If you want to improve your family's diet and be less reliant on the grocery store, this homemade mayonnaise recipe is for you. I've finally perfected it to be fail-proof, and it only takes two minutes to whip up!
Why I Love This Recipe
It's taken me ten years to perfect this foolproof mayonnaise recipe, and what I love most about it is I don't have to figure out a use for the leftover eggwhites because this mayonnaise recipe uses the entire egg. That's right, it's not just the yolks!
Furthermore, I love that I can customize this mayonnaise recipe to my liking. If I know I'll be using it to make homemade salad dressing, I can use olive oil. If I want a more mild flavor, I can use something like avocado oil or grapeseed oil.
Then, I can further mix up the flavor by using different mustards, honey mustard, dijon mustard, and stone-ground mustard… they're all delicious! And each adds a unique flavor profile. Play with the oils and the mustards until you find what your family loves best.
Why You Should Make Mayonnaise at Home
If you've ever looked at the jar of store-bought mayonnaise, you'll quickly realize there are many ingredients in there that aren't whole foods (or even real foods). My jar of Best Foods said right on the label, “Ingredients derived from a bioengineered source,” which means genetically modified.
Years ago, I had a cancer scare and promptly changed my family's diet to food made from whole ingredients sourced locally when possible (here are 13 easy ingredient swaps you can make in your kitchen right now). Getting rid of GMOs and other harmful ingredients like soybean oils and other refined oils took priority.
It's my recommendation to become a label reader. Take your health and the health of your family into your own hands and vote with your dollars.
Making your own homemade mayonnaise is easy. You can control the ingredients, and you likely already have everything you need on hand.
Mayonnaise Recipe
Supplies Needed
The only thing you'll need to make my homemade mayonnaise recipe is an immersion blender. I've tried whipping it before by hand, and I've also used other appliances, but what I've found is they take much longer, and you have to drizzle all the oil in at a slow stream.
I'm a modern homesteader, which means I love my modern conveniences. And my immersion blender is one of my favorite kitchen assets.
Ingredients Needed
- 1 Whole Egg – Many recipes will only call for the egg yolk, but I like to use the entire egg. Use the freshest egg possible.
- 1 teaspoon Mustard – Choose whichever mustard you prefer, yellow, brown, dijon, spicy, etc.It may sound weird to add mustard to a mayonnaise recipe, but the reason isn't for flavor; it's because mustard has emulsifying properties. This means it helps the liquid and the oil come together and get thick.
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt – This is for added flavor, don't skimp on the salt. I like to use Redmond's Real Salt (use that link and code “Pioneering” at checkout for 15% off your order).
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice – Mayonnaise also needs an acid to help with the emulsification process. Though we've already added mustard, this is just our fail-safe ingredient. I like to use the lemon juice from my preserved lemons (if you don't have lemon juice increase the vinegar).
- 1 teaspoon Vinegar – For my recipe, I'm using organic white distilled vinegar, but you could also use homemade apple cider vinegar. I buy organic white vinegar from Azure Standard (it's harder to find than you might think!). See below for a special discount for first-time Azure customers.
- 3/4 cup Oil – This will make up the majority of the recipe and will be what you taste the most. See the section on what oil to choose below.
What Oil to Use for Mayonnaise?
One of the biggest hurdles of making your own mayonnaise is that it just doesn't taste like that classic flavor we're used to. This is because most store-bought mayonnaise is made from soybean oil, which is pretty tasteless.
Though I love using butter and coconut oil for a lot of my cooking, for mayonnaise, we need an oil that's liquid at room temperature and when refrigerated. If we choose an oil that will solidify when cold, the mayonnaise won't be spreadable.
When making mayonnaise at home, consider using a mild-tasting oil such as organic grapeseed oil or avocado oil.
How to Make Mayonnaise
- Crack an egg into a pint-sized wide-mouth Mason jar.
- Add mustard, salt, lemon juice, and white vinegar.
- Add oil on top and allow it to sit for a minute so the ingredients separate and the oil floats on top.
- Gently place your immersion blender into the jar until it's all the way to the bottom.
- Turn the immersion blender on and leave it at the bottom until the mayonnaise begins to emulsify. Do NOT lift the blender up UNTIL it's emulsified (turns white and creamy).
- Slowly bring the immersion blender up and back down, incorporating the remaining oil until all the contents are thick, creamy, and completely emulsified.
- Add a lid to the jar and store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (see my tips on storing below).
Azure Standard
As I mentioned in the video, organic white distilled vinegar is pretty hard to find in bulk (at least in my area). Much of the non-organic distilled vinegar in the United States is made from corn, which means it's also most likely genetically modified.
Right now, Azure Standard is offering first-time customers 10% off their entire order of $50 or more when shopping for Azure Standard products through this link. Be sure to use code “Melissa10” at checkout.
Mayonnaise Recipe FAQs
If you've tried making a homemade mayonnaise recipe in the past and couldn't consistently get it to thicken up, I'm with you. It's taken me about ten years to finally realize the trick for getting consistently thick and emulsified mayonnaise, EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Here are some of the FAQs when it comes to making homemade mayonnaise.
Why is My Mayonnaise Runny?
If you get runny mayonnaise, this means it didn't emulsify properly and is referred to as “broken mayonnaise”. This is why it's very important to use mustard, vinegar, and lemon juice. All three have properties that will help with the emulsification process.
The other thing is to be sure, when placing the immersion blender inside your cup, that you get it all the way to the bottom and don't lift it up until you see the mayonnaise has emulsified.
Can I Fix Broken Mayonnaise?
Yes, rest assured if your mayonnaise doesn't emulsify properly, you can save it. All you need is either a teaspoon of mustard or an egg yolk.
Add the mustard or the egg yolk into a large bowl and whisk. Continue whisking while adding in the broken mayo until it's emulsified.
Though now that I've found this particular recipe combination, I have to say I haven't had my mayonnaise break on me since! Oh, that I had learned this ten years ago!
How to Store Mayonnaise
Store your homemade mayonnaise recipe in the refrigerator.
How Long Will Homemade Mayonnaise Last?
If you're anything like my family, your mayonnaise will be gone far before it goes bad. But generally speaking, because we've added in fermented lemon juice (which will increase the shelf-life) it will last upwards of two weeks in the refrigerator.
Some people will tell you because it includes raw egg that it needs to be consumed within five days. This is a judgment call and we've never had issues with ours.
However, this is also why I like to make smaller batches, so I don't have to toss a large batch should it go bad before we're done using it.
A tip for keeping your mayonnaise from spoiling is always to use a clean utensil when dipping it into the jar. Any food particles that get into the jar will cause the mayo to spoil faster.
Is it Safe to Consume Raw Eggs?
This is a personal choice. Because I'm using eggs from my backyard egg-laying chickens (or my egg-laying ducks, which also make a fantastic and delicious mayonnaise recipe), I'm completely confident in how my eggs were handled, what the chickens were fed, and the overall quality of my eggs.
Would I consume a raw egg from the grocery store? It depends! And this is where you have to make your own judgment call.
More Recipes You May Enjoy
- Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- Fresh Homemade Salsa
- Fermented Pickles Recipe
- How to Store Lemons (For a Year!) – Fermented Lemons
- How to Make Yogurt at Home
- How to Make Real Buttermilk (Cultured Buttermilk Recipe)
- Best Beginner Sourdough Sandwich Bread No Yeast
Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe (in TWO minutes!)
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 whole egg
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon organic white vinegar
- 3/4 cup oil
Instructions
- Crack an egg into a pint-sized wide-mouth Mason jar.
- Add mustard, salt, lemon juice and white vinegar.
- Add oil on top and allow it to sit for a few seconds so the ingredients separate and the oil floats on top.
- Gently place your immersion blender into the jar until it's to the bottom.
- Turn the immersion blender on and leave it at the bottom until the mayonnaise begins to emulsify.
- Slowly bring the immersion blender up and back down, incorporating the remaining oil until all the contents are thick, creamy and completely emulsified.
- Add a lid to the jar and store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks (see my tips on storing below).
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My husband is immunocompromised so e choose not to eat raw eggs. Our solution to the problem is to purchase organic mayonnaise which has the ingredients you list in your recipe and nothing more! (Your recipe sounds delicious, though)
Which brand of mayo is it that you’ve found?
Simple truth is one. In our locale we can get organic mayo at Meijers, krogers and Trader Joe’s.
If you don’t want to eat raw eggs, you can coddle them first. One restaurant where I worked we had to make Caesar salads table d’hote, and used coddled eggs for the dressing. One egg, squeeze half a lemon, pepper (use white pepper if you want it as mayo rather than dressing), salt (if you’re not using it for Caesar dressing and have smooshed the anchovies into the wooden bowl, which adds enough salt), and mix that together. Keep stirring it with a for or whisk while sizzling in olive oil. When it gets to the right consistency, stop adding oil. Stir/whisk a little longer, and you have mayo.
I’ve never added vinegar or mustard. For a Caesar salad, I have crushed several garlic cloves and mix it in.
The coddled eggs are still raw enough to use, but not “raw” raw, if that’s your concern.
Hope this helps
My husband has a mustard allergy. Is it possible to leave this ingredient out or is there an alternative that can be used instead?
I’ve found recipes that call for aquafob (garbanzo bean juice works best or other bean juice) as an emulsifier. I don’t know the proportions, just experiment? Hope that helps a little.
I have been struggling to make mayo along with you! When I am successful, my husband loves Chipotle mayo, so I mix a couple tsp of Chipotle peppers and mix. Keeps us from buying that flavor from the store! Blessings and thanks for sharing!
I make this ALL the time! BUT…I add 2 TBSP of whey (from yogurt, or my sauerkraut in the fridge – ANY source) and then leave the mayo sitting on the counter for 6-8 hours, then into the fridge. Natural fermentation happens and allows my mayo to stay in the fridge for MONTHS. There is no way for hubby and I to use it up in two weeks, so this is a big WIN for me!! Try it!!
Question- you say that you use whey, which is made from milk, or from sauerkraut- ANY source. Does that mean any source that would be fermented? I really like the idea of being able to store it for a longer period of time. I have kombucha going all the time, as well as jars of kombucha vinegar. Would these work, do you know?
Could you use the liquid from feda cheese for the fermentation? I haven’t made homemade cheese yet.
Linda, I am also immunocompromised. I got home yesterday after just short of 2 years treatment for leukemia and prostate cancer. (Oct 2 will be 2 years). I tried your suggestion today of adding the liquid fraction (whey) of yogurt to the batch I made today. I wasn’t bold enough to add 2 tablespoonfuls because I was afraid that much liquid would break the emulsion. I used 1 tablespoonful. Have you done om with 2 and no emulsion problems?
I just successfully made mayo the other day! I simply haven’t eaten it in a long time because of the bad oils, so I decided to try again. I used my Blendtec blender and the emulsion broke. I was able to fix it using another yolk and some lemon juice. This recipe called for 4 egg yolks! It came out very yellow, which was very off-putting for the family, but those who tried said it was delicious. I will definitely be trying your recipe and my immersion blender next time! And trying some of your recipes for salad dressings…
Can you please add a link to print the recipe for the mayonaise?
Hi, I don’t have emulsifier. Can I still make? Ty
Do you have a particular immersion blender that you recommend? Thanks.
It’s linked to in this article
May be an oversight, however many recipes state that the egg should be at room temperature. Not a problem if one has laying hens.
Hi Marissa… I just made this mayo with an egg straight out of the fridge, and it worked perfectly. My mustard and lemon juice were cold, too. They probably warmed up a little because I waited for the oil to rise about 10 minutes (I was doing something else), but they did not come to room temp. It may have been beginners luck, or it could be that this recipe is extra-foolproof.
Finally a mayo recipe that works! Thank you 🙏🏻!
I prefer miracle whip if store bought…. This is delicious but can you suggest any additional ingredients to make it more like MW?
This is very good. I too am a miracle whip person but this great. Thank you
You can add a considerable amount of corn syrup (or other sweetener such as honey or maple syrup) to get a taste closer to Miracle Whip, which has 1 gram of added “sugar” per finished Tablespoon of “mayo” in the form of high fructose corn sweetener its ingredients. HFCS is much sweeter than regular corn syrup, btw.
The recipe above makes approximately one cup of mayo (16 Tbsp), and honey & maple syrup, e.g., have just a tad over 4 grams of sugar per teaspoon, so you might start with adding 2 teaspoons+ (up to 3.5 teaspoons) of honey or a syrup to the finished product.
Of course that amount of sugar is also a recipe for diabetes eventually, so maybe cut down 10% on the sugar additive each time you make it so your palate adjusts to less sugar content over time. Or at least that’s what I did to enjoy sugar free, sweetener-free condiments, including ketchup, which was the hardest transition for me. But after just 3-4 months of using ketchup without any sweetener, I couldn’t stand the taste of sweet ketchup.
OMG!!
For literally more than 10 years I have been trying to make homemade mayo. I tried every possible recipe I could find and then just gave up and resolved that it would be something I would just have to buy or go without. Then this recipe came into my newsletter from you. What could it possibly hurt to give it one more try. I used fresh out of the hen eggs, organic Dijon mustard I bought on sale, extra virgin olive oil, Himalayan pink salt, lemon juice, and white vinegar. Put everything in the jar, let it sit, as per instructions, put my immersion blender in and said, “Here goes nothing!”
When I say my eyes and mouth went wide and I giggle/cried.. I’m not kidding. I watched that mayo start to form and get thicker and I was in absolute awe!
My adult son is the mayo officianado in our house so I got him to taste it. He did, smiled, gave me a thumbs up and said, “It’s good!”
Now I have to make potato salad to showcase this perfect jar of mayo!
Thank you Melissa, you’ve literally are a wish come true!
Love it worked for you!!
I’m so ready to try this Mayo!!
Would love recipe sent to my email. Thank you
Oh my gosh, bless you! This worked like a charm!
I’ve been trying to make mayo for 10+ years. Failure. I had given up. And then I saw your video and thought “I’ll try it one more time.”
I DID IT. IM THRILLED. ITS AS EASY AS YOU SAID. 👏🎊🎉♥️❤️🙏👍
Melissa,
Your recipe is the first of several I have tried and had great success with!
Maybe it is because of my new immersion blender… ???😊 I have had several failures too, and just gave it a restfor a while. Glad I came across your recipe though.
I used half organic Avocado oil, half organic Greek Olive oil. It is really delicious.
I made3X the recipe because I make my own ranch dressing, tartar sauce,etc. This one is a KEEPER! 😉
Recipes I’ve used years ago for homemade Mayo called for refrigerating the ingredients to have better results forming an emulsion. Though this recipe as presented seems to work very well at room temp, does anyone have any comments about cooling the oil overnight before making this recipe?
Replying to myself so it’s easy to see for you all to see the results. I did refrigerate my avocado oil overnight and did all steps this morning exactly according to Melissa’s directions in the recipe. It turned out very good and tastes great!,
It’s more all ingredients being the same tip, so either all room temp or all cool.
Perfect first time I tried it. Best mayo recipe ever!