If you want to make really good sandwiches, potato salad, and deviled eggs, you have to get the key condiment—mayonnaise—right. Mayonnaise does the heavy lifting in so many dishes, so if you’re not working with a flavorful option to begin with, don’t expect a great end result. For us, that often means making mayonnaise from scratch. 

Homemade mayonnaise is incredibly simple to put together. Mayo is made with a few basic ingredients—such as eggs, oil, and mustard—you likely already have on hand, and you need nothing but a whisk, a bowl, and some elbow grease to emulsify those ingredients and turn them into a creamy, silky spread or dip. If you have an immersion blender, food processor, or blender, you can subtract the whisk and elbow grease from the equation. 

Once you have your base mayonnaise, you’ve got a blank canvas for all sorts of flavorful mayo options. The Caesar mayonnaise below, created for our celebration of the Caesar salad in honor of its 100th birthday in 2024, is our favorite new recipe, but we’ve got plenty of other delicious spins on mayo, including a few vegan options. With these mayonnaise recipes under your belt, you can take your sandwiches and potato salads—as well as burgers, fries, and any other foods that welcome mayonnaise’s rich, creamy flavor—up a notch.