Mayonnaise Recipe and Photo Tutorial
Homemade mayonnaise is sort of a right of passage for people setting out to cook for real. It’s surprisingly rewarding the first time you get an emulsion started, and I love being able to make a mayonnaise that doesn’t have any soy or high fructose corn syrup, and has much less sodium and sugar than the packaged stuff tends to.
Technically, this recipe is sort of between a mayonnaise and an aioli because of the addition of the ground mustard. The mustard makes it a bit easier to get that emulsion going, and is also why this mayo looks more yellow than some. (The color becomes lighter as the mayo sits in the refrigerator, too.)
I would recommend making it by hand once so you learn how it comes together, but after that it’s much easier to use a stand mixer.
Ingredients:
1 cup oil (a relatively flavorless oil like canola or vegetable is best to start with)
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp white vinegar (used 1 tbsp at a time)
1 tsp dried mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp sugar
Printer friendly US and Metric recipe cards are at the bottom of the post.
Separate your egg while it is still cold – the white will come off more easily and the yolk will hold together better.
Let the egg yolk come to about room temperature before starting, assuming your oil is at room temperature. For best results, the oil and egg yolk need to be at the same temperature when you start.
Mix the egg yolk, mustard, salt, sugar, pepper, and 1 tbsp of vinegar together.
Whisk until well combined.
Add a very small amount of oil (you can kind of see it at the top of the yolk mixture.) Something around 1/2 teaspoon is good.
Whisk it like crazy. The oil should disappear, which really means it breaks into very tiny pieces.
Add a little more oil.
Once again, whisk it hard. Then leave it for a few seconds – if no oil collects together you are probably in good shape.
Continue that way, adding a little oil and whisking. You can very clearly see the oil in this picture – really make sure the oil is completely incorporated before adding more.
It will start to thicken and form peaks. This is a great sign.
When all the oil is in, gently whisk in that other tablespoon of white vinegar.
This is what it looks like finished. It should keep for at least a week if well sealed in a refrigerator. It does contain raw egg, so don’t leave it laying around in the sun or feed it to old people, young children, or anyone sick.
A few troubleshooting tips:
If you just can’t get it to come together after adding a few tablespoons worth of oil then stop. Start another batch with different ingredients. (Double check your ingredients on the second try – the only time I’ve ever failed is when I forgot the vinegar!) When you have the emulsion on the second batch going (when about half of the oil is incorporated) then add the failed first attempt. By the end you should have a double batch of nice mayonnaise.
If you want to use a stand mixer you’ll probably need to double this recipe to have enough egg yolk at the start to reach the beaters and get the emulsion going.
The mustard doesn’t impart a lot of flavor, but if you’d rather use a different spice most ground spices should be enough to help that emulsion form.
Ingredients
- 1 cup oil (a relatively flavorless oil like canola or vegetable is best to start with)
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp white vinegar (used 1 tbsp at a time)
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Separate your egg while it is still cold â?? the white will come off more easily and the yolk will hold together better.
- Let the egg yolk come to about room temperature before starting, assuming your oil is at room temperature. For best results, the oil and egg yolk need to be at the same temperature when you start.
- Mix the egg yolk, mustard, salt, sugar, pepper, and 1 tbsp of vinegar together.
- Whisk until well combined.
- Add a very small amount of oil (you can kind of see it at the top of the yolk mixture.) Something around 1/2 teaspoon is good.
- Whisk it like crazy. The oil should disappear, which really means it breaks into very tiny pieces.
- Add a little more oil.
- Once again, whisk it hard. Then leave it for a few seconds â?? if no oil collects together you are probably in good shape.
- Continue that way, adding a little oil and whisking. You can very clearly see the oil in this picture â?? really make sure the oil is completely incorporated before adding more.
- It will start to thicken and form peaks. This is a great sign.
- When all the oil is in, gently whisk in that other tablespoon of white vinegar.
- This is what it looks like finished. It should keep for at least a week if well sealed in a refrigerator. It does contain raw egg, so don't leave it laying around in the sun or feed it to old people, young children, or anyone sick.
Ingredients
- 250 mL oil (a relatively flavorless oil like canola or vegetable is best to start with)
- 1 egg yolk
- 30 mL white vinegar (used 15 mL at a time)
- 5 mL dried mustard
- 2 mL salt
- .5 mL pepper
- .5 mL sugar
Instructions
- Separate your egg while it is still cold – the white will come off more easily and the yolk will hold together better.
- Let the egg yolk come to about room temperature before starting, assuming your oil is at room temperature. For best results, the oil and egg yolk need to be at the same temperature when you start.
- Mix the egg yolk, mustard, salt, sugar, pepper, and 15 mL of vinegar together.
- Whisk until well combined.
- Add a very small amount of oil (you can kind of see it at the top of the yolk mixture.) Something around 2 mL is good.
- Whisk it like crazy. The oil should disappear, which really means it breaks into very tiny pieces.
- Add a little more oil.
- Once again, whisk it hard. Then leave it for a few seconds – if no oil collects together you are probably in good shape.
- Continue that way, adding a little oil and whisking. You can very clearly see the oil in this picture – really make sure the oil is completely incorporated before adding more.
- It will start to thicken and form peaks. This is a great sign.
- When all the oil is in, gently whisk in that other tablespoon of white vinegar.
- This is what it looks like finished. It should keep for at least a week if well sealed in a refrigerator. It does contain raw egg, so don’t leave it laying around in the sun or feed it to old people, young children, or anyone sick.
