Quick Homemade Mayonnaise

A quick homemade mayonnaise recipe using an immersion blender, aka, stick blender. This is a pretty fail proof recipe for creamy delicious mayonnaise. A great alternative to muscle building, bicep numbing, hand whisking.

Unlike spilt milk, I've cried over making mayonnaise. I say this is a fail proof method, and it basically is. But my mayonnaise philosophy is, no matter how good you are, it can still all go pear shape.

I have a friend that simply looks at some dijon, lemon juice, egg yolk, oil, and somehow mayonnaise magically appears.

Unlike an experience of mine a few years ago on Christmas Eve. Family and friends were coming to dinner, and no matter how hard I tried my mayonnaise failed. Time, after time, after time.

On the fourth attempt, I was a blubbering mess on the kitchen floor, out of oil and eggs. A mad dash to the local supermarket and a bottle of Kewpie came to the rescue.

My top tip for making mayonnaise is this. Make it well in advance, the night before or the morning of. When your "the guests are coming" stress level is at its lowest point.

Plus, have a jar or bottle of a good quality mayonnaise on standby as a backup. Then, with Murphy's law in play, you won't need to use it.

Sara xxx

Ingredients

I like to keep the taste profile of my homemade mayonnaise rather neutral. Then it acts as a base to add different flavours. You could make lemon, chipotle, saffron, or even garlic mayonnaise. The variations are endless.

1. Oil: Use a neutral tasting oil such as canola, or vegetable oil. You can also use a light tasting olive oil, but be aware that the flavour will impart itself on the finished mayonnaise.
2. Salt: A sprinkle for seasoning. It is best to add a small sprinkle to start, you can always add more to the finished mayonnaise if you feel it needs it.
3. Vinegar: White wine, or white vinegar, along with verjuice are perfect for mayonnaise. Avoid brown, or red wine vinegar. In theory they can be used, but again like the olive oil, will change the flavour profile of the mayonnaise. If you want to make a lemon mayonnaise use lemon juice instead of the vinegar.
4. Mustard: Dijon mustard as it is a mild tasting mustard. You can't really taste it in the mayonnaise and it acts as an emulsifer and stabliser.
5. Egg Yolk: Make sure your eggs are very fresh and free range. If a little egg white slips in don't stress, your mayonnaise will still work.

Suggested Uses

There are numerous ways to use homemade mayonnaise. I feel if you have gone to all the effort of making it, it is best enjoyed as is. Is there anything more delicious than serving freshly made mayonnaise with chilled cooked prawns on Christmas Day?

• It is perfect in creamy based salads like Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, or Curry Mango Turkey Salad.
• Honey Mustard Dressing, or Chipotle Mayonnaise.
• Makes a great base for tartare sauce to go along with gingerbeer battered fish and chips.
• And is the foundation to marie rose sauce for classic prawn cocktails.

How to Make Homemead Mayonnaise

Scroll to the bottom of the page for a printable version of this recipe.

Place egg yolk, mustard, vinegar, and a pinch of salt in the beaker for your immersion blender.

Try to centre the egg yolk in the middle of the beaker if you can. Obviously from the above photo, I failed that step. But it does make it easier to get the egg yolk under the stick blender without it breaking.

Place the immersion blender over the top of the egg yolk in the beaker. Make sure the blender is touching the bottom of the beaker.

Pour oil into the beaker while the blender is in there and is covering the egg yolk. The blender IS NOT running on at this time.

Turn the blender on and allow it to blend the egg yolk, mustard, and vinegar for a few seconds. The blender will also start to draw in some of the oil into the egg yolk mixture and it will start to emulsify.

Once the mixture starts to emulsify start moving the immersion blender upwards to allow more oil to be drawn in.

Continue doing this until all the oil has turned into a thick creamy mixture, mayonnaise. You can see my immersion blender mayo skills in action over on Instagram.

Don't worry if the mayonnaise looks a little lumpy, and there is a little oil not emulsified. Simply give the mayo a mix with a spoon and it will come together and look creamy.

How to Fix Broken Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise can break. By break I mean it doesn't go all thick and creamy. Instead, you have a bowl of oily liquid which didn't emulsify. Instead of starting from scratch, there are a couple of tricks you can try to save it.

1. An Extra Egg Yolk: Place an egg yolk in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the broken mayonnaise mixture. All going well it should come together and thicken. I find simply adding an extra egg yolk to the beaker for the immersion blender and re-blending can be hit and miss.
2. Boiling Water: Either place the broken mayonnaise in a bowl, and use a whisk, or continue with the immersion blender method. Add 3 teaspoons of boiling water to the bowl and whisk, or to the blender and blend. It should thicken and come together.

Sara's Top Mayo FAQs & Tips