I received a stick immersion blender for Mother’s Day this year…and I have certainly been thrilled with the performance of this little machine. I have made guacamole, mayonniase, baby food, pureed soups right in the pot, deviled eggs, and numerous other food items and it has been a huge time saver with fantastic smooth results. This tool retails for approximately $30. I have tried making homemade mayonnaise in my regular blender several times over the years in my pursuit of using more natural home prepared ingredients, and never had the best results. It sure never got really fluffy and took forever to gradually pour the oils in drip by drip as most recipes required. I was stunned when I made mayonnaise in just 10 seconds with my hand blender. Yes…10 seconds.
This recipe is pretty flexible to use whatever oils you desire. For the nutritional benefits, I chose to use 1/2 olive oil plus another oil. Olive oil alone results in a pretty bitter mayo. But coconut oil alone will give you a very solid product in the fridge once it cools completely. I liked 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 coconut oil, but it still got solid over time in the fridge. So our current favorite is 1/4 cup olive oil and 3/4 cup grapeseed or sunflower oil for the mildest flavor. It also does not get so solid with these oils. It is easily adaptable to your preferences.
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk (we use local farm fresh pastured eggs)
3-5 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1-4 teaspoons sugar, optional (we used xylitol)
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup olive oil (cold pressed) or coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup grapeseed, or sunflower oil
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. Break egg yolk into the bottom of the hand blender jar that comes with your stick blender (or a container that is just wide enough to let the blender pass through – a wide mouth mason jar would work as well).
- Add all the other ingredients except oil on top of the egg.
- Carefully pour 1 cup oil on top of all the ingredients in the bottom of the jar.
- Put mixing blades of hand blender (turned off) flat at the bottom of the jar over the egg yolk, pressing down over the egg yolk.
- Turn the blender on high and blend for 5 seconds, holding it in place at the bottom of the jar. Gradually pull the blender up to the top of the jar over an additional 5 second period. Turn off blender. You will then have beautiful fluffy mayonnaise.
Yield: 1 1/4 cup
Caution: Learn from my mistake and make sure to unplug your stick blender before cleaning out the excess ingredients that collect inside the blades. Yes, I lost my finger nail this week in this manner. 
It wasn’t a pleasant experience. I make silly mistakes just like any other homemaker…
I have still never been able to get your method to work for me but I did a modified version with drizzling the oil and now that I’ve got it – I like your recipe best! Also, I use avocado oil for my mayo and it tastes amazing! It is so healthy for you as well.
Room temp isn’t necessary. I cook for a living and we never use room temp for mayo/aioli. We do 1 whole egg, 3 egg yolks, juice of a lemon, 6 garlic cloves, salt, and drizzle enough oil to get to the right consistency
For those having in break, I’ve found that it wont break if the eggs/other ingredients aren’t cold. You can leave them on the counter for a while to get to room temp, or I put the whole cup in the microwave on the defrost setting for 30 secs. Never breaks.
You can try different oils or for very rich mayo use 50/50 canola and animal fat. Baconaise is just ridiculously good.
made this twice and it failed to a runny consistancy. any ideas on what I can do with this end result? I hate to throw it away.
Try adding more oil (at a moderate drizzle) with a stick blender, food processor, or regular blender at high speed. I personally use a stick blender. Add more oil till you get the desired consistancy. Somewhere I read on the net that the more oil you add the more thick the mayo gets. This seems to be true for me. I don’t even measure anymore, I just add till I get the thickness I want. It is so thick that it can be turned upside without it coming out. Hope that this helps.
THANK YOU!!! I have just about given up on the blender mayo – too time consuming and too many mistakes and way too much cleanup. This is so simple and easy and no fail every time. Even clean up is a breeze when you plunge your blender into soapy water and give it a wiz. I used to dred making mayo – now I look forward to it!
Amy
I’m going to bookmark your site for future reference. Keep up the good work!
A couple of questions: How long does the mayo keep? Is it okay to have raw egg in this? I’m sure that it of course is, but I am always so paranoid about raw eggs so I just have to ask!
Thank you!! I’m just now getting around to your post in my inbox. A busy couple weeks helping to produce VBS at my church. Now I’ve a lot of catching up to do!!!
I had watched the video from The Healthy Homemaker as she veeerrrrry slooooooooowwwwllllly added the oil. I thought, if it’s not successful, I’ll have an expensive mistake. I too have an immersion blender and love. love. love it!!
Healthy mayo…here I come!
Thanks!!!
I just tried this and came up with mayo soup. After scouring the comments I saw a conversation you had about needing to update that it should be a room temp egg but it looks like you never did because I didn’t see that anywhere. I thought you might like a heads up to add that when you get a chance. Thanks.
That’s strange. Sorry about that. I know I had updated it and it was showing in my browser. I went ahead and make the text bold. Lmk know if it is still not showing on your computer.
Thanks for this! We have a stick blender that we got as a gift as well and it is quite handy! Can’t wait to try this!!!
I got into making my own mayo when I got Julia Child’s cookbook for Christmas a few years ago. Did you know you can make a “lighter” mayo by using the egg white along with the yolk? I love homemade mayo. I make it in the blender in no time. I use refined olive oil (still 100% though) for a milder taste. You’re right about the extra virgin olive oil.
I second washing your blender by turning it on in hot soapy water. If I do not wash it immediatley then I let it sit in the hot soapy water while I clean up other things and then I run it.
Ladies, please be careful with the stick blender. I had to go to the emergency room this past February. I almost cut my fingertip off trying to get the last drop of salad dressing out and inadvertently pressing the power switch. I don’t know why I did that. The blade ripped around my finger and I had to get about 16 tiny stitches. It was a nightmare, but God was gracious and I still have my fingertip. There is still some numbness but the nail wasn’t damaged and I just thank God because it could have been worse. Now I unplug before I touch that blade if I touch it at all. The plastic surgeon said it would take about a year to heal (the numbness) and that the emergency room doctor did a good job with the stitches. Praise God!
I seem to never have good luck with mayo! I’ve only used olive oil though. I don’t have a stick blender but I will definitely try Bethany’s idea! Thanks for posting.
I love my stick blender. And immersing it in hot soapy water and then turning it on is the best way to clean it, as long as you do it immediately. I’m going sign off so I can make some mayo!
Thanks for the tip!
Hubby bought me an immersion blender for my birthday a few years ago. I rarely go a day without using it! Such a useful kitchen tool.
I’ll have to try making this. I’ve had poor results with homemade mayo in the past, and since healthy mayo is a bit pricey I just quit buying it. But I do miss it for tuna and potato salad. Hubby would be thrilled to have mayo again!
We do something like yours but we use the whole egg, 1/4 ts paprika and use 1 Tb. Honey instead of sugar. Yum!!!
Thanks for sharing about using honey. I wanted to try that but was worried it would affect the emulsifying. Good to know it works!
We’ve had great success making mayo without a blender! We use organic peanut oil (it seems to fluff up the best) and stir it in a mug with a fork. It’s quick and oh-so-tasty!
I love my immersion blender! Most of the time, I can clean it without touching the blades. Fill a tall, thin container with hot water & dish soap, then “blend” the water until all the residue is off of the blade assembly, then rinse. This cleans the blender very well for me most of the time.
Once you are finished with your recipe, stir in 1 TB or so whey. Cover with a cloth and leave on the counter between six and seven hours. Then put in the refridgerator.
This will give you lacto-fermented mayo, will up the nutrition content, and will make the mayo set up better. I use 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup sunflower seed oil. Adding the whey and leaving on the counter gives me a mayo that lasts longer and is a better consistency.
Thanks for the reminder about making lacto fermented mayo! Appreciate the tip!
I have kefir on hand all the time. Could kefir be used instead of the whey?
I don’t know. I’ve never tried.
You would need to drain it through a cloth to just get the clear liquid whey from it.
Hey lindsay,
I love the stick blender. I use it to puree my soups (such as pea soup or squash) and I also found it very useful to make your deoderant …..it is 3 times as fast and it leaves your hands clean.
I make a coconut oil mayo that is completely spreadable, and infact needs the refrigeration to set up before use. It also makes a delicious coleslaw dressing.
I just posted this Tuesday, also homemade butter in a minute!
http://lpjohnson.blogspot.com/2012/05/mayo.html
FYI, my Cuisinart stick blender has a button and the end with blades pops off, saving fingers and nails!
I love using the stick blender to make mayo. I bought some late season harvest olive oil from Chaffin Family Orchards, and it is the purest, lightest, mildest olive oil and imparts no bitter flavor when used in mayo. Another healthy oil you can try is avacado oil. It has a very neutral flavor and does great in mayo; however, it’s also very pricey.
Weird. I just visited your site yesterday looking for a mayo recipe. I’ve never tried to make it before but am tired of using Kraft. I don’t have an immersion blender but it looks like it will be worth it to buy one. Thanks for posting!
I have been doing this recently since I bought a stick blender too. It’s neat to watch it emulsify before your eyes! I add a little paprika and garlic powder along with the sugar to make miracle whip!
I was literally just saying to myself yesterday, “I need to learn how to make mayo!” Because the store bought mayo usually contains unhealthy oils. Even my organic mayo has canola oil. I don’t do well with soy or canola.
Thanks! I will try this!
I’m definitely going to try this. My husband likes mayonnaise and he’s always excited about anything we can make from scratch.
I haven’t had any mishaps with my immersion blender but once I forgot to unplug the hand held mixer and the beaters started going and almost got my fingers. It scared me to death so that now I always unplug it. But don’t you get tired of learning things like that the hard way!
Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to try that sometime.
I am SO excited to try this. I’ve been making our mayo and it’s turned out great every time, but it’s kind of time consuming. I’m really excited to make it so fast.
I’m excited to try this!
Thank you for sharing your final caution. I did the same thing with an immersion blender a few years ago except that I actually had to have the tip of my finger amputated.
Glad to know I’m in good company, but sorry you had to suffer too!
I am in the middle of trying this, and it didn’t work.
I suspect it’s because my yolk broke before I poured in the oil. I’m going to try the Nourishing Gourmet tip of starting with a fresh egg yolk and then slowly pouring in my “mayo soup” to see if that works!
Weird. I made it just fine with a broken egg yolk. Maybe it’s the room temperature trick. I forgot to include that.
What room temperature trick?
room temperature eggs emulsify better than cold eggs.
I updated the post above with the reminder to make sure the ingredients are at room temperature.
I have been making a very similar recipe with no problems until my “high speed” button on my emersion blender started shorting out on me. So I tried it with the “lower speed” button…however, it did not work that time. It would not emulsify at all. Also, when I first started making my mayo I would just put all ingredients, including the oil, in at the same time. It would always end up a little more runny that I liked. Then I tried adding in the oil in a little stream while I blended away and whaahlaa, I had thick mayo! I had also heard (crazy as it sounds) that the more oil you add will make a thicker mayo.
If it helps…here is my recipe.
1 whole egg (farm fresh, I would not trust store bought for this)
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar (must be poured in top of egg)
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
pinch of sea salt
1 cup of grapeseed oil (I did not like the taste of olive oil)
I pray that you have success in making your homemade mayo!
Blessings, Joanna
I love the look of this recipe, thanks for posting. I am going to try Lindsay’s but substitute white vinegar for your idea of organic apple cider. We have to be so careful with white vinegar, even for cleaning. Thanks again!
~ Ellyn
That looks simple enough. Do you know how long it keeps in the fridge? We really don’t use that much mayo, so a jar last us months. But with a fresh egg, I’m guessing it doesn’t last too long?
I just read a recipe for mayo in the cookbook Nourishing Traditions, and it said that if you add some whey the mayo last for months, rather than just a few weeks.
Yes! I forgot to include that as well! Thanks!
Wow, I’ve been thinking about mayo this whole week because of issues I’ve been having making it! Your post has incredible timing! I had been making homemade mayo for some time in a blender but then it started to seperate really bad. I’m not sure what went wrong! I’m thinking that it might have been a combination of the blades not beating the mixture enough and me halfing the recipe. Ug, Any suggestions? Oh, and do you know how long mayo can stay out of the fridge (like in a to-go lunch) before it seperates?
Yes! I had so many failures making mayo by whisking. I was reading “Ratio” (a wonderful book!) and came across the hand blender idea… instant success! I haven’t had a problem with it yet and it is so fast. This is now our only source of mayo and it is lovely to have it whipped up so conveniently!