Basic mayonnaise
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Basic mayonnaise

By BBC Good Food team

Forget shop-bought and make your own homemade mayonnaise. It takes a little effort but it's well worth it to accompany your favourite dishes 

  • Prep:15 mins
  • Serves 6
  • More effort

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 267
  • fat 29g
  • saturates 4g
  • carbs 0.2g
  • sugars 0.2g
  • fibre 0g
  • protein 1g
  • salt 0.17g

Ingredients

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 250ml sunflower oil
  • 2 tsp white wine vinegaror lemon juice

Tip

Use as a base to make other sauces

Mayonnaise is a basic cold sauce which can be used as a base to make lots of other sauces. 

  • For tartare sauce, stir finely chopped gherkins and parsley through the mayonnaise. 
  • For prawn cocktail (Marie Rose) sauce, stir in 1 tbsp tomato ketchup and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. 
  • For aïoli (garlic mayonnaise), make the mayonnaise with olive oil instead of sunflower oil and stir in two crushed garlic cloves at the end. 

Method

  1. Tip the egg yolks and mustard into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and whisk together until completely combined. Whisking constantly, add a small drop of oil and whisk until completely combined, then add another drop and continue a drop at a time until the yolks and oil combine and start to thicken. Once you’re confident the oil and eggs are coming together you can add the oil a bit more at a time, but be patient, as adding the oil too quickly will cause the mayonnaise to split and curdle. 

  2. Once all the oil has been whisked into the eggs and you have a thick, spoonable mayonnaise, whisk in the vinegar or lemon juice and season to taste. Will keep in the fridge for two days. 

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