This is my easy go to recipe for making simple homemade mayonnaise. It’s prepared with egg, lime/lemon juice or vinegar, oil and salt.
I love making homemade mayonnaise, it is so easy and the flavor is so much better than store bought mayonnaise. This recipe is for a simple classic style mayonnaise and it uses egg, oil, lime/lemon juice or vinegar, and salt. To give it additional flavor you can add garlic or onion to give it a kick.
If you want a spicy mayonnaise you can add your choice chili peppers, fresh, canned, or in powder. You can also make mayonnaise with different herb flavors like cilantro, parsley, or basil. These ingredients can be added at the beginning with the egg or at the end with the lemon. I have tested and it works both ways.
One of the most common issues that occurs when making homemade mayonnaise is that it fails to thicken. My recommendation to avoid this is to add the oil very slowly and little by little at the beginning, once you see that it begins to thicken you can add the oil at a faster rate. If you already added about half of the oil and it still does not thicken then it will likely not thicken. In this case, to save the mayonnaise, you can add an additional egg and add oil slowly, liquefying and pulsing in between each time you add the oil.
The type of oil has a big impact on the flavor of the mayonnaise, for a garlic mayonnaise such as aioli then I like to add some olive oil. But for classic mayonnaise I prefer to use neutral oil. My favorite is avocado oil, it has a very neutral flavor. The amount of oil depends on how thick you like mayonnaise. Keep in mind that after refrigerating the mayonnaise it is going to get a little thicker. If you prefer it with a sauce like consistency then do not use more than 3/4 cup, and if you want it thick then use the entire cup of oil. Also the more additional ingredients you add might require more oil to be added to reach your preferred consistency.
Homemade mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 3/4-1 cup oil I prefer a neutral oil like avocado or sunflower oil
- 2 tbs lemon juice or vinegar to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Combine the egg, a pinch of salt, and a tiny amount of oil in a blender, blend until well mixed.
- Continue blending and add the oil very slowly at first until the mix begins to thicken.
- Once it begins to thicken you can add the oil at a steady drizzle, once the blending starts to slow down you can turn off the blender and add the lemon juice or vinegar.
- Blend until the lemon juice is mixed in, taste and add additional salt if needed.
Notes
For a different variation of mayonnaise, you can try my husband’s recipe for aioli, which is a garlicky style mayonnaise sauce that is very popular in the south of France and Spain.
Very interesting… but don’t you use the egg yolk for mayonnaise instead of the whole egg? Whipped egg white can get foamy and yield a very different texture to the overall sauce.
I suggest reducing the lemon juice and oil too – 100 to 150 ml oil is all you need to set one egg yolk. Adding pepper and reducing the cumin might help too. Some freshly chopped cilantro may also kick it up. However, I like the onion and sunflower oil in this recipe.
Classic Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ to 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper (white pepper if you dont want black specks)
100-150 milliliters vegetable or canola oil
¼ teaspoon salt
Water, for thinning
1) All ingredients must be at room temperature.
2) Combine egg yolk, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and a few grinds of pepper in a bowl and vigorously whisk for about 20 seconds.
3) Begin incorporating the oil, drop by drop, whisking gently, but continuously until an emulsion forms. Once set, add the rest of the oil in a very thin, steady stream. Season with ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste.