Not many people know how mayonnaise is made.  You just go to the store and buy a jar of it and go on with your day.  I have never really been a big fan of mayo.  It just had an odd taste to me and I preferred slathering my sandwiches in spicy mustard.  Then one day, I needed mayonnaise for a potato salad I was making.  I didn’t want to go and buy a whole jar just for one recipe so I started looking around to see what if there was anything I could substitute.  That’s when I stumbled on a recipe for homemade mayo.

I was surprised that I could make my own mayonnaise.  This was a few years ago, so I was still learning about how things were made and didn’t know that mayo was just an emulsion of eggs, oil, and seasonings.  I bet that you have all the ingredients right now to make your own mayo.  So I quickly whipped up a batch and to my surprise, I really liked the taste. 

So today’s DIY is all about mayonnaise.  It’s quick and cheap to make your own and you don’t have to worry about additives and preservatives that store brands use to make their product shelf stable.    You can also play with your own seasonings and flavor your mayo with fresh herbs.

Don’t eat eggs?  There is a version here for you too!  Remember that aquafaba I was raving about a few months ago?  Turns out you can make mayonnaise with it too!  I tried it a few days ago and it turned out really well.  Now eggless people can enjoy mayo on their sandwiches and in their recipes too!

Homemade Mayo

• 1 large egg
• 2/3  cup neutral tasting oil (I like avocado or safflower oil)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp spicy mustard
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp herbs like dill, basil, oregano, or cilantro (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place all the ingredients except the herbs into a tall glass.  Use an immersion blender to whip everything together.  Once the mixture starts to get thick, slowly pull up the immersion blender to make sure everything is incorporated.
2. You could also do this in a blender.  Place everything in the blender except the oil and the herbs.  Start blending everything and slowly add in the oil until the mixture is nice and thick.
3. Stir in the herbs and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Eggless Mayo

This is the recipe that I used to make the eggless may and it worked great.  I used less oil than the recipe calls for.  The biggest key is to SLOWLY add the oil so you don’t end up with an oily, soupy mess.  

That’s it.  Just a few pantry items and you have delicious homemade mayo.  Make sure that you choose a neutral oil so that you don’t have an odd tasting mayo.  You can use this on sandwiches, in salads, as a marinade, and pretty much anywhere that you would use storebought mayo.  Plus, it’s really cool to see the whole thing magically turn into mayo, kids would definitely love helping with this one.