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Read MoreHomemade Paleo Olive Oil Mayo
http://www.MelJoulwan.com/2010/06/03/the-secret-to-homemade-mayo-patience/
Update September 15, 2015: The traditional blender method below works great, but you can make it even easier and faster with a stick blender. Place all ingredients in a wide-mouth Ball jar, insert the stick blender, and whirl for about 30 seconds. Done!
Update October 26, 2013: I just cracked the code on an eggless version of mayo that’s almost as good as this one. If you can’t eat eggs, check out this delicious mayo recipe made with flax seeds instead.
Update September 10, 2012: New how-to video! The vid should help clear up any confusion about how easy it is to make your own mayo. YAY! Also, be sure to read the comments; there are some great suggestions for how to use a stick blender. I’ve kept my recipe focused on a traditional blender or food processor so you don’t need a special gadget, but if you already have a stick blender, you’re good to go.
Neither the ingredients nor the technique for Homemade Paleo Olive Oil mayo are unusual or difficult–but mixing up a batch does demand, at least for me, an extraordinary amount of patience. The payoff is worth it: light, silky, flavorful, healthy mayo you can use in salads or on top of grilled meat.
The magic of mayo is that it’s an emulsion: the oil and egg+lemon juice create a colloid (hello, fifth grade science!). You don’t need to understand all the science, but there are a few things to keep in mind if you want to be successful. I’ve had many, many mayo FAILs*… here’s what I learned to make it just about perfect every time.
1
Your ingredients must all be at room temperature; the egg, oil, and lemon juice want to mingle in a cozy embrace.
2
Take your time. And then go slower than that.
3
Look at the expiration date on your eggs. Add about a week. Write that date on the lid of your storage container so you know when to toss your mayo (if it lasts that long).
4
Do not use expensive, fancy extra-virgin olive oil; the olive flavor is overpowering. I use the grocery store brand “light tasting” olive oil. It barely tastes like olives which is not so good for green salads, but is awesome for mayo. (You might try Filippo Berio or Bertoli.)
Homemade Paleo Olive Oil Mayo
Ingredients:
1 egg
2 tablespoons lemon juice @ room temp
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 cup light-tasting olive oil (Not extra virgin. Try Filippo Berio or Bertoli.)
NOTE: You can also use avocado oil instead of olive oil.
Directions:
1
Place the egg and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Let them come to room temperature together, about 30-60 minutes. Add the dry mustard, salt, and 1/4 cup of the oil. Whirl until well mixed–about 20 to 30 seconds.
2
This is the important part: The only remaining job is to incorporate the remaining 1 cup oil into the mixture. To do this, you must pour very slowly… the skinniest drizzle you can manage and still have movement in the oil. This takes about three minutes or so. Think about three minutes during a workout; it’s a fairly long time. Breathe. Relax. Drizzle slowly.
If you’re using a blender, you’ll hear the pitch change as the liquid starts to form the emulsion. Eventually, the substance inside the blender will start to look like regular mayonnaise, only far more beautiful. Do not lose your nerve and consider dumping! Continue to drizzle. If your ingredients were all at room temperature and you were patient, you will be rewarded.
If You Experience a Mayo FAIL…
If something goes kafluey, the emulsion will “break” and you’ll be left with a jar filled with a quasi-emulsion with the consistency of, say, commercial salad dressing. DO NOT DESPAIR! It can be saved. Pour the liquid into a storage container and place it in the coldest part of your fridge. Wait a few hours (again, with the patience!), then stir vigorously. It will be slightly less thick and creamy than the full emulsion, but still delicious and useful for salads (egg salad, tuna salad, cucumber salad, etc.) and dressings like Creamy Italian, Ranch, and Spicy Coconut. It will not, however, be spreadable–but we don’t care about that anyway because who among us is still eating sandwiches?!
Consider a Stick Blender
If you have a stick blender, you can simply place all ingredients in a blending jar, then whirl with your stick blender for about 30 seconds. Voila! Mayo is done. This is how I make my mayo every time now. It’s fantastic and magical!
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I shall never again purchase a jar of mayo.
Good girl! Wait'll you try it!
The first time I made this it came out perfect. Since then, I have tried it TWICE, done things exactly the same, and failed each time 🙁 The only thing i can think of that was different was maybe the “room temp” was a cooler room temp than the first time?? I am stupified and disappointed and scared to try it again because I am spending a bloody fortune on the oil and premium pastured eggs (I am not one to keep around the runny stuff for tuna salad because I don’t like it..
Any thoughts would be most appreciated :-))
It takes energy to make an emulsion, so wisk briskly when first adding oil to the egg yolk / mustard mix. You should form emulsion at this point, then continue to add oil, slowly with mixing as recommended. If you do not get the emulsion made when you start, continuing to add oil will not help, but will hinder, formation of the emulsion.
The trick to the emulsion working properly is adding a bit of water. I use 1 teaspoon… my mayo NEVER breaks. Seriously. Also, the other trick is not adding the oil to fast. Start with two or three drops at a time, move to a teaspoon or so, then a tablespoon a few times and finally you can add it in at a slow steady stream.
PS-never stop whisking!! (i’ve never used a blender, only a whisk… but it still only take a couple of minutes. Besides, the vigorous whisking is a great workout!)
Win. My mom is doing her first Whole 30 and she wanted alternatives to hummus for dipping raw veggies. Just sent her a link to your post!
Awesome! If you use the mayo as a base, you can add herbs and spices to make dips… paleo Ranch! Just add lemon juice, parsley, paprika, chives, salt & pepper.
This changes my whole perspective on mayo!
THANK YOU!!!
Took a stab at making homemade mayo about 3 weeks ago and it turned out horribly! The consistency was right on but the taste was awful – very olivey. I used extra virgin – do you recommend light olive oil? I feel so scarred and am hesitant to try it again – when I say it tasted nasty I mean NASTY! Thanks for your posts – they are so inspiring!
Henderson… yes! Good point. It's WAY better to use the kind of cheap-ish, "light tasting" olive oil so the olive flavor is almost non-existent. Try it again and see if you like it. You can cut the batch in half if you scramble the egg, then just use half of it… and cut everything else in half. That way, you don't have to experiment with a whole bottle of oil.
I learned to make mayo from scratch while vacationing in France. Literally did it by hand with a fork. They often use Sunflower oil. Is that a paleo no no? I was thinking even Canola or Grape seed oil would do the trick as both are light tasting.
Yesterday I made my third (or fourth?) batch of lacto fermented mayo. I use the recipe from GNOWFGLINS site, but I alter it a bit. I don't like the mustard taste so I use lemon juice instead. I love love love it! Plus, it uses whey and fermenting (which doesn't affect the taste I find) so it lasts a long time in the fridge. Plus you get the health benefits of the fermentation. Yesterday when I wanted to make my mayo right away but only had fridge cold eggs, I cheated. I took my eggs and put them in warm water for a bit – then cracked them open to separate and they felt room temp!
Homemade mayo! I haven't made that for years! Mine never turned out well which is likely why I stopped making it. Will try yours! I invite you to link this up at my Vegetarian Foodie Fridays @ Breastfeeding Moms Unite! too.
Yum yum. I've been making mine with mostly refined coconut oil so that the lemon and mustard flavors really shine.
Kelsey
Damnit! I freaking had it on the very first go round and then got concerned that I was going to seize up so I dumped the last 1/4 cup of oil in one shot and jacked up the emulsion. In the fridge now to firm up before I make up some dino-tuna salad.
Dear Anonymous,
I'm sorry to hear that, and I can empathize… I had about a 50% success rate for a while.
For my last batch, it was looking really good, and I had a scant 1/4 cup of olive oil left to pour in — and I decided to just skip it. It turned out great. I think the oil can be reduced to 1 1/4 cups overall instead of 1 1/2. You might try that next time.
Hope the time in the fridge makes your almost-mayo behave. The flavor will still be good — try again!
Im a little confused… Your recipe says 1 1/4 cp oil total. Is the above post a typo or has the recipe changed since 2010?
Thank you
ojb
I found with 1 c oil there was always some oil separation,so I cut it to 3/4 and now it’s perfect.
I made it and it came out awesome!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Trixie –> HOORAY! I'm glad you had a great mayo experience. Don'tcha feel totally accomplished when you scoop it out of the blender and it's MAYO… that you MADE?! Love that!
Oh Mel,question..all week I have been making an awesome chicken salad with the mayo for lunch..but now kind of sick of it. What other lunch ideas could I use the mayo for?? Would love suggestions!
Hey, Trixie! I really like egg salad. I keep it simple: hard boiled eggs, homemade mayo, salt, and pepper.
Also, tuna with chopped olives and scallions.
I've also been known to just put a dollop of the mayo on a piece of hot grilled chicken or a hamburger patty… add a clove of chopped garlic, salt, and pepper… YUM.
Melissa,
I just ran across this recipe from the link you put in the whole9 comments. I've tried a lot of your stuff but hadn't run across the mayo yet. The first time I made homemade mayo I used the EVOO and as you mentioned, it was not very good. I can't wait to try your recipe.
One variation you may want to try is from Bobby Flay's cookbook, Boy Gets Grill. I've made it with great success with the store bought mayo and it should be even better with homemade mayo.
1 cup Mayo
1 roasted poblano, peeled and seeded.
2 Tbsp chopped onion
2 Cloves garlic
1 Tbsp light olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and Pepper to taste
Here is a link on how to roast a chile pepper.
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Cooking-Tips–Techniques-642/how-to-roast-fresh-chile-peppers.aspx
Put in blender until smooth. Wait one hour for the flavors to get cozy and dish over anything.
The honey is not whole30 approved but is still paleo in small amounts like this.
This stuff is so good you will be tempted to eat it with a spoon, trust me. It isn't spicy because the Poblano is mild but it is definitely smoky goodness.
Kevin
Kevin! Thank you for that recipe. I can't wait to try it. It's sounds SO good! I already want to eat my mayo with a spoon, so this could be very bad (and by that I mean very, very good) for me 😉
Let me know how you like the mayo with the light olive oil. It makes a WORLD of difference.
Woo hoo!! I am so going to try this. I have been meaning to ask you about a Dino Chow version of Coleslaw dressing. One of my most favorite recipes ever is Whole Food's Sonoma Chicken Salad: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/526
I have been using the dressing for that to make broccoli slaw or coleslaw, but now that I am going Dino, I know its not in the plan, but I have been thinking 'there has to be a way to make it work. – I bet Melicious will know!' So this mayo is the mail part. I guess I can just cut down the honey, and give it a try. Let me know if you have any other suggestions, because it's a fabulous recipe.
Hey, Brandy! That recipe looks YUMMY! I think you're on the right track with reducing the honey. Other than that, it looks awesome. And really, 5 teaspoons of honey across 6 servings is less than 1 teaspoon per serving… which is about 4 grams of carbohydrate (sugar) per serving. Which puts it on par with beef jerky. If you're going to eat it every day, cut down on the honey. If it's once in a while, you can probably make it as-is.
Thanks for the perspective Mel. This must be where your 'Measure Everything' personality comes in very handy. Me, I am a little bit of this, and a little bit of that kind of girl, and so I miss out on stuff like this.
absolutely to die for. i tried the recipe from marks sisson's cookbook and it just wasn't right. your tips are dead on, thank you so much!
Stephanie
Stephanie… hooray! I'm glad it worked for you. Thanks for letting me know!
Hello! I just tried this recipe and it didn't come out as I had hoped so I was wondering if you could give some add'l suggestions.
I let the egg and lemon juice sit for at LEAST 4 hours on my kitchen counter. While that sat I had purposely gone out for the light olive oil for this recipe so that was room temp. I put all the ingredients in the blender up to the first 1/4 cup of oil and mixed it for 20-30 seconds. I then put the remaining cup of oil in the blender and *thought* I had been drizzling it out of the measuring cup I had used.
Here's where I think MAYBE something threw it off.
First my blender only has one mix speed and it's not very slow… not sure if that matters.
Then I *MIGHT* have been a little impatient because as the oil was drizzling in the blender all the contents are splattering out through the removable cap on the top of the lid. I still let it drizzle but maybe the drizzle wasn't slow ENOUGH?? (Just wondering if that splattering happens to anyone else or is it an indication that it wasn't thick enough or even the mixer speed?).
I was standing there for what felt like 3 min (reminding myself that the numbing in my arm was nothing in comparison to the 20 min AMRAP of ball slams, SDHP and burpees I did earlier in the AM).
It's definitely more liquidy looking than creamy… any suggestions??
Thanks (sorry this is so long)
Deana, beside having everything at room temperature, there is another very important part to successful mayonnaise preparation: the utensils have to be METICULOUSLY CLEAN!
I hope this helps – and good luck!
Deana, when reading your comment, I could have been my exact words…splattering and all. I just tried to make and so disappointed in how is turned out. I thought I followed the instructions to the tee but not sure what happened. My blender has 12 settings and I have no idea which one to use so that may have made a difference for me. I also turned it off in between the first 20 sec mix and adding the additional. I think I will try again tomorrow.
Hi, Deana21! I wish I had words of wisdom for you! I'm sad to say that my last batch didn't "take" and I have a creamy liquid, rather than thick mayo.
Things to try next time:
1. Definitely drizzle the oil painfully slowly. It should take about 5 minutes or so.
2. I think a faster blender or food processor works best. I'm going to experiment with mine again and see what I can come up with.
3. I read a recipe the other day that said if it's not thick enough, try blending the mayo liquid with an additional egg yolk — but same rules apply: room temperature and drizzle the liquid in very, VERY slowly.
Good luck! I hope you'll give it another shot, 'cause when it works, it's delicious!
I’ve had it not work. The key is to go slow and not expect mayo like liquid until about half way through the oil. Also, if it doesn’t work start with two yolks and repeat the process with the liquid that didn’t set. You should be fine the second time.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I just made 2 batches and they both turned out great. I used my Vitamix to make it.
Thank you Melissa! I think the ingredients splattering doesn't help. I just wanted to get it done .. but even with that I know I definitely took lots of time letting it drizzle, probably not 5 min worth- I'd say 2.5-3 min.
With your last batch, do you still use it that way or is it a waste? I just didn't find it too appetizing to look at so I didn't save the one I did :o( Let me know if you experiment with the speed of the blender and how that works out. I was hoping that maybe if I went slower the splattering wouldn't be so bad- but it's not even an option on my blender (unless I use the chop mode).. LOL.
I will definitely give it another shot. Unfortunately I only bought a 16 oz bottle of oil. I have to wait until my next trip to the grocery store.
Thank you for following up! BTW, your blog is soooo inspiring! It's definitely helped me find my way through the lifestyle of Paleo eating. I'm a beginner so it's been a challenge but I'm trying hard!
Hey, Deana! When my mayo is liquidy, I put it in the coldest part of the fridge to let it firm up a little, then when I want to use it, I stir it really vigorously until it gets creamy. It still tastes DELICIOUS — it just looks more like salad dressing than mayo. And since my tuna salad is, well, a salad (and not a sandwich), it doesn't matter much that it's not thick. The tuna still tastes AWESOME. The thin mayo is also good drizzled over grilled meat (burger patties or chicken) and is great for dipping raw veggies if you add some herbs and garlic to it. Definitely keep it if it "breaks."
I'm glad you're finding my blog helpful. Congratulations on changing up your diet!
I absolutely cannot believe that I got this on the first try. I'm very much a "some of this" or "a handful of that" type of cooker. I had quite a hunt on my hand in my kitchen hunting for the measuring spoons and cups. Well, I found them! And the mayo turned out fantastically amazing the first time I tried it. Why on earth would anyone want that bottled crap when they can have this deliciousness in less than 10 minutes??
The only thing was I left out the mustard because I thought I had some but halfway thru I realized I didn't have any…but it turned out great anyway!!
Jennilee –> Congratulations! I've definitely improved my batting average lately… I think the egg works best if it's warm… which means letting it sit on the counter for hours. Glad you had success your first time!
And I have NO IDEA why anyone would eat the commercial junk when you can make your own creamy, heavenly bowl of mayo in under 10.
Howdy –
I made this last night with 1/2 teaspoon cumin added in – oh and I used a lime, had no lemon. It is super yummy! Thanks so much for the recipe!
That sounds super tasty — I've got to try that. You know I love cumin in EVERYTHING!
Absolutely perfect, Melissa. Thank you. PLUS, this stuff is easily 1,000 times better than store-bought stuff.
PrimalPainter –> I can't believe how long I resisted making my own mayo. Now I can't get enough of it! I look for excuses to eat it 😉
Hi Melissa,
I am super excited to make this mayo, but I am wondering how long it will stay fresh in the fridge?
Thanks!
Hey, Nicole –> I usually use the expiration date on the eggs as a guide. I usually write the date the eggs expire on my mayo container and try to use it within a few days of that date… but honestly, a fresh batch doesn't last very long around here. I use it a lot!
I just made it, and it worked perfectly! It's delicious! Thank you 🙂
Just made this mayo and it came out bangin! Thanks!
I've been making this for months now, absolutely love it! As does the rest of my family it seems, hehehe. I double all the ingredients listed and each batch barely lasts more than a week!
Problem is, I've found that when I use the whole egg it ALWAYS turns out a bit too runny (even when I refrigerate it overnight and beat it again in the morning). But when I only use the yolks, it's soft, fluffy, creamy, and oh so absolutely wonderful! Have you ever tried using only the yolk?
Hey, Vitaly! I haven't tried a yolks-only recipe, but I know that some other recipes call only for yolks, not whole eggs. If it's working for you, stick with it! That's the best part of cooking: finding your own adaption of recipes.
Yummy! My first time at homeade mayo was a success! Thank YOU!
Thank you so much for posting this! I have tried making the recipe for Paleo mayo in the Primal Blueprint cookbook, and I keep getting a FAIL batch. Like you said, I could still use it for egg salad, etc, but it wasn't pretty! I kept re-reading the recipe in my cookbook thinking I was missing something. Turns out, they don't mention anything about room temp in their recipe. I am excited to try a batch at room temp and see how it turns out!
Heather –> Glad to help1 Definitely let all the ingredients warm up… and I don't know what the proportions are in the Primal Blueprint recipe, but if you're ALMOST done adding the oil, and the mayo is looking the way you want it, you can decide to not add all of the oil. Good luck!
OMG this mayo is amazing. I have just made it.It took me about 10+ mins to drizzle the oil olive in but it was worth it. I actually licked the spoon. I can see it is going to be a regular in my house. Big thanks to you!
Glad you like it! I make a new batch every week now… tuna and egg salad have never been so good!
Thank you so much for posting this. I just made my first batch and it turned out light, fluffy and delicious. The only thing is that I'm surprised by how strong the lemon flavor is. Have you tried experimenting with other acids, like vinegar?
Hey, Donny! I haven't experimented much because I really like the lemon flavor… however, you could replace the lemon juice with cider vinegar and the science should still work. If you try it, let me know what you think!
This recipe will for sure carry me through the Whole 30 challenge. Absolutely DELICIOUS! Thank you!! I'm going to make the creamy italian dressing for dipping my veggies in, too! Can't wait!
SnazzyGina –> I always thought I didn't like mayonnaise, until I made it myself and realized all the good things that can be done with it. It's great for dips and salads… also plopped on top of grilled meat, esp. if you use grassfed because it can lack the flavor of conventionally grown meat. Good luck on your Whole30!
OK…made it, it's AMAZING. I made a lemon curry dressing by simply adding 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon hot madras curry powder to 1.5 TBS of the mayo and it was like heaven on my spinach salad. YUM. I'm going to make the ranch version you posted for tonight's salad.
SnazzyGina –> Curry dressing sounds so good… with raisins and nuts and spinach and chicken and… YUM.
I have a couple of suggestions. I've been making mayo (and it's cousin aoli) for a while with great success. I usually use room temperature ingredients, but if I can't wait for the egg yolks to warm up I have just left them in the processor for a few minutes to blend with the acid and spices. I've found that as long as I am extremely slow with the oil until the mixture starts to gel, it will work fine.
I have also used both dry and prepared mustards (be sure and check the label for unhealthy items), and either lemon juice or apple cider vinegar for the acid (sometimes a mix of them).
Aoli is mayo with lots of garlic, basil and parsley – a very high yum factor.
For mayo fails – if a thick mayo is important you can add your failure slowly to a fresh batch of egg yolk and acid. Just make sure that you let the yolks process for at least a couple of minutes before remixing. Again – do it slowly – not as slow as the inital drizzling, but don't dump it all in at once.
Peter –
Your advice was RIGHT ON! My first batch failed so I did as you wrote and added the failure to a fresh batch of yolk & lemon….it came out great albeit a bit lemony – but I love that taste! 🙂 Thanks!
Thanks, Peter! Those are great tips.
Thanks again! I've just completed another winning recipe from you 🙂 I planned lots of PATIENCE and got the right consistency the first time. I had to sub 1/2 c of "full" EVOO rather than the light. It is a strong olive flavor but not too much so. I can't wait to play with the dips next. Thank you!
PS – You can also use your cooking/pouring WOD timing to focus on good posture for the whole 3+ min of drizzling. No lazy leaning on the counter or letting the arches fall in your feet 😉
DauphineOT –> Congrats on making your first batch of mayo! Isn't it tasty?!
Thanks for the WOD idea! When I was making my weekly batch of mayo yesterday, I kept my core tight the whole time and held my oil drizzling arm way up high so my shoulders were engaged, too. Neat trick!
*sigh* complete and utter fail. Not sure what I did wrong. It was splattering everywhere the whole time – I'm wondering how others deal with that?
I was using the liquifying speed and adding the oil drop by drop with a syringe for the first half and then slowly poured afterwards – it took me 7 or 8 mintues to add all the oil in. The sound of the blender changed, it was looking good and then all of a sudden the emulsion broke. When I put it in the fridge it was very watery and separated looking. Not sure that it is salvagable. Everything was room temperature.
Well, my second time went slightly better. The first batch was not even salvedgable after refridgeration – it was oil with a few grains in it. This batch broke too, but I stopped the blender immediately. It was looking so good, I was adding so slowly and I had about 1/4 of a cup of oil left to add when the emulsion broke. Gah! It's in the fridge so we'll see how it looks in the morning. I was out of OO after the first attempt so used coconut and madacamia oil – should give it a good flavour. Next time I'm going with only 1 cup of oil and see how that does…
I make mine with one whole egg plus one yolk and extra virgin olive oil. I like the olive-y taste!
Another option is avocado oil.
A great trick to getting the oil to blend slowly is to use a food processor. They have the little thing on the top where you cram veggies down. It turns out that little thingy has a teeny hole in it that is perfect for emulsifying the shiz out of eggs and oil.
I’m really speechless at how delicious this mayo is! I was attracted to the idea of controlling the ingredients myself, but thought it would taste pretty much like Hellman’s. It is like a whole other food entirely! Wow.
Also, I ended up having to use my cake mixer because I think my blender is too strong. It was just flinging the ingredients up on the sides and nothing ever got blended. It maybe took a tiny bit longer. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Kylie –> That’s a great tip about the food processor. I’ve been experimenting with mine. I think I still prefer my blender because it makes a thicker mayo, but if I know I’m just going to turn it into salad dressing anyway, I use the food processor ’cause it’s easier to clean and it’s really easy to use the tube part of the lid for the oil drizzling process. Thanks for commenting!
Molly –> It’s amazing, isn’t it?! I know just what you mean. I never really liked mayo — just tolerated it in tuna salad. And now I want to put it on everything. And the bonus that it’s good for me, too?! HOLY SCHMOLEY!
I’ve had so many failed mayos, then I decided to change one simple thing that you recommended; room temperature. Sure enough, it’s the best mayonnaise I’ve made yet. Thanks!
Nat –> It’s amazing how much that one little change helps. Congrats on successful mayo. It’s SO yummy! I realized the other day I like mine extra lemony, so I’ve been making the tablespoons of lemon juice “generous.” HEAVENLY!
Happy eating!
just a question, is it ok to eat a raw egg? i am afraid to feed this to my family!
I’ve been making this with raw eggs from the beginning with no problems — but that’s a personal choice.
I did a quick internet search…
Cook’s Illustrated says this:
“If you have concerns about consuming raw eggs, 1/4 cup of an egg substitute can be used in place of the egg.”
And I found a cooked egg recipe, but it includes flour (http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/05/julia-child-cooked-egg-mayonnaise-recipe.html).
So it looks like those are your options. Let me know if you try the egg substitute or the cooked egg recipe — I’m curious about how they taste!
I used raw egg, and for the first time in my 65 years of cooking, my husband and I both had food poisoning!!!!!!! It was the ONLY thing we both ate that had not caused a problem in the recent past. Horrible, horrible, horrible. So now I am purchasing pasteurized eggs at a local health food store. Nice to know about using egg substitute though.
To control the spattering, I remove the little cup from the blender lid, and insert a funnel and drizzle the oil into the funnel. The funnel end measures about 1/2 inch in diameter. It really makes a difference.
you are so lying!
Easy. Lemon-y. Delicious.
Thanks for the amazing recipe that is now going to be a staple in our home!
The touch of lemon is really nice. Extra zing! Glad to be part of your foodie staples!
Hi Mel,
I made your mayo last month and it came out perfectly. I used the magic bullet. The entire time I was making the mayo I was scared it wouldn’t work b/c it wasn’t a steady mix. I added 1/8 cup of olive oil at a time then putting the lid back on, flipped it over and put it on the mixer. I thought all that chaos might interfere w/ the mixing process but it didn’t. It came out perfectly.
This time around it hasn’t been good. My lemon, olive oil and egg have all been room temp. The only thing I can think of that’s different is the olive oil. I bought the store brand of pure olive oil this time. I can’t remember what I got last time but I do know it wasn’t extra virgin.
My egg and lemon are sitting out now and I’m going to run to the store to get the light tasting olive oil; hopefully this works. On each of the failed attempts the consistence changed when I had less than 1/2 cup left of the olive oil. Up until that point it was beautiful.
I’ve re-tried 4 times 🙁 I miss my mayo
I wish I had some science for you… I really don’t. Are you using the same brand of lemon juice? The original recipe I based mine on recommended bottled juice to ensure the acidity doesn’t waiver.
I have varying results, too. Some days, it comes out very thick and others, it’s more like creamy salad dressing. I don’t know why, honestly. If it doesn’t “break,” you can salvage it in the fridge. If it gets really “curdled” you probably have to start over.
I’ll do some research and see if I can get us more science.
Perhaps it could be the varying size of the eggs that makes the difference. I buy the large organic eggs from Costco, but they seem to be extra-large.
The other variable could be whether one uses a liquid measuring cup or a dry measuring cup. Often, in using the dry cup for liquids, people tend to over-measure.
I’ll keep this in mind when I try my first batch. Gotta get my hubby off the store-bought stuff. -diana
it failed again. even with the light tasting olive oil. i’m going to try and find the brand that i used the first time i made it. and i’m thinking of using my food processor instead of the Magic Bullet- maybe it’s too strong.
wish me luck
DARN IT!
Here’s some stuff I found that might be helpful:
1. Reasons mayo breaks & ideas for how you might fix it.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2313513_fix-broken-homemade-mayonnaise.html
2. You can try using 2 egg yolks instead of 1 whole egg. Plus… “If the mayo breaks, try adding a few drops of boiling water and then whisk vigoriously by hand. If that doesn’t work, separate another egg and put the yolk in another bowl. Whisk it like you did the initial egg yolks and then slowly work the broken mayo into the yolk. Add a bit more oil to get it to the right consistency.”
3. You can also try reducing the amount of oil. Instead of 1 1/4 cups total, use only 1 cup. Put 1/4 cup in the blender or food processor with the egg and seasonings, then add just 3/4 of a cup with the motor running.
Hope these help! Keep me posted. I will not rest ’til you have happy mayo.
Good morning Mel.
I made my mayo this morning only using 3/4 cup of olive oil. The past 5 attemps it broke down during the last 1/2 cup. It taste superb and looks beautiful.
next time i make it i’ll try to find the olive oil i used the first time i made it using the entire amount of olive oil.
Keep on rockin sista
Whew! I’m so glad it worked! Enjoy!
I made this mayo tonight. I’ve used a couple of different recipes and I think this one was the creamiest. I didn’t wait for the eggs or lemon juice (fresh squeezed) to be at room temp and it turned out beautiful! I did think it was a bit salty so I’m going to cut that down next time. I have been very successful at my mayo making. I do think I have a secret weapon though. My Grandmother used to make her own mayo, so I always imagine her looking over my shoulder while I’m busy blending in the oil and imagine her smiling down on me because I’m taking the time to make homemade mayo. Silly, but it always makes me feel close to her!
Renee, thanks so much for posting your comment… what a great story! Now when I make mayo, I’ll be thinking of you and your grandmother. How sweet.
Awesome, awesome recipe! I’m so excited to have stumbled upon it. Couldn’t find any virgin/lite OO in the store so I went with EVOO but I don’t mind the taste. Only thing I would cut back on a bit would be the salt but otherwise DELICIOUS!
I attempted this yesterday, yes everything was room temp! Must be not enough patience adding oil…..I will try again after I eat the runny stuff. On a YUMMIE note….I did make a wonderful Coconut Crusted Grouper with Mango Salsa! That was AMAZING! With a few deletions and a few additions it was a truly wonderful paleo dinner. (I was finally brave enough to go through the crossfit fundamentals last night…..was not as horrible as I thought it would be. But my body is SORE! Especially after training legs in morning followed by 40 minutes of cardio. Can’t wait to do some more crossfitting!!)
The “runny stuff” works great for salad dressing — and works well with tuna and shrimp and hard-boiled eggs if you’re not worried about putting it between slices of bread.
Congrats on starting CrossFit!!!
Trying this today Mel, thanks!
Thanks for the tip on what kind of oil to use – I’ve been able to get a good emulsion going producing a great texture, but have been disappointed with the flavor – have been using extra virgin olive oil which has been sourced from the farmers by my Italian in-laws – obviously a delicious oil, but just not right for mayo!!
The mild-tasting oil makes a HUGE difference. Let me know how you like it!
I just made my gazillionth batch of this over the weekend. I have to make a double batch each time since my family motors through it at light speed. Our favorite way to enjoy this is on top of freshly baked butternut squash. YUM!!!
YAY! I make it weekly now, too. Had some yesterday on top of a GIANT grilled hamburger with banana pepper rings and paprika. RIDICULOUSLY good.
Mel, thank you so much for this help. I’ve tried to make this before and it was runny/gross. I just made my 2nd batch this morning and it’s delicious! Thanks from Long Beach, CA!
Hey, Ginac! Glad to know it worked for you… and I’m super envious you’re in Long Beach! Have a great weekend!
Your mayo makes me so happy! I started my Whole30 yesterday and made my first attempt at the mayo, and while not exactly the right consistency, it tastes delish. We ate it last night on a salad (also made an attempt at your creamy Italian) and then tonight (mixed with a little balsamic vinegar) over cabbage slaw mix. Makes my day better, and trying to find tasty foods easier! 😉
Congratulations on starting the Whole30. Wishing you a smooth-sailing month. Let me know if you have any questions or need to complain 🙂
Hi Melissa, I love your site!! I made your mayo the other day and it turned out PERFECT!! Thank you for sharing! I posted all about it on my site. Check it out if you get a chance! http://coastalcavegirl.com/2011/07/01/recipe-perfect-paleo-mayo/
~Jan
Thanks for the site love! And thank you for the shout-out on your blog. Today, I mixed onion salt into a little mayo to use as a dipping sauce for grilled chicken, raw veg, and a hard-boiled egg. YUM.
Hi Mel,
This worked beautifully on the first try. To speed up the room temp thing, I put the egg, 1/4c oil, lemon juice and seasoning in the blender and let them sit for about 30-40 min. This allows them to reach the same temp much more quickly than if the egg is in the shell and the lemon whole. I used a blender and at about 2:30 of drizzling the pitch changed just as you said it would (perfect!). From that point on the rest of the oil I added didn’t seem to do much, so I think I would have done fine with 1c oil. Maybe my egg was small though.
We started W30 on the 6/28. If we make it it will be because of you and your recipes. We’ll be busting out a few of your salads over the holiday.
Cheers!
Congrats on your mayo success! It feels triumphant, doesn’t it? Good advice on putting the ingredients in the blender to warm up — that’s how I do mine now, too.
Best wishes for an excellent Whole30 experience! I’m here with ya!
Is it possible to go too slow?? I tried making it tonight, and I think it will be ok, its in the fridge at the moment, but I ended up only being able to add a total of maybe 1 cup of oil before the mayo got thick and the oil started sitting at the top for briefish moments before getting down far enough to blend again. (and it kept blending with a big Whoop that splashed everywhere.. I think it was just too thick to blend anymore, and the mayo was starting to get really hot too and I was scared it would just stop blending altogether and I’d end up with a big blog of oil on the top). I ended up stopping because I didn’t want the whole batch to bust.
I am using a really large free range chicken egg from my neighbour’s house so the yolks are huge and the egg’s really fresh.. maybe it just takes less oil then?? Do you find it takes different amounts of oil depending on whether you use extra virgin or the light tasting??
Anyways, I’m using some of it on my buffalo chicken salad tonight and it really is delicious! It will be interesting to try it with the light olive oil when I get a chance to get into town to buy some! Thanks for all the fab recipes!! I made those coconut almond beans last night and thought I’d died and gone to heaven… my sister made them tonight and she says she’s definitely going to try more of your recipes too!
Katie, did you add the 1/4 cup oil to the blender with the lemon juice and egg first? Then drizzle in the 1 cup oil? If not, no biggie, but that might explain the difficulty in incorporating the last bit of oil.
However, if your method worked for you, go with it. You don’t need to squeeze in every last drop of oil.
The flavor of the oil — extra-virgin vs. light-tasting — doesn’t effect the ability to make the emulsion, but the size of the egg, the acidity in the lemon juice, etc. can effect it. It’s art AND science, so it’s subject to the whims of the muse 😉
I’m glad you it was a good addition to your chicken salad. The flavor is much milder and more lemony with the light-tasting oil… let me know what you think of it.
Those green beans are a wonder, right?! Love the way all the flavors melt together. Happy eating!
Hey Mel,
Yeah I did start with the 1/4 cup at the beginning with the other ingredients. I think it must just be the big egg, it seems like that is the most likely reason in my mind. I also used fresh lemon juice rather than the jarred. The mayo looks good this morning, nice and thick. Its actually really yellow because the yolks in the egg was so big (I’m assuming). It will be interesting to see if its a little more “mayo colored” with the light tasting oil though.
I was referred here by Whole30, and I’m irrationally excited about how well this turned out. Whole new horizons have opened for our diet with the addition of a creamy, delish condiment!! 🙂
Rachel, it’s amazing, isn’t it?! When I figured out how easy it is to make homemade, it brought a whole bunch of recipes back into my life. YUM!
Just made Melicious mayo the other day. At first I thought that it turned out a little thin, but I put it in the fridge and it’s totally fine, beautiful. Not as thick as Hellman’s, but I’m not sure it is supposed to be.
So, today I found this page again so I could see what Mel said to put in the mayo to make Ranch dip. I used what she called for, but substituted scallions for chives since I didn’t have any. It is totally delicious! Lemon juice, fresh parsley, scallions, paprika, s & p. And the best part? It tastes JUST like ranch dressing!!?!?!? Who knew?
thanks!!
I’m so glad to know the ranch dressing works. Thanks for posting! And happy eating!
I recently found out I’m egg-intolerant (bummer as I have seven lovely chickens in my backyard). Do you know of any whole-food egg substitutes? Thanks~
I’m really sorry! I did a bunch of searching on eggless mayo to see if I could adapt a recipe for you, but all of them include garbage ingredients like soy milk, xantham gum, and agave nectar. I’ll keep researching and see if I can come up with anything.
Is egg substitute like egg beaters out for you, too?
Well, Egg Beaters say they’re “made from real eggs”, so, out. I’m not even allowed to put an eggshell in my water kefir (per my lovely new Naturopath). Flax and/or chia seeds ground up and added to water are an acceptable substitute in http://nourishedkitchen.com/coconut-flour-bread/ but don’t know how it would go in mayo. Maybe I’ll experiment. thanks!
From what I know from a friend, chia seeds might work. If you try it, will you let me know? I’m really curious now. And I’m sorry to hear about your egg dilemma. That’s a drag and a half!
I can’t eat raw cruciferous veggies ’cause of my thyroid, and it makes me want to stomp my feet, pout, and yell, “It’s not fair!”
Harumph.
I did it! It worked! And, since I wasn’t fighting a delicate emulsion, I could dump it all in and blend. The color isn’t lily-white because of the seeds, and the texture isn’t as smooth, but the taste is spot-on. Now I’m off to try some variations!
Why can’t you eat the cruciferous veggies? I have hypothyroid….I have not heard this?
Please explain….
Thanks so much for the chia tip, as I’m allergic to eggs!!!
At least my kids get our chicken’s eggs…
Hmmm….so I’ve made 4 batches now, and I’m 2 for 2 regarding them coming out perfectly. I’ve been making it in a blender (messy, but sooo delicious it’s worth it) and I’m wondering if blender speed has anyx to do with it coming out right. For some reason, I don’t seem to be able to remember what the speed was the first time I made it when it was ABSOLUTE fluffy perfection =)
Cate, I make mine on the low speed of my 2-speed blender. And for what it’s worth, I still get a ‘fail’ every once in a while. It seems absolutely crucial that the egg and the lemon juice are at the same temperature so they can become friends. I’ll keep investigating and sharing what I learn.
I followed your recipe but not all of your advice. D’oh! Now I know why you say not to use the extra virgin olive oil. I was just so anxious to try this recipe. It was the perfect consistency but the EVOO flavor was way over powering! I will not make that mistake again. Ever. Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve made this now about 10x and it’s amazing. Sometimes i do a double batch and it still comes out wonderful. The other day I didn’t have any dry mustard, so I used a spoonful of dijon mustard. SO GOOD!! It gave the mayo a very distinct almost spice flavor. My husband and I slathered it onto some baked butternut squash. Melt in your mouth goodness. This is by far one of the only things that saves me on paleo diet. MAYO!!!!
Nice mustard mod! Once you’ve nailed the technique, you can really play around with it. Flavored vinegar in place of lemon juice is fun, too.
Thank you so much! My fiance is doing Whole30 and I’d been looking for a mayo recipe to use when I need to whip up a quick tuna salad meal. I am quite excited that it came out perfectly my first attempt =D The whole drizzling of the oil had me scared, I’ll admit, but my worries apparently weren’t needed. Definitely going to be trying some more of your recipes!
Congratulations, mayo maker! I’m sorry my instructions freaked you out. I made them overly dramatic so readers would take me seriously about going slowly. But it’s really not so bad, right?
It wasn’t bad at all! Now to pass on the recipe to my mother-in-law who started Whole30 today and is going absolutely crazy without mayo =P
First try ever making mayo. Followed your recipe & directions EXACTLY. It was perfect & delcious. You rock!
I realize this thread is old, but I thought I would mention this little mayofail trick I learned. If your mayo breaks you can start with a new yolk and slowly add the broken mayo. It should whip up just fine like that.
I use reserved bacon fat, cooled to room temp but not solid yet. Heck, I even buy scrap bacon on discount from a local meat packer just to render the delicious, salty, smoky fat. There is nothing better in the world for making tuna salad lettuce wraps. Nom.
Thanks to you, I FINALLY made homemade mayo that actually looks, tastes and feels like mayo….not some sad, horribly olive-oily tasting thing. As always, you rock.
I literally just danced in front of my blender as the last few drops of oil went in… It is perfectly creamy and delicious! Tuna will never be the same. Thanks!
OMG!! I cannot believe how wonderful that mayo is! I am the WORST in the kitchen so if I can do it, anyone can do it. I am so excited to be able to use it to makes dips for my boys (1,4,6) to get them to eat more veggies. No longer do I have the settle for store bought garbage. Thank you, thank you! I laughed at hte above poster who said she “danced.” I felt like dancing too!
YAY! Glad it worked for you. It’s pretty awesomely fun, isn’t it?! Maybe I should call it “shake your fanny” mayo, ’cause i’ve been known to do a little happy mayo dance, too.
Two attempts at the homemade mayo – first attempt was close and was able to make the creamy italian dressing from it and that was great. Didn’t like it for my egg salad but I think it’s the olive oil I used. It’s imported instead of pure – states that it’s refined olive oil and EVOO – too olivey for me. Second attempt – total fail and doesn’t appear to be salvageable but maybe I’ll try to add it to an egg yolk to see if it can be saved. My question – have you tried it with an immersion blender? I saw this on youtube and it comes together wonderfully easy – no drizzling. However, he uses mostly canola oil and includes white wine vinegar and some sugar – all nonWhole30 ingredients – do those things make a difference? I’d like to try the immersion blender as it looks foolproof – but am afraid to try and fail. Let me know if you’ve tried this technique and if so, why not go that route? Thanks.
Terri, I don’t have an immersion blender, so I’ve never tried it. I suspect it will work great, and the recipe above should be fine.
Do not use canola oil! It’s garbage. Find a very light-tasting olive oil you like, or use macadamia (very expensive) or possibly avocado. You can swap vinegar for lemon juice and just leave out the sugar.
The texture and emulsion are affected by temperature and acid in the vinegar/lemon juice — flavorings like spices or sugar don’t affect the ability to “make it mayo.”
Hope that makes sense. Good luck!
SUCCESS!! The immersion blender did the trick and my mayonnaise looks like mayonnaise. I’m not convinced that I like the taste. I used light olive oil and it still is strong on the olive – but it might be better after it’s chilled. At least I have something to work with now. Thanks for your response.
Thanks so much for this amazing and easy recipe! I made some for our Whole30, convinced I would fail, and it came out GREAT. I used grapeseed oil (which I *think* was Whole30 approved) and it came out rockin’.
I ate it on everything 🙂 I am *so* looking forward to your cookbook!
Congrats on your mayo success! And I feel ya: I’m tempted to put a little dollop of mayo on just about everything. So silky-good!
So I just made my first batch….TOTAL SUCCESS!!!! I had to “tell” someone, so I’ll spare my BF and tell ppl who can understand the excitement! hahah
Right ON! Congratulations! Strut accordingly.
Oh my. Oh my oh my oh my!
First ever attempt. #winning
Did this while keeping an eye on the Stovetop (beef) Carnitas, on the baby monitor, towards the tv room in case Sister took a movie break and wandered into the kitchen AND the clock since Big Brother was due home from JK any minute.
Can I just say oh my?
Haven’t had mayo in forever and your recipe has rewarded that patience. It is super duper thick too. Had to use the processor since it was way too splatty in the blender. Turns out, quite splatty in the processor too but I can live with cleaning up oil for mayo that tastes like this does.
BTW, used apple cider vinegar since I’d literally just used up the last of the lemon juice for the Carnitas.
(yes, it appears I’m on a mission to post on all the recipes I make from your genius brain. Hope that’s coolio)
Congratulations on mayo success! I love that you’re enjoying my recipes – and it is very cool of you to let me know.
I’m eating leftover jicama “potato” salad (recipe in Well Fed), and it’s got homemade mayo in it. Luscious!
Mel, how neat that you posted on Mayo. I have been making Mayo for the last 36 years. My friends all think I am nuts..ah ha, I use fresh eggs from local Amish or neighboring hen houses. My hubby loves when I mix in a little homemade Pesto. I separate portions to mix in different combinations. 🙂 I make mine in my food processor.
I can’t believe I waited to long to try making homemade mayo. Unbelievable easy once you know the room temp trick — and SO much better than store bought. Love the idea of separately flavored batches… genius!
Melanie, I found this recipe for mayo looking for gf cookie recipes! The exciting thing is I have resisted buying mayo because I want every brand I saw in the store yesterday had soy bean oil and I want to avoid soy for hormone reasons. I am definitely trying this recipe as soon as I can get the lemon juice. I might try it with safflower oil instead of light olive oil. Thanks for posting it.
Glad you found the recipe here! It’s really tasty.
One suggestion: I recommend against safflower oil. Because it’s a seed oil, it must undergo a lot of processing to become edible. It’s high in Omega-6 fatty acids… not so great for overall health and minimizing inflammation.
If you don’t want to use olive oil, try macadamia or avocado oils. And if you want, you can swap vinegar (cider or wine) for the lemon juice.
Good luck with it!
I didn’t really like the mayo made with light olive oil so I’ve used a combination of walnut oil and light olive oil – 1/3 walnut, 2/3 olive oil and I like the taste much better.
Thanks so much for this recipe Melissa! I was a little worried about being an absolute mayo failure given all the warnings in the description but I made it work! So proud, lol.
Tastes great, too. Definitely see what you’re talking about with respect to not using Extra Virgin…it’s quite the taste. Will have to buy something other than the massive Costco bottle for these purposes!
@Dare, My first batch today was with EVOO – very strong flavor. However, with some tweaking it did make a fabulous salad dressing. The second batch ever, (also today) was made with Light OO. Much better! 🙂
Just made this and I LOVE it. Super easy (just like making lotion actually). The tangy taste is awesome – thank you for posting and sharing. Gonna get your book too – glad I stumbled upon your site. 🙂
I’m glad you found me, too! Hope you enjoy Well Fed.
I laughed, I danced, I pumped my fist into the air…Yaba Daba Doo – I made mayo!!!
Funny story, my first attempt was a total flop; a watery mess. Was it my crappy blender that overheated and stopped twice? Did I pour too fast? Were the kitchen gods angry at me for burning my grass-fed meatballs last week? Nope, the next morning I found the egg I’d taken out in the veggie basket on the counter. In my rush to make mayo, I’d absent-mindedly grabbed a fresh egg from the fridge! Mystery solved.
This batch…perfection! Thanks for the recipe Mel. It, and you, are the BEST!
Oh, Dheana. I love this story! So glad the second batch worked.
I perfected my technique this summer while writing Well Fed and will update this post eventually with even better instructions. I’m so glad that the room temp trick is working for everyone.
Love this mayo. Here are the changes I’ve made after several batches: I use an immersion blender, I use vinegar instead of lemon juice, I only use 1 cup oil total, and my oil is a mix of 2/3 c. “light tasting” olive oil and 1/3 c. rendered lard, melted and cooled. I really like using the lard because it cuts the olive taste a bit and also helps the mayo be thicker when chilled but not too thick (like it was the time I tried using coconut oil).
I am sure this problem has already occurred with someone else, but I made the mayo (I used extra vigin… should have taken you light advice! Extra virgin is so icky!) and it was more runny that fluffy. And idea what I am doing wrong? 🙁
The foolproof way to make the mayo is to use an immersion/stick blender(mentioned above) and room temperature egg. Works perfect everytime and no patience required. I use 2/3 cup light olive oil and 1/3 cup walnut oil; also use apple cider vinegar instead of lemon. I’ve tried several variations and methods and this is the one that works best for me.
I am excited about trying the mayo, but leery about eating raw egg. Am I wrong to be concerned?
After my first batch, using raw egg from the health food store, my DH and I both had horrible food poisoning. I am now buying pasteurized eggs, but tend to think I’ll try it with egg substitute. It’s not easy finding pasteurized eggs and I like the idea of being able to make the mayo even if I can’t find them.
BTW, I’ve been cooking for 65 years, and this is the FIRST time we’ve had food poisoning from my cooking. And we were able to pin it down to the mayo — it’s the only thing we both ate that we had not eaten in the previous few days without getting sick. And that raw egg was from a health food store!!!!!
I’ve never had any problem with the raw egg. If you’re concerned, you can swap in egg substitute instead. Good luck!
Thanks, Mel. I’m giving it a shot!!
Hi Mel — I have been scouring the interwebs looking for a good mayo recipe since I really want to make some deviled eggs on this Whole30 and the grocery store is hopeless. I took a little bit from your site, and a little bit from some others, and have been rewarded with fresh mayo. What a revelation! Thanks for the info about having the ingredients at room temperature; that wasn’t a variable I had considered.
For an alternate technique, in case you’re interested … I ended up using the mayo recipe from Serious Eats (link below). Their stick blender technique worked like magic, and didn’t require the careful pouring of oil. If you have a stick blender and want to give it a try, just make sure that the container you use is barely wider than the blender. I used a mug with hardly any clearance around the head of the blender, and it worked great.
They also have the science-y bits behind why using extra virgin olive oil makes for such bitter mayo.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/10/the-food-lab-homemade-mayo-in-2-minutes-or-le.html
(I subbed French’s yellow mustard for the Dijon in their recipe and used light olive oil instead of canola so it would be Whole30 friendly — I was out of dry mustard and my grocery doesn’t have any, so time to hit the internet!)
Hey, Mel! I did it. Turned out beautifully creamy and it’s delicious. Have a picture for you! Thanks.
Rad –> Thanks so much for sending the photo. LOVE IT! So fun. Happy eating!
Does the thrill of success ever subside making your own mayo? I feel like a culinary QUEEN! I made a double batch today and drizzled for…ready for it? 15 minutes! LOL Yup, it was worth every second too. Turned out like a dream! 🙂
Nope! Just tonight I made a batch, and I strutted around the kitchen like a beauty pageant queen who just got her tiara. Nice work on the double batch!
Not sure if this was mentioned, I didn’t read each and every comment, but the food processor is made for this! There is a tiny hole in the top that allows the perfect amount of oil to drizzle in. So much easier just to dump it in the top & let the machine do the work! I make this all the time now. Love it!
So I just made my first batch….AMAZING!!! Now I just need to go make some southwestern line cumin dressing!!! So excited I didn’t jack it up!! Haha
Home raised eggs do not have expiration dates. And I seriously doubt you’d want mayo that was as old as a fresh eggs ‘expiration’ date!
Thanks Mel!
Just made my first batch of perfect mayo. Wow, that was easy! Because my husband is anosmic (no sense of smell) and appreciates strong flavors (like the lamb I made), I did use extra-virgin olive oil. He loves to make tuna and capers with mayo, so the first taste test was his. Even for him, the flavor is quite strong for mayo. So, this batch will be used for salad dressings instead. I’ll try a second batch with light OO.
I used these blog tips:
1) mix 1/4 c oil with all other ingredients and let sit in the food processor for 25 minutes before making.
2) poured the 1 cup of oil into the cylinder (plug/pusher?) that has a little hole in the bottom, and let gravity drizzle the oil into the mix.
3) started counting my 3 minutes, several times, but lost track, so estimated and listened for the audio change as the mayo thicked.
4) at about 3 minutes give or take, and when the consistency LOOKED good, I stopped.
5) Success! Happy Dance!
I have a friend with family members with multiple allergies, so I’m going to suggest this recipe to her with the tip to use chia seeds. Yay. 🙂
As a follow-up, I made a second batch today with LIGHT olive oil, also successful.
The first batch made with a food processor was slightly thicker than the second batch made with a blender.
One more happy note: The food processor “pusher” that has a little drizzle hole in the bottom worked great also in my blender. I let the mix (1/4 c oil and everything else) set for 25 minutes then let it run in the blender for about 15-20 seconds before pouring the remaining 1c oil in the pusher. It took it’s time drizzling away while I watched and listened. Try it! 🙂
No fail mayo! Use a mini food processor! Just pour the oil trough the holes in the lid and it comes out perfect every time! Don’t even need room temp eggs’
I also used my mini food processor. Worked like a charm!
It worked!!! I let everything sit out for about 4 hours, then gave it a whirl 😉 I was thrilled when it came out! My trick: put two of your favorite songs on (totaling about 4 minutes)and your goal is to make the drizzle last the whole time!
I couldn’t find light olive oil at my fancy-pants store, so I tried grapeseed oil. I also drizzled in a bit of white truffle oil at the end, OMG! Yum!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
Just made this and it’s amazing! It worked very well in my Vitamix. I made the creamy italian dressing for my salad at lunch and squealed with excitement! Finally….a “clean” creamy dressing!
Tonight I’ll be making the cucumber salad. Thank you thank you!
I tried making the mayo in my Vitamix and it turned out terrible. It seemed like the blender was cooking the mixture. How long and on what speed did you make your mayo?
Thanks!
I started in my Blendtec but couldn’t get a good, slow consistent speed so I transferred it to my food processor and it came out like a dream!
Hi! I just bought a Vitamix and this was the third thing I made in it. It took me 2 tries to get it right. The first time, it started cooking the mixture just like you stated. The second time, I did it on level 2, and then when it was starting to thicken I moved it to level 3 and it came out perfect! I loved it!
My first try; perfection! Thank you for posting this recipe. Delicious!
I just tried this recipe and it turned out perfect (and delicious)!!! I’m slowly easing the folks into a dino-diet, so this did go on a hoagie roll with the ‘Thai beef’ version of the hot plate (from Well Fed) minus the green beans. It was super delicious! I can’t wait to try the mayo in tuna salad! 🙂
thank you so so so much for this! i’m on day 12 of my Whole30 and was hurting BADLY for the soul food of my people (Sunday morning bagels with cream cheese, lox, capers, etc.) and i thought to myself, this is lemony and creamy – maybe i could take some leftovers and use this to make salmon salad, with capers, diced red onions, and grated carrots on a bed of baby greens? worked so beautifully!!! thank you thank you thank you! might try it again with actual sliced smoked salmon, capers and onions. cheers!
Congratulations on 12 days of Whole30. Keep going! You’re awesome!
Your salmon salad sounds SO good. I’m totally stealing that idea. Really glad you found a tasty substitute so you don’t feel deprived. YAY!
Thanks for this recipe! I used organic safflower oil (high in CLA) and it turned out amazing! Friends are asking me for mayo as Christmas gifts……really!
I am a hard core Hellman’s fan, but I know homemade is better for me. I made yours and all I can say is that it rocks! Patience did pay off! Thanks for you recipe. Kathy
I did my second round of this last night. The first one was too oily and didnt taste nice at all. Last night I left 1/4 cup of oil out and it is YUMMY 🙂
I so love this mayo. I’m 3 for 4. I did find that the one that failed was really gross – I couldn’t rescue it as it totally separated and got chunky 🙁 I wrote about my love for this mayo on my blog today too 🙂
http://houseofpeanut.blogspot.com/2012/02/glory-of-homemade-mayonnaise.html
I want to start making homemade mayo/salad dressing, but I’m still freaked out by the idea of using raw eggs. Could you explain why it’s okay?
K Ann, I talked about this above but to reiterate, I would avoid raw eggs. I made this mayo with a raw egg purchased at the health food store and my husband and I both had a terrible case of food poisoning, and it was the ONLY thing I could track it to since we’d eaten either different foods or leftovers properly refrigerated from a previous meal with no bad reactions. I now use either pasteurized eggs (hard to find – here they are called “safe eggs” on the carton) or an egg substitute which works just as well. 1/4 cup of egg sub = 1 egg.
Just made this finally for the first time. It tastes A.Ma.Zing. I am so excited that it turned out right on the first try. I had to use liquid deli mustard because I didnt have brown. I used some inexpensive, non-virgin olive oil that I found at Trader Joes, and mixed this up in my cheap-o Black and Decker Food processor. I am completely geeking out on how good it turned out and how yummy it is. Plus it has no yucky canola oil. yay!!
Why is everyone saying canola oil is “yucky” and unhealthy? It has less saturated fat than olive oil, is made right here in Canada (and Northern USA) and if cooking with it, doesn’t turn into harsh chemicals when heated.
Here’s some information on the concerns regarding canola oil, Stacey.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-canola-oil/#axzz20orFdDRd
I would like to say that I do not like mayo at all….but have become a total convert after making this recipe! Made a double batch this past weekend and can’t get enough of the “You’re the Top!” tuna salad! It’s so refreshing on cucumber rounds.
I’m going to take a crack at making some of the creamy dressings, too and can’t wait to try egg salad!
I used to HATE mayo. Refused to eat it. But now, I make up excuses to put it in and on stuff. It’s a little problem 😉
Made a batch of the mayo and had an epic failure. Reviewed your instructions and then also my Judith Jones cookbook & finally realized I have medium eggs not large. Used 2 eggs in the 2nd batch and it’s a winner. I’m also not fond of mayo but this one rocks! I’ve now got other people hooked on it!
Hey, friends. If you have trouble with your mayo, here’s some more troubleshooting advice:
– are you using a LARGE egg, or is it medium. If it looks smallish for a large egg, use just the yolk and see if that helps.
– let the egg and lemon juice sit together in the blender/processor to come to room temp so they’re exactly the same temperature as each other
– reduce the amount of oil to 3/4 cup instead of 1 cup.
Good luck!
tried this last night. The end result wasn’t perfect mayo but it wasn’t a fail either. it was a good in-between for what i wanted it for which was just to drizzle over EVERYTHING. i can’t believe how yummy it was! i used a hand held blender and i took over 5 minutes to drizzle in the remaining olive oil. Thanks for the post!
Hi Mel, my first attempt at the mayo turned out well and I was quite pleased with myself!. However, the taste of the olive oil I used was too overpowering. I have not been able to find a “light” olive oil that does not contain other, unacceptable, oils. I live on O’ahu and availability of variety leaves much to be desired. Short of ordering from an off-island source, have you any olive oil brands you might suggest?
Thank you! I love your recipes. Made the “Paleo Pad Thai” tonight and it rocked! Keep up the awesome work.
Hmmm… can you get Bertolli there? That brand has a very light tasting flavor that should work. If not, you might try avocado or macadamia oil. I avoided those in my recipe because they’re kind of expensive, but they both have very little flavor, so that might be a good option for you.
Thanks for the sweet words about my recipes. Glad you liked the pad thai!
Hi there Mel,
I was curious – is there such a thing as over blending this Mayo that’d cause it to break down again? I’ve made 3 batches so far, the first came out fantastic – the second two not so much..today I did the third and all appeared to go well, then all of a sudden it broke and turned into a oil mixture (like a salad dressing).. Is it possible I took to long adding in the oil? I was literally doing it drop by drop and sometimes a very thin line..but never went quick or dumped….I had my blender on the lowest setting possible also..=/
Jenn, I’ve had that experience sometimes, too. You might try adding less oil — it calls for one cup, but you might try 3/4 and if it’s making the “mayo noise” and it’s really thick, just stop there. No need to do the full 1 cup of oil.
I had that problem repeatedly as well. My fix: I use a stick blender. I put ALL of the ingredients including all of the oil into the container (I use a medium sized bowl for 1 cup of oil, and I use a bowl instead of the beaker that came with it because it’s easier to clean and can go in the dishwasher). I stick the immersion blender in, turn it on a couple of seconds, and it’s perfectly done! Fast, easy, perfect every time. No need to drizzle the oil or worry about the speed, or spatters all over the place coming through the hole in the blender lid.
Also, for what it’s worth, I WILL NOT, REPEAT I WILL NOT, use raw egg. I use either pasteurized eggs or egg substitute. Both work well, and I don’t have to worry about another horrible case of salmonella poisoning which believe me, was no fun! I know Mel says eggs should be safe, but once in a while one is NOT, and how do you know? My husband and I both got a horrific case of food poisoning from one from a health food store, so now I won’t use raw eggs in an end product that is not cooked. Period. ‘Nuff said. Use them at your own risk.
Thanks D’ann! I am going to give that a try on the next batch and see how it works out, appreciate the heads up!
I’ve heard lots of good feedback on stick blenders, so good to know that’s another options.
Re: the egg. I want to make something emminently clear. You wrote: “I know Mel says eggs should be safe, but once in a while one is NOT, and how do you know?”
I’ve said repeatedly that *I* have never had a problem with raw egg. If anyone is the least bit concerned, absolutely use one of the suggested alternatives. Please do not say “Mel says it’s OK, so it’s OK.” I’ve never had a problem, but everyone must make that choice for themselves.
I’ve never had a raw egg problem with anything I have even eaten and I eat foods made with raw egg quite often.
When I lived aboard my boat before the reefer system was online I regularly kept eggs for up to 3-4 weeks without a problem.
I am very careful when I pick my eggs. I look for both cracked shells and for funny lines in the shells. I make sure none of the shells are “stuck” to the carton.
Lucky you ;-)…….remember the egg recalls??? some of those were organic, etc. I stand by my warning despite the “good luck” some people have had with never getting sick. Use pasteurized eggs or an egg substitute. Better safe than sorry. It’s grossly horrible to learn that lesson the hard way.
D’Ann, sounds like you need to keep some activated charcoal on hand… it’s helped us on numerous occasions (none of which had to do with raw eggs, thankfully).
@RSL-How on earth would that help food poisonig???
My first attempt and it was a success. Unfortunately my jar is slightly too small for the resulting mixture…oh well, it’s Paleo so I can lick the spoon. Right?
Fabulous stuff!
THX,
Pete
Do you think avocado oil would work?
I have 4 lovely bottles of it and am wondering …
Yes! Avocado oil should work great.
I made the mayo- and the cucumber salad (I have WEll Fed)(And it’s AWESOME) this weekend. I swore I had dry mustard seasoning, but after tearing apart all the seasoning storage areas realized that I didn’t, so I winged it and used dijon mustard. And even so, it is OUTSTANDING STUFF. And I kept thinking how proud you’d be, i took all the time in the world, after ensuring that room temperature had been met for the egg & lemon juice. It took me over 6 minutes to slow drizzle the 1 cup of olive oil and it was SOOO WORTH IT! It’s heavenly. Thank you thank you thank you thank you!
Congratulations on your first batch. YAY! Hope you have lots of fun cooking from Well Fed.
i also made the mayo last night… after adding the initial 1/4 cup of oil, i think i only used another 1/2-3/4 cup before it just wouldn’t spin in the blender anymore… but it was delicious! does smudge like the mayo? our cats do… but they’re exceptionally strange (they like fresh corn tortillas…………)
It’s funny… Smudge is the only cat I’ve ever met with zero interest in people food. She just really doesn’t care, but she loves her kitty kibble. Go figure!
I love making my own mayo…I use a Delonghi immersion blender and it takes all of 10-15 seconds to make. I add some cayenne pepper and chipotle pepper to make the best Mayo for fish or dips..so delicious
Thank you!! I just made my first batch of homemade mayo!
Yep: 3 tries with a stick blender and each time it came out perfect…AND… no wait time! I just tossed all ingredients into the cup and 2 seconds later I had Mayo…no joke!
Now I can stop putting my blender in time out for laughing at me when I kill the Mayo…Mmm,.. I do love this stuff, thanks Mel!
Just made the mayo, expressly following your directions (in fact, was drizzling oil for 9 minutes, and it came out fabulous.
You are, as always, the bomb-diggity, and thank you for the recipe. Have just made cranberry pecan chicken salad with apple, shallot, and rosemary using The Mayo and life is good, baby!
They cucumbers look awesome! How do you get it liquidy? Mine didn’t turn out that way and I’m terrified to add more vinegar. Ahhh!
I’ve just found your blog via AT (congratulations on your win!) and went through some post which I really liked, and I then stumbled across this recipe.
I make my own mayonnaise all the time mixing by hand with a wooden spoon and it’s not hard at all. I think it’s easier to control and less mess to clean than using a food processor. It doesn’t even matter if eggs and oil are at room temperature because:
-I use only the egg yolk, and about 1 cup of oil per one egg yolk
-olive oil is really not recommended; use sunflower oil (best, and tastes so good), corn or canola oil instead
-I use one tsp of mustard per egg yolk instead of dry mustard
The mayonnaise will break more easily in the beginning, so it’s very important to pour your oil very slowly in the beginning (the first 1/8 of the cup or so in very small amounts). Once it starts to emulsify, you can pour more oil at a time and if you mix quickly after, it will not “break”.
One trick that helps make the mayonnaise less prone to “breaking” is to add one hard boiled egg yolk, crushed, to the liquid egg yolk in the beginning; it will help retain some of the oil and make the mayonnaise more stable (and more yellow).
So basically my recipe is: put one egg yolk, one tsp regular mustard and one crushed hard boiled egg yolk (optional) in a medium-sized bowl (about 1 quart). Have one cup oil (sunflower, corn, or canola) ready in an cup that is easy to pour from, or use a dripping bottle. With your left hand, pour slowly a little oil (like only few drops at a time in the beginning) in your bowl while you mix with your right hand using a wooden spoon. Once your mixture begins to emulsify you can drop a little more oil at a time, and then mix until it’s all absorbed in the mixture, then add some more oil, mix again, etc
It really only takes 5 minutes to do all this, without much effort and it tastes divine!
Once its done, you can add some lemon juice, garlic, etc For some salads (potato salad, mushroom salad) I find that mayo can be a little too rich, so I mix it half-half with sour cream.
Sweet! Thanks for sharing your technique — great to give mayo-lovers lots of options.
Oh
My
Golly!
That is the best tasting thing I think I’ve ever eaten! Patience paid off and it is divine! Even if I weren’t embracing Paleo, I’d not eat processed mayo ever again! Thank you for this!
I made your mayo and it’s fabulous! I strayed a little bit though by sticking everything in a cup and using my stick blender.
I let it go for about 10 seconds without moving it and then slowly lifted it up.
Mayo came out thick and creamy!
So I decided to have a meal of appetizers for dinner last night. The idea was to have everything ready by the time she got home (almost made it, but she got to spend some time in the sun while I finished). I was super nervous about making this because I had tried before and failed (to be fair I read your recipe but tried with what I had on hand and tried with a hand mixer). Yesterday though I followed it to a T and it came out thick and creamy. Since I had like three different things going at one time, several times I put the cup of oil down to check on my sweet potato fries or bacon and I think this helped me to slow it down. It was a little more tangy because I think I put a little too much lemon juice. But everything was room temperature. We had paleo BLTs, cucumber tuna salad sandwiches, deviled eggs, and sweet potato fries, all featuring your mayonnaise in a different form. Thanks so much! Buying your book soon!
That sounds like a pretty awesome dinner party! I can’t believe you walked away from the mayo while you were making it… brave! Very brave!
Glad it all worked out. Congrats on the master feast!
Hey Mel,
I just tried the mayo. Let the egg and lemon juice rest in the blender for about 40 minutes before starting. The emulsion was PERFECT, i had no issues – except I only used the 1/4 cup of oil called for at the beginning of the recipe and then about a 1/2 cup additional in the emulsion. Also, it tasted a LITTLE saltier than I would usually like. I used sea salt, think it makes a difference?
I also added 1/2 tsp of paprika at the end to give it a little something extra!
I suspect because you cut back on the amount of oil, you’ll also need to cut back on the salt. Just cut it to 1/4 tsp next time, and you should be in good shape.
Ok, just finished the first batch of mayo I made on Sunday today…I made broccoli slaw, tuna fish, added it to my mashed califlower and made a sauce for grilled salmon. Getting ready to whip up my second batch, I will never buy mayo again. Thanks Mel, I am sold, definately purchasing your cookbook tomorrow!!!! Shannon
YAY! Glad you’re having fun with it!
Damnit! I was drizzling sloooowwwwwwwllllyyyyyy and the emulsion was looking good- like really too thick for my blender but I still had a lot of oil left! I guess I should have stopped and taken it as is but I kept adding the oil and then it broke… now I have salad dressing in the back of my refrigerator =( Oh well…
I read on the web that you can always make a second batch and once that is set you supposedly can drizzle the broken batch in. (Not sure if it really works though, I never tried it)
If you keep having trouble with the blender (mine always pointed and laughed at me when I tried to make Mayo) I’d suggest purchasing a stick blender if you can…so far I’ve had 100% success with it, perfect mayo everytime.
Thanks Mel! My batch came out perfectly. I love it. My first meal was egg salad on a pure wrap 🙂
Hey Mel, I made your recipe for the second time the other day, but doubled the batch. After spending what seemed like ages slowly drizzling olive oil into the mixture, fully confident I would end up with a few cupfuls of the delicious emulsion, I finished only to discover that it was a huge, runny flop.
Since it was late and I had no more time or patience to deal with it, I stuck the whole blender in my fridge. Today, determined to salvage my fridge staple, I pulled it back out and followed the advice on my mother’s homemade mayo recipe (which I posted when I shared your recipe, the first time I made homemade mayo: http://atransparentlife.com/2012/03/01/whip-it-how-to-make-heathy-mayonnaise/).
I planned ahead and allowed an egg to come to very close to room temperature, then poured out about 3/4 of the mixture into a measuring cup. After quickly pulsing the remaining 1/4 of the mixture with the fresh egg, I began again, slowly drizzling the rest of the oily-with-chunks gloop into the blender, this time not quite so confident.
Imagine my delight when it not only worked, but it worked quickly and more deliciously than the first time I made your recipe! Huzzah!
Anyway, I wanted to thank you again for sharing this recipe and to give you and your readers a very useful tip for when your mayo attempt flops: add an egg and try again!
Sarah
My friend shared this recipe with me and I just finished making it! I’m happy to report that it turned out wonderfully, except I find it has a stronger lemon flavour. I will tweak it for next time!
It took about 10 minutes of slowly pouring the oil into the mixture to get it right – I only have a hand mixer, so it was a workout for both arms. It was very gratifying when it started to thicken and I had to fight the urge to dump the last 3 tablespoons or so into the mix!
ANyway, it’s delicious! Thanks!
I’m about to make my second batch – the first batch lasted ONE evening…mostly because I had also just made some bacon and DH and I discovered how yummy bacon dipped in this mayo is…(don’t worry, we didn’t eat too much!). I used it to make a ranch dressing, and added it to tuna for a snack. It was wonderful every single way we tried it! Making a double batch tonight so that it might last us a whole week… 😉
Thanks for sharing such an awesome (and paleo!!) recipe for mayo!
I just made this to make some chicken salad and my kids loved it! Sooooooo easy and yummy! Thank you!
Sarah, you saved my mayo!!! Melissa, you are awesome, as is your mayo recipe, but I had a major FAIL and Sarah’s suggestion of adding an additional egg to 1/4 of the ‘failed mayo’ worked like a charm! Love your cookbook. Love your blog.
I started Whole30 yesterday, and last night, I tried this mayo recipe. It turned out PERFECTLY! I have a small food processor, and the lid has a reservoir with a small hole, where I could pour the oil. So it made it very easy for me to take my time.
The only mistake I made was, for the first 1/4 cup, I used EVOO on accident, even though I specifically bought light tasting to make the mayo! I caught myself and for the remaining 1 cup used the light stuff. It came out very well nonetheless. I then made tuna salad, and I’m really excited to try your salad dressings.
Thanks so much!
Congratulations on your Whole30 — and on your mayo success. YAY! Wishing you lots of happy, healthy meals. I just had a new recipe that I’ll be sharing soon — Fiesta Tuna Salad! Thank all that is good for homemade mayo.
I made the creamy Italian dressing last night, as well as your slow cooker pork ribs. I cooked them over night. Both are fantastic, thank you so much for your site! I also just received your cookbook in the mail 😀 Tonight I’m going to try your southwest cumin sauce with the ribs.
Thank you so much for the tip if the mayo fails. I made it today for the first time with coconut oil and olive oil, but for some reason it would not thicken as much as I wanted (it was the consistency of a creamy salad dressing), so I put in a glass jar in the back of the ‘fridge, just check on it after a few hours and it’s perfect!
Okay – the first time this was perfect. Then the second time, the emulsion broke. I used it as-is but it made me sad to see it every time. Tonight it failed again, so I tried the extra yolk trick. One egg yolk, beaten well, then slowly add the failed mayo and voila! Not as thick as the perfect first elusive time but still great!
I had a craving tonight for tuna salad, but don’t really like mayo. I tried your recipe and it’s delicious! Thank you so much.
My batch turned out absolutely perfect! Thank You 🙂
I have made mayonaise a few times over the years with about 50% success. My first attempt (fail) suffered from a disbelief that THAT much oil was needed. It was creamy (emulsification occurred) but there was insufficient oil to make a true mayo. The next attempt I just kept trickling oil in from the 1/2 liter bottle (success when the bottle was about empty, phew!). I didn’t realize that a quart of mayo requires no less than a quart of oil.
More or less following Melissa’s recipe my success rate is now better than 50%. I doubled the recipe because I wanted this to last for my wife and my Whole30 that we started one week ago. But after getting all 2 1/2 cups of oil in and having a thick-ish, smooth and creamy (and GORGEOUS!) i took a small taste and it was way too lemon-y. I am not always good about measuring liquids so I figured I had overdone the lemon juice. I added a couple egg yolks and then started to slowly add oil (Costco’s Pure Olive Oil) from the bottle.
I used my KitchenAid mixer with its whipping attachment and in the end about a liter of oil. I think a blender or food processor is faster than a mixer as I had mine going at nearly full speed for at least 5 to 8 minutes before the consistency was right… I tipped the whole thing upside down and it hung there beautifully, deliciously giggling slightly. I then decided to flavor it slightly with garlic, and medium chili powder.
Used it a couple hours later as a coating on pork loin steaks that I broiled. Excellent!!
Thank you, Melissa for all your work on this blog. It will be a big help in my wife and me having a successful Whole30.
ojb
Glad you had success! Making a double batch is tricky business. I’ve never been successful making a double at once because my blender can’t handle it — so I just make them back to back. I’ve got my technique down, so it takes me two minutes to drizzle.
Happy Whole30 to you! Congratulations on making the switch.
Any recommendations on a very light tasting olive oil? I used the light olive oil from Costco and while the mayo came out perfect the overly olive oil taste was not a hit at our house. Thanks.
You might try Filippo Berio (http://www.filippoberio.com/Products/ExtraLight.asp) or Bertoli (http://www.villabertolli.com/products/1003/extra-light-tasting.aspx).
I use our crappy grocery store brand and it has ZERO olive taste, which is great.
Use the “Pure Olive Oil” from Costco. I have made three 2X – 4X batches and none taste “olive-y” at all. It’s the cheapest Olive Oil Costco sells. You get 6 liters in 2, 3-lier jugs.
Yay!! Just made this. How good is it? Thank you. You are a star!
I have made this mayo twice now, and both times the results were creamy, delectable, and oh so smooth. This mayo knocks the socks off of ANY OTHER MAYO ON THE PLANET! Seriously. It’s THAT good.
I love your blog, Well Fed, your choice of spices, and probably you too (if I knew you. No creepy I swear!)
Thank you for shaking up my paleo palate!
P.S. Your weekly cookup is GENIUS!
YAY! So glad you’re enjoying the mayo… and spicy goodness in Well Fed. Thanks for letting me know!
Also, I love it when you call me a genius.
Made mayo for the first time yesterday. I used my Vitamix and it got so hot, I was afraid it would ruin the mayo, so I quickly dumped in the rest of the oil — so of course was runny. Is using a Vitamix not a good idea?
It probably ran it too fast. Run it on the slowest speed or use a stick (immersion) blender instead. In that case, just dump everything into the blender cup and blend for a few SECONDS. Turns out great.
I have used this exact recipe using an immersion blender. As long as you put in the egg first, you can put all of the ingredients in the cup and give it a whirl. Keep the blender in the bottom until it starts to look like Mayo, and move up to get it all mixed in. Comes out perfect, and is done in 2 mins tops! I didn’t even let the egg come to room temp the second time, and it still worked!
I may have made a mayo mishap…
I tried this today, but apparently took the “very slow” part a bit too seriously. I think I was adding oil for 7 or 8 minutes or longer (I missed my oven timer going off!)…
… During which time the base of my blender got quite warm.
My mayo looks like mayo, it’s creamy! But it was rather well-heated when it was done. And now, after refrigerating, it tastes a bit sour…
I assume it’s not supposed to be sour?
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve eaten any mayo. Is it possibly unsafe at this point?
(Or could I have used the wrong spice – I have dried/powdered mustard seed – not “dried mustard”? Ack!)
I was so excited to see it get all gelled and goopy, kind of a letdown to get the un-mayo-like sour taste!
Thanks!
The mayo getting warm shouldn’t cause any problems, but if it tastes “sour,” that doesn’t sound delicious.
This recipe is very lemony, as opposed to traditional mayo which is made with various vinegars. Plus, commercial mayo probably has some sweeteners, so the homemade might taste more “tart” but it should taste sour in a way that’s unpleasant. I wish I could taste-test it for you!
(Dried mustard seed is the same as dried mustard.)
Sorry to hear of your disappointing outcome. Mayonnaise is no cheap undertaking and considering how wonderful a good outcome is (and having made less than stellar mayo in the past) I can well imagine how disappointed you must have felt.
The sour taste won’t, almost certainly, be caused by spoilage of the ingredients during the whipping process, unless they were spoiled to start. Had the oil already gone rancid? Was the egg spoiled in its shell? Was the lemon juice bad? The spice you used doesn’t sound like that was it: I’m not sure there is a difference between dry mustard and powdered mustard seed.
If the ingredients were OK, it would have required hours, maybe even days of exposure to room temperature before the mayonnaise would have spoiled due to bacterial contamination.
Mayonnaise, because of the lemon and/or vinegar should not be affected by a few minutes, even a few hours of room storage temperature (thank goodness or the tuna salad we take to work would not be fit to eat by lunch-time). This will be true especially if you are careful to avoid cross-contamination (don’t scoop with the same spoon that you just licked clean, or just used to scrap out all the bits from the tuna can).
I would consider your ingredients, not your method. It generally always takes me several minutes to whip my mayo to a stiff, “stays in the bowl even if tipped upside down,” texture. The bowl doesn’t develop a warm feeling (I use a KitchenAid mixer), but still, it’s hard to imagine you could have developed bacterial spoilage in such a short time.
When you say it tastes sour do you mean sour as in tart? as in too much lemon? In my first attempt at this recipe i didn’t measure the lemon well and it first tasted very “sour” as in, “puckered my mouth” sour.
The other possibility is this, and I agree, it’s a long shot. The first time I ate a tomato off the vine I thought I had got a bad one or something, it just didn’t taste like the ones in the produce department at Safeway. The first time I had fresh, homemade butter I was certain a mistake had been made. It didn’t taste like the margarine I had always had before. Is it possible that it’s not “sour” but just very different from the Best Foods or Kraft product we have all associated with mayo?
Thanks Mel! LOL, I wish you could come taste it too 😉 that would help.
Maybe I overdid the lemon, I did add an extra squirt to make up for the sloshing out of the spoon as I tried to get to the blender. 🙂 My cooking skills are still under development (clearly).
🙂 Thanks!
Thank you D’Ann and Corrie for your immersion blender suggestion. Tried it today and it worked beautifully! I am so excited!
Just had great success with this! I slathered it on some leftover roast chicken for a wrap–so awesome.
I did use just a yolk, rather than a whole egg, because I’ve done it that way using Alton Brown’s recipe before. However, not even Alton mentioned the room-temperature trick, which seemed to make a big difference (to be fair to Alton, I’m sure he’s figured this out, but Food Network’s got to stick to its “properly refrigerated eggs” line).
The light-but-not-extra-virgin olive oil step was also important–in the past I’ve either had to put up with that horribly bitter olive oil taste, use avocado oil (delicious but expensive), or run around mixing various oils (cutting the olive oil with some warmed-up palm oil), none of which were effective as just using the light-flavored olive oil you recommended. And it was super cheap at Trader Joe’s! Wins all around!
FWIW, I used an electric hand mixer, because it was what I had. Bonus: if I accidentally poured a bit too much, I could maneuver the beaters to only let a bit of it incorporate at a time. It was a little tiring, but it worked perfectly.
Thanks for the great tips! Now, off to slather mayo on everything in my fridge…
add 1 tbsp of water with ingredients b4 you add the oil. should work perfect
You are a genius!! I made this once before and was too impatient (didn’t let the egg and lemon juice get to room temp.) This time I let them sit for a little over 4 hours. (Mainly because my husband was delayed because he couldn’t find light olive oil at Whole Foods and had to go to another store!) I’m happy to say it turned out beautifully! I’m using it tonight for Nom Nom Paleo’s Krabby Cakes and Red Cabbage slaw with Tangy Carrot Dressing. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes with it too!
I don’t know what makes me love you more… this mayo recipe or your carnita recipe. Both are genius!
I hereby grant you permission to love me for both 😉
Thanks for letting me know you like the recipes. Congrats on your mayo success!
We just made this and it’s beyond awesome and better than any mayo I’ve ever had! Against your advise we used EVOO the first time because it’s what we had in the house. Needless to say I then had to make a trip to the store and we started over. OMG it was worth it. It was the best thing ever to go with our fav chicken salad 🙂 Thank you!!!!
This is my favorite recipe for mayo. So lemony! It makes a great dip for artichokes.
Will a mini food processor work to make the mayo? if so should it be on chop or grind?
I’ve never tried this in a mini food processor, so I’m not sure… I use the medium speed on my blender, so I would use whichever speed is slightly slower. You might try cutting the recipe in half the first time, in case it doesn’t work. Just use one egg yolk and cut the rest of the ingredients in half. Good luck!
Mel, I made this yesterday. I read through at least 230 of the comments first. Yes, I was a little scared. I got to the one that talked about using a Vitamix and that’s when I tried it. I put it on 2 and the 3 when it began to mix. I couldn’t believe it worked. It came out beautifully. I was very careful about making sure that the lemon juice and the egg were the same temp. I will never again buy store bought mayo. I have already had family requests for different flavors. Thanks for the recipe and support on this one.
YAY! Congrats on your mayo success. It gets less stressful with practice. I haven’t had a mayo fail in more than a year… and I make a batch every week. YUM! Glad you like it, too.
I am loving your book and website! Thanks for sharing all these wonderful recipes. I tried to make the mayo today in my Vitamix. Unfortunately, my model only have two speeds – low and high. I think I had a good emulsion going and then steam started coming out of the top of the blender. The mixture got hot and the emulsion was gone. I see from the other posts from Vitamix users that they had the same problem. I will try it in my food processor another day. I only wish I had read your tip about keeping the mixture before I poured it down the drain. Thanks again for all the great recipes and tips!
I made my fourth batch today. I’ve been using flavored olive oil for less than the 1/4 cup. It’s awesome! I’ve made chili and citrus-habanero mayo, next time will be rosemary. It is soon good! Thanks!
Found this recipe on Pinterest. I just made the mayo and everything turned out wonderful except for the taste. I used the extra virgin olive oil (because it was all I had) and it is definitely overwhelming. I plan on making chicken salad and adding apples and cranberries to kill some of the oily taste. Otherwise, it is creamy and so natural. I will try again with the light olive oil. But thank you for the recipe. Your’s is the most informative and detailed by far.
Mel, I just made my first-ever attempt at mayo and your recipe worked out perfectly! Followed recipe exactly, let egg and lemon hang out in food processor for one hour, drizzled the light olive oil for exactly 3 minutes (I even set a timer…). Love the lemony flavor. Couldn’t wait to eat it, so I stirred in some garlic and oregano to part of the batch and enjoyed with zucchini slices. I love your recipes, thank you!
Your mods sound so good! What a great idea for zucchini slices. YUM.
Congrats on your mayo success! I made pesto today, and I was wondering what I could put pesto+mayo on top of… zucchini slices!
Gosh I dont have the patience for this dribbling method. I make my own mayo using my stick blender and dumping everything in the jug together….oil included. It works like a dream every time and the beauty of it is that it only takes a minute and you have a jar of stunning homemade mayo. I have not bought mayonnaise now for well over a year….the recipe and method is on my blog if you are interested http://wp.me/pTbaR-62
HI, Colleen!
If you read thru all the comments, there’s a definite trend in favor of the stick blender. I just don’t want yet another kitchen gadget in my house — but I’m glad to know it works for the people who want to add to their arsenal.
Also, paleo friends: if you use Colleen’s recipe, be sure to skip the honey.
The stick blender is not just another kitchen gadget… it’s an amazing tool for making soups, dips, and perfect mayo 100% of the time! Thanks for the recipe – so great and tangy!
Love the book and this recipe — but I feel I should warn everyone on one aspect. The original post and the recipe in the book call for “light olive oil” and above it states “I use the grocery store brand ‘light tasting’ olive oil.”
The problem with this approach is that the supermarket brand “light tasting” olive oil is very likely fake — not olive oil at all, but rather some disgusting, unhealthy seed oil full of PUFAs. Counterfeit olive oil is widespread, and the problem is well-documented; there is even a book about it. There is absolutely no oversight or testing of the olive oil industry.
Read more about the problem here:
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/12/08/author-you-may-not-like-whats-lurking-in-your-olive-oil/
On the other hand, I make this recipe with COR Extra Virgin and really like the taste. I sometimes substitute lime juice for lemon juice and like that too, especially if the mayo is the starting point for the Italian Dressing recipe in Well Fed. Thanks for a great book and great recipes!
This never fails if you coddle the egg (immerse in boiling water for one minute)! I also put all the ingredients in a mason jar, let the layers settle, then immersion blender it from the bottom up. Most amazing mayo EVER in practically 5 minutes flat!
Try and fail. The consistency is not thick and fluffy. Gonna try and put in the fridge for a bit. It also is more yellow in color than white. Any suggestions?
I made this mayo a few weeks ago with lemon juice that was in the house. After I made the mayo (and some awesome avocado dressing) I realized the lemon juice had all kinds of added crap in it, so I ended up tossing it all.
Today, I made my second batch of mayo, and I decided to attempt to make a double batch (cause I’m lazy like that). I was a little worried, but the mayo turned out PERFECT! I was so excited I had to show everyone in the house (not that they really cared). I now have a batch of ranch dressing, and creamy avocado dressing as well as extra mayo to play around with and share with my boss (who is also doing the Whole30).
Thanks for the great recipe, and the wonderful cookbook!
I have been making my mayo with the stick blender, and keeping having epic fails. The couple of times that I have gotten close the consistency is still slightly runny. The stick blender I have doesn’t incorporate all of the oil unless I raise it up to the top of the batch to push it down into the mixture, and then it breaks (again! arghhh). So, I would stop blending at that point and then stir the rest of the oil in, which results in the less than desirable consistency.
I have read as many recipes, variations, and different bloggers to see what I could be doing wrong. I’ve tried cold, room temp, and even warm eggs that have resulted in epic fails. And I really don’t like to keep the failures in the refrigerator! I picture a whole shelf of those icky failed emulsions, just staring at me, accusing me of letting them down. I’d rather just annihilate those sorry little jars…
Then, 2 things happened to change my frustration into happy dance!
1. My last “fail” I then added in a couple of tablespoons of melted ghee(this from a ghee mayo recipe on Mark Sisson’s website) and let it get cold again, then stirred vigorously as you suggest. It stayed thicker (not perfect, but closer to the right consistency) and doesn’t separate, so I am ok with keeping it and will use it when I don’t need to show off…
2. I bought a 7 cup Cuisinart food processor and gave up the stick blender method. Voila – thick, creamy, lemony, fluffy perfection on a spoon! I was so happy that I almost cried with relief! I figure that the Cuisinart will pay for itself with all that expensive oil I will be saving from the garbage! And I already used it to make some awesome coconut butter, too! 🙂
I am so disappointed, I should have listened to my gut. I tried to make this mayo, and after adding only half of the oil, it looked like beautiful mayo. I decided that since the recipe called for the rest I would see what would happen. When I added the rest, very, very slowly, my lovely mayo turned to soup.
Lisa,
I know what you mean about listening to your gut about stopping when you are ahead! I have made soup way too many times, and this week have just made 2 batches in a row that held! A record!
What was your ratio of egg yolk(s)to oil? My recipe says 2 yolks+2T lemon juice+2tsp mustard+1 1/4 cups oil. I have found some recipes that use more oil to less yolk, and unfortunately for me and the mayo they don’t hold as well. I’ve had everything from soup to runny to perfect. Just keep at it! When it’s good, it’s very very good!
Thanks for the advice Becky. I used just one egg yolk. I tried again today, before reading your post. I used far less oil and it worked. I decided not to measure, I just poured from the bottle until it thickened into mayo! I’m excited to have a lettuce wrap with homemade mayo tomorrow.
OK, I’ll say it again. I have never had a fail using the stick blender. Now I cut the recipe in half because I don’t use up the mayo as fast as others and I don’t want it to spoil. I’m using 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp mustard, 1 T apple cider vinegar (instead of the lemon juice which I don’t like), 1/3 c walnut oil, 2/3 c olive oil.
If you don’t have a stick blender, then try a smaller batch so a fail isn’t as devastating.
This was so super easy! I’m making chicken salad with it tonight!
thanks for this great recipe! tried it out for the first time tonight…SUCCESS!!
The delight I felt when I had my first lick of this mayo was sky high. I literally had tears in my eyes. I’ve tried homemade mayo before and it just never tasted right. Even alternative store brands never tasted right and I gave up on Hellman’s years ago. This tasted better than right. This tasted more sumptuous than any other mayo I have ever had. Thank you so many times over! Now to figure out how to get the flavors of an italian hoagie with paleo-proper ingredients…
Thank you for unlocking the secret to awesome mayo! I made it today with a total hodgepodge of ingredients: lime juice instead of lemon, some olive oil, and some red palm oil (I don’t use a/c in the summer because, well, it’s New England… and I lived in Dallas for four years… so my oil is liquid).
I was not convinced it was working, since my last 3-4 attempts all failed, but then when I turned off the food processor, lo-and-behold, I had neon orange mayo! And it tastes soooooo good, zippy and tangy in a MiracleWip kind of way. Mmmm…
Besides this being theee BEST ever mayonnaise I have ever tasted, it is by the far the easiest. I used cider vinegar instead of lemon juice like you suggested. Amazing 🙂
Hi! I am just starting the Whole30 and Paleo lifestyle….Can you hlep me understand one thing…Are Paleo and Whole30 the same thing.
I see most of your recipes say Paleo…are they not Whole30? I was goign to start with Whole30 and then maybe merge to Paleo or is it the same thing? THanks for any guidance….
Hello! Paleo is a fairly broad framework based on evolutionary science, and Whole30 is a philosophy based on similar foods to paleo, but with a focus on what foods are healthy RIGHT NOW.
Almost all of the recipes on my site are Whole30 compliant and paleo compliant. The ones that are not are pretty obvious, especially if you use the recipes index found here: http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/recipes-index/
If you do a Whole30, you are essentially “eating paleo” because there are no non-paleo foods on the Whole30. You can find all the details you need about the Whole30 here: http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/ It’s an excellent way to make the switch to paleo eating.
Since you’re new to all of this, you might want to try the Whole30 Daily service. It really provides a ton of support throughout the Whole30.
https://daily.whole9life.com/
And if you REALLY want to get into it, read the book It Starts With Food.
How long does it keep in the refrigerator?
The expiration date of the egg you use is the expiration date of the mayo.
Thank you!
Hi Melissa
Can “Classic Olive Oil” be used? I knew not to get EVOO at the store so grabbed the Classic/store brand. Then when I got home realized you mentioned “light”
Would love to make some today but wasn’t sure how it would work with the Classic
I’m sorry! I really don’t know what “classic” means. BUT all is not lost! Try the oil and see how it tastes. If it tastes like olives, use it for salads but not for mayo. If it just tastes oily, it will probably be fine for mayo.
Ya, I don’t know either, lol. My options were EVOO, Classic Olive Oil, and Light Olive Oil. I’ll have to let you know what happens! HA! Thanks for all the great recipes! I have Well Fed on my computer but wish I would have gotten the print copy, I seem to be more efficient in the kitchen with a book, weird! lol
Thanks again
I made this tonight for the first time in my Cuisinart food processor following your instructions to a T and it came out perfect! I made it to go in your Tropical Chopped Salad…all was glorious!
Also, this may have been covered before and I missed it, but a friend of mine was concerned about the raw egg in the mayo. I was so darn proud of my perfect creation I hadn’t given it any thought. Your thoughts on the raw egg?
Thanks for everything!
On my second day of Whole30 and am experimenting away in the kitchen. Made this mayo exactly according to instructions except I used white wine vinegar not LJ and it is PERFECT. Experiment over – will never change this basic recipe now, I’ve got perfection in a jar (and a bowl – it made more than I thought!)
THANK YOU!
Just wanted to say that I’ve made this twice in two weeks and it’s turned out beautiful both times! Thanks for the awesome recipe. I use a food processor and still get a workout…
How long is the homemade mayo good for in the fridge? (Shelf life)
Use the expiration date on your egg as the expiration date of the mayo.
Any way to save a batch made with EVOO? It looks beautiful but tastes awful. Darn it!
I think your best bet is to turn it into salad dressing. Add red wine vinegar and herbs to make Creamy Italian… http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2011/01/25/tangy-goodness-creamy-italian-dressing/
Good luck!
Thanks, Mel!
Thanks, Mel! That sounds delicious!
I actually found a technique that has worked for me every time. It requires the use of a stick blender and a narrow mouth container. I failed more times than I care to count using other methods. With the stick blender, it has come out perfect every time. It is also faster than the method described above, less than 2 minutes. Here’s a link to the blog post: http://themeanestmomma.com/2012/03/13/paleo-mayo-2-0/
She also has a link to the Serious Eats website that demonstrates the technique.
does the egg have to be pasteurized? I just used an egglands best organic room temp.
That’s a personal preference, Penny. If your egg is clean and you don’t get shell into the mayo, you should be OK, but as you can see in the comments above, some people are firmly against raw egg.
Didn’t know I should pasteurize it first and didn’t know how. I am gonna use it (the mayo) and hope for the best! LOL From here on out I will pasteurize it. Thanks for the quick reponse. I did put finger into it to try it if it was bad do you think I would of already had a problem?
I have never pasturized and never had a problem.
Hi, I am having trouble because it seems like my blender is overheating, it keeps turning itself off… I keep turning it back on, but it has been many, many minutes and it looks like melted butter. 🙁 Can you recommend a good blender? Any other tips? I was pouring sooooooo sloooowwwwly….
I’ve been using the Cuisinart CSB-76 SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EGA6QI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=m08a0-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000EGA6QI
Works like a charm for me.
I have a KitchenAid immersion blender and an old Black and Decker immersion blender (stick blenders) and both work beautifully for making mayo. Just POUR ALL the ingredients into the deep cup, run the immersion blender a few seconds (maybe 10 or so until creamy and blended) and it’s perfect every time. The KitchenAid is available at Target for $35.
D’Ann, thx for the tips. I tried initially with immersion blender and *pouring* the oil in. Um, no. But this time, I put all ingredients in together like you suggested, used a beer glass instead of the previous container (beer glass just fits my stick perfectly) and whirled the heck out of it.
Took a little longer but my stick blender was a cheapie from Walmart. Note past tense…it finally gave up the ghost with this batch of Mel’s beautiful mayo. So while I wait for the burnt wire smell to dissipate, I shall revell in knowing I can make mayo with one hand, and check email with the other 😉
I can’t believe I just made homemade mayo and it is awesome! Can’t wait to try one of the other recipes with it. Thank you!
THANK YOU!! This is an amazing recipe! Have made in three times now and I completely agree with having everything at room temp! It makes all the difference! Especially putting the egg and lemon and letting them sit for 30min!
You’ve made me paleo life so easy!
I can’t seem to find any “light tasting” olive oil. What else could I use? I have some avocado oil but I’m not sure I want to use it for mayo since it is so costly.
While I wait to make mayo I’ve been using the Avocado Cilantro dressing from Paleo Power Lunches to make deviled eggs for my early mornings 🙂
Mine failed when I tried making it in a pint size Mason jar. It worked fine in the beaker that came with the immersion blender. Might the difference in diameter (The Mason jar is about 3/4″ wider) have caused it to fail? I took the lemon out of the refrigerator quite a while after I took the egg out, so possibly it wasn’t at room temperature. Might that have been the problem? I’d really like to make it in the mason jar directly, so I don’t have to spoon it in. but maybe that’s not possible.
I just made it today and the consistency is perfect(even though I did it too fast…).
I guess that the olive oil I used was a bit too strong, so I can really feel it.
Is there any other oil option that you would recommend? I guess where I come from they don’t have light tasting olive oil (what I tried was supposed to be lighter than others).
Will avocado oil or coconut oil be better? Or some kind of combination? Because, like I said, the consistency is perfect!
Coconut oil doesn’t work (Trust me on this; I had a pretty bad fail with that), but both avocado and macadamia work well. I just shied away from them because they can be expensive, but they taste good.
Thanks! I will try avocado oil next time. 🙂
And I think I’m going to try and use the mayo I made in a tuna salad. Maybe it won’t feel so olivey, Maybe.
You can also try walnut oil. I use a combination of 2/3 c pure/light olive oil and 1/3 c walnut oil. I only make 1 cup of mayo at a time so I’ve cut the original recipe in half.
I’m not sure I can get walnut oil here (Israel) but I’ll check.
I made the mayo with the avocado oil and it turned out yellow and didn’t taste really like mayo, but it tastes good and the texture is nice and I’ll have to try it in a tuna salad to really know what I feel about it.
Is there a way to make the MAYO with a Kitchen Aid. I don’t have the kind of blender that allows you to add gradually.
Give it a try and see! I’ve never tried it… lemme know how it goes!
Deb, cruciferous veggies contain goitrogens which can suppress thyroid function. If they’re cooked, they’re OK, but raw can be a problem for some people
More info:
http://thyroid.about.com/od/symptomsrisks/a/All-About-Goitrogens-thyroid.htm
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com/goitrogens/
http://chriskresser.com/chris-masterjohn-on-cholesterol-and-heart-disease-part-3
Hello Mel! My husband and I have been doing our box’s Whole Life Challenge (similar to Paleo diet) and your website and recipes have saved us! Thank you for providing this awesome place for me to revel in! I made your amazing mayo for the first time and am in love; I never knew mayo could taste so delicious. Quick question – when I tried to make a dipping sauce (for my sweet po fries) and added other ingredients to the mayo, such as minced garlic & herbs and lime juice, the whole mixture turned into a liquid. Is this normal? I assume because the mayo is totally fresh and preservative-free that there’s nothing to hold it up? Thank you!
Yes, if you add extra liquid — like lime juice — to the finished mayo, it turns liquidy because there are no chemical binders/emulsifiers.
To make a thicker dip, skip the added citrus juice and if you still want the citrus flavor, use lime zest instead of the juice.
I made mayo with my Kitchen Aid mixer. I think it turned out great. Thanks so much!
I CAN’T WAIT to try this. I’ve been looking for a mayo recipe and this one looks fantastic! Thank you for the great video!
OMG I just tried the homemade mayo and it turned out perfect!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I will never use anything else! Thanx sooo much!
I can only get EVOO here (I live in China) at my local import stores, my other options are walnut, and grape seed, also flaxseed oil. Of course there is an abundance of soybean, corn and peanut! Which would you suggest trying?
Walnut is probably your best bet. Definitely not grape seed, soybean, corn, or peanut.
Hi, this is my first post here but I’ve been poking around your site/blog for about a week or so… nice, really nice. I like your energy! I have two questions about making mayo.
1.What are your thoughts about using Hazelnut oil in place of the olive oil? Too strong? (nothing else in the house tonight except EVOO).
2. Did I read that one could use egg replacer for the egg with success? With an allergy/sensitivity to eggs I’m curious if this could be done.
Thanks for all you do! Your work is greatly appreciated.
1. I’ve never tried hazelnut oil… I’m too cheap 😉 Sorry I can’t be helpful there!
2. Yes, you can use egg substitute, and it will work just fine.
Good luck!
Love it! Made it twice with great results but the first time with Extra Virgin and yeeech, you were right I should have waited to go to the store to get some light oil! Made it again adding some fresh dill and it is to die for. Love your blog, thanks so much for sharing!
Yeah, the EVOO really doesn’t work. I did warn you 😉
I’m going to be trying this on the weekend but am a little concerned because it’s quite cold where I live and so room temperature is also pretty cold! Should I maybe put the eggs in some warm water or near the radiator so they’re warm? Or will they be okay at a low room temperature?
You should be OK with the ambient room temperature. The important thing is that the egg and lemon juice are the same temp as each other and that they’re not super cold, straight out of the fridge.
Thankyou! I can’t wait to try it! 😀
I just made your mayo for the first time and now I feel like a rock star!
Rock on with your bad mayo-makin’ self!
This mayo almost drove me to tears; I had six batches all separate.
Came out perfect on the 7th try, and now i feel like a bad-ass 😉 heh
I am so sad I want to cry. 🙁
I used a blender and drizzled as instructed. It actually took me about 6 to 8 minutes before my cup of oil was finished drizzling. Once finished I turned off the blender that had been running for the aforementioned amount of time and my product was PERFECT! Thick and fluffy, and tasted wonderful. As I turned back from grabbing a jar to store the perfect mayo in I realized that my product was now looking runny. Before I could pour the mayo out it had turned into an ugly yellow mess now resembling melted butter.
I can only determine the blender motor running for so long caused the pitcher to become warm and ruin my perfectly emulsified homemade mayo.
Next time I will use a hand mixer with whisk attachment.
Do you have any ideas as to how I could possibly use this wasted product in a different way?
Update!
I let another set of egg and lemon juice sit and come to room temperature. Then using an electric hand mixer with whisk attachment, and drizzling for another 7ish minutes, Success! I was able to whip the prior fallen mayo mixture that looked like melted congealing butter into fluffy mayo. This batch is not as perfect as the first, it seems a bit thicker and has a slightly different taste. But I am thrilled that I did not have to toss the entire thing and waste perfectly good ingredients.
:o)
Just a shout out to my favorite paleo blog and MJ: THANK YOU for this awesome mayo recipe and the tips. I recently picked up “Well Fed” and have been meaning to give it the 5 star rating it deserves (off to amazon after this…)
I’ve been making mayo your way for almost a year and (dare I say it – will I jinx myself), I’ve never had a single fail.
I use a cuisinart food processor & admit that I’m a perfectionist: after I let the egg & lemon juice canoodle in the processor for about 2 hours, I usually take about 15 minutes for the drizzle portion. I adore the results: after 1/2 hr in fridge fluffy yummy creamy mayo.
Light bulb: after watching your helpful vid I see that your drizzle is braver than my timid trickle. This gives me the courage to try something new, since the prospect of making mayo – as yummy as it is – now makes my right arm ache just thinking of 15 minutes of “steady, steady, steady…”
Your vid gave me the idea to try using the feed tube insert in the processor lid that has a very small hole in the bottom. It is larger (slightly) than my current pencil-lead sized drizzle, but it would be beyond awesome to be able to let the food processor do most of the drizzle work at the ideal amount/rate!
I’ll be sure to post (a much briefer) note on the results after I try that. Thanks again for the wonderful mayo recipe!
I promise not to say this anymore – but I cannot understand why a lot of you want to stand there for 15 minutes or more slowly drizzling in your oil. I swear that by using an immersion/stick blender you can make a no-fail mayo in less than 2 minutes. Works everytime – no drizzling required. Dump everything in – pulse the blender about 10 times and you are done. Perfect, fluffy mayo.
I AGREE!!!!!
I use a cuisinart mini food processor and it only takes me a few minutes to make the oil. I have never had fail yet!