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

Yield: about 1 cup

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.

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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

1. 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.
2. 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.