DIY Pantry: How to Make All-Natural Mayonnaise at Home

In D.I.Y. Pantry, we take a closer look at some of our favorite pantry staples and then we make them using handcrafted recipes — tweaking them here and there to get the final recipe to be just what we crave.

Today, we’re talking mayonnaise. There are some very passionate thoughts on mayonnaise in our house. My husband loathes the stuff so much I have to refer to it using code so he never has to use the word mayonnaise but I LOVE it so our fridge is always well stocked.

It’s not always stocked with the homemade variety but recently I was reminded of how satisfying it is to make your own. Most store-bought mayo’s tend to be very sweet. I prefer a mayonnaise to tend towards the bright, acidic side of things rather than the sweet. In fact my version has no sugar. If you like a bit of sweetness feel free to add some to yours.

In a twist of mayo fate I received one of the best educations on the subject the day before I set out to find my perfect mayonnaise. I was teaching a class and the sous chef had made his own mayonnaise in preparation for my class. The mayonnaise was spiked with malt vinegar, as I had instructed him, and would be served alongside homemade french fries.

He had me taste the mayonnaise to make sure I approved before it was served to the class. It immediately passed my test and went on to take a mayo hater and turn her into a fan. We brought him out to the class to talk about his mayonnaise because everyone had been asking.

His secret – use the whole egg!

This was a revelation to me. I had only ever heard of recipes that called for an egg yolk.

So the next day I experimented making both the whole egg and egg yolk varieties.

I started with the whole egg recipe and got the creamiest, tangiest, best mayonnaise I’ve ever made. Without much need, because I had achieved mayo perfection I went ahead and tried making the egg yolk recipe just to compare but it never even turned to mayo. It broke and I fixed it but streaming the broken mayo slowly into a fresh whole egg. So needless to say, I’m a whole egg convert.

The result is a white, creamy and practically fluffy mayonnaise. I also added just a touch of garlic, a good bit of dijon, lemon juice and vinegar so it was bright, not sweet and had just the slightest bite from the garlic. Just how I like it.

I made my mayonnaise in a Vitamix blender but you could do it by hand – although that takes FOREVER – or you could use a food processor. Whichever route you choose be sure to drizzle in the oil very slowly and steadily as you build the emulsion.

Homemade mayonnaise

Makes about 2 cups 

• 1 whole egg at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups peanut or other vegetable oil
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Blend egg, mustard, vinegar & lemon together.

2. With the motor still running, add the oil a few drops at a time, then build up to a thin stream and then a slightly more steady stream until most of the oil is incorporated.

3. Add salt then taste and adjust seasoning. If you like a bit of sweetness you can add a pinch of sugar.

4. Cover and refrigerate. Mayonnaise will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.