Homemade mayonnaise. It’s honestly not something I thought I would have ever made for my family. That’s something professional chefs do, make homemade mayo and ketchup. Why would I need to go through all of that trouble when I can just pick up a jar of “healthy” olive oil mayonnaise at the grocery store.
That’s until I actually read the ingredients to “olive oil” mayonnaise: Water, Olive Oil, Canola Oil, Soybean Oil…the list continues with ingredients that sound like they belong in a lab instead of food: Maltodextrin*, Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbet*, Phosphoric Acid*, Calcium Disodium EDTA…Then they give this little disclaimer for the ingredients marked with an asterisk: *Ingredients not normally found in mayonnaise.
So, if these ingredients are not normally found in mayonnaise, why are they putting them in there?? What added to my frustration, was the fact that “olive oil” mayonnaise contained canola and soybean oil. Essentially it should be called olive-canola-soybean oil mayonnaise. Knowing that there must be a healthier option, I went searching for a way to make my own.
The good news is that it’s not as hard to make as you’d think! The even better news is that it only takes 4 ingredients! Yes, mayonnaise is made with eggs, typically raw eggs. I chose to find a way to heat the egg because I wasn’t comfortable feeding my family raw eggs. Another way to protect against the risk of salmonella is to use pasteurized eggs. These eggs have already undergone a process to kill any bacteria they may contain. The only con is that they’re typically hard to find and are generally more expensive, but worth it for peace of mind.
Most of the recipes I found online used raw eggs and many people are comfortable with consuming them, especially if they are local and organic eggs. If that’s you, then you can totally skip the step where you heat the egg. Everyone else, follow me to the next step!…