How to Make Everything Taste Better with Avocado Mayo (Plus a Recipe!)

It's your healthiest condiment yet.

avocado mayo

Mayonnaise tends to get a bad reputation for being an unhealthy calorie bomb. Yes, when it’s packed with processed and industrial ingredients, and shelf stable for 39 years, it probably isn’t the healthiest choice. However, when the mayo in question contains avocado oil and real, whole food ingredients, it may just become the healthiest condiment yet. Meet avocado mayo–the game-changing condiment you can totally make yourself.

Good old mayonnaise used to be made with just three ingredients: egg yolk, olive oil, and lemon juice (or vinegar). Now, this condiment is made to be shelf-stable which means it packs in way more ingredients than its original three. Two of these ingredients include cheaply made and overly processed canola or soybean oil, both of which come with some risks.

What’s The Best Oil For Mayonnaise?

The oils in commercial mayonnaise start off (sort-of) harmless – before processing, that is. Canola oil is most-often made from genetically modified canola (also called rapeseed). The seeds are harvested, slightly heated, and then pressed into oil. Commercial canola oil is then extracted using hexane, refined, filtered to remove color, and then deodorized.

Soybean oil also typically starts off with genetically modified soybeans, as more than 90 percent of soy produced in the U.S. is genetically modified. Soybean crops are also sprayed with the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup, which may be associated with adverse health effects. Oil is extracted from the soybeans by using hexane, refined, and blended, and oftentimes hydrogenated to make trans fats.

The problem with canola oil and soybean oil isn’t just their overly processed origins (and lack of taste). These oils oxidize and go rancid quickly upon exposure to heat (like cooking, deep frying, etc.), light (most are stored in a clear, plastic bottle), and oxygen, promoting inflammation in the body once consumed.

Eating these industrial oils has also caused a dramatic shift in the composition of the average American diet. Industrial seed and vegetable oils (canola, soybean, corn, peanut, cottonseed, sunflower, etc.) are a high source of polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acids, a fatty acid that is actually essential to the diet – but in very small amounts.

Due to the overabundance of cheap processed food, the ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids has been greatly skewed. Ideally, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is somewhere between 1:1 and 4:1. Between 1909 and 1999, the actual ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the American diet increased from 5.4:1 (close to ideal) to 9.6:1 (scary inflammatory territory).

Too much oxidized omega-6 fatty acids and an imbalance of O6 to O3 in the diet has been linked to cognitive decline, breast cancer, depression and mood imbalances, gut dysfunction, insulin resistance and diabetes, and obesity.

A Better Mayonnaise with Avocado Oil

Avocado oil is pressed from the fleshy skin of an avocado, which produces oil filled with healthy fats, including a balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids and oleic acid. Studies have shown that avocado oil is associated with the prevention of developing diabetes, high cholesterol, and high triglyceride levels.

Even better, avocado oil boasts heart-loving effects as well. Studies have shown that the monounsaturated fatty acids found in avocados favorably affect a number of risk factors for heart disease, including cholesterol and triglyceride levels, factors related to blood clot formation, LDL oxidation, and insulin sensitivity.

Avocado oil is a delicious ingredient to add to homemade mayonnaise. Not only does it promote healthier benefits to your body, but it creates a condiment worthy of every tuna salad sandwich.

avocado mayo

Just Add Avocado Mayo

This plant-powered mayonnaise is so much more than a sandwich condiment; you’ll use this avocado mayo on almost everything.

-Use it to thicken up sauces and soups
-Add to salad dressings
-Use in tuna salad, egg salad, potato salad, grain salads, etc.
-Stir into dips
-Make deviled eggs
-Smear on collard green wraps or nori wraps
-Slather on grilled fish and vegetables
-Bake into cookies, cakes, breads, etc.
-Marinate chicken and fish
-Use as a dip for root vegetable fries and vegetables
-Hearty coleslaw
-Homemade ranch dip

Make Your Own Avocado Mayonnaise

Feeling adventurous in the kitchen? It’s easy to make your own avocado mayo with just five whole food ingredients – bonus it’s paleo! We like our mayo thick, but if you prefer to thin it out, simply add in a tablespoon of filtered water. Feel free to add in a few spices to change the flavor of your mayo: garlic powder and cumin make for a unique version.

Because this recipe contains no preservatives or weird fillers, it needs to be gobbled up within a week. We don’t think that will be a problem at all.

avocado mayo

Avocado Mayo Recipe

Yields 1 small jar of avocado mayonnaise

Ingredients

It’s easy to make your own avocado mayo with just five whole food ingredients – bonus it’s paleo! We like our mayo thick, but if you prefer to thin it out, simply add in a tablespoon of filtered water.
Feel free to add in a few spices to change the flavor of your mayo: garlic powder and cumin make for a unique version.
Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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1 Servings

Ingredients

Avocado Mayo

Preparation

  1. 3 organic egg yolks
  2. ½ tsp sea salt
  3. 2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
  4. ¼ tsp Dijon mustard
  5. 1 ½ cup avocado oil
  6. Add egg yolks, sea salt, mustard, and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse three times to gently combine.
  7. Turn the food processor on and slowly pour the avocado oil into the feeder tube of the food processor, allowing it to drip into the egg yolks in a very thin, smooth stream.
  8. Continue running the food processor until the mayonnaise thickens and all the oil is incorporated into the egg yolks, about two or three minutes.
  9. Spoon avocado mayonnaise into a small, airtight glass jar.
Kate Gavlick is a nutritionist with a Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition (MSCN). Hailing from Portland Oregon, and ... More about Kate Gavlick
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