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Even homemade eggless mayo is super simple to whip up yourself. Psst. Don’t use aquafaba though!
The smooth, creamy texture and sheer elegance that quality mayo imparts to sandwiches, salads, and sauces is certainly unrivaled at least in American cuisine.
Never does the thought cross my mind to “go light on the mayo”. If I am feeling like a huge dollop or two, I feel free to indulge myself given that the mayo I insist on using is of superior freshness and quality and made with health boosting oils and liquid whey for additional digestive enzymes and even probiotics.
Given that the fats used in the mayo are the most critical ingredient, which oils are the best ones to select?
I tell folks that when making mayo for the first time, use sunflower seed oil as this will give the closest consistency and taste to store mayo. However, sunflower oil is a high omega 6 oil and while this is fine if one follows a whole foods, traditionally based diet where the omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acid ratio is roughly between 1:1 and 1:4 – if one is still in the process of transitioning off processed foods, a lower omega 6 oil is probably a better choice given that processed foods are loaded with rancid omega 6 oils which encourage development of inflammation.
Including even a few processed foods in the diet can skew that omega 3 to omega 6 balance toward inflammation in a hurry!
If watching your omega 6 intake, sesame oil is a good choice for mayo as it is higher in oleic acid (monounsaturated, omega 9 fat) and lower in omega 6 fats (polyunsaturated) than sunflower oil. Oleic acid is the healthy fat found in great quantity in olive oil.
Which is Better – Coconut Oil, Ghee or Olive Oil?
If oleic acid is so fantastic, then why not just use olive oil for mayo then?
Extra virgin olive oil can be a good choice for mayo but many folks find the flavor too strong when used by itself. Using half olive oil and half sesame oil is an option for a milder tasting mayo which still is high in oleic acid.
In addition, some folks find that olive oil really packs the weight on as oleic acid is a longer chain fatty acid and is more likely to contribute to the buildup of body fat than the shorter chain fatty acids found in coconut oil or ghee.
My current favorite oil mix for mayo is to blend 1/2 sunflower or sesame oil (whichever I have on hand) and 1/2 expeller pressed coconut oil. Since coconut oil goes very firm below 76F, using half coconut oil produces a mayo that is very thick and scoopable.
I wouldn’t advise using virgin coconut oil, though, unless you enjoy a coconut flavor to your mayo.
The final suggestion I would make for healthy mayo making oils is ghee. I’ve made mayo with ghee before and it turns out absolutely fabulous. The one drawback is that the mayo turns out so rich that you can’t use a lot of it without feeling very full.
Since I like to use a lot of mayo, using all ghee doesn’t really work for me, but half ghee and half sesame oil would be a good option to lighten up the richness factor a bit.
Which oils and in what combination do you use for making your mayo? Are you switching around all the time like I tend to do or have you found a combination that you stick with consistently?
Where to Source Quality Oils for Your Mayo
Be sure to check my Resources page for a list of vendors I trust that supply quality oils for all your mayo making endeavors!
Update: Since this post was written, I have found another healthy oil that is fabulous for making mayo: avocado oil.
This is the quality unrefined brand that I use. It is mild tasting, has a fatty acid profile similar to olive oil, and the mayo stays creamy in the fridge. Bonus, a new mayo on the market with totally clean ingredients uses avocado oil and tastes just like homemade. Check it out here. The only downside is that it does not use raw egg yolks.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sarah, I have a question. I’ve made my own mayo several times and discovered a few things: one, olive oil mayo is gross tasting–I threw it out–and if I can even find organic safflower oil, it’s wa-aay pricey, and I can’t find an organic sunflower oil. Does Whole Foods carry it, I wonder? ANYWAY…my question is this: I’ve become enamoured of coconut oil and coconut palm oil, which are both very good for us. I’m wondering, since the coconut palm oil doesn’t smell or taste like coconut, would that work for the mayo? I has the consistency, however, of softened butter–not as stiff as virgin coconut oil. Still should work, right? What are your thoughts? I’m thinking of making a batch with the coconut palm oil, a product of Tropical Traditions.
The only thing to consider is if you are going to make more than you need at a time and refrigerate it a more saturated fat oil like coconut oil will be a much stiffer mayo when you first pull it out of the fridge. Otherwise if it is a pretty neutral tasting oil it would work fine. This can be remedied by letting it sit out 5-10 minutes before using it if you think to (which isn’t really bad as long as you have added whey for lacto-fermentation. Of course to blend it up to make the mayo it would need to be in a liquid form but not too hot.
Spectrum Foods carry quite a few different kinds of oils, some are organic some are not, some are refined, some are not – so be sure to check and double check if you decide to order.
http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=6
If you decide you want to order something, sometimes their products are available at amazon or vitacost, too. I’m sure there are other places online, as well. If you want to order directly from Spectrum, go to the very top right-hand corner and click on the ordering section.
They have grapeseed oil.
it is so funny that you posted this because I have been experimenting with making mayo this week. I make a lot of chicken salad for lunch and salmon salad so I like making my own mayo to mix in. I used olive oil for the last couple of batches that I made but I am going to go back to using an oil blend that my chiropractor wants me to take. It’s the 3.6.9 oil blend from Omega Nutrition called “Essential Balance.” It has flax oil, pumpkin seed oil, sesame oil, olive oil, and avocado oil. I may experiment with half of this oil with half coconut oil or maybe ghee.
Ghee is awesome. It adds a richness that is something I have never experienced before with mayo. Half ghee is probably best though as it can get too rich using just ghee alone,.
Oops…that sentence is supposed to start, “It has the consistency…”
I have a question. I make homemade mayo and at first I tried and tried to find expeller pressed sunflower oil at my health food stores. I finally was able to special order it at my local Healthy Life Market. I found that expeller pressed safflower oil was much easier to find. Is safflower oil ok for mayo?
Also, does sesame oil have a flavor? I have only used toasted sesame oil in the past and, of course, it is extremely flavorful.
Thanks!
Plain sesame oil is much much milder than the toasted sesame oil. Safflower is not a great choice as it is not a traditional oil and is very high in omega 6 fats. You can get a high oleic safflower oil (omega 9 fats), but if you’re going to go that route, sesame oil would be better as sesame is definitely an oil that was used by traditional cultures.
thanks!
So I’m a little confused. Ghee has to be a little warm to stay liquid but the mayo never seems to come together unless it’s perfectly room temperature. How do you do it?
Just gently warm it in a glass jar on the stovetop and liquify before making your mayo.
thanks for this article, I might give your suggested oils a try, We’ve been experimenting with different recipes but all using olive oil and my family can’t stand it. If I don’t find a recipe that will work mayo may be the fall of the GAPS diet for my husband 😉
Hi Deb, expeller coconut oil works well for mayo but blend it with half sesame oil as it can get too hard in the fridge otherwiswe.
chelsey, grapeseed is great and has hardly any flavour!
I also was buying safflower oil then read it wasn’t the best choice. So I’ve been using sunflower oil from whole foods, think it’s expeller pressed. Is that ok? I also don’t want such a heavy tasting mayo. I’ve been buying Louanna coconut oil from Walmart. Is this ok to use. With a really limited budget for our family of 8, I have to really pick and choose. otherwise, the price at the healthfood store for coconut oil is double!
Yes, sunflower is fine. You might want to try half expeller coconut oil and half sesame. The fatty acid profile of this mix is better than plain sunflower and the taste is still very mild.
Grapeseed oil is industrially processed with hexane and other carcinogenic solvents, and traces will remain in the oil. It is also very high in omega 6 fats so best to avoid.