Can you make mayonnaise with olive oil? We don't get this question much, but I love answering it when we do. The answer is absolutely. And once you know how to make olive oil mayo, you also know the basic technique behind an entire family of creamy homemade sauces and dressings.

It's really pretty simple. Olive oil mayonnaise is made by slowly emulsifying olive oil with egg, acid such as lemon juice or vinegar, and seasonings. The result is creamy, rich homemade mayonnaise without relying on the neutral vegetable oils commonly used in conventional mayo. But there is one important catch: the olive oil you choose matters.

A really robust, peppery extra virgin olive oil can make mayonnaise taste much stronger -and sometimes more bitter - than you expect. A mild, balanced extra virgin olive oil makes a much more approachable everyday mayo. And once you start using fused and infused olive oils, homemade mayonnaise can become Garlic Mayo, Lemon Aioli, Basil Mayo, Lime Crema-style sauce and all kinds of other things. And all that extra sauce is where this gets fun.

After years of tasting olive oils, cooking with them and helping customers figure out what to actually do with all those bottles on their kitchen counters, I think homemade sauces are one of the most overlooked ways to use good olive oil. And mayo is a very good place to start.

Ready to make it? Try our easy Olive Oil Mayonnaise recipe using a mild Extra Virgin Olive Oil for a smooth, creamy homemade mayo.

What Is Olive Oil Mayo?

Olive oil mayo is simply mayonnaise made with olive oil as the primary oil. Traditional mayonnaise is an emulsion, which means two ingredients that normally don't want to stay mixed together - oil and water-based ingredients - are combined into a stable, creamy mixture.

In mayonnaise, egg yolk helps hold everything together while the oil is gradually incorporated with lemon juice or vinegar. The basic formula is surprisingly simple: Olive oil + egg + acid + seasoning = mayonnaise. The magic is in the emulsion. As tiny droplets of olive oil become suspended throughout the other ingredients, something that begins as liquid oil transforms into a thick, spoonable sauce.

Once you understand that, mayo stops feeling like some mysterious condiment that can only come from a jar.

Can You Really Make Mayonnaise With Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

Yes. Extra virgin olive oil can absolutely be used to make homemade mayonnaise. The better question is: Which extra virgin olive oil should you use for mayo? For a classic mayonnaise that you want to use on sandwiches, burgers, potato salad, chicken salad, deviled eggs or as the foundation for another sauce, I generally recommend starting with a mild or medium extra virgin olive oil.

Our Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oils are a great place to start because Arbequina is generally a more approachable varietal for applications where you don't necessarily want the olive oil overpowering everything else.

You can also shop our current Extra Virgin Olive Oils and look for one described as mild or medium. Save those really assertive, robust EVOOs for a mayonnaise where you specifically want the olive oil itself to be part of the flavor.

Why Does Olive Oil Mayo Sometimes Taste Bitter?

This is probably the most important thing to understand before making mayonnaise with olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil naturally contains flavor compounds that can taste fruity, grassy, peppery, pungent or bitter depending on the olive variety, harvest and oil. Those characteristics can be wonderful. In fact, they're part of what makes different extra virgin olive oils so interesting.But mayonnaise concentrates flavor differently than simply drizzling olive oil over a salad.

Aggressive mechanical blending can also make some of olive oil's bitter characteristics seem more noticeable in an emulsion. So if you've tried making olive oil mayo before and thought: “Why is this so bitter?” That doesn't mean mayonnaise can't be made with olive oil. It usually means you need to change either the olive oil, the technique or both.

How to Make Olive Oil Mayo Less Bitter

Start with a mild, fresh extra virgin olive oil rather than your most intensely robust bottle. You can also use an immersion blender instead of running the mixture for an extended period in a high-powered blender. And remember that the other ingredients matter. Fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, garlic and herbs can all help create a more balanced finished sauce. This is one of those places where tasting as you go is far more useful than blindly following a recipe.

Easy Homemade Olive Oil Mayo Recipe

This is the basic olive oil mayonnaise I would start with before experimenting with flavored versions.

Ingredients

• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup mild extra virgin olive oil
• Optional: 1 small garlic clove, black pepper or additional lemon juice to taste

How to Make Olive Oil Mayo With an Immersion Blender

1. Add the egg, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt to a tall, narrow jar or blending container. Pour the olive oil over the top.
2. Place the immersion blender all the way at the bottom of the container.
3. Begin blending without moving the blender for several seconds. You should see a thick, pale emulsion beginning to form at the bottom.
4. Once the mayonnaise begins to come together, slowly raise the blender through the remaining olive oil until everything is creamy and emulsified.
5. Taste. This last step matters. Add another pinch of salt, squeeze of lemon, little Dijon or other seasoning if needed.

That's it. You've made olive oil mayonnaise.

Don't Have an Immersion Blender?

You can make mayonnaise by hand with a whisk. Whisk the egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice and salt together, then begin adding olive oil extremely slowly - literally drop by drop at first - while whisking continuously. As the emulsion becomes established, you can gradually increase the stream of olive oil. It takes more patience and a little arm strength, but it works.

How Thick Should Homemade Olive Oil Mayo Be?

Properly emulsified olive oil mayonnaise should be thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon but still spread easily. If it's extremely thick, whisk in a teaspoon of water or lemon juice. That sounds backward because we're accustomed to thinking that adding liquid makes something thinner - and in this case it does - but a small amount can also help create that silky mayonnaise consistency. If your mayo is thin and oily instead of creamy, however, the emulsion probably broke. Don't throw it away.

How Do You Fix Broken Olive Oil Mayo?

Broken mayonnaise happens when the oil and water phases stop staying emulsified. I have definitely done this before. You might see a thin, oily mixture instead of creamy mayo.

The easiest fix is to essentially start a new emulsion and slowly incorporate the broken one into it. Put a fresh egg yolk or a small spoonful of Dijon mustard into a clean bowl. Begin whisking. Then very slowly whisk the broken mayonnaise into it, treating the broken mixture as though it were the oil you were adding to a new batch. Once the emulsion catches, you can gradually add the remainder.

Homemade mayonnaise can look hopeless one minute and perfectly creamy the next.

The Really Fun Part: Making Flavored Mayo With Olive Oil

Once you can make basic olive oil mayo, stop thinking of it as one recipe. Think of it as a blank canvas. This is where our Fused & Infused Olive Oils get very interesting. Instead of putting all the flavor into the seasonings after you've made your mayo, you can build flavor directly into the emulsion by changing the olive oil. And because we carry everything from Garlic and Basil to Persian Lime, Lemon, Chipotle, Dill, Tuscan Herb and Milanese Gremolata, there are a lot of directions you can take it.

Garlic Olive Oil Mayo

This may be the first variation I've made because we use Garlic Infused Olive Oil so often on our household.

Replace some or all of the plain EVOO with our Garlic Infused Olive Oil. Garlic Olive Oil Mayo is fantastic on: Burgers, Grilled chicken sandwiches, Roasted potatoes, French fries, Artichokes, Grilled vegetables, Crab cakes, Salmon, Turkey sandwiches, Wraps... the list goes on.  It also makes an incredibly easy shortcut when you want something in the neighborhood of aioli without having to build all of the garlic flavor separately.

Lemon Olive Oil Aioli

For seafood, vegetables and Mediterranean-inspired dishes, this one is hard to beat. Use our Whole Fruit Lemon Fused Olive Oil for part of the olive oil in your mayonnaise.

Our Lemon Olive Oil is made by crushing whole Eureka lemons with olives during the milling process, so the citrus flavor is incorporated directly into the oil. Add fresh garlic, a little Dijon and lemon juice and you've got a bright, creamy sauce that's wonderful with: Salmon, Shrimp, Crab cakes, Roasted asparagus, Artichokes, Grilled chicken, Roasted potatoes, Vegetable sandwiches, Grain bowls... and pretty much everything else. 

Basil Olive Oil Mayo

Our Basil Infused Olive Oil turns basic mayo into something that belongs on every summer sandwich I make.

Try Basil Olive Oil Mayo with tomatoes and mozzarella, grilled chicken sandwiches, BLTs, turkey sandwiches or roasted vegetables. You can also thin it slightly and turn it into a creamy basil dressing. And if you have tomatoes coming out of the garden faster than your family can possibly eat them - which is a very real Colorado late-summer problem - put this on a tomato sandwich. Good bread. Tomatoes. Basil mayo. Salt. Done. You can also mix this in with pasta noodles for a creamy sauce.

Persian Lime Olive Oil Mayo

Our Persian Lime Infused Olive Oil takes mayo in an entirely different direction.

Think: Fish tacos, Shrimp, Grilled corn, Chicken, Avocado sandwiches, Grain bowls, Black bean burgers and Slaw. You can add cilantro, jalapeño or a little extra fresh lime juice and turn it into a creamy lime sauce. This is one I'd put in the middle of the table on taco night at our house and watch disappear.

Can You Use Balsamic Vinegar in Olive Oil Mayo?

Yes—and this is another place where things get interesting. Mayonnaise needs acidity, and while lemon juice and traditional vinegars are common choices, a small amount of balsamic vinegar can add acidity and another layer of flavor. White balsamic is especially useful when you want to keep the mayonnaise lighter in color.

Our Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar, for example, can add both acidity and citrus character. You can explore our entire collection of Balsamic & Wine Vinegars and start experimenting with combinations. I wouldn't necessarily replace every bit of acid in every mayonnaise recipe with a sweet balsamic. Start small. A teaspoon can completely change a sauce. And that's kind of the point.

Olive Oil Mayo Is Really the Beginning of a Whole Family of Sauces

This is the part I really want people to understand. Learning how to emulsify olive oil isn't just about replacing the jar of mayo in your refrigerator. It's a kitchen technique. Once you understand how olive oil, acid and other ingredients come together, you can make an enormous range of sauces and dressings.

Aioli

Traditional aioli has Mediterranean roots and historically refers to an emulsion built around garlic and olive oil, although the word “aioli” is now commonly used for flavored mayonnaise-style sauces. I try not to get too hung hung up on terminology.

If you've made creamy garlic-and-olive-oil deliciousness and you're dipping roasted potatoes into it, I'm not coming over to police what you call it.

Vinaigrette

The simplest olive oil sauce of all may be vinaigrette. Start around three parts olive oil to one part vinegar, then adjust according to the acidity and sweetness of your vinegar. Add Dijon mustard to help emulsify it. Salt it. Taste it. Then start playing. Here are some of my favorite very simple combos:

• Garlic Olive Oil + Fig Dark Balsamic.
• Milanese Gremolata Olive Oil + Raspberry Dark Balsamic.
• Persian Lime Olive Oil + Pomegranate Quince White Balsamic.
• Green Chili Olive Oil + Peach White Balsamic.

Suddenly “salad dressing” isn't one recipe anymore.

Creamy Olive Oil Dressing

Take your homemade olive oil mayo and thin it with lemon juice, vinegar or a splash of water. Add herbs, garlic, mustard, Parmesan, spices or whatever direction dinner is going. Now you've got a creamy salad dressing.

Green Herb Sauce

Blend olive oil with parsley, cilantro, basil or other fresh herbs, plus garlic and an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar. It doesn't have to be completely smooth. In fact, I usually prefer these sauces when they aren't. Spoon them over grilled meat, vegetables, potatoes, beans or grain bowls.

Olive Oil Pesto

Pesto is another perfect example of olive oil acting as much more than cooking fat. Basil, nuts, Parmesan, garlic and good olive oil become a sauce that can go on pasta, vegetables, sandwiches, eggs, chicken, fish and pizza. You can also play with the olive oil itself. Our Basil Infused Olive Oil or Milanese Gremolata Infused Olive Oil can build another layer of flavor right into the sauce.

Marinades That Become Sauces

Olive oil, acid, herbs and seasonings are also the basic framework for countless marinades. Change the proportions and technique slightly and many of the same ingredients become a vinaigrette, finishing sauce or dressing. That's why learning to cook with olive oil is so useful. You're not memorizing 20 recipes. You're learning relationships between ingredients.

What Is the Best Olive Oil for Homemade Mayo?

If you want a traditional-tasting mayonnaise, choose a fresh mild or medium extra virgin olive oil. If you want the olive oil flavor to be prominent, choose something more robust. If you're intentionally making flavored mayonnaise or aioli, use fused or infused olive oil to build the flavor directly into the sauce.

My basic guide looks like this:

• Mild EVOO: classic mayo, sandwiches, potato salad, chicken salad
• Garlic Olive Oil: garlic mayo, burgers, potatoes, sandwiches
• Whole Fruit Lemon Fused Olive Oil: lemon aioli, seafood, vegetables
• Basil Olive Oil: tomato sandwiches, chicken, Mediterranean dishes
• Persian Lime Olive Oil: tacos, shrimp, avocado, slaw
• Milanese Gremolata Olive Oil: seafood, vegetables, sandwiches and Mediterranean sauces

The “best” olive oil for mayo depends on what you're planning to eat with it.

Should You Use 100% Olive Oil in Mayonnaise?

You can, but you don't have to. If you're new to homemade olive oil mayonnaise, you can start with a mild EVOO or blend oils to create the flavor intensity you prefer. When I'm working with a flavored olive oil, I especially like the idea of combining it with a mild EVOO rather than assuming the flavored oil has to make up the entire cup.

For example:

3/4 cup mild EVOO + 1/4 cup Garlic Infused Olive Oil

Or:

3/4 cup mild EVOO + 1/4 cup Whole Fruit Lemon Fused Olive Oil

Taste that version. Next time, maybe you go half and half. That's one of the advantages of making sauces yourself. You aren't stuck with somebody else's idea of how much garlic or lemon or basil is enough.

Why Fresh Olive Oil Matters in Homemade Sauces

When olive oil is one of the main ingredients in a recipe, quality becomes much easier to taste. There isn't much hiding it in homemade mayo. That's one reason we're so particular about the olive oils we carry at Rocky Mountain Olive Oil.

Our extra virgin olive oils are sourced from around the world, including both Northern and Southern Hemisphere harvests, so we can offer fresh oils throughout the year. We also carry fused and infused olive oils that let home cooks create flavors that would otherwise take several additional ingredients. You can shop Rocky Mountain Olive Oil online or visit us in Fort Collins or Estes Park, Colorado.

And please taste things. That's what we do in our stores, and it's one of the best ways to understand olive oil. Taste a mild EVOO next to a robust EVOO. Then imagine each one making up the majority of a bowl of mayonnaise. Suddenly choosing the right bottle makes a lot more sense.

Frequently Asked Questions About Olive Oil Mayo

Can you make mayonnaise with olive oil?

Yes. Olive oil can replace the oil normally used to make mayonnaise. For a mild, versatile homemade mayo, use a mild or medium extra virgin olive oil and emulsify it with egg, lemon juice or vinegar, mustard and salt.

What is olive oil mayo made of?

Basic olive oil mayonnaise is made from olive oil, egg, an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar, and seasonings. Dijon mustard is commonly added for flavor and to help support the emulsion.

What is the best olive oil for mayonnaise?

A mild or medium extra virgin olive oil is generally the best choice for classic homemade mayonnaise because it provides olive oil flavor without overwhelming the other ingredients. Robust EVOOs work when you intentionally want a stronger olive oil taste.

Why does my olive oil mayonnaise taste bitter?

Extra virgin olive oil naturally contains bitter and peppery flavor compounds, and those characteristics can become more noticeable in mayonnaise. Using a milder EVOO and avoiding excessive high-speed blending can produce a more balanced mayonnaise.

Can I make mayo with extra virgin olive oil?

Yes. Extra virgin olive oil works well in homemade mayonnaise. Choose the intensity of the EVOO according to the flavor you want in the finished mayo.

Can I use flavored olive oil to make mayonnaise?

Yes. Fused and infused olive oils are one of the easiest ways to create flavored mayonnaise. Garlic, Lemon, Basil and Persian Lime Olive Oils are especially useful for homemade mayo and aioli-style sauces.

Can you make olive oil mayo without mustard?

Yes. Mustard isn't strictly required for mayonnaise, although Dijon adds flavor and can help stabilize the emulsion.

Can you make olive oil mayo by hand?

Yes. Whisk the egg yolk, acid and seasonings together, then whisk in olive oil very slowly. Begin drop by drop until the emulsion forms, then gradually increase the flow of oil.

How do you fix olive oil mayo that doesn't thicken?

Start with a fresh egg yolk or a little Dijon mustard in a clean bowl. Slowly whisk the broken mayonnaise into it until a new emulsion forms.

How long does homemade olive oil mayo last?

Because homemade mayonnaise contains raw egg and doesn't contain the same preservatives as many commercial mayonnaises, it should be refrigerated promptly in a clean, covered container. For food safety, make small batches, use pasteurized eggs when appropriate, and follow current food-safety guidance for raw-egg preparations.

Is olive oil mayo the same as aioli?

Not exactly. Traditional aioli is a Mediterranean garlic-and-olive-oil emulsion. Today, “aioli” is also commonly used to describe mayonnaise flavored with garlic, herbs, citrus or other ingredients.

One Bottle of Olive Oil Can Become a Lot More Than Dinner

I spend a lot of time talking about ways to use olive oil because I don't want someone to buy a beautiful bottle from us, drizzle it over salad twice and then let it sit in the cabinet.

Use it. Cook with it. Bake with it. Whisk it into vinaigrette. Turn it into pesto. Make a marinade. Make aioli. And absolutely make mayonnaise with it. Once you understand how olive oil behaves in a sauce, an entire category of cooking opens up. Better yet, you don't need a shelf full of bottled dressings and sauces to do it. You need good olive oil, a handful of ingredients and about five minutes.

Start with our Extra Virgin Olive Oils for classic olive oil mayo, or explore our Fused & Infused Olive Oils when you're ready to turn that first batch into Garlic Mayo, Lemon Aioli, Basil Mayo, Persian Lime Mayo and whatever else you dream up. That's when a bottle of olive oil starts becoming one of the hardest-working ingredients in your kitchen!

xoxo,
Andi