How to Make Mayonnaise
I hate mayonnaise. I hate how it tastes. I hate how it smells.
There, I said it. So, why did I go to the trouble of making it from scratch? It was more like a means to an end. Let me back up a bit.
I really like ranch dressing. My favorite used to be the little packets of seasoning that you use to make it yourself. Mmm… heaven. Until I realized those little packets are full of monosodium glutamate (MSG). No wonder it tastes like heaven.
So what does this have to do with mayonnaise? Mayonnaise is key ingredient in making homemade ranch dressing. As I tested out different recipes, I substituted plain yogurt for the mayonnaise, but it never tasted right to me. Mayonnaise was the missing ingredient. Bummer. But because I had gone to great lengths to avoid the “MSG packets” as my husband calls them, it would make sense to go further and avoid the nasty oils and junk in commercial mayonnaise. Even the “olive oil” types of mayonnaise still contain mostly soybean oil.
By the way…. pictured up there with my homemade mayo is some Homemade Ghee. It’s easy to make, too!
Oh, it goes one more step, folks.
Mayonnaise is basically an emulsion of egg yolks and oil (with seasonings). Making mayonnaise from scratch means eating raw egg yolks, so using high-quality free-range eggs is important. (“cage-free” is not the same thing as “free-range”)
When we moved to Reno, I searched on Craigslist to see if anyone was selling eggs from chickens they raised in their own backyard. (You probably think I’m completely nuts. Or a complete hippie.) I found a woman who lives a mile and a half from me who sells me the eggs from her “girls”. (The eggs in the photo above… aren’t they pretty? And yes, that one in the middle is light green. I had no idea eggs came in light green.)
When you get fresh eggs, they come in all different sizes and a few different colors. The color of the egg has to do with the breed of chicken. Brown eggs aren’t any more nutritious or better tasting than white eggs, despite how “fancy” they look in the grocery store.
You’ll also notice that the yolks from fresh may be darker. Fresh eggs taste better, too. I won’t go into the nutritional differences between fresh and commercial eggs. Let’s just say that whatever you put into the chicken is what comes out in the egg. Feed the chickens a healthy diet (what they’re genetically designed to eat) and you get healthy chickens (and healthy eggs). Feed the chickens garbage and. . . well, you can figure out the rest. The same principle is true with animals. And humans.
K, back to the mayonnaise. Using an immersion blender make this a piece of cake, but you can also use a food processor — I actually use my food processor more often than an immersion blender.
Put all the ingredients except for the oil into a bowl or a large plastic cup. Buzz it for a minute or so until it gets creamy, then gradually add the oil in a small drizzle while blending.
When you drizzle in the oil and blend it for a minute or two it gets thick! It’s not as thick as regular mayonnaise yet (it will thicken after it sits in the fridge), but you can go ahead and use it.
Keep it in an airtight jar in the fridge and it will keep for a week. Next time I’ll have a recipe for Paleo Ranch Dressing that will knock your socks off!
How to Make Mayonnaise
If you've ever wondered how to make mayonnaise -- here's a drizzle method with an immersion blender! I love using clean avocado oil because it's tasteless.
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks (fresh, free-range eggs if possible)
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 2 T lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup avocado oil or light olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl (or a large plastic cup) combine all the ingredients except for the oil. Insert immersion blender and give it a quick buzz until it's creamy.
- Still continue to blend as you add the oil in a slow drizzle. The mixture should thicken after a minute or two. If you're using a cup, use up and down motions to bring the emulsion together. Adjust seasonings if necessary and store in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
I love mayonnaise. Like, lick the knife love. I've got to try making it myself!
Grocery store eggs freak me out!!! You are totally right – they are nothing like farm eggs (I remember gathering eggs in the morning as a kid :-))
Thanks for high-lighting the differences in this post. This is also a great reminder for me to get to my local (indoor for the winter) farmer's market for some fresh, organic eggs.
Eggs are eggs and they all taste the same. Although on that note, eggs are tasty. I could eat cheap eggs all day long. Why buy expensive when you can buy cheap.
I don't like the kind in a jar, but I love homemade mayonnaise! I didn't realize the ranch from the packet was full of MSG – for the first time in a long time, I just made a batch this week and am practically addicted. Uh-oh… :)
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only food blogger out there who gags at the thought of mayo. Yeah, really. The thought is enough to do it.
I think I could get down with homemade mayo though. Especially if olive oil were stuck in there so it didn't smell so…mayo-y.
I love mayo! (Sorry but its a taste I acquired 2 pregnancies ago and have never lost.) Anyway, cool post! I've been wanting to make my own mayo and all my eggs come from my sister's chickens at my dad's farm. Sweet, eh?
I buy farm fresh eggs too! And, i'm with you about mayonnaise. I really don't like it very much at all, but use it occasionally. And don't get me started on MSG and other preservatives.
What a great post! Growing up my grandmother always gave us eggs from her chickens. I was used to the country eggs and once declared at someone else's house that I wouldn't eat store bought, white eggs. I am dying to get some chickens, I just gotta build a coup!
Janssen – You just gave me shudders.
Gwen – I still eat the stuff like crazy when I go visit my family. I figure once or twice a year won't kill me. :)
I love how so many people are using fresh eggs! I really thing having chickens in your backyard is borderline trendy. @Miss – I'm dying to get some chickens, too!
Okay, so my husband hates mayo (I never tell him if something has it in it or he won’t eat it), but I do have some recipes that call for mayo…and I have to admit that I like it in those things. So…I’m starting to try to switch us over to more of a whole foods approach (I’m embarrassed to say because of your philosophy which is shared by so many readers that I bought my first free range eggs last week)…anyway, I have a LONG way to go, but I guess now that I have a little one I’m extra motivated to be more careful as to what goes into his precious little body. Ours are quite contaminated, but his is not. So I guess what I’m asking is can I use this mayo as a pretty equal substitute for mayo in most recipes in general? So now for a completely unrelated question, but something I’ve been wondering about lately. I’m guessing you make your own baby food, which I’ve done so far (not to hard to just puree fruits, veggies, etc.), but now that we’re introducing non-pureed foods and a few spices, our little guy is sort of anti purees. I have some cook books for babies (that have some good stuff), but I don’t feel as comfortable in the spice department or in making more like the stage 3/transitioning to just regular food areas. Any chance you may want to share some info. on that topic?
Hey girl!
1. Congrats on the eggs!! I think no matter where we are in the transition, we all feel like we have a long way to go. There’s always more to improve on! :)
2. Yes. Use this exactly how you would use store-bought mayo.
3. With baby #1 I made her food and she loved it. When she started getting enough teeth to eat regular food, I just gave her what we ate ourselves, just cut or mushed up a bit if needed. I wasn’t worried about spices (aside from things being spicy-hot). With baby #2, she just wanted to nurse instead of eating real food. At around 9 months was when she started to warm up to solids, but she hated the plain purees. So… i just gave her what we ate (obviously not all at once… starting with vegetables and protein and held off on wheat and dairy until later). One problem was she didn’t get her first tooth until 12 months, so I couldn’t just feed her off my plate most of the time. I used this website a lot: http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/ It seems to be taken over by someone called “momtastic” since I visited last, but they had some great charts for when to introduce what type of food. I never made any of the recipes, though. Just used the charts. I hope that helps! (And I hope this was coherent. I really need to go to bed. :))
I just made this and it tasted salty and lemony. Seems like a 1/4 tsp probably would have been more than enough. One tblsp seems like it might have been enough too on the lemon. I think I would try to find a really mellow olive oil to use also.
1/2 tsp of mustard. That’s prepared mustard right and not ground mustard? Thanks.
After reading more home made mayo recipes I realize its ground mustard and not prepared mustard.
I tried 4 different recipies, a whole bottle of olive oil and a dozen eggs trying to make mayonnaise. I still couldn’t get it to thicken. I poured the oil as slowly as possible and had the blender running constantly and all I got is white olive oil juice. It seemed to emulsify somewhat on the sides but it never really thickened. I made mayonnaise years ago with regular oil and never had a problem. Is it just the olive oil or what? I think I have given up.
I’m sorry to hear that, Sue! I was making it once and it wouldn’t thicken and I realized I had used the whole egg instead of just the yolks. I don’t know what else to suggest. What kind of olive oil were you using? I used extra-virgin, but I can’t imagine the type of olive oil would be the problem. I’ve also used both grapeseed and avocado oil without any trouble.
I used only the yokes. I did use a cheaper olive oil than usual and I was told that extra virgin olive oil was too strong for mayonnaise and would give it a bitter tastes. Don’t know what else to do.
I didn’t mind the taste when I used extra-virgin, but yes, it does have a stronger flavor than a neutral oil would have. I hope you find out why it’s not working!
While I truly loved your piece and all that you stand for, I just wanted to note one important fact: When Canada created Can-ola oil, it used rapeseed oil, once scientists had discovered how to remove the poisons from rapeseed. Because of the horrific nature of the name, they got permission to call it grapeseed oil instead of rapeseed oil. Actual oil from grapes is usually careful to call itself grape seed oil. Otherwise, there’s a chance you might just be getting canola oil, an artificially created product. I do love olive oil, and am glad you used it.
Thank you for that, June! I checked my grapeseed oil and was reassured that it is, in fact, grape seed oil.
I just made mayo today for the first time. (Sorry but I used another Paleo blogger’s recipe) the only big differences in the two recipes is that she calls for 1 whole egg and no vinegar (I think it could’ve used the vinegar). The thing that may help those with thickening issues is letting your egg come to room temperature first. She also says to let the lemon juice and egg sit and become friends while they come to room temp ;) I didn’t care for the evoo mayo. I’m gonna look for another lighter flavored olive oil.
Seems tasty but it stayed really liquidity. Any idea what went wrong?
Just how liquid? Like, milk? Or more like a loose pudding? Sometimes homemade mayo is runnier than regular mayo. You could try adding an extra yolk next time. And making sure you add the oil really slowly. If it’s as runny as milk, it means it didn’t emulsify (Usually because the oil was added too quickly.)