Homemade Mayo Recipe


Mayonnaise.  It's one of the only things I miss about not having a refridgerator.  My boys love deviled eggs, summer mayo salads and sandwich fillings.  We even tried keeping mayo in the cooler, but wasted so many jars that we stopped eating it all together.  I don't know why it had never occured to me before, but small batches of mayo from scratch seemed like the perfect solution.  I watched a few videos, took a deep breath and gave it a try.  For my first batch, I used this recipe.  It set up perfectly and looked absolutely beautiful; full of color and life, unlike the store bought brand. Everyone gathered round the table in anticipation of trying the condiment.  We all took a lick from the spoon and then looked at each other in horror...  it was terrible!  What went wrong?  Back to the computer for a quick search on how to make homemade mayo taste more like what my guys were used to, you know, without all the nasty ingredients.  Turns out it was the olive oil, along with a few minor adjustments. We switched to a more neutral oil, sunflower, and just like that it was the most delicious mayo we'd ever tasted.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be able to use our farm fresh eggs and a few simple ingredients to make a healthy version of one of our favorite foods.  Here's the recipe that we settled on.

Homemade Mayo Recipe

1 egg yolk
1 cup sunflower oil
1T. mustard {more or less to your liking.  We like a lot.}
1t. sugar {optional}
1t. salt and pepper {again, more or less to taste}
2T. lemon juice

In a mason jar, beat the egg yolks and mustard with a stick blender. Very slowly, drizzle the oil until it starts to thicken.  Add salt and pepper, sugar, and lemon juice at the very end.

Have you ever made homemade mayo?  Any tricks you'd like to share?







11 comments

  1. I'm a senior citizen living on a fixed income but have begun to eat as healthy as possible. Less meats, more veggies and fruit, more from scratch items. Mayo is one of my downfalls - I use it in mac salad, tuna salad, potato salad, tomato sandwiches, BLTs, - these can't be eaten (in my house) without the mayo. I will try your recipe and cross my fingers. I get fresh eggs from my daughter's chickens and are now getting a subsidized senior CSA from an organic farm with certain items from our local church pantry - fresh veggies, frozen chicken quarters, Annie's organic mac & cheese, milk. All of that brings down my food bill to about $15 week - but when I need mayo the cost is over $5 for a jar. This will bring it back down.

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    1. Oh, I'm so glad the recipe was able to help you out!

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  2. I like the idea of adding the mustard to the mix and will have to try that next time I make mayo. I usually make just plain mayo using light olive oil [to avoid that strong flavor] and sometimes I like to add chopped fresh garlic, it's good.

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  3. No fridge! How do you keep your milk cold??.....milk I could do without.....ice cream....not so much! ha ha

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    1. You'd be suprised how many items people refridgerate that don't really need to be in there at all. Milk, cheese, and meat are the only things we keep cold and for that we use a heavy duty cooler. In the summer, we buy a bag of ice every week and in the winter, we just set the cooler outside on the front porch! Meals are prepared so that we don't have to worry about left overs spoiling.

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  4. Had the same olive oil problem with my first batch too! Now switched to a milder oil and it tastes just fine. Do you use very fresh eggs? a few times I have tried making it with eggs from the morning and it hasn't worked, but every time I use an egg from the day before it does???? could be just a coincidence!
    My boys like chopped dill in their mayo.

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  5. I had the same problem with the olive oil as you. It was truly awful. Inedible. Maybe I'll try with the sunflower oil.

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  6. Yes, the olive oil we have makes nasty mayo; maybe there is milder olive oil that would be good. I tried grape seed oil, which tasted good but made the mayo green, which was just not appetizing. What I use now is rice bran oil; perfect! Did you know if you're using a stick blender you can just put all the ingredients in the jar (I use a whole egg) then pour the 1 cup of oil on top. Put your stick blender down to the bottom and turn on. As you see it turning to mayonnaise, slowly pull the stick blender towards the top. Voila! Love it! I have used white vinegar instead of lemon juice and for some reason I prefer it.

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    1. Thanks for the tips, I'll have to give them a try!

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  7. I have been using the mixed oils homemade mayo version and I must admit I am not a big fan (although Rob loves it!) Thanks for this hun!! I will be trying your recipe this weekend :)

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