This Homemade Mayonnaise Recipe is fail-proof and produces the best tasting mayonnaise ever! It is perfect for sandwiches, salads, dips and more. Use this homemade mayonnaise anyway you would use store-bought mayonnaise.

Easy Homemade Mayonnaise

We first learned how to make mayonnaise (or mayo) in our secondary school Food and Nutrition class. Secondary school in Cameroon, where we grew up, is similar to Middle School in the United States.

After learning in Food and Nutrition class that a girl could make her own mayonnaise at home, we went back home and made as much as we could!

This foolproof mayonnaise Recipe is one of those recipes that has stuck with us throughout our life.

We have made mayonnaise at home more times than we can count, tweaking the original recipe we learned, trying different techniques and now we have a homemade mayonnaise recipe we can proudly share with you.

We also have some helpful tips for you (see below) to guide you in making your own mayonnaise.

This is the best homemade mayonnaise recipe you will ever make. The mayo is creamy, with a lovely custardy texture, and just the right amount of tartness. It is finger-licking satisfying and you’ll want to put it on everything!

Homemade Mayonnaise is way better than storebought. It is so much healthier with no sneaky ingredients, it is easy to make, and you can customize it by adding other ingredients you like (more on this below).

Ingredients Needed

You need 4 main simple ingredients for homemade mayonnaise: egg yolks, oil, vinegar and salt. These are ingredients you can easily pick up from the grocery store. This combination of ingredients emulsifies to produce mayonnaise. But the mayo won’t be so flavorful. So, for the best-tasting mayonnaise, here are all the ingredients you need:

Egg Yolks: Egg yolks are the base ingredient for mayonnaise. You only need egg yolks to make homemade mayonnaise. Keep the egg whites in another recipe, like coconut macaroons, or just scramble them and enjoy! Egg yolks make the mayonnaise rich, as homemade mayonnaise should be. Some people use whole eggs, and that’s okay too. We find that whole egg produces a whiter looking mayonnaise than mayo with just egg yolks. We prefer egg yolks in our mayonnaise for their richness and the authentic off-white mayonnaise color they give the mayonnaise.
Mild-Tasting Oil: Oil added to egg yolks is what makes mayonnaise thicken. For the best results, use a neutral-flavored oil for homemade mayonnaise. We recommend light olive oil. Oils like soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil or peanut oil work well. Avocado oil will work too and has great health benefits. However, do not use Extra-Virgin Olive Oil in homemade mayonnaise. The flavor of EVOO will overwhelm the taste of the mayo. If you would like to use olive oil, use the light kind that looks like vegetable oil. It has a much better flavor.
Vinegar: The acidity in vinegar is needed for emulsion to properly form. Vinegar also adds tartness to mayo. White vinegar, red vinegar or apple cider vinegar all work in homemade mayonnaise. If you use red vinegar though, note that it might add a hint of a pink color to the mayonnaise.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice adds much needed acidity and brightness to mayonnaise. Using a combination of vinegar and freshly squeezed lemon juice produces the best tasting mayonnaise. The lemon adds a brighter and fresher flavor that vinegar alone can not add.
Ground White pepper: White pepper adds flavor to the mayonnaise. White pepper is ideal for seasoning mayonnaise because it blends in with the color of the mayo. If you don’t mind seeing black flecks in your mayo, use ground black pepper instead.
Salt. Salt brings out the flavors in mayonnaise. You could use regular salt or sea salt.
Mustard. This helps stabilize mayonnaise and also adds flavor. Also, mustard contains lecithin that further helps the emulsion of mayonnaise. You could use Dijon mustard or yellow mustard. Some people add mustard powder but we haven’t tested the recipe with that. Mayonnaise could also be made without mustard. Not all storebought brands contain mustard. We have made mayonnaise many times without mustard, and it turned out just fine.
Sugar. Sugar balances the flavor of mayonnaise beautifully. With only one teaspoon of sugar for two cups of mayonnaise, it is a very low amount of sugar per serving. Also, the mayonnaise doesn’t taste anything close to sweet. But that hint of sugar adds a little extra something in taste that completes this mayo recipe.

For the full list of ingredients with measurements, check out the recipe card below.

How it comes together

This is the best mayonnaise for making chicken salad, potato salad, tuna salad, Chicken Macaroni Salad, egg salad, salad dressings, homemade condiments, and more. Here’s how to make it:

1. Place egg yolks, vinegar, salt, mustard, sugar, white pepper and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix everything to combine.

2. Slowly drizzle in oil into the egg yolk mixture in a steady stream while mixing continuously with a hand mixer. As you add the oil, the mixture will thicken to form mayonnaise.

You could also whip up mayonnaise by adding all the ingredients to a jar and mixing with a stick blender or hand blender until thickened.

That’s it – two simple steps, and homemade mayonnaise is all done! This far surpasses store-bought versions.

Various Methods to Make Homemade Mayonnaise

From whisking by hand to using different tools, here are the different ways to make homemade mayonnaise:

1. Homemade Mayonnaise in a blender. Add all the ingredients except the oil to the blender and pulse to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oil while blending so it thickens up. Continue until all the oil is added.

2. Homemade Mayonnaise in a food processor. Add all the ingredients except the oil to the food processor and pulse to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oil with the food processor running so it thickens up. Continue until all the oil is added.

3. Homemade Mayonnaise in a stand-up mixer. Add all the ingredients except the oil to the mixer and mix to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oil while mixing so it thickens up. Continue until all the oil is added.

4. Homemade Mayonnaise with a hand-mixer. Add all the ingredients except the oil to a bowl and beat with a hand mixer to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oil while mixing so it thickens up. Continue until all the oil is added.

5. Homemade Mayonnaise with an immersion blender. Place all the ingredients in a 4-cup measuring cup. Place in the immersion blender and blend until it thickens to form mayonnaise.

6. Homemade Mayonnaise with a whisk. Add all the ingredients except the oil to the bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking continuously so it thickens up. Continue until all the oil is added.

7. Homemade Mayonnaise with forks. Add all the ingredients except the oil to the bowl. Join two forks together and use the forks to beat the mixture to combine. Slowly drizzle in the oil while continuously beating so it thickens up. Continue until all the oil is added.

Note: When we started making mayo, we always whisked it all by hand. We would beat our mayo with two forks joined together to create some sort of whisk. That’s because at that time, we didn’t even own a whisk.

We are telling you this story to let you know that you really do not need any special gadgets to make homemade mayonnaise.

Kitchen tools like a mixer, blender or food processor will make the job easier for you but they are not required.

For this recipe, we used a hand mixer, but if a whisk is all you’ve got, you could use it. It requires a bit of arm strength, but it still works.

Store homemade mayonnaise in jars with tight-fitting lids.

The Mayonnaise Making Principle

According to our Food and Nutrition teacher, use one egg yolk for 250 milliliters (1 cup) of oil to make mayonnaise. Then, for 2 egg yolks, you simply double the oil to 500 milliliters (2 cups). This measurement has stuck with us for years and years.

So this is the mayonnaise-making principle: 1 egg yolk per 1 cup of oil. Say this with us: 1 egg yolk per 1 cup of oil. Easy right?

What is Mayonnaise Used For?

Use this homemade mayonnaise recipe in the following recipes:

Vegetable Salad
Pasta Salad
Breakfast Salad
Mayo-Ketch Dipping Sauce
Deviled Eggs
Cucumber Avocado Salad
Coleslaw
And more! Just use it for anything you will use mayo with!

Also, you can cook with mayonnaise. Try our mayonnaise chicken and thou shalt testify!

This homemade mayonnaise recipe results in mayonnaise that is perfectly mayonnaise-y and worth making again! Confession: we spooned some into our mouth more times than we can count! Hope you enjoy this recipe, friends. #NeverBuyMayonnaiseAgain

Cook notes

Use room temperature eggs to make mayonnaise. Using room temperature egg yolks ensures that the mayonnaise thickens more easily. If your eggs aren’t straight from the fridge, immerse them in a bowl filled with lukewarm water for 5 minutes, then take them out and use them in making the mayonnaise.
Also, make sure you use fresh, good quality eggs. The quality of your eggs will affect the quality of the mayonnaise.
Slowly drizzle in the oil when beating the mayonnaise. If you add the oil too quickly, the mayonnaise will not emulsify as it should. Broken mayo is no fun.

How it comes together

Yield: 2 cups of mayonnaise
Prep: 10 minutes
Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed from about half a lemon
1 teaspoon vinegar (use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon sugar, see Note 3
1 teaspoon mustard (Dijon mustard or yellow mustard would work), see Note 2
2 cups oil (500ml or half liter), we used peanut oil (see Note 1)

Method

Place all ingredients in a bowl except the oil. Use a hand mixer or a whisk to whisk them together. Slowly drizzle in the oil while you continuously whisk. As you add the oil, the mayonnaise will thicken. Be sure to rest your hand for a few seconds in between if you are using your hand and you get tired (which is normal). Then continue whisking until all the oil is poured in. Your mayonnaise should be thick, luscious and so tasty!