Super Easy Whole30 Avocado Mayo
The first recipe I ever saw for homemade mayo involved aggressively whisking a room temperature egg yolk while simultaneously drizzling oil into your bowl. I take issue with several aspects of that recipe. First of all, how does anyone even have enough hands for that?! Second, there’s just way too much room for error. And third, I don’t really want to exhaust myself making a condiment.
The second recipe I saw (and the first one I ever tried) was similar, but used a food processor instead. It eliminated the need for at least three hands, but for some reason it didn’t work for me. It turned into a weird, oily mess, and I vowed to never make homemade mayonnaise again.
But then, last year I saw a recipe for homemade mayo that used an immersion blender, and I thought I’d give it a try.
It turned out pretty well, but I still had some issues with the recipe. For one, it wanted me to use a room temperature egg yolk, and it still wanted me to drizzle in half of the oil. It also called for “light” olive oil, and to me the flavor was just a little bit off.
Since my first Whole30 almost a year ago, I have really struggled with reconciling my desire to make things from scratch and the need for simplicity in my life. It’s not always easy to lead a healthy lifestyle, but I’ve made it my mission to get rid of needless complications in the kitchen. Not only does it discourage me when I feel overwhelmed at the prospect of an overcomplicated, difficult recipe, but it also sucks up the valuable time I’d rather be spending with my family.
So when I discovered this recipe on the Healthy Foodie blog that promised “foolproof” homemade mayo without any fuss whatsoever, I was super excited to try it. No need for drizzling or room temperature anything!
That recipe changed the way I thought about mayonnaise! I could literally whip up a batch in less than two minutes. Infinite condiment possibilities!
I made some tweaks to the recipe, the major one being that I prefer to use avocado oil instead of light olive oil. Overall I prefer the taste with avocado oil, but you can try it with light olive oil if that’s what you have. Whatever you do, do not use extra virgin olive oil. Trust me, I did it once and it was inedible…
Instructions
You’ll need one egg (cold is just fine), one cup of avocado oil, lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and (optionally) yellow mustard. Place all your ingredients into a wide-mouth, one pint mason jar (or similarly shaped container with a fairly small opening).
Put your immersion blender into the jar, letting it rest on the bottom. Turn the blender on high and hold it there at the bottom for about 30 seconds. You’ll see the mayo starting to “happen” almost immediately!
After about 30 seconds, start to lift up your blender to fully incorporate any oil that may be siting on top of the mixture. This isn’t rocket science, just blend a bit up and down until it all looks creamy and mayonnaise-y. Like this…
Now, take a taste and add more salt or lemon juice if you like. It’s that simple!
If you used a mason jar to make the mayo, you can store it right in the jar. I like to use these plastic lids and write the date on the top with a dry erase marker so I’ll know when it’s time to toss.
You have 1-2 weeks to eat it up, but I usually don’t use it after one week (plus, it’s normally all consumed by then!).
Now, go make some chicken salad, salad dressing, or Whole30 Fry Sauce!
- 1 cup Avocado oil or light olive oil
- 1 fresh Egg cold is just fine
- 1-2 tbsp Lemon juice more to taste
- 1 pinch Salt more to taste
- Place all ingredients in a wide-mouth mason jar or similarly shaped container with a small opening at the top (a bowl won't work well for this).
- Place your immersion blender into the jar and let it rest on the bottom. Blend for about 30 seconds while holding the blender on at the bottom.
- While still blending, gently lift the blender up and down a few times to incorporate any oil sitting on the top. The result will be creamy, thick, delicious mayo in less than 60 seconds.
- Taste and add extra salt and lemon juice if needed. Store in a container with tightly fitting lid for 1-2 weeks.
I’ve had avocado oil for a while and this seems like a great way to start using it!
If I don’t have an immersion blender, do you know how can this be modified for a food processor? (i.e., should I still drizzle it?)
Thanks!
Yes, you can do it in a food processor just like you described by drizzling it in. However, it’s not as foolproof. I suggest purchasing an immersion blender (they are very affordable, less than $20) if you want perfect mayo every time! 🙂
Yum, this was good and super easy! Thanks!
This is my first time ever making homemade mayo and I will never buy this in the store again! I used my immersion blender and it took less than a minute and is perfect! . I don’t know if it made a difference but I let the egg sit out for about a minute, used about 3 TBSP fresh lemon juice and sea salt. Mixed the mayo with canned tuna… so good! Thank you for this crazy easy recipe!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This did not work. I ended up with yellow-colored oil. Disappointed.
I’m sorry Kate! My mother in law had the same problem a couple of times and it turned out that she didn’t have her immersion blender set on high. Sometimes immersion blenders with lower speeds don’t have enough power to get the mayo to take. I hope this solves your problem!
Same!!! I’ve had success with blenders. This time i thought i would try the immersion blender (on high) for an easier way – and didn’t at all 🙁
What a bummer! I’ve never had it fail for me, so I’m sorry I can’t help troubleshoot the issue 🙁
If it doesn’t come together throw in an extra egg!!! Had that problem for the first time tonight and thought “what the heck? If it doesn’t work it’s garbage anyway”…worked perfectly!!
Interesting! Thanks for sharing your tip 🙂
I just finished making this and it worked PERFECTLY. Thank you!
Awesome! So glad it worked well for you – enjoy!!
That….was….AMAZING!! I didn’t know I could get so excited about making mayonnaise. lol Thank you so much. The recipe turned out pretty tasty too. I added 1/4 tsp. turmeric and it was pretty good. Used half white wine and half apple cider vinegar. Will definitely be my go to recipe for mayo and will share the link also. 🙂
Awesome!! 🙂
Thanks for the recipe, after watching my boyfriend fail a few times with other recipes, I tried this one and it worked immediately!
My notes to anyone trying it is have a heavy hand with the salt and a light hand with the lemon, you can always add more too!
So happy it worked for you! I’m the opposite with the salt and lemon 🙂 I LOVE tons of lemon in my mayo!
Can I use a regular blender?
I have not found success using a regular blender, but your results may vary! An immersion blender on high gives me perfect results every time.
First time making homemade mayo…delish! I used my Vitamix on the variable setting 10 and it worked great!! I will never buy store bought mayo again!
Wonderful! I still need to get me a Vitamix! So many awesome things you can do with them.
This is so easy, it’s ridiculous!!! ( I always thought the food processor way, drizzling the oil in, was the optimal method. Wrong!) I like mine with 2 Tbsp of lemon, 2 pinches of salt, and added a 1/4 tsp of mustard powder. So good. I may or may not have licked my fingers 😉
Isn’t it, though? So easy and so delicious. So glad it worked out well for you 🙂