Homemade Mayonnaise ~ We Love delicious Food, Recipes, and Cooking Techniques

Easy homemade mayonnaise is fresh and convenient to make right at home. With just a few ingredients, you can make this delicious and versatile condiment to use on sandwiches or in dips and sauces!

Store-bought sauces can have a lot of additives to preserve shelf life. I love using mayonnaise to make my own sauces at home because I can control what goes in the recipe. You should give some of my other homemade condiments a try like cheese sauce, the popular Utah fry sauce, or easy buffalo sauce.

Close up photo of creamy mayonnaise in a mason jar with a knife lifting out mayonnaise. Lemons and eggs in the background.

Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe

Everyone loves mayonnaise. Its thick and creamy texture makes it a must-have condiment for so many things! It’s a staple at my house, and my oldest son went crazy over this recipe! Mayonnaise can be used to spread on sandwiches, hamburgers, or wraps, and he used it all up on everything that he could! I use this so much, and I’ve even used it in a chocolate cake before!

Not only is mayo a condiment, but it’s also used as the base for many dressings. It perfectly combines flavors of all kinds to create delicious creamy textures. I love to use homemade mayonnaise in my homemade dressings like this dressing. It is also great in sauces like this one, or even in recipes like my chicken salad. Once you make it from scratch, you will never buy it at the store again!

What Ingredients Are in Homemade Mayonnaise?

You only need a few ingredients to make homemade mayonnaise. Most likely you have all the ingredients on hand to make this recipe so be sure to check the recipe card at the end of this post before you go to the store.

Large Egg: All this recipe calls for is one egg, (use the whole egg, not just the egg yolk). Make sure it is at room temperature!
Fresh Lemon Juice: This will stabilize the mayo and also adds a delicious taste.
Salt: A pinch of salt helps season the flavors and balance out the lemon.
Canola Oil: Oil helps bind the ingredients together. You can also use avocado oil, vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil if you prefer.

How Do You Make Mayonnaise?

Making homemade mayonnaise is science in the kitchen! Emulsifying oil with the egg is what creates the thick and creamy mixture. You don’t want broken mayonnaise (where the ingredients don’t emulsify together) so follow the easy instructions closely to make this mayonnaise.

Add to jar: In a jar or bowl add the egg, lemon juice, and salt.
Emulsify: Place your immersion blender at the bottom of the jar and start blending the mixture while you slowly add the oil.
Thicken: Keep blending until it thickens and is all combined.
Store: Store in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to one week.

Four process photos of how to make mayonnaise. First photo is a mason jar with egg, lemon juice, and salt. Second photo of hand blender blending in the oil as it pours in. Third photo is the hand blender blending all the ingredients in the mason jar. Fourth photo is the creamy finished mayonnase in the mason jar.

IMPORTANT TIP

There is one very important trick to making perfectly creamy thick homemade mayonnaise. After many attempts and research, I now have the answer!

THE EGG MUST BE ROOM TEMPERATURE: I bolded this tip because it’s the key to this recipe. I researched a lot of recipes and found that a cold egg can result in runny mayonnaise. In order to achieve a thick mixture, the egg must be at least 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have time to allow the egg to come to room temperature, submerge the egg in warm water for about 15 minutes.

Top view photo of mayonnaise in mason jar with a knife covered in mayonnaise and lifting out of the jar.

How to Store Mayonnaise

Because homemade mayo is made with a raw egg, be sure to follow these instructions when storing your mayonnaise. Make sure to keep it refrigerated and then you can always have some on hand!

Refrigerator: Store in the fridge tightly covered in a sealable container for 5-7 days. The rule of thumb for homemade mayonnaise is that it will last as long as your eggs would last.