While there are many good brands of mayonnaise on the market, most of them are made with unhealthy oils such as canola or soybean. If you eat the stuff as much as I do, it’s a good idea to try making your own paleo mayonnaise at home. In this post, I share Julia Child’s recipe for a perfect, homemade mayo.
I remember the days when I thought that mayonnaise was fatty and unhealthy and as much as I love it as a condiment and dressing, I would try and avoid it. Then, I learnt to love fats and realised that actually, in itself, mayonnaise is a nutritious food and great for those following a low-carb, high-fat diet such as paleo, keto or Whole30.
Mayonnaise is essentially an egg and oil emulsion with some flavourings like mustard, vinegar and salt. It can be used in so many ways, which is why it’s such as popular condiment and ingredient.
The problem with most mayonnaise brands you buy from a supermarket is the oil used in the recipe. Unlike traditional French, olive oil-based mayonnaise, most commercial varieties use less intense tasting oils like soybean, canola or sunflower. These oils are very high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids. In addition, these oils have a tendency to oxidise and go rancid quickly.
Store-Bought Paleo Mayonnaise
There are a couple of paleo mayonnaise brands on the market that use olive oil, avocado oil or macadamia oil as a base but it’s often safer, easier and more economical to make your own. If you do want to just buy a paleo-friendly mayo, check out this brand on Amazon US & Canada, this brand in Australia, and this brand in the UK.
People often think that mayonnaise is hard to make. But, it’s a little bit like baking: as long as you get your measurements, temperatures and timing right, you should get pretty good results. I’ve tried a few different methods but after some research and testing, this traditional French mayonnaise by Julia Child turned out to be an absolute stunner.
Tips For Making Your Own Paleo Mayonnaise
Essentially, mayonnaise is an emulsion of water and fat. Here are a few quick guidelines for making a perfect mayonnaise:
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. If they aren’t, bring them to the right temperature by either warming the mixing bowl in hot water to take the chill out of the egg yolks or heat the oil until tepid warm. I just left everything on the kitchen bench for a couple of hours prior.
- Beat the egg yolks for a minute or two before adding the oil, they need to get thick, sticky and glossy first.
- Add the oil very slowly, a teaspoon at a time, until the emulsion process begins and the mixture turns into heavy cream-like consistency, after which you can pour the rest of the oil much quicker.
- The maximum amount of oil one egg yolk can absorb is about 3/4 cups, after which the binding properties of the egg break down and the sauce starts to thin and curdle. The safest amount is 1/2 cup of oil per egg yolk so stick to that when starting out.
The proportions of the ingredients look something like this: 2 egg yolks+1 cup fat (oil) + 2-3 tablespoons vinegar/lemon juice= about 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise. Then you can also add mustard, garlic powder, anchovies, capers, dill and so on.
The following is a Juliar Child mayonnaise recipe and the directions are for a hand-beaten sauce (using a wire whisk). For electric beaters, use a large bowl and the speed that you would use for whipping cream. Use a round-bottomed glass or stainless steel mixing bowl. Set it on a damp towel to keep it from slipping. An immersion blender is also great for making mayonnaise.
More Homemade Paleo Condiments
- 12 Ways To Use Mayonnaise
- 15 Popular Paleo Salad Dressings
- Paleo Satay Sauce
- Paleo & Vegan Cheese Sauce
- Perfect Dairy-Free Basil Pesto
- Paleo BBQ Sauce With Apples & Cinnamon
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Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks free-range, save the whites for an omelette
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice, more drops as needed to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Dijon dry or ready mustard
- 2 cups olive oil macadamia oil or avocado oil (or a mixture of each), a little less can work as well
- 2 tablespoons boiling hot water
Instructions
- Warm the bowl in hot water and then dry it. Add the egg yolks and beat for 1 to 2 minutes until they are thick and sticky.
- Add the vinegar or lemon juice, salt and mustard. Beat for 10 seconds.
- The egg yolks are now ready to receive the oil. While it goes in, drop-by-drop, you must not stop beating until the sauce has thickened. A speed of 2 strokes per second is fast enough.
- You can switch hands or switch directions, as long as you beat constantly.
- Add the drops of oil with a teaspoon, or rest the lip of the bottle on the edge of the bowl. Keep your eye on the oil rather than on the sauce. Stop pouring and continue beating every 10 seconds or so, to be sure the egg yolks are absorbing the oil.
- After 1/3 to 1/2 cup of oil has been incorporated, the sauce will thicken into heavy cream and the crisis of potential curdling is over. The beating arm may rest a moment. Then, beat in the remaining oil by 1 to 2 tablespoons, blending it thoroughly after each addition.
- When the sauce becomes too thick and stiff, beat in drops of vinegar or lemon juice to thin it out. Then continue with the oil.
- Add the hot water into the sauce. This is anti-curdling insurance. Season to taste. If the sauce is not used immediately, scrape it into a small bowl and cover it tightly so a skin will not form on its surface.
Yum! Can’t wait to try this xo
This is a great post! I just put a mayo recipe on my site today, with nowhere near as much detail as this. Definitely adding a link to yours for further reading.
Mickey
Ooh, those salmon patties on your site look yum!!!
Great recipe.
Quick tip for those in a rush, use a stick-blender.
Dump all ingredients into a deep beaker/stick-blender-type-cup and put in blender all the way to the bottom. Blend. You should be done in about 30 seconds.
Truly!
Thanks Bex for the stick-blender tip. Works a treat – thick creamy mayo in around 10 seconds. Thanks Irena for the recipe, it’s delicious.
Thanks Carol! Irena 🙂
Awesome, how long will this keep in the fridge after it is made? 🙂
About a week…
I don’t get why anyone uses Olive Oil, to make Mayonnaise, it has too strong a flavour, compared to other taste neutral oils, like rapeseed oil…
Hey Ole, if one was concerned with just the flavour then of course something like sunflower, canola or grapeseed oil would give you a much milder taste. The problem with a lot industrial vegetable and seed oils, especially rapeseed, is that they contain very high amounts of Omega-6 fatty acids (which are pro-inflammatory) and they are very prone to oxidation. Olive oil and macadamia oil have a lower level of Omega-6 and more natural and are therefore used in the paleo cooking. I hope that clarifies my choice 🙂
This has me wanting to make a paleo waldorf salad with some chicken, Ive never seen macadamia oil, I’ll have to keep an eye out for it now 🙂
Not sure about where you are, but in Montreal Costco carries an avocado oil which is absolutely brilliant for this.
So I followed this recipe very closely, but I ended up with a very yellow runny product. Where did I go wrong? Help!
Same problem…sigh
Me, too. Tried it twice. Tasted bitter with an awful after taste and was runny and yellow.
make sure all ingredients are ROOM TEMP
Best mayo ever! I tried it and everyone loved it!!
I did it! Put in a squezze bottle..ready for 4 the of July BBQ 😉
Nice one Nana!
Just wanted to let you know I made this and it came out great! I totally forgot about the boiling water but it still came out very nice 🙂
Thanks Gabriella 🙂
Thank you for a great recipe! I make one egg yolk since the shelf like isn’t too long, and use apple cider vinegar.I’ve started adding dill and it makes my lettuce wrap sandwiches taste awesome. I’ve also made this into tartar sauce by adding dill and cucumbers. This has been a lifesaver while on the GAPS diet journey.
Thanks Asha! I love a good mayo, it just goes with everything and makes it more exciting. Tuna and sardine salads and even as a dollop on my hard-boiled eggs.
Thank you for sharing all of the modifications you made to this recipe; they sound amazing!
Just made this and it’s amazing! How long will it keep in a mason jar in the refrigerator?
Well, I think for a couple of weeks for sure. The fat in it should preserve the mayo for a little while.
Would it work as well if you use a kitchen aid stand mixer instead of beating it by hand?
Yes, probably even better.
What a great recipe! Just made this with coconut oil and its an absolute heaven. Thank you 🙂
Oh wow, I have never tried it with coconut oil. Did you melt the oil first?
Made this today with avocado oil and I used acv in place of the white wine vinegar. I also made it in my kitchen-aid mixer. It didn’t whip my egg yolks very well so I whisked those by hand and then put it on the mixer with the whip and this work lovely! If I had known homemade mayo was so easy and delicious I would have been doing this for years!
That’s awesome! How did you find the avocado oil for taste? Was the mayo green-ish?
Amazing idea
So smooth n yummy
Easy to follow recipe, best of all I can enjoy the best of life with out the guilt.
Loved the variety of oil options and what to expect in colour and flavor.
Thanks Irina 👍
This looks wonderful. I am concerned about eating and storing mayo with raw eggs in it. Do you have any comments about that?
The fat of the oil helps to preserve the eggs, especially as mayo is refrigerated. You can always make a small batch at a time so you only keep it for a week or so, and make sure to use super fresh eggs.
How long will this last in the fridge? I’d probably store it in a glass mason jar with a lid.
A week or so
Nice presentation. It is a very easy process to prepare paleo mayonnaise with healthier ingredients.