This is one of the easiest and best things you can do right now to start improving your life. Okay, that might be a bit dramatic but seriously, making your own homemade mayo is something that most people just don’t know how easy it is! Once you start making your own you’ll forget all about store-bought. The key to a successful mayo is using extra light tasting olive oil, this is the most important ingredient. If you try to make it with regular old extra virgin olive oil it will have a very strong olive flavor and it will not be good. Trust me, I speak from experience.
Another great thing about making your own mayo is once you do that, you open Pandora’s box to alllll kinds of great dressings and sauces that you can make from it. The possibilities are endless. I have a few of my favorites to share with you today! Let’s start with the main ingredient – mayo!
30 Second Mayo
What you’ll need:
- Immersion blender
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp of acid – lemon juice or apple cider vinegar work well
- 1 tsp mustard – powder or regular both work well
- Salt and pepper to taste (leave this til the end if you’re making ranch)
- 1 cup light tasting olive oil
In a deep, wide-mouthed jar, crack the egg and add the tbsp of acid. Swish the acid and egg around for a few seconds to help “cook” the egg. Add mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil to the jar and now it’s time to whirl! Place your immersion blender in the jar right where the egg is and start to blend. An emulsion will start to form and once it has, slowly lift up the blender and move it around the jar, pulling in all of the oil to complete the emulsion. This blending part should take about 20 seconds. Voilà! You have mayo and its miles better than store bought. Bonus – you know exactly what’s in it!
Once you’ve got the basic mayo recipe down now you can move on to a few staples. When I was growing up, my favorite dressing was always ranch. And not just any ranch, it had to be Hidden Valley ranch in all its creamy goodness. You know what the best part of Hidden Valley ranch is? There’s no dill in it. I cannot stand dill in my ranch and almost every paleo ranch recipe has it so I went on a missions to recreate my childhood favorite. I’ve had numerous family and friends try this recipe out before I brought it here to make sure it was just right. I hope you enjoy it!
Paleo/Whole30 Hidden Valley Copycat Ranch Dressing
What you’ll need:
- One batch of 30 second mayo
- ½ to ¾ tbsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, parsley – I would start on the lower end and then increase to taste. After a few times of making it you will know about how much you like.
- 1-2 tbsp coconut milk – I used canned and use the leftover in my coffee. If you like thicker ranch or want to make a dip, add little no coconut milk.
Add all of the spices to the mayo and mix until combined. Add coconut milk to desired consistency. Taste the mayo and add more spices or salt as needed.
This next variation came as a happy accident. I accidentally dumped too much of a certain spice in while testing the regular mayo and I thought ‘what the heck’ and kept adding others until it was a party in my mouth! Thus, the Party Ranch recipe was born. This also just goes to show how easy it is to come up with your own variations, if you have a particular flavor in mind – just start off with small amounts of the spices you like and add to taste from there.
Paleo/Whole30 Party Ranch Dressing
What you’ll need:
- One batch of 30 second mayo
- ½ to ¾ tbsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, parsley
- ½ tsp paprika and chili powder
- ¼ tsp red pepper
- 1-2 tbsp coconut milk – omit if making this into a dip to keep it thick
Add all of the spices to the mayo and mix until combined. Add coconut milk to desired consistency. Taste the mayo and add more spices or salt as needed. Add all of the spices to the mayo and mix until combined. Add coconut milk to desired consistency. Taste the mayo and add more spices or salt as needed. This variation is great on tacos!
Try these recipes out and let me know what you think! I hope you have fun experimenting and creating new tasty toppings for your meals. Let me know what you make in the comments.
xo, Laura