How to Make Mayonnaise

I know we are only suppose to talk about healthy foods for a while. After the all the holiday treats last month January is a good time to focus on fruits and veggies. But here I am talking to you about mayonnaise. But, hey, it’s homemade mayonnaise. So if you are the kind of person who really likes knowing exactly what’s in your food, this is a super useful condiment to learn to make yourself. I won’t lie, mayonnaise is not the easiest thing in the world to make. The number one thing you’ll need in order to make your own isn’t oil or egg yolks: It’s patience, which I often lack in the kitchen. The very first time I made mayo was a little over five years ago. I was fairly new to cooking. So I was both shocked and elated when this recipe worked, because I had read how hard it was and felt for sure I wasn’t going to have success the first time. But I did. And so can you. And if your mayo doesn’t turn out quite right don’t worry, I have a trick for that. You’ll see.Basic Mayonnaise, makes about two cups.

3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cup oil (I often use all peanut or canola oil. You can also use a few tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in place of some of the plainer oils to give your mayo a nice flavor.)
1 tablespoon white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

First, separate your eggs. Eggs are easiest to separate when they are cold, but you actually want your eggs at room temperature for this recipe. What to do? Rinse two bowls (or one bowl and one ramekin) in hot water. Dry with a paper towel. Separate your eggs placing two yolks in one warm bowl and one yolk in another. It’s ok if your yolks break.Use and electric mixer to whisk the two egg yolks plus salt together until sticky. Pour the oil into a squirt bottle. I picked my “mayo” bottle up in the dollar aisle at Target. With the mixer running on low, begin to drip the oil into the egg yolks. Drip, drip, drip. This is a slow process. Get your patience out. It should take you about 12-15 minutes to incorporate 2/3 of the oil into the egg yolks.

Now whisk the remaining egg yolk until sticky. Start the mixer again and slowly add the egg yolk to the mix. Now add the remaining oil in a slow steady stream. Once you’ve added all the oil stir in the vinegar or lemon juice. Taste and add a little more salt or pepper if you like.Your homemade mayo will be creamy and thick, similar to store-bought, but it will have a slight yellow hue from the egg yolks. Why store-bought mayo is so white is just a mystery to me. Frankly, I don’t think I want to know.

What if your mayonnaise turns out too runny or curdles (the oil separates from the yolks)? It could be you incorporated the oil too quickly so a proper emulsion couldn’t form. Or you may have done everything right and it just didn’t work. That happens too. My best theory is that fresher eggs work best. So unless you have access to farm fresh eggs sometimes, homemade mayonnaise just doesn’t come out perfect every time.

What to do? Rinse a glass mixing bowl with hot water, pat dry with a clean cloth of paper towel. Combine one teaspoon dijon mustard with one tablespoon of the failed mayo mixture. Whisk by hand until an emulsion begins to form, the mixture becomes a creamy paste. Slowly whisk in the rest of the failed mayo mixture, a few tablespoons at a time. Now the failed mayo turns into success mayo! Neat, huh? This works for me almost every time. The addition of the dijon mustard will slightly alter the taste of your final mayo, but in a good way! Now you’re ready to make a tuna salad sandwich. 🙂 Enjoy! xo. Emma

Credits // Author and Photography: Emma Chapman