My husband abhors mayonnaise with a passion. Despite this, both of our boys ended up being fans of mayonnaise just like their mom. If you find yourself on the pro-mayonnaise side, and want to avoid inflammatory oils, this recipe for Basic Paleo MayonnaiseΒ is for you.
Why Make Your Own Paleo Mayonnaise at Home?
One of the main reasons I like to make my own mayo is it is almost impossible to find a brand in the grocery store that is not made with soybean oil (yuck!). And any food made with soybean oil is, by definition, a low quality food. And it’s not just soybean oil we should try to avoid, it’s any highly (high temperature and pressure) processed vegetable or seed oil. Sadly, these oils are in virtually all commercial mayonnaise and salad dressing products.
What Type of Oil Should Be Used in Paleo Mayonnaise?
Rather than soybean, canola or grapeseed, using extra virgin olive oil is a much more healthful choice. The challenge with olive oil (besides making sure it really IS olive oil!) is the flavor can sometimes be too strong to work well in mayonnaise. My recipe recommends you use regular olive oil, sometimes called “light” or “extra light” olive oil, instead of the usual Extra Virgin Olive Oils.
Here’s the one I used this time.
Another option is to use something like avocado oil which has a mild to neutral flavor but, unfortunately, without the same level of health benefits as good olive oil.
What are Some of the Challenges with Making Mayo at Home?
One of the fears people have in making their own mayo is the use of raw eggs*. In reality, the risk of getting salmonella is fairly low. The risk is even lower if you use farm fresh eggs and, as it says on the carton, you CAN taste the difference.
Check out these beautiful, farm fresh eggs from one of my neighbors.
Another challenge with making mayonnaise at home is kitchen tools. I personally use an immersion blender with a container that came with the appliance. But you can also use a whisk if you have the skill to whisk briskly for a bit of extended time while pouring oil slowly. To get the best out of the immersion blender, you have to make a fairly large amount of mayonnaise. I recommend you think about your weekly menu and plan to incorporate some tuna or chicken salad.
What About Flavored Mayonnaise?
As I mentioned, my husband hates mayonnaise. The funny thing is he will eat “aioli”. I haven’t had the heart to tell him it’s basically mayonnaise with some additional flavoring added. In this recipe for basic paleo mayonnaise, the first four ingredientsΒ will give you a very basic tasting condiment. The addition of the mustard and cayenne give the mayonnaise a little extra flavor without turning it into a “flavored” mayo. Beyond that, you can get creative and make your own “aioli” with a few tweaks.
Basic Paleo Mayonnaise Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 farm fresh pastured** eggs
- 2 cups light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or fresh lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon fine celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Combine the eggs, vinegar, salt, mustard (if using) and cayenne (if using) in a blender*** and pulse a few times until frothy.
- With the blender running, add the olive oil a little at a time – almost drop by drop at first – until an emulsion starts to form.
- Continue adding the rest of the oil in a slow, steady stream.
- Add more salt or other ingredients to taste.
- Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Notes and Tips for Paleo Mayonnaise:
*Note: Raw eggs should not be used in food prepared for pregnant women, babies, young children, the elderly, or anyone whose health is compromised. To pasteurize your own eggs check out this link.
** “Pastured”, which is often confused with “pasteurized”, means the chickens have had the chance to roam around and forage for weeds, worms and other bugs. Chickens are not vegetarians and the more little critters they eat the higher their eggs are in Omega-3 fatty acid. The yolks of pastured chickens are often darken yellow/orange as a result of their superior diet.
***You may also choose to use a bowl and a balloon whisk OR the best way to do this, IMHO, is with an immersion blender in a narrow container.
For best results, make sure your ingredients are room temperature.
PrintBasic Mayonnaise Recipe for Your Paleo Diet
Paleo Mayonnaise
- Category: condiment
Ingredients
- 2 farm fresh pastured** eggs
- 2 cups light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or fresh lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon fine celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine the room temperature eggs, vinegar, salt, mustard (if using) and cayenne (if using) in a blender*** and pulse a few times until frothy.
- With the blender running, add the olive oil a little at a time – almost drop by drop at first – until an emulsion starts to form.
- Continue adding the rest of the oil in a slow, steady stream.
- Add more salt or other ingredients to taste.
- Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
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I also make my own mayo in an attempt to eliminate soybean oil. The first time I made it I used EVOO and we did not care for the strong taste. Now I use walnut oil. No funky taste. Just a thought if you need a change. π
Chantel,
That’s a great idea to use walnut oil. I love that stuff! My oldest son is allergic to nuts so I don’t think he can have walnut oil (not sure how allergies work with oils). He’s one of my top customers for mayo so I have to keep him in mind. But have you tried avocado oil? I like that one too and he can eat it. Seems like it would be good in mayo as well. Thanks for the tip.
Lea
I use grapeseed oil due to nut allergy, mayo turns out wonderful.
I just made a batch of my own mayo! I used EVOO, extra lemon juice, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger, and black pepper. Is it strange that I want to eat it by the spoonful? It’s SO GOOD!
Wow, your recipe for mayo sounds yummy. There are so many things that can be done. I want to try a chipotle mayo next.
I just started the paleo way of life (2 days ago). So far so good but my first attempt at paleo brownies failed miserably (but thatβs a different topic). Anyways I thought I’d give the author some ideas for paleo beer battered fish. For the past few years I’ve been substituting the beer for the battered fish with vodka. I saw a cooking show once where the chef stated that the higher alcohol concentration in the vodka means that it will boil off much quicker then beer which leaves the batter lighter and crispier. It does! So I usually do equal parts flour/breading with my vodka. I guess if you substitute almond meal instead of the flour it may just work! You could season the almond meal with whatever spices/herbs you want to give it flavor. I’m an avid fisherman so another tip when dealing with fish, marinate then in milk (I guess almond milk would work if we are being paleo conscious) along with sliced onions for a few hours before cooking. It will absorb all the fishy taste/smell that comes with a lot of fresh water fish species (perch, walleye & catfish). Hope this helps!
Chris,
The vodka idea is very interesting! My husband would probably love to try that one himself. I’m still getting the hang of working with almond flour and coconut flour and I would be curious to see how the higher alcohol content in the vodka works in a batter recipe. I’m in the process of working out that one so I definitely appreciate your advice.
Lea
Try Tapioca Flour and club soda….makes a light fluffy batter!
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup club soda
1 egg
salt/pepper to taste
Thanks for the recipe. I’d love to try doing this, although I’d probably try a different oil because we use extra light olive oil as part of the Shangri-La Diet. I pinned it: http://pinterest.com/pin/91690542383707328/
Hi Eryn,
I had never heard of the Shangri-La Diet prior to your comment so I went and read up on it. Wouldn’t you want to use extra light olive oil in this recipe since that is what is used in the diet? Or is it just that you already consume that anyway so you prefer a different oil for a change of pace? Just curious. Seth Robert’s ideas are very interesting. I’ll have to read more about it.
Thanks, Lea
Perfect, I was looking for a easy way to make some mayo for a paleo egg salad, good advice on the oil and how to add it in to the food processor.
Although not nearly as good as organic, cage free, local eggs – Egg Beaters are pasteurized and worked equally as well when I used the recipe last night. Next time I may try to pasteurize my own eggs but in a pinch it worked well and I am not willing to pass on even a 1% risk of infection to my kids with unpasteurized eggs.
Just an FYI, I found the technique at Serious Eats works better and faster for making the mayo: http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/10/the-food-lab-homemade-mayo-in-2-minutes-or-le.html
Trying to slowly dribble oil in while blending AND holding the container so it doesn’t move resulted in failure after failure and a huge mess in my kitchen. The secret to the immersion blender technique is to allow the oil to float to the top of the container and not move the blender until it starts turning white.
I tried it with my immersion blender and couldn’t get it to work. The actual blade was not meeting the oil. But maybe the container I was using was too wide.
There are three important parts to getting perfect mayo:
* narrow container (so too much oil is not introduced at once)
* room temp ingredients
* giving the egg & oil time to settle and separate before blending.
I use the blender and container shown here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EGA6QI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=m08a0-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000EGA6QI
I used extra virgin avocado oil and extra lemon juice and it turned out amazing.
Did you ever publish the Paleo Beer Battered Fish Recipe? I looked but I couldn’t find it. I’m just starting Paleo after a juice fast and would love some fish and chips. Thanks!!!
I’d love to see that “Battered Fish” recipe. Did you end up developing a successful recipe?
I have made this recipe 3 times now. The first time it turned out beautiful and delicious and perfect, the next two times everything seemed to be going swimmingly, and just as I was about to finish off putting the last few drops of oil in the blender, the thick, creamy mayonnaisse turns to liquid in an instant. What am I doing wrong??
Kasie,
You are not alone in finding that homemade mayo can be finicky. I’ve read that the temperature of the bowl you use can be part of the problem – that warmer is better. Here’s a pretty good article I found with some hints. Good luck! http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/09/what-to-do-when-your-mayonnaise-wont-set-how-to-thicken-failed-mayo.html
I tried making the recipe the way it is done by Loren Cordain. He recommended using 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 flaxseed oil, which I had never tasted before. I almost croaked! There was something very funky smelling about the end result, which definitely did look like mayo. But the taste was like something rancid and gross! I use a Blendtec blender and actually thought my son left something funky in there from his protein shakes. But it wasn’t that at all! I went to smell the brand new bottle of flaxseed oil I had just purchased, and it smelled like a dead cat! Ugh! My husband said it smelled strong, but he thought that flaxseed just had that kind of aroma.
Well, I threw it out, and started over using only extra light virgin olive oil, and rest of the simple ingredients, and it turned out perfect. However, it definitely called for some sea salt and cayenne pepper! The only thing I’m concerned about is using the organic raw egg, as I’ve had a stomachache since trying it. May be mind over matter. But the mayo did turn out perfect! I will definitely try yours though, almost the same, just double the ingredients I used.
Thanks for a great recipe. I halved the recipe but then I added an egg yolk and more apple cider vinegar and mustard. I use an immersion blender and it is fool proof plus you can make it in a wide mouthed jar and that eliminates waste and clean up. (Those lovely oils are too expensive to leave on the sides of a blender canister)
I think that’s a great idea, Cathy. You are right about wasting the oil. When using premium oils like this you don’t want any waste.
you said soybean oil is low quality. extra light olive oil is low quality and often mixed with other vegetable oils.
Mine came out pure liquid. Any saving it???
Katie,
It sounds like your mayonnaise “broke”. You can fix it by starting with a fresh egg yolk and then slowly beating the broken mayonnaise into the yolk. The yolk will help the broken mayonnaise “re-emulsify”. Good luck. It happens to all of us. π
Hello. I am checking up to see if you ever finished the beer-battered fish recipe. I would love to try it. My whole family is now gluten free, with my wife leaning toward paleo even more. We would love to be able to get our fried fish fix. Thanks in advance!!!
This recipe turned out PERFECT. SOOO DELICIOUS! I’ve been wanting to make this garlic dijon honey dipping sauce to go with some chicken fingers and the recipe called for some mayo π I didn’t want to cheat on my Whole30 challenge, so I decided to give this a try. I went super slow with the avocado oil (I used a 6mL syringe to drip it into my blender… took forever, but my mayo turned out on the first try!) and everything turned out perfect. It tastes absolutely delicious; thank you so much for the recipe and the instructions!
Wow, the technique with the syringe is quite innovative! Great idea. And I really happy it worked out for you.
Just made this – it’s in fridge hardening up. Wondering – can I use this in recipes involving baking? Wanted to do the Hellmans mayo chicken thing – cover chicken breasts in mayo and Parmesan cheese and bake. Will this mayo work for that?
Thanks!
Hi Charles,
That’s a good question. I haven’t tried using it in a recipe like baked chicken breasts but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. I suppose there might be additives in store-bought mayo that help it hold up in cooking. But as long as you have something coating the chicken it would probably work much the same way. Parmesan cheese will melt a bit so you might need to mix that with something like almond flour or a small amount of coconut flour. It might be a bit of an experiment. I hope it works out for you. Good luck!
Does it freeze well?
I’ve never tried freezing mayo. But I’m fairly certain the emulsion would break as soon as you try to defrost it so I don’t recommend you freeze it.
I did not have any light olive oil, so used extra virgin instead. The mayo turned out bitter. Is that normal?
Well, EVOO has a very strong flavor so it’s probably something you are not used to tasting in a mayo which is why I tend to use oils that are milder in flavor.
Do you have to have an immersion blender!? i have a ninja…
You can use a regular blender. Or if you have an immersion blender and a container that’s kind of narrow you can use that. There’s a link in the post to instructions on using an immersion blender. I haven’t used a ninja so I’m not sure how that works – if you can drizzle oil into it gradually while it is running, for instance.
My Ninja only has a top opening in the 64 ounce mixing canister. The opening is latched and a little awkward. I think the Kitchen Aid mixer would work better.
Are you supposed to used the whole egg (yolk + white) or just the egg yolk?
In this recipe I used the whole egg.