Just like every kid, mayonnaise used to be my only acceptable sandwich condiment. Out of all the brands, Subway is king. During a long weekend this summer, I decided to crack the code of the Subway mayonnaise recipe. After a bit of trial and error and lots of research, I have created the closest thing to Subway mayonnaise served outside of Subway restaurants.
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This is part of a recipe series recreating Subway at home. All of the other winning recipes can be found here.
What Makes the Subway Mayonnaise Recipe Special?
I honestly couldn't tell you why (until recently) but the mayonnaise at Subway is different. Most mayonnaise is made out of an acid, salt, egg yolk and oil. This follows the same premise but switches some things up and adds lots of flavour enhancements to replicate the addicting flavour of Subway style mayonnaise.
Through my research, everyone said that S&W mayonnaise is the closest retail option to Subway. S&W lists their whole egg mayo ingredients as:
Soybean Oil, Whole Eggs (9%), Corn Syrup, Water, Canola Oil, Vinegar, Salt, Lemon Juice Concentrate, White Mustard (Distilled Vinegar, Water, Mustard Seed, Salt), Rosemary Extract, Paprika.
Research and Development
In order to try and replicate the Subway mayonnaise recipe at home, I started doing research about what people have tried that's turned out close. The recipe I based this off was from AllRecipes. I followed the recipe exactly as it was and the taste of the oil was overpowering. It wasn't a hit and certainly wasn't Subway mayo.
I ended up playing with the ratios, as well as adding some additions to cut through the taste of the oil. I didn't think that would be needed considering canola oil is notoriously plain tasting and neutral.
The Ingredients
Everything you need to make your own Subway mayonnaise recipe is as follows:
- Eggs
- Mustard Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Sugar
- White Pepper
- Salt
- Vinegar
- Lemon Juice
- Salt
- Neutral Oil of Choice
The only other thing you need is either an immersion blender (my recommendation), a real blender/food processor (more high maintenance, more time, more chance for a failure) or a bowl and a whisk (0% recommended - this will take forever).
The best part about the immersion blender is the speed and ease. This method is nearly fool-proof and takes all of about 35 seconds. I use this immersion blender and love it, and it is conveniently one of the cheapest options at only $54 Canadian. It's a purchase that I didn't think I'd use often but actually get tons of unexpected use from.
The Secret to 2 Minute Mayonnaise
Now. I've told you how important it is to have an immersion blender instead of a blender/food processor/whisk. Here is why. The picture above is after about 45 seconds of work with an immersion blender in a mason jar.
The key to make this work is to add all ingredients to the bottom of your mason jar, topping them all with oil. Once added, you place in the immersion blender at the very bottom. Keep it at the bottom and blend in pulses of 1-3 seconds at a time until an emulsion forms.
Once the bottom emulsifies, slowly (and I mean SLOWLY) raise the immersion blender. While you do that, don't just move the blender upwards, move it in a circular type motion like the blender is walking up a spiral staircase. This mimics slowly adding in oil to a food processor, but is way faster with almost no effort.
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📖 Recipe
Subway's Secret Mayonnaise Recipe (2 minutes!)
Ingredients
- 2 whole eggs
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sugar granulated
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoon vinegar distilled or wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups neutral oil canola, vegetable
Instructions
Immersion Blender Method (Easiest)
- Add all ingredients to a quart sized mason jar, placing the oil on the top.
- Place your immersion blender all the way touching the bottom of the jar and blend in ½ second - 1 second bursts until it forms an emulsion. Do not lift while you do this.
- Once the mixture is emulsified, slowly pull up the immersion blender (KEY VERY SLOWLY) until it has reached the top and the whole mixture is combined.
- For best results, move the immersion blender in circles as you go up so you don't have to reinsert it. There's a chance that the emulsion may break if you bring the blender up and down too much.
- For best taste, allow to sit in the fridge over night. Store up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
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Judy Murrell
Is this the whole eggs or just their yolkes?
Can a healthier oil be subbed (olive, grapeseed,coconut)?
Maritime Glutton
Hi Judy! This uses the whole eggs! And yes, you can sub for any oil you wish, but out of the ones mentioned I'd go with grapeseed as the others may be too strong of a flavour!
Heather
Can this recipe be successfully cut in half?
Lauren
Hi Heather! It certainly can be but it keeps really well in the fridge. Where the active time stays the same no matter how much you make, I even like to double the batch occasionally. My only concern would be getting the right 1/8th teaspoon measurements for the right flavours.
Kaite
Hi - I did something totally wrong because I did the immersion blender for like 5 minute, I think I read the instructions wrong. How do I fix it?
Maritime Glutton
Hi Katie - it's hard to tell without knowing what you did but it's important to keep the immersion blender at the bottom of the jar for a few seconds and then very slowly move the immersion blender up so that it emulsifies. If you tell me what you did I can try to help you troubleshoot!
Jordan
Hello. In the nutrition information..... Is that for the whole batch or per tablespoon?
Lauren
per tablespoon 🙂
Stephanie
When I worked at Subway, it was large foil packets of Kraft Mayo. We opened it and poured it into the squeeze tubes. There wasn't a special recipe or anything. It's not a restaurant secret, just Kraft Mayo.
Lauren
Hi Stephanie! My research shows that the products use vary by store. I'm Canadian and the Canadian mayo as well as some locations in the North-East of American (Maine etc) use a particular kind of mayo! From friends who work at Subway locations, the mayo we have around here isn't branded and is closest to S&W mayonnaise - though it likely varies regionally 🙂
Kyle
Is there a way to modify this to make it the light mayo instead? Ever since they discontinued it, I can’t find a recipe nor anything close to it, and it was a staple condiment that I ordered for the last 25 years of going to subway. Also a blimpie mayo hack would be amazing too!! Thanks for posting!!
Lauren
Thanks for the comment, Kyle! I would imagine there is a way to make light mayo but I haven't tried it. From what I understand, it would be made using more water than anything else, then the normal ingredients and also a binding agent like cornstarch. Unfortunately I haven't tried this yet but would love to hear if you take a stab at it 🙂
maura
The dollar tree by my house sells light Mayo in a squeeze tube and it’s the closest I’ve found!!!
Lauren
That's awesome! We don't have a Dollar Tree in Canada where I live but I'll have to keep an eye out 🙂
Sissy Poettler
What if I were to use a pint jar of mayonnaise or a vegan version? Would I just add the spices to it?
Lauren
Hi Sissy! I haven't made it vegan yet - I'd be worried adding the spices would mess up the spices already in it. I recommend using a vegan mayonnaise recipe and substituting their spices for these 🙂
April
I noticed the rosemary as a ingredient have you ever added that if so how much?