Mayonnaise has always been one of my favorite condiments, but while the store bought stuff is a convenient and cheap option, it is filled with such nastiness as soybean or vegetable oil, preservatives, and chemicals.
My homemade, healthy mayo on the other hand is packed with protein and good fats, and it tastes delicious! This mayonnaise recipe is simple to make and is a healthy addition to a tuna or chicken salad. Though there are now, thankfully, some great store bought mayo options (especially this avocado oil based mayo), I still prefer the homemade version when I have time to make it.
Please note: it is very important that all the ingredients are at room temperature for this recipe. Having ingredients that are too hot or too cold can cause the mayo to separate or not emulsify. Any oils can be used for this, though I prefer coconut, olive, walnut, or other healthy oils. MCT oil can also be used in place of coconut oil if you don’t like the coconut oil flavor. If you don’t like a coconut flavor and prefer a more traditional “mayo taste” you can use pure (not extra virgin) olive oil.
Keep this recipe in mind for the next time you do a Whole 30 or similar real food diet. It’s a great source of healthy fats!
Healthy Homemade Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks (at room temperature)
- 1 TBSP lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard (or regular, or ½ tsp dried mustard powder)
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup coconut oil (melted, or other healthy oil)
Instructions
- Put egg yolks into blender or bowl and whisk/blend until smooth
- Add lemon juice or vinegar, mustard, and spices and blend until mixed
- SLOWLY add oil while blending or whisking at low speed, starting with olive oil. Start with a drop at a time until it starts to emulsify and then keep adding slowly until all oil is incorporated.
Notes
Nutrition
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If you’re allergic to eggs, try this egg-free avocado based mayo recipe instead.
Ever made mayo? If not, what are you waiting for? Tell me about it below!
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Are there any safety issues with using raw eggs? I heard u can pasteurize your own eggs to make it safe? Do u know of this technique? Thank you!
So attempted to make this for the first time. I used flax oil for my second oil, but it was out of the fridge cold. Does that make a difference? Is it warm oil no matter what? mine is like liquid. That seemed to happen when the flax got introduced.
Thanks 🙂
All ingredients MUST be room temperature. I actually heat the coconut oil to make sure it is clear and liquid. The couple times I did not liquify my coconut oil it flopped on me. Also I use an immersion blender. Just throw all the ingredients in the jar you are going to keep it in and Blend for 1 minute. Done. Creamy and delicious. I experiment with flavor by adding different herbs and spices. Just to mix things up. One of my favorite is using a little pickle juice. Another is adding dill or extra mustard. Horse radish if I am making left over roast beef sandwiches. Depends on what I am going to be doing with the mayo.
There are many things in the kitchen that I do well, but I have not mastered poaching eggs or mayo. I LOVE mayo and have eggs from my backyard chickens that I would love to turn into mayo instead of buying from the store. I made mayo successfully ONCE and every time since then it’s flopped. I’m going to try this with your recipe and tips, sure hope I don’t have another flop again! I mean, I can make aioli in a mortar and pestle…for Pete’s sake I should be able to make mayo! 🙂
I have *never* failed a mayo using my stick blender. My eggs are usually cold too (but with the stick blender there’s really no way to fail it.)
I just failed for the first time with my stick blender. 🙁 not sure what happened, other than my lemon was cold from the fridge.
Oh no! Sorry to hear that Shawnie :(, were you able to recover it by making double the amount? (I’ve ended up with a triple batch back when I was using my regular blender or food processor, kind of silly to have that much mayo! LOL)
Here’s how I make mine (about every other week.) In the measuring cup that came with my cuisinart stick blender – 1 whole egg from the fridge, 1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard from the fridge, 1 Tbsp (or 1 lemon, I just eyeball this) also from the fridge, salt, pepper. I then see how high the measurement is (usually about 1/3 cup) and add 1 cup of oil (so I add oil until it reaches 1 1/3 cup.) Lately I’ve been using about 2/3c sunflower oil and 1/3c EVOO.
I put my stick blender on the bottom and turn it on HIGH. I blend at the bottom without moving the blender until it thickens and changes color, then I slowly draw the blender up through the mixture until it’s all incorporated. (I almost failed one because I started on low, it looked really oily but thickened up just fine in the fridge.)
Hope this helps someone! 🙂
I just had my first failure with my stick blender–the first time I tried these expensive oils! All other successful attempts were made with organic, cold-pressed canola oil. All my ingredients were summer room temp (coconut oil liquid) and my egg yolk fresh from the coop. I ended up with mayonnaise soup.
The pickle juice sounds great! I’ve also used liquified bacon fat for half of the oil in the recipe….Baconnaise! Nom…
I made this the first time and used EVOO and I didnt much care for it (dont care a whole lot for the flavor of EVOO) but I decided to give it a try again today using Extra Light tasting Olive Oil and threw in the whites of 2 of the eggs to lighten it up a little… It taste just like Hellman’s… I love Mayo, especially Hellman’s, and I am SOOOO pleased to be able to make a healthy version of it… This is PERFECT. Thanks….
PS… will lacto fermenting the mayo change the flavor? And do you have to do it right away?
Kathy did you make the mayo exactly like the recipe and which oils did you choose? I LOVE Hellman’s and would love to have it turn out just like yours when I make it! Thanks, Jenni
If I lacto ferment my mayo do I need to lacto ferment the ranch I make with my fermented mayo? Thanku!
I’d say you wouldn’t have to, but you certainly could if you wanted.
Weston Price has a lacto fermented recipe. Basically it is just like the one here, except that it has a teaspoon of whey added before leaving it on the counter for 6 hours to over night. Personally I add homemade whey from raw milk to all my condiments. Turns them all into lacto fermented foods. Well, except for my pickles. I buy already fermented pickles in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. The brand I get is bubbies.
In case anyone wants to know. To make whey, you simply put a jar of raw milk on the counter. It will separate into curds and whey. The curds if harvested at the right time can taste like cream cheese if salt is stirred into them. The whey is full of beneficial bacteria and only a teaspoon is needs for a full mason jar of mayo. Note: Raw Milk Sours, Pasteurized Milk Rots.
How long do you leave raw milk on the counter? I’ve been wanting to do this and would like to add whey in it with my raw milk! Thanks for the advice!
Is there any alternative to cow’s milk whey, as we have a dairy allergy? Could I mix in a dairy kefir grain, etc.? I currently make my own coconut kefir and have dairy grains that I rinse thoroughly between the cow’s milk (to help them continue flourishing) and coconut milk batches.
No scientific evidence here, but not being able to use dairy whey I have used a very good brand of probiotic powder to lactoferment my mayo and veggies. It made sense to me that if it grew and reproduced in my gut, it would also do so in my food.
Marcee! I did want to know how to make whey! 🙂 thank you for sharing!
can this be frozen I would like to be able to keep some set aside because I don’t use it too often as much as I love it! and I don’t want to have to mix it up everytime I will be using it
I haven’t tried freezing it, but I would think so, though you might
have to re-blend a little when you take it out. You can also make in
small batches if you have a mini food processor.
You could also add a little whey (strain from plain whole milk
yogurt) and leave on the counter for a few hours first. This will
lacto ferment it and make it last a lot longer!
I love this idea and have an excess of whey on hand! How much is ‘a little’? Would it still work if the why has been refrigerated for about 5 days already?
I just made this recipe it is perfect! I made a half recipe and whisked for 45 minutes by hand. I can’t wait to make tuna salad with it 🙂 Thanks a bunch!
That’s a good workout then! Bravo for you! I remember whisking by hand once and it was pretty hard yakka!
My blender only has high-speed or pulse options, no lower speeds. Do you think it would still work? Maybe I’ll have whisk by hand! Can’t wait to try it, though!
It would probably still work, but using a whisk is also pretty easy,
especially if you have someone to help pour the oil in.
This may be a crazy question, but are these cooked egg yolks??
They are raw, but from a farmer I know. I would be somewhat hesitant to use eggs that I didn’t know the source of.
Even locally-raised farm fresh eggs carry a risk of salmonella. The organisms come off the shell when it’s cracked, so if the shell has been cleaned it should be safe. So it doesn’t really matter where the eggs come from, as long as they’re not expired & the shell is clean. 🙂
Not so, Vet. Washing eggshells can reduce much of the risk, it doesn’t eliminate it entirely. Salmonella can be present in the yolk due to infection in the hen’s reproductive tissue. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8155476 : (
can i use pasteurized eggs? (would this decrease risk of salmonella)
Well, scientifically, if you make the mayo & it has enough acidity (vinegar or lemon juice) in it, and you leave the “made” mayo on the counter overnight or 12 hrs…this gives the acidity a chance to kill any bad bacteria – if the proper ratio of acidity is present, which pretty much all or most may recipes are, then if you use this method, you’re eating safe mayo & it keeps waaaaaaay longer than that in a good ol cold fridge, believe me i’ve kept may for a couple months at a time without any spoilage 🙂 You could also add a little whey from yogurt or kefir..or from cultured veggies
So, I did some further research and “scientifically” Salmonella can survive in very low pH conditions, so the counter overnight suggestion is urban legend only. Bile pH is around 1.5-2.0 and yet, it does not kill the Salmonella to prevent food poisoning. Common sense says a pH around 3.5 from ACV and lemon will do nothing, as well. It may prevent other bacterial infection, but not Salmonella. I would be interested in knowing whether fermentation with whey or kefir grains would reduce Salmonella though?
Maybe it’s the timing of the fermentation, though? In other words, lemon juice or kefir or whey may not kill the salmonella instantly but maybe it would if left for several hours. I’m wondering if that came up in your research. Thanks!
Rae,
Very interesting information. I have a question though. Even though Bile PH is 1.5-2, when Bile mixes with stomach contents, what is the PH of that (semi-rhetorical as I know it would vary based on what you ate and how much)? Maybe the mixture isn’t a low enough PH to kill salmonella although Bile alone could kill it?
I raise chickens. I don’t refrigerate the eggs because they have a natural protective coating on them. They sit on the counter in a basket and I use them within a couple weeks. Washing the eggshell actually washes away the protective coating (bloom). I never wash my eggshells; if they have something on them use a dry cloth, pot scratcher pad, or sand paper. In Europe eggs are on the shelf in stores (never refrigerated). Refrigeration and fear of bacteria is instilled by this country. Just ask yourself, what did your great grandparents do with eggs?
Fresh egg shells should never be washed until immediately before cooking.
Eggs have a natural protective coating called “bloom”. This coating seals the shell pores, prevents bacteria from getting inside the shell.
Certainly making it at home is a safer, healthier option versus store bought mayo that still uses raw eggs from factories.
I agree, everybody thalks about a chance o salamonela but what about the certinty of cancer and slow death in the store products…TAKE IT EASY GUYS and know this , a strong and clean body which reflects the soul will not be harmed…much love to you all….
Actually there ARE recipes for cooked-egg-yolk mayonnaise.
Here’s one: https://fastpaleo.com/recipe/paleo-mayonnaise-with-cooked-egg-yolk/
This looks great…I love the lemon juice option…and the fact that it’s 50/50 in the oils…I’m hoping to try this over the weekend! =) TFS!
Stumbled over your blog while reading the comments on Kitchen Stewardships’ salt blog today. I’ll have to look around when I have more time. =)
I LOVED this stuff in the Tuna and Apple Salad with Walnuts! It was fun watching it emulsify in my Vita-mix, I had trouble mixing the small amount of yolk at first but I just manually swished it around, then after adding the lemon, dijon, and spices in was JUST enough for the blades to touch and blend it.
I was going to just use some store-bought mayo, but after looking at the back of it and seeing the NASTY soy oil, I changed my mind!
Thanks for the recipe!
Tarah I had lots of problems in my Vitamix not sure what I did wrong? Did you do it on low? I put mine on high and it started to heat and it is just runny now! 🙁
Hey Georgina, I just tried it with a similar recipe in the vitamix and did not use high. Have it on variable speed 5 and then when adding the oil if needed, go up to speed 10 and it should work 🙂 Don’t use high as it might get a little too hot and ruin the emulsifying process 🙂
that is exactly what happened to me. It was emulsifying beautifully, but it started steaming, and went back to liquid. Is there any way to rescue it, or must I start over?
What is the calorie and fat content? Thanks.
I don’t count either one, so I’m not sure. I focus on nutrients, and this recipe is very high in fat soluble vitamins and nutrients
I’ve ruined many a mayo recipes similarly!
Instead of swearing at it like I do, which actually makes you feel better but doesn’t help anything, try adding 2 more room temperature egg yolks and a teaspoon of lemon juice to a fresh blender, mix that up, and instead of adding oil, add your failed mayonnaise slurry.
Add it very slowly at first and then quicker as you go making sure that the blender is on low to medium.
Hope this helps even though it’s a year later!
???? Good luck! 🙂
Take what you have and out to the side, use 2 more egg yolks and slowly add the previous mixture to it.
instructions state mix on low
Hi, you need to make sure your eggs are not chilled at all, they must be at room temp, I find that makes a huge difference.
From the Vitamix website:
Place eggs, mustard, salt, and lemon juice into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.
Select Variable 1.
Turn machine on and slowly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. Blend for 10 seconds.
Reduce speed to Variable 8. While machine is running, remove the lid plug and pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream through the lid plug opening until completely used and mixture thickens (about 30 seconds).
Stop machine and stir in any oil sitting on top.
Refrigerate in separate container and use within 2-4 weeks.
This recipe has been written for the Vitamix 5200 with Standard 64-ounce container. If you are using a different Vitamix machine or container size, you may need to make adjustments to the Variable Speed, processing time, and/or ingredient quantities.
I love my VitaMix but for mayo I use a wand mixer. I put all ingredients (including olive oil) in a narrow, deep container. Then I mix and in about 20 seconds I have perfect mayo.
That’s what I do, too. 🙂 A pint size mason jar works like a charm!
Vera and Cindi,
please clarify for me: you put all the ingredients in at once and then mix with your wand mixer or do mix everything but the oil and then slowly add the oil?
Thanks so much.
Sorry, Lisa – I just saw your question now! We’re using 1/2c coconut oil and 1/4 c each of EVOO and grapeseed oil (I found using 1/2c of olive oil was too strong tasting for me). I put in the egg first, mustard and apple cider vinegar next, then all of the oil and then a bit of salt. I put the stick blender into the jar and let it all rest for a minute or two before turning on the stick blender. When blending it, I wait till it starts to emulsify at the bottom before tipping the blender back and forth a bit and slowly drawing it upwards. The blending doesn’t take long at all. I’d seen a similar recipe elsewhere about a year ago, which was when I started making it like this, and they’d mentioned that it was important to a) have all ingredients be room temperature, b) put them into the jar in the order given, and c) to let it all “rest” for a moment after putting the blender into the jar with the ingredients before starting to blend it all up. When I did it like that and it worked fine, I didn’t see any reason to monkey with it. lol Hope this helps!
I used this same method with a hand/wand mixer. It works every time, never had a fail once. I will try in a mason jar next. I currently have a slight obsession with mason jars.
Yes, me too. It’s so easy and miraculous!
Yippie! I was glad to hear someone had tried this, I was going to do some experimenting with my want mixer but now I don’t have to. I know it should work. Thanks!
I do the same and it has to be a glass jar, plastic does not work for me.
Yeah me too! Is it safe to eat? With the yoke?
lets put it this way…. the chances of you getting salmonella from this recipe, provided you refrigerate properly when its done, are worse than the chances of you winning the lottery… the BIG lottery. You’ll be fine.