Mayonnaise is really easy to make at home and only takes one minute with an immersion blender! Trust me, you’ll never go back to store-bought versions again.
Mayonnaise is one of those condiments we often grab at the store, but it’s so darn easy to make at home! And once you do, you’ll never go back to store-bought versions because fresh just tastes better.
The beauty of homemade mayonnaise is that it doesn’t have any questionable ingredients lurking inside. Many store-bought mayonnaise options are made from less than stellar ingredients like canola oil or soybean oil and contain added sugar (yes, there’s added sugar in your mayo). Not to mention that there may be preservatives and “natural flavors” – whatever those may be.
So the next time you need mayonnaise for a chicken salad, tuna salad, coleslaw recipe, or simply to have on hand, make your own batch!
Homemade Mayonnaise Ingredients
Homemade mayonnaise is an emulsion of 6 simple and fresh ingredients. I typically buy organic products, though the choice is yours. Here’s what’s in it:
- Avocado oil: The key here is to use high-quality, neutral-flavored oil. I like to use avocado oil, but be aware that some brands are stronger flavored than others. You could also use light-flavored olive oil. Just don’t use extra-virgin olive oil as it has too strong a flavor.
- Egg: Some recipes use just the egg yolk (similar to hollandaise sauce). But for this recipe, I’m using the whole egg for a slightly lighter consistency.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon is the optimal choice. But if you have bottled lemon juice, that works too.
- White wine vinegar: You could substitute white wine vinegar with any light-colored, high-quality vinegar. Yes, apple cider vinegar works as well!
- Dijon mustard: I prefer Dijon mustard for the best results in terms of flavor.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below
How To Make Mayonnaise
The key to this foolproof mayonnaise recipe is the equipment used — a stick blender (otherwise known as an immersion blender). And if you use the container that came with the stick blender, you’re good to go. Here’s how you make it in 3 easy steps:
Add all of the ingredients to the jar that came with your stick blender, and let the ingredients settle for a minute or two.
Place the stick blender inside the container (firmly on the bottom) while covering the egg yolk. Then turn the stick blender on and don’t move it for 10 to 15 seconds – this is key!
As the mayonnaise starts to emulsify you can move the stick blender up and down to combine the ingredients.
Continue blending and moving the stick blender up and down until all of the oil is fully combined. That’s it – you’ve just made mayonnaise!
Homemade Mayonnaise Tips
I make this recipe nearly every week or two and I’ve never had the emulsification break (not once!). But after hundreds of comments from readers, I do want to share a few tips.
- Don’t use a larger/wider jar. This recipe works so well because the jar that comes with your stick blender fits the width of the head tightly. That allows the egg and oil to emulsify slowly. If you use a larger or wider jar, you could run into problems.
- Don’t try this recipe in a food processor or blender. This recipe was written specifically for a stick or immersion blender. If you add all of the ingredients to a blender and turn it on, it will fail.
- Make sure your immersion blender is on high. Right from the start, begin blending on the highest setting to emulsify the egg into the oil. If you start on low, it may not emulsify.
- Choose a high-quality oil. The main ingredient in mayonnaise is oil, so choose a high-quality one. This is my favorite avocado oil and the one I personally use. It has a very neutral flavor, compared to other avocado oils. Just steer clear of extra-virgin olive oil which has a very strong flavor or low-quality, industrial seed oil like canola, grapeseed, safflower, and peanut oil.
- Is the raw egg a concern? I’m personally not concerned about the raw egg in this mayonnaise (just as this author isn’t concerned), but it’s a personal choice. If you’re concerned about salmonella you can certainly use a pasteurized egg.
How To Fix Broken Mayonnaise
If your mayonnaise doesn’t emulsify for some reason, you can easily fix it with either of these methods.
- Boiling Water: Just add 1 tablespoon of boiling hot water to your container and quickly blend again (this also works if you’re making hollandaise sauce). It might be a little bit thinner, but it should be properly emulsified.
- Egg Yolk: Add one more egg yolk to your container and blend it up. The extra yolk should recombine all of the ingredients, and it makes for a thicker mayonnaise.
Helpful tip: Don’t try to freeze the mayonnaise as the emulsion will break!
Storage Tips
Once you’ve made the mayonnaise, transfer it to an airtight storage container and store it in the fridge for up to one week. It’s great to have on hand to make some of the delicious recipes I’ve listed in the section below.
Tasty Recipes That Use Mayonnaise
This fresh and creamy mayonnaise is perfect for sauces, dips, sandwiches, salads, and so much more! Here are a few ideas to make the most of it.
I hope you enjoy this homemade mayonnaise recipe! Once you make it, let me know your thoughts and how you used it in the comment box below.
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 1 whole egg
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 cup avocado oil, or light-flavored olive oil
Instructions
- Add the egg, lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, and salt to the jar that came with your immersion blender. Slowly pour the oil on top and let it settle for a minute.
- Place your stick blender in the jar and press it firmly to the bottom, making sure it's covering the egg yolk. Turn it on and keep it pressed against the bottom of the jar for at least 10 to 15 seconds, without moving it.
- Once the mayonnaise starts to emulsify and thicken, slowly move the stick blender up and down to fully combine the ingredients.
- Stir the mayonnaise and place in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator.
Lisa’s Tips
- Make sure to watch the video and read all my notes and tips above, including this avocado oil brand I personally use and recommend.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally posted August 2016, but updated to include new photos and information.
Can I omit or substitute the white wine vinegar.
Yes, you can use any vinegar to sub.
This is the third mayo recipe I’ve tried, this is the first time I let the egg come to room temperature, and the first time it came out runny. I followed the directions precisely, do I’m not sure what I did wrong. It did emulsify, just wasn’t thick. Hoping it thickens up after being refrigerated.
If you find it didn’t thicken up, you can try adding another egg yolk and blend again.
Easy and delicious! Thank you for all your great advice, recipes & healthy living motivation!
Hi Lisa,
The first time I tried this method and recipe. It came out perfect! So 4 or 5 weeks later I tried it again. Unfortunately it came out like a thick soup. Thinking that perhaps the egg was too warm, I tried again but with a cold egg. Still came out like soup. I gave up. Any ideas what I might’ve done wrong?
Hi Alan – oh shoot, unfortunately I don’t. Especially as it turned out perfectly for you the first time around. The only tip I have is to make sure you keep the stick blender on the bottom of the container until it’s really started to emulsify. Hope your next try turns out better!
Thanks!
I infused a batch with tarragon. Oh wow. Next level! Works with your chicken salad recipe in an amazing way!
Sounds amazing with tarragon in it!
I’m not a big consumer of mayo, personally, but I make deli type sandwiches for my son on a frequent basis. I mainly used Trader Joe’s “Real Mayonnaise” (with canola oil) in the last several years, as it was one of the few kinds out there that didn’t contain soybean oil. The avoidance of soybean oil is related to a sensitivity condition, and that stuff is in nearly everything. Turns out TJ’s recently discontinued their “Real Mayonnaise” product, so I was stuck with buying expensive yet small jars of avocado oil mayo or figuring out how to make my own. Thank you for the concise directions, my first batch turned out perfect. I ended up using half of the slim bottle of avocado oil, so I may try safflower or sunflower oil next time (for budgetary reasons). Also, it might be worth mentioning the egg should be at room temp, before blending. Cheers.
I so glad you enjoyed this mayo recipe Sean! And yes, play around with different oils as everyone has different preferences. For the egg, I’ve tried it both at room temp and straight from the fridge and both work for me, but if you find room temp eggs work better than I’d stick with that. :)
I love this recipe and just went to make it and forgot to buy a lemon. Does this definitely need the lemon?
I really think it does for the best flavor.
Actually the lemon or lime that is used for making mayonnaise is acid needed any emulsifying the egg and oil. If your mayonnaise came out runny, odds are a room temperature egg wasn’t used. So if you saw it was good the way you did it the first time try it again but use the lime or the lemon and a room temperature egg and mix it by hand if you can sometimes blender mixing will over emulsify and it will turn into a liquid. I hope this was helpful. Happy cooking
Chef Gregory Biddle
The method works to produce a mayonnaise-like substance but the flavor is off. It seemed more oily than commercial mayonnaise and not as flavorful.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe, Tulsi. You can always experiment with different oils to find a flavor you prefer.
No matter what I did it would not thicken. Added the extra egg yoke tried the boiling water to fix… no luck. Just runny. So sad
This truly is fool-proof! Very easy to make.
A comment on the recipe itself – I know it says to use a “light flavored olive oil,” but I just used the one I had (not so light flavored EVOO!). It still came out good but did taste quite a bit like olive oil. To balance it out I added some more white wine vinegar and continued to blend it until the flavor was to my liking. Nothing crazy! :) hope this can help some of you.
Followed the instructions, ingredients and amounts for each. I used a high quality avocado oil and my immersion blender. It turned out awful! Not only does it taste like pure oil but it is also extremely yellow. I now have an oil yellow soup and my family refuses to taste it. Not sure what I did wrong. Tried the it twice. Same results.
Hi Lisa. Love your YouTube channel and website. I don’t have a stick or immersion blender, but I do have a hand mixer and an Instant Ace blender. Do you think either of those would work?
Hi Matthew – I’m happy you’re enjoying my recipes and videos! Unfortunately, neither of those tools would work for this recipe, as it’s specifically written for an immersion blender.
This worked perfectly. Looking forward to using this beautiful mayo and making aioli. Thank you for the clear information.
Awesome, have tried and failed to make “blender” mayo too many times, slow drip, different oils, whole egg, yolks only..etc etc…all various degrees of failure.
This was the first recipe i tried with my new Vitamix stick…
VIOLA..instant success and the easiest method by far…
Thanks
I made this mayonnaise and it came out perfect! I did add a sprinkle of garlic powder. It really was fail proof.
It was a total success. I followed the method as described and the mayonnaise emerged perfectly and in about 20 seconds. I’m sending the link to all my pals.
congratulations and thank you!
Glad your mayonnaise turned out perfectly Patty!
Didn’t work for me. I’ve got a jar full of soup!
Thank you so much for this! Just the best mayo ever! Can’t stop eating it!
I just made this and it turned out perfect! I’m no cook, so this was unexpected! I love mayonnaise and am so happy I have a healthy version now. Thank you, Lisa.
You’re more than welcome Rhonda! I’m glad you enjoyed making your own mayo at home. :)
It’s delicious and you’re right! No going back to store bought! Thank you!!
Is this a true mayo recipe, or more of a whip type salad dressing?
This is a true mayo recipe.
I’ve tried other mayonnaise recipes before and failed. This one truly is no-fail! Thank you!
I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Can I use plain white vinegar instead?
Yes, that’s fine.
Perfect ratio of ingredients and beautiful texture!
I did try light olive oil and the taste wasn’t good: way too bitter for me. All I had was vegetable oil and it tasted much better. I might try grape seed oil next time.
Thank you for the recipe! Won’t go back to store bought again.
Glad this homemade mayonnaise turned out to be a success!
This was so easy to make. It was delicious and I like it so much better than store bought. I will never buy store Mayo again!
Thank you Lisa for all your hard work. Every recipe I have tried from you turns out so good. I never think twice about making a new recipe from you cause I know it will be delicious. I really enjoy your recipes and videos. Thanks again. Teresa
First time I’ve ever made mayo and it worked perfectly! I used a wide mouth canning pint jar and didn’t move the blender till I saw plenty of creaminess. Probably 30 seconds. So slick.
Hi Lisa!!! I just bought a Vitamix immersion blender!!! Can’t wait to use it! I’m not eating eggs right now to test whether or not I’m am sensitive to them. Any thoughts about what I could sub in for the egg in your mayonnaise recipe? Could I just leave it out? Also, for health reasons, I am GF and dairy free. Trying to figure it all out! I’ve been on this journey a long time! Thanks for doing what you do!!!
Hi Nancy – congrats on your new Vitamix!! Unfortunately, the eggs are needed for this recipe. You can make a vegan mayo recipe as well, but that’s another recipe entirely and I hope to add it soon to the website!
Hi , I made this today and was absolutely amazed at how easy it was. I only had sunflower oil and didn’t have white wine vinegar so used ordinary white spirit vinegar, the same with the salt, I used normal table salt. To say that the result was spectacular is an understatement. Sorry Unilever we will not be buying Hellmans Original mayo in future.
Haha, I’m happy you loved the mayo recipe, Rupert! And yes, there’s no need to buy it in the store ever again. ;)
Love this recipe! No more store bought for this household. Mine comes together in 30 seconds! Great taste:)
This is a great recipe and its SOOOOOOO easy! I will never buy mayonnaise again. Thank you!
I appreciate the steps and I was finally able to make mayo with an immersion blender. I will add that I added salt right after I blended it, then blended it up some more and found it did thin it out a bit, possibly I over blended it. But nonetheless it came out thick and what I was hoping for. Hoping that after I set it overnight in the fridge it can get thicker.
Based on what it says the article, adding some egg yolk and reblending might thicken it up a bit.
Seriously so easy to make! I’m officially a homemade mayo convert. The texture and flavor is spot on. The only “complicated” bit is trying to get as much of the mayo out of the immersion blender blades haha- so I also whipped up a mayo based dressing recipe I found online to use up and “clean” the cup and blender.
Mine has worked perfectly 3 times and failed 4/times.. I can’t work out what I’m doing wrong. What other oil should I use. Avocado oil is very green
Diane, I have the same struggle. I must have made this half a dozen times with great success, a lovely creamy mayonnaise that tasted way better than anything I’ve bought in the store. Yet lately, it fails about half the time. I haven’t changed ANYTHING and can’t figure out why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. FYI I use grapeseed oil, which has a nice light taste and is less expensive than avocado.
Unfortunately my EVO wasn’t light enough. It kinda overpowers the delicacy of the emulsion, but I’m thrilled with the consistency. I will make it again. Thank you!
Tip for those w/o a container. My blender did not come with a cup, but I bought the 17 oz VARDAGEN measuring cup at IKEA for $4.49 and it was a very good fit for my Hamilton Beach.
Lisa, this recipe was so simple and I love the cleaner ingredients. I will never buy store bought mayo again. Thank you!
I even forgot my last lemon went bad and didn’t have any juice so I upped the vinegar a little and it still was very tasty.
My life is forever changed. THANK YOU for this recipe and method. Not only is the best-tasting mayo I have EVER had, I can make it in 2 minutes? Um. wow. I chopped some dill pickles and made fresh tartar sauce. My kids ate it plain with a spoon. :)
Thrilled to hear you’ve found a winning homemade mayo!
I used a salsa jar that was about a centimeter larger all around than my immersion blender head. PERFECT!! The recipe, the instructions …PERFECT. I put everything together, let sit for about a minute, insert blender (do not move it) blend for 13 seconds then slowly pulled up and out. Had perfect mayo in 20 seconds. What!?! THANK YOU! I’m super excited because i followed another recipe last week and it was a super fail even after some recommended fixes. Also, I used “lighter flavored” olive oil.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe. :)
Excellent recipe
Glad your mayonnaise turned out perfectly Maron!
Great and easy recipe.
Great video; this process works every time. Thanks for sharing your secret with us. This is quick, fast and easy. Beats store bought mayonnaise by a long shot.
Happy to hear this recipe works perfectly Martie!
Worked like a charm in an ordinary 1-quart Ball glass jar. I’d like the taste to pop more. I’ll try to up the acid with more vinegar and maybe a pinch more salt. Can’t wait to try some flavored versions. Any ideas out there?
Amazing! Glad this mayonnaise turned out perfectly.
I love following you and this was very easy to do, consistency is great…. But the flavor tastes so oily and nothing like mayo to me… I followed the recipe but it tastes like oil…. I used avocado oil
in terms of adding more vinegar to get an extra pop of taste: I followed this recipe to the letter and got a great result in terms of consistency, but I wanted more of a stronger taste too, and so I added extra lemon juice and dijon mustard and reblended…. but that definitely didn’t work – it became too runny once I re-blended. So next time, I’ll add a bit more salt and mustard before blending, and if I wanted extra lemon juice for taste I’d add that separately to whatever I’m making with the finished mayonnaise (eg sandwiches). Great recipe though! I was surprised at how quick it is to make.
I just tried this recipe to the letter two times and have had NO luck. Even using the egg yolk afterwards did not succeed in thickening the mixture. Could it be my immersion blender itself? It is a good quality Kitchenaid one. Please help! I want this to work.
It might be, if it’s not powerful enough. And if you’re following all of the other directions properly. I’d recommend trying again with a new and/or more powerful immersion blender.
Which size weck jar did you store that in? It is the perfect size. I love your recipe. Thank you so much!
I’m using the 1/4 Liter Weck Jar :)
I love mayo and can’t wait to try this at home. Great explanations and easy to follow.
Good recipe but often does not emulsify. Adding an egg yolk helps. The avocado oil is wonderful but starts to break down after about 5 days. When used on warm toast it melts.
Listen to Lisa — use a very narrow jar! I have made this recipe several times. The first few times, it failed every time, and nothing I tried would rescue it. Finally, I used a jar that just barely fit the hand blender (as Lisa recommends). Voila! Beautiful results. I do find the flavour a bit bland though. After emulsion, I add a bit of extra vinegar, lemon, and salt to suit my taste.
Not worth the short cut. The texture between slowly emulsified in a food processor and using the immersion blender is day and night. One is so light and fluffy and creamy, the other is watery by comparison. I just did both back to back, and I’ll trade the 5 minutes for slowly streaming oil for that amazing texture. This short cut just isn’t worth it!
Hi Kate – it sounds like you may have done something wrong if your immersion blender version turned out watery. As you can see from the video, it always turns out super fluffy and creamy for me!
I love this recipe, perfect every time
Happy to hear your mayonnaise turns out perfectly every time Annette :)
Even with a vitamix, this doesn’t turn out well. It’s terribly liquidy even after sitting in the fridge over night
You’re not supposed to use a Vitamix for this recipe. The recipe instructions are written specifically for a hand-held immersion blender. If you make the recipe as written and follow the instructions, it turns out beautifully!
Very easy to make, do you have a recipe for ranch dressing, or can I just add a packet of ranch seasoning to the mayonnaise?
Thanks!
So happy you loved it! Yes, you can add ranch seasoning to the mayo. You can also add some sour cream to make the dressing creamier as well!
Question! My immersion blender’s container doesn’t fit the blender tightly at the bottom. It’s quite wider and designed for a smoothie. Would you recommend finding a jar that fits the immersion blender more snugly?
Thanks!
Hi Claire – yes, I would. Otherwise it may not emulsify properly.
would dill pickle juice also work in place of vinegar
and lemon ?
I don’t see why not, if you prefer that flavor.