Rona Roberts :: Recipes :: Homemade Mayonnaise in Five Minutes (or less)

This mayonnaise tastes amazing, is good for you, and works in recipes like Fancy Egg Salad. It keeps at least two weeks in the coldest part of your refrigerator.

Yield: 6
Prep time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Course: Dips/Spreads

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg at room temperature, or two yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
• Two sprinkles cayenne pepper
• Juice of 1 small lemon, at room temperature
• 1 cup or more grapeseed or canola oil, or half extra virgin olive oil and half neutral-tasting oil

Instructions:

Put the egg or egg yolks, mustard, salt, pepper, and one teaspoon lemon juice in the jar of your blender. Blend 30 seconds.

While the blender is running, drip a tiny stream of oil into it. Most blenders have a small opening in the lid that makes this easy. When you have added about 1/3 cup, you can add the oil a little more rapidly. Stop when you have added about 3/4 cup of the oil, and dribble the remaining lemon juice into the blender.

All this dribbling so far should take no more than a couple of minutes. If you run the blender too long, it heats the mixture and that's bad for your mayo project.

Once the lemon juice is fully incorporated, stop the blender, scrape down the sides, and taste what you have. It might be perfect just as it is. Declare victory and scrape the mayo into a clean refrigerator container and chill immediately.

On the other hand, depending on many factors, the mayo may not yet be as thick as you want. In that case, put the lid back on, start blending again, and add the rest of the oil. You can add a LOT of oil if the original blend is strong, and the mayo will keep getting thicker and thicker.

You may want to add salt or more lemon juice or cayenne. Rely on your tastebuds to get the mayo to be as you want it.

I have learned that I need to make the mayo taste slightly salty in order for its flavor to come through if I am using it in dips or sauces.

I also like my mayonnaise quite lemon-y, so sometimes I add even more lemon juice. And I like a half-olive oil taste, but not a full olive oil taste.

All these preferences appeared as I made mayo repeatedly, enjoying all the near-perfect blends along the way.