This homemade, no-fail whole30 mayonnaise recipe will change your life! It is light & fluffy with a rich flavor – you will never buy store-bought again!
I never thought I would make homemade mayonnaise when I can just buy a jar at the store. After all, it’s dairy free and cheap. But let me tell you, after discovering just how easy it is to make my own homemade mayonnaise, how much better it tastes, and how many junk ingredients are in the store-bought, I changed my mind.
Not all but most commercial mayonnaise you can buy at the store – including Olive Oil mayonnaise – have other yuck oils in them as their main ingredient. Vegetable oils such as canola, soybean, corn, and cottonseed are the oils most common in store-bought mayonnaise and they are highly processed, contain trans fats, and/or are very high in omega-6 fatty acids which causes inflammation in the body and can lead to numerous health problems. Another problem is that they usually have added sugar and artificial ingredients.
But I’m here to tell you that making your own is REALLY EASY and the taste is beyond compare! All you need is a food processor, a few simple ingredients, and 5 minutes – really, just 5 minutes!
While this isn’t by any means a revolutionary recipe, I’ve learned a lot in my quest to make perfect mayonnaise every time and I wanted to share what I’ve learned so you don’t have any “flops” like me 🙂 So before you get started, here are a few things you need to know:
1) All of your ingredients MUST be room temperature or it will not thicken.
You can place your eggs in warm water for 5 to 10 minutes or leave them at room temperature for about an hour. I set mine on the counter the night before – no need to worry, the egg won’t go bad!
2) The kind of olive oil you use AND the brand you use matter!
When making mayo, extra virgin olive oil it is too heavy and will leave a really bitter taste so you need to use extra light tasting olive oil. But not all extra light olive oils are the same, it took me a long time to figure out why sometimes my mayonnaise tasted awesome and other times it was bitter – some brands of extra light olive oil still have a strong taste! So I started using Filippo Berio brand every time because the taste is very neutral and it always turns out perfect. If you buy another brand, I recommend tasting it before you make the mayo. If it has any olive taste to it, your mayo will be bitter. I’ve heard of people using MCT oil also since it’s a neutral tasting oil with good results but haven’t tried it myself.
3) Buy pasteurized eggs.
I didn’t make homemade mayo for a long time because I was worried about the raw egg. But then I discovered that you can buy pasteurized eggs, which are safe to eat raw! If you don’t want to spend the money on pasteurized eggs, you can pasteurize them yourself – just google it 🙂 Or you can buy good quality cage-free eggs and wash the egg shell to remove any bacteria that might contaminate the egg when broken. However it’s not guaranteed like pasteurized eggs.
4) The slower you pour, the thicker the mayonnaise
When the recipe says “slowly drizzle” take it seriously. If you dump the oil in all at once it will result in a runny mess. The recipe works best if you pour as thin a stream of oil as possible.
5) Don’t use a copper or aluminum bowl
It can leave an aftertaste in your mayo.
6) what if the mayo doesn’t emulsify and is runny?
In all my years making homemade mayo, I’ve only had my mayo not turn out once. No matter how great a recipe is, sometimes it just doesn’t turn out. You might be in a hurry and pour too fast, mess up on the recipe, or you might do everything right and it just doesn’t work right – it happens. So I’m going to tell you exactly what I did to salvage my mayo and how you can do the same.
First, don’t panic like I did that I had wasted all of my expensive ingredients and then had no mayo for dinner! Simply set the mayo aside and wash out your food processor. Then, follow the instructions again, but instead of using olive oil, use the runny failed mayo. It should thicken up nicely and salvage your mayo!
*Note- I followed the instructions exactly. I didn’t leave out the salt, mustard, or lemon juice – but I’m sure you could since it’s already in the runny mayo recipe that you are using to replace the olive oil 🙂
7) And finally, Homemade mayo is SO MUCH better than store-bought!
Seriously, this will change your life. Homemade mayo is light, fluffy, creamy, non-gloopy, and has a richer flavor. It’s amazing.
With all of that out of the way, lets get started!!!!
By the way, this goes perfect in my Homemade Ranch 🙂
*Looking for more Whole30 compliant recipes? Check out my Homemade Ranch Dressing, Homemade BBQ Sauce, One Pot Lasagna Soup, and Meatball Soup!
Homemade Mayonnaise {Paleo, Whole30, Dairy Free}
Any links on this site may be affilate links. If you purchase anything through them, your cost will remain the same, but I may make a small comission. Thank you for your support!
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Egg room temperature (use pasteurized if worried about the raw egg)
- 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp. Ground Mustard
- 1 1/4 C Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil Filippo Berio brand (See above, the brand matters!)
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice room temperature
Instructions
- Place the egg, salt, ground mustard and 1/4 C of the the olive oil into the bowl of a food processor.
- Whirl on low until combined.
- While the processor is still running, SLOWLY drizzle the remaining olive oil in, this should take you about 3 minutes. Resist the urge to dump it in at the end.
- Add the lemon juice and pulse on low until combined.
- Place in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge. The mayonnaise will be good until one week past the egg's expiration date.
Nutritional information is approximate and may vary.
this post is part of Real Food Fridays and Allergy Free Wednesdays
Any of the links on my site may be affiliate links. If you purchase anything through them I may make a small commission. Thank you for your support to keep this free resource available.
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Hi Cassidy,
I certainly agree with you about the store bought mayonnaise – the ingredients are mostly chemical engineered and I certainly wouldn’t touch anything with soybean in. I printed this recipe out and might give it a try. Sounds so healthy and tasty. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & twitted. .
Hi,
Just a FYi — your twitter share button doesn’t seem to be working. Marla
Thanks Marla, I hope you like my homemade version as much as we do 🙂 …humm, I will look into the twitter button, thanks for letting me know!
-Cassidy
Fillipo Berrio olive oil (along with just about every other olive oil in the general market) is found to be largely flavored soy oil. Definitely not W30 compliant. Fake oil is huge in the olive oil industry. I suggest doing some research on brands that are reliable. One brand I trust is California Olive Company, which is sold in my local big-box grocery store. This brand make a fine tasting mayo.
Thank you for the information Kate! I’ve heard about olive oil not being pure, but haven’t looked into which brands are good- thanks again!!!
California Ranch olive oil has also passed purity standards. It is only a dollar or two more than the cheaper brands, and they sell it even at Wal-Mart!
That rumor was unfounded. It referenced a study that find that 69% of EVOO did not meet the standards for extra virgin. There were no findings of additives or other oils
http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/oliveoil.asp
Snopes is unreliable. I encourage you to read what Foodbabe has to say about EVOO. Google her, and/or like her FB page. Eye-opening, and a game changer. Here’s to our health!!!
Here’s a reliable source…the horses mouth! Fillipo Beroli is authentic. http://www.aboutoliveoil.org/qualityseal.html
This is the first time I ever made my own mayo. I used safflower oil and an egg from the local Amish farm. It turned out fabulous!
I will never try another paleo/whole 30 mayo recipe… this is it! Before W30, my husband was very adamant that we only buy Best Foods (Hellman’s) mayo. We both think this is great!
Side note: we looked at a couple stores and could not find the same brand of light olive oil (they had the brand, but only offered it in extra virgin). We opted for ‘Bertoli’ brand light olive oil, which seems to work for us 🙂
Hi! I’ve tried this twice and i cant seem to get it to thicken or even look remotely white…It ends up becoming a yellow runny mess! Im stirring slowly and using only room temperature ingredients. Why is it not thick?
Are you stirring slowly or pouring slowly? If you are stirring slowly, it will definitely not thicken – you really need to use a food processor. However, if you’re pouring VERY slowly, using a food processor on low, and all of your ingredients are room temperature I’m not sure, it should thicken? Are you doing all of those things?
I don’t have a food processor so I just used a small hand mixer I got from Walmart for a few bucks – worked great for this! Drizzled oil very slowly (I used a 1/4 cup four times so I don’t get tempted to pour too fast).
I’ve also coming up with a soupy mess. I’ve tried it twice all room temp ingredients and using a magic bullet blender which is a messy option but my food processor is to big for this. Help
Hi Mindy, I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out!!! I know some people have had success using a blender, but the few times I’ve tried it in my blender it either didn’t turn out or I had to change up the recipe for it to thicken properly. Sorry!!
BTW- I use a full size food processor for this recipe and it seems too large at first but works well 🙂
-Cassidy
I also am having a problem with mayonnaise….runny mess. I tried an immersion stick at My sister’s suggestion. But, there are two buttons that have to be pressed at the same time and I must not be CO ordinated enough to press both and drizzle so, I tried a blender. It started to thicken, then smoke, then there was a pop and it turned a water consistency. I will try a food processor. Mine seems like it will be too big but, I really want to get this.
Y
Hello! I’m a culinary student trying to do dairy-free, gluten-free, etc foods. You can actually hand-make mayonnaise. However, I wouldn’t recommend it. It is A LOT of effort. One needs to whisk the ingredients in a bowl VERY fast while VERY slowly adding in the oil. This is because mayonnaise is an emulsion and if it’s not done fast enough it will never come together and will always try to separate. Thus, it is much easier to use a food processor. However, a blender also works fine too!
Absolutely perfect. I bought a couple of small squeeze bottles used for cake icing and filled those to control the flow of oil. It took a few minutes longer but the mayo came out with the perfect consistency and great flavor.
Great idea! Cake icing tubes!!
I made extra sure that everything was at room temp. I also bought a couple of small squeeze bottles, those used for cake icing, to make sure I had the easy “drizzle” of the oil. It took a few minutes longer but the consistency is perfect and it tastes great. I agree with what was previously stated that a processor is important. Not sure one can stir at enough of a consistent rate while trying to add oil at an easy constant rate.
You say, dairy free recipe for mayo, and it contains egg in it. Really? 😀
Hi Micko, eggs are not dairy. Dairy is a product of the mammary gland of mammals and eggs are not made from milk.
Um, eggs are not dairy. Just because your grocery puts them back near the milk does not make them dairy.
No eggs are not dairy. They come from chickens not cows.
Wonder how long this will keep in the refrigerator? We don’t eat a ton of mayo, so it would need to last a bit.
Hi Lisa, it should last for one week after the eggs expiration date 🙂
-Cassidy
Cassidy, this mayo recipe is AH-MAZING! It’s the third Whole30 one I’ve tried and by far the best! Thanks for the detailed instructions and notes at the beginning. I followed them exactly and have the best mayo I’ve ever tasted. You rock!
Hello!
I am so excited about this recipe! Except I have a teeny tiny food processor and the lid must be locked down in order for it to run. Can I use a blender?
Thank you!
Elaine
Hi Elaine! I don’t know what kind of blender you have but I have successfully made this in a high powered blender (I used a Vitamix) and I would imagine it would work in a regular blender too but I have not tried it. Hope this helps!!!
-Cassidy
Works great in a blender! I’m 59 and grew up with mom’s homemade mayo that she made in the blender, way before food processors!
Does a food processor have to be used or could I use a hand blender? I’ve used a hand blender with another recipe and it worked out great but there was no slowly adding the olive oil. The hand blender would be at the bottom of the container and slowly work its way up.
Hi Jeff, I have never tried a hand blender so I can’t say for sure. I’d imagine it would work, but again I don’t know. If you do try it, I would still slowly add the olive oil to make sure it emulsifies and you don’t end up with a water-y mess 🙂 If you try it come back and let me know if it worked!!!
-Cassidy
I make mayonnaise a couple of times a month and always use a stick blender. I even put all the oil at once and almost have a 98 percent success rate. I also use Trader Joe’s Olive oil which is a light olive oil and again it always turns out well.
Hi,
I tried your recipe and not sure what I did wrong because the mayo didn’t chime out smooth. It’s separated from the oil. I made it in a blendern. Is that my mistake? Help is appreciated. Thanks
Hi Munazza! Yes, I’ve made this in a blender and mine separated also. I have since figured out how to make it work in a blender but it is still tricky and mine sometimes still separates! Hope that helps!!!
-Cassidy
The trick here is to add 1tsp. lemon and 1tsp white wine vinegar at the beginning of the process and later on add the amount of lemon stated in this recipe once half of the oil has been incorporated. This will ensure separation will not occurred. But adding the oil it is the most important thing to do. Just add it very slowly. It should takes more than 3 minutes to add all the oil.
Awesome recipe. I warmed the egg in my bra. Worked great!
LOL, Thanks, I’ll have to try that next time!!!
-Cassidy
lol
The first time I made this I used a good Safflower oil…it was great! This time I used Avocado oil and it’s very bland. It’s ok cause I can season it all sorts of ways….just wanted to let ppl know Avocado prob not a great sub.
Thanks!
Thanks for letting us know suzi!!!
I’M GOING TO TRY AND MAKE YOUR MAYO RECIPE ONE DAY NEXT WEEK. I’LL PROBABLY JUST STOE IT IN THE FOOD PROCESSOR BC I HARDLY EVER USE IT ANYWAYS. I THOUGHT THAT YOUR INSTRUCTIONS ARE EXCELLENT. I’M TRYING TO AVOID SUGAR AND STORE MAYO’S LABELS ARE VERY MISLEADING; FOR EXAMPLE, IT’LL SAY “0 SUGAR” ON THE FRONT AND THE NUTRITIONAL INFO (PER TABLESPOON IS THE PLOY), BUT THEN LIST SUGAR AS THE THIRD OR FOURTH INGREDIENT? I WAS SURPRISED THAT MAYO HAS SO MUCH OIL, WH IS OK, COMPARED TO SO FEW EGG, WH IS SURPRISING.
Came out nice and thick, but very yellow in color..Tastes like I’m eating pure olive oil. I think I used the wrong kind of olive oil. Will try it again.
Yeah, the right kind of olive oil is crucial – I’m sure that’s why it tasted like olive oil. I only use the Extra Light Fillippo Berio brand.
-Cassidy
I used the olive oil you recommended and it came out a little bitter tasting. Do you have any suggestions of what I can add to it?
Hi MT! Humm, that brand of olive oil usually isn’t bitter? While I haven’t tried it and can’t say for sure, you might be able to add some coconut cream to dilute the taste or a small amount of sour cream (if you eat dairy) but they might also slightly change the taste. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help! If you try it, let me know how it turns out!!!
This is the first time I made mayo. I knew it is an easy thing to do but never put any effort in doing it. I am so glad I did it. The flavor is neutral which means, you have endless possibilities to add flavor to your taste. Here are some options: garlic, dill, cayenne pepper, sriracha sauce, smoke paprika, roasted peppers, 1tbsp. white wine vinegar half way in the addition of the oil, chipotle pepper.
Oooooh! Love your options!!
Has anybody tried using flaxseed oil instead of olive oil?
I haven’t Linda, sorry. If you give it a try let me know how it turns out!!!
-Cassidy
It’s good! ?
The ranch even better.
Thank you for this recipe! We are doing whole 30 and this definitely makes it more bearable! Just an FYI that I was disappointed to find out is the lemon juice found in the little lemon shaped bottle or any other lemon juice I’ve found sold at stores are from concentrate and/or have nasty additives in them like sodium benzoate. When mixed with citrus/acid it makes a compound known to cause cancer. Blah! It’s been banned from use in soda pop because of that. Annoying that it’s still allowed in other foods. I just stick to fresh squeezed lemons. Or freeze ice cube trays full of lemon/lime juice. Works great! Thanks again!!
Thanks Rynlynm!!! I actually just noticed that lemon juice in bottles has sodium benzoate in it and was super disappointed too! I can’t believe it, I’m so good at reading labels and for some reason I never even thought of the lemon juice until recently!!! That’s a good idea to freeze ice cube trays of lemon/lime juice, I’ll have to try that!
-Cassidy
Thank you for the detailed instructions. Followed them to the letter and the product was beyond tasty! I don’t know if I’ll ever buy mayo again.
Thanks so much Travelgal1022! I don’t think I can ever go back to buying store-bought mayo after making homemade, it’s so much better and better for you!
-Cassidy
Can you use regular mustard ? Instead of mustard powder
Hi Yvette! While I don’t like using regular mustard quite as much, I’ve tried it and it will work fine. It will very slightly change the flavor and maybe even add a yellow-ish tint but will work 🙂
-Cassidy
It did not work for me! ?
I’m so sorry mary!!! I’ve made this many times and always had success! I wonder what happened, did you make any changes and was everything room temperature?
-Cassidy
I, too, had everything at room temperature and it looks like liquid. I used a food processor and set my timer to ensure I was not adding the olive oil too quickly, I used all three minutes. I was pouring it from a measuring cup. Where did I go wrong?!
Hi deb, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. I honestly am not sure why. So sorry!!!
Thank you, this sounds so great! Do you know if this will freeze ok? If so, i will make a bigger batch.
Hi tori! I’m sorry but I’ve never tried freeing it so I have no idea if it would work or not. If you try it let me know how it turns out!
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
-Cassidy
Ok thanks, it will be an interesting experiment!
Mayo is super easy to make with an immersion blender. Add all ingredients in a large mouth jar (the same one you will store it in). Put the immersion blender in to the bottom, then turn it on and slowly bring it to the top of the ingredients. So much easier than in a blender!!
Can’t wait to try this. Recently I’ve been placed on an AIP diet. Being Paleo before this, I made my own Mayo but now that I can’t have eggs, this will be a Blessing!
Tried this today and I think it came out pretty good. Didn’t have enough light olive oil so finished up with avocado oil. I barely drizzled it in while mixing and it was white and thick —-Just like regular mayo! Thank you for posting this!
Thought this site looked promising but any time I see fearmongering I know the author doesn’t do actual research. Would love to see a single peer reviewed study that supports your assertions. When you start throwing in highly technical terms like Yuck to describe something you really know nothing about I know it’s time to move on. How can I trust anything you say when you are so obviously full of it?
Hi Debbie, I’m sorry you feel that way. I’m just expressing in my own words why I prefer to make my own mayonnaise. The focus of my site is to share recipes in a casual and fun way. I never get into anything serious. I assume that people who are looking for a homemade mayo recipe or for gluten free recipes have already done their own research and I try to focus mainly on the recipes and sometimes express my personal opinions in a casual way. I’m sorry this has offended you.
-Cassidy
How long can you keep in the refrigerator!
Hi Shannon! This will last for about a week after your egg’s expiration date 🙂
-Cassidy
Seriously debbie! Get a life. Have fun. It is a non-serious word. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. Repeat it over and over you might like it!
So, what’s your point! Serves no good-just to be negative. Why not just move on to something else!
Wow! Oh my God I can’t believe I just made homemade mayo for the first time ever ! It is sooo delicious! This recipe is crazy easy and amazing! Thank you! I did add a titch more lemon juice for a bit more tange and I love it! I don’t have a food processor so I used my smoothie/juicer. It worked great! I’m so excited, I got all choked up in the middle of my kitchen. I passed tastes around to my family and they were in heaven!
Just made this today and it was as promised, quick and easy. I used liquid coconut oil that is unflavored (MCT oil) and it turned out with a nice thick consistency. I used table salt instead of sea salt, so I found it just a tiny bit too salty, but I was using it for a chicken salad so it didn’t affect it. Next time I’ll either add more lemon juice or part lemon, part vinegar as I found it missing that certain tang that mayo often has. Thanks so much for posting this, Cassidy 🙂
I made this with my Osterizer blender. Turned out excellent.
Wow! This mayo is sooo good!!! I am on my first Whole 30 and decided to try it out but honestly I was very skeptical, I really thought it was going to be awful. I couldn’t believe that in about 5 minutes I could almost fully recreate the taste of store bought chemical and sugar filled mayo but it’s really close to the real thing minus all the bad stuff! So so so impressed! Thank you for this recipie 🙂
Made this with avocado oil-superb! I also put the lemon juice with the egg etc then used my hand blender for the rest. perfect!
Hi Cassidy. I am working the Whole30 program and decided to try making homemade mayo. I found your recipe and have now made three batches. It is better than store bought and I have been recommending it to everyone on the forum inquiring about where to buy compliant mayo. My husband and I have decided this is our go to recipe. Thanks so much!
I’ve made this several tones using 1/4 cup avocado oil and 3/4 cup + 2Tbsp. grapeseed oil. I also sub half of the lemon juice for raw ACV. Delicious!
Question: My food processor is 5 qts. Do you think it’s too big for this recipe to work? I normally use the blender, but it’s easy but messy to transfer to a jar.
Hi Janice, I could have swore I replied to your comment back when you posted it but I don’t see it here, I’m SO sorry!!! …I’m really not sure, I use a regular-sized food processor (not a mini) and it works just fine. I can’t find the paperwork so am unsure how big it is exactly, but it’s just a typical size. I’d think that your food processor is much bigger than a typical one or the blade sets high from the bottom it, it might not work. So sorry again for getting back to you so late!!!
-Cassidy
Hi Cassidy! This recipe is great, and I’ve been making it since October of 2017 (when I did my first Whole30). I made it once, and then continued just making my own, even while not on Whole30. Thank you so much! Quick question though – the nutrition info that you posted per serving, what is the serving size? I’m counting macros right now, and used this homemade mayo for my chicken salad. I have no idea what figures to plug in for this. It says the whole recipe makes 6 servings, but what is the size of the actual serving? Just trying to figure out the math so I can keep as accurate count as possible. Thank you so much!
Hi Karly! I went back and added the nutritional information after it was first posted so I would have to go back and make the recipe again to see exactly how much it makes and divide it by 6, sorry!!! If I remember correctly though, I think the recipe makes about 3/4 Cup so that would make each serving 2 Tbsp. Sorry I couldn’t help more, next time I make it I will figure the exact serving size!
-Cassidy
I tried this but it came out runny so I tried again and still runny. Don’t think I can drizzle the oil in any slower. Everything was room temp. Help!
OH NO Tammy I’m so sorry!!! Did you save the runny mayo? Look at step 6 on how to salavage runny mayo so your ingredients don’t go to waste. Also, I had to buy a new food processor recently and the blade sits higher on my new one than my old one did. I noticed that the ingredients weren’t blending right away becasue they were below the blade. If your food processor has a high blade, you may need to double the recipe to account for the higher blade. I hope this helps and let me know how it turns out! I’m so sorry again!!!
-Cassidy
Love this recipe. How I make it is I place all ingredients in a wide mouth Mason jar and use my immersion blender. It comes out perfect every time.
Perfect! I’m so glad to know the immersion blender works!!!
-Cassidy
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Hey Cassidy, such a great recipe you had shared. Sometimes i thought why i couldn’t be so creative like you while cooking. 🙁 Thanks for sharing this article.i didn’t make it before. The mayonnaise are looking perfect. Your tips will help me to make that correctly. Keep sharing this type of recipes.. 🙂
Can I use a vitamix
I don’t have a food processor?
Thanks!
Hi Natasha! I’ve made it work in a vitamix before, but it’s a little tricky. It’s been awhile since I tried it in a vitamix, but from what I remember I drizzled in the oil while the blender was set somewhere between 6 and 8 and it thickened way earlier than with a food processor so I didn’t use as much oil. It can be done, but like I said, it’s a little bit tricky because it thickens so much faster and I don’t remember exactly how I did it. I’ll have to try it again and tell you all the details 😊 Hope that helps! If you give it a try come back and let me know how it turned out!
-Cassidy