioli, which is mayonnaise’s garlic-flavored cousin). If you follow the recipe instructions precisely, it’s pretty foolproof. Let’s go through the steps.

Step by Step Guide:

To get started, add a neutral oil, one egg, ground mustard, and salt to the bowl of a food processor:

All of the mayo ingredients are essential here, but if you don’t have ground mustard in your pantry, you may substitute 1 tsp of any mustard in your fridge, like Dijon, yellow, etc. The mustard helps with flavor and stability of the emulsion.

What’s the best oil to use?

When I say to use a “neutral oil,” I mean one that is neutral in flavor.

My personal favorite for mayonnaise is olive oil, but make sure it’s NOT extra virgin. Extra virgin olive oil turns bitter in the food processor and blender, and the flavor is too strong anyway.

You want to look for the regular or “light” olive oil. Many people also use avocado oil, but I personally find the flavor to be terrible. But I know this is a personal preference!

Alternatives to raw egg

I want to comment for a moment on the egg situation.

The egg in this recipe is indeed raw, and personally I have been eating raw eggs (in mayo, nibbles of chocolate chip cookie dough, etc.) for years without issue.

If you Google ‘how many eggs have salmonella,’ you will see articles (like this one from Slate) that discuss this risk, and it’s estimated that about 1 in 20,000 eggs has salmonella.

That number is small enough that I just go ahead and eat raw eggs when the situation comes up.

However, if you prefer, you can purchase pasteurized eggs to use for homemade mayonnaise, or you can even pasteurize them yourself. I’ve seen lots of tutorials online for that.

I’ve also seen some people say online that if you leave the mayo at room temperature for an hour or two before refrigerating, the lemon juice will kill off the bacteria, but I’m personally skeptical that that’s true. I think it’d be better to use pasteurized eggs in that case.

Process the ingredients for about 30 seconds, until combined and pale yellow:

The liquid will be quite thin.

Next, with the food processor running, slowly drizzle in an additional cup of oil:

You want to do this VERY slowly, over the course of about 90 seconds. This makes the mayonnaise creamier and thicker, and if you pour too fast, the emulsion may break.

As you incorporate the oil, you’ll see it get thicker and thicker, until it finally looks like this:

Blitz in a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and it’s done!

You can also use vinegar, but I find the flavor of fresh lemon to be better.

Store the homemade mayonnaise in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Some of my favorite uses for mayonnaise are Honey Walnut Shrimp, Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs, Jalapeño Cilantro Sauce, and dipping for these Homemade French Fries. 

You can also look at all my recipes using mayonnaise for more ways to use it. Enjoy!

FAQ and Expert Tips:

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Disclaimer: consume raw egg at your own risk. Some of the information and raw egg statistics in this post may be out of date.