Easy Homemade Mayonnaise

It takes just minutes to transform a few ingredients into luscious homemade mayonnaise.

If you haven’t tried this before, you will be surprised at how simple it is to make this if you have a food processor, literally less than five minutes from start to finish. You can also use a blender, an immersion blender, or you can make this in a bowl with a large wire whip (exercising your arms is a bonus here).

This is far more delicious than the jarred variety, and contains no added preservatives and stabilizers. Use only fresh, local organic eggs, free of cracks, and have them at room temperature. I would never use supermarket eggs raw in any preparation. If you have a challenged immune system or are pregnant, you might want to pasteurize your fresh eggs at home; there are dozens of instructions online on how to do this safely.

Homemade mayonnaise is so much more than just a sandwich spread; it is the base for many delicious sauces to grace vegetable, fish, and meat dishes, as well as salads and sides.

If you are doing this in the food processor:

In the bowl of your food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine:

2 large local organic egg yolks (you can also use a whole egg and another yolk)
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp. salt
A few grinds of pepper

Kitchen tip: Just in case you never noticed (I know I didn’t for a long time) the insert to your feeding tube on your food processor may have a little tiny hole in the bottom. This allows you to let your machine do the drizzling work! Just get the processor running, fill the tube, and the oil will slowly drip in. Refill the tube as needed.

Process until this mixture is creamy, then start adding slowly through the feeding tube with insert:

1¼to 1½ cups neutral flavored oil

Add only a couple of tablespoons of the oil at first slowly through the tube, then fill the tube with the oil. You will have to refill it at some point. The oil will drip through the tiny hole in the processor.

Process until the mixture is thick and creamy. It will sound thick. Do not over-process.

If you are doing this by hand:

You can probably do this in the time it takes to haul out your food processor. Mix all ingredients but the oil together with the whip until blended. Slowly drizzle in the oil a little at a time, starting tablespoon by tablespoon in droplets at first. As the mixture emulsifies, you can increase to a thin stream.

It’s like magic! A traditional blender is always a good option.

In the blender:

Proceed as with the food processor, just put the oil in a measuring cup with pouring spout and very slowing drizzle in the oil. Start with a few drops, then a few more drops, then a few more. The first few tablespoons should take 20 to 30 seconds to drizzle in each. This is the patience part. As more is added, you can speed up the process.

If you are using a hand-immersion blender:

Place everything but the oil in a wide-mouth canning jar and blend until creamy with the hand blender. Slowly drizzle in the oil as with the standard blender.

Note on ingredients: This is not the place for extra-virgin olive oil or other full-flavored oil, use a neutral oil here, canola or corn.

I use freshly ground black pepper. Most recipes for mayonnaise use white pepper, but I don’t happen to like the flavor of it. Use whatever tastes best to you!

Homemade mayonnaise will last a week in your refrigerator, so date your jar.

You can add any number of flavorings to this mayonnaise with great results: roasted garlic, favorite herbs, extra lemon or lime, hot sauce, capers and chopped pickles, etc.