One of the most frustrating things for me when I first started the Heal Your Headache Diet was that I could no longer find pre-made items that were safe. Every salad dressing and mayo contained some kind of citrus at the bare minimum, and the majority have MSG. A quick look at Olive Garden’s Italian dressing shows it has romano cheese (aged cheese) and natural flavoring (MSG), while most others contain balsamic vinegars. Believe it or not, you can actually make a decent salad dressing and mayo with distilled white vinegar.
Migraine Diet Mayo
I was able to incorporate Sir Kensington’s Mayonnaise which has a small amount of lemon juice but no artificial preservatives or MSG. The lemon juice is right next to the sugar as an ingredient, and the sugar has 0 grams on the label, so you know it’s really low. So far, no one has mentioned this bothers their symptoms. Another good one to try without citrus is Primal Kitchen’s Avocado Oil Mayo. While avocados aren’t allowed on HYH, the oil is so processed and would not contain a high level of tyramine, like an actual avocado might.
You can find safe dijon mustard from HEB’s Organics and Annie’s Naturals. I do find many mustards contain wine so be on the lookout for that.
Here are a few of my staples.
Quick and easy recipe that is Heal Your Headache safe.
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp white distilled vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard Be careful with ingredients here. HEB Organic and Annie's Naturals are good brands
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 clove garlic minced
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Whisk all ingredients together and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Heal Your Headache safe Italian dressing
- 1 cup loosely packed Italian parsley
- 1/3 cup basil leaves I sometimes add 1/2 cup cause I love basil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
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Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend till combined.
From the Whole30 website but adapted to be HYH Diet compliant
- 1 cup light olive oil or safflower oil
- 1 egg at ROOM TEMPERATURE wash your egg under warm water or buy pasturized
- 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
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Place the egg, 1/4 cup of oil, mustard powder, and salt in a mixing bowl, blender, or food processor. Mix thoroughly till thick. I find this is best done in a high speed blender (like Vitamix) or food processor.
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While the food processor or blender is running (or while you're whisking), SLOWLY drizzle in the remaining cup of oil in a steady stream. If you dump this in all at once it will be a gloopy disaster. The slower you can do this, the thicker the mayo will be.
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Once you've added the oil and the mixture has emulsified, slowly add in the distilled white vinegar to taste. Stir gently to incorporate.
Do you make the dressing as needed or is it something you can keep in the refrigerator over the standard two days?
I tend to make the simple dressing as needed in small batches. It doesn’t affect me to keep it for as long as a week, but if you’re really sensitive to tyramine I would just recommend 2 days. I think you can get away with a little more here since it’s mostly vinegar, olive oil, honey…things you don’t necessarily have to worry about having a build up as opposed to meat or fruit.
I LOVE this Italian Salad Dressing! It is my new favorite. I like it way better than the one I used to make with red wine vinegar. I made it in my blender with only 1/2 cup of oil and no honey and it was a hit with my family. Besides salad, we like it over pasta, or poured over salmon filet before baking.
I just started the HYH diet about a month ago. I went from 2-5 headache days per week to only one headache in three weeks! I’ve been able to tweak most of my favorite recipes, but I eat a lot of salad and dressing seemed impossible. (No balsamic or red wine vinegar or lemon or onion?). This and your Ranch are my go-to’s now. Thank you so much!
Thank you for all these headache safe recipes. 🙂
Teresa that IS AWESOME NEWS!! I’m so glad it’s working well already. I never thought to use this one over salmon and will most definitely have to do that now. I’ll have to credit you for that recipe idea! 🙂 Keep us updated as you continue with this journey. So very happy for you!
Ps – I was finally able to add lemon back successfully so there is hope!
The tips to have a room temperature egg and add the vinegar at the end make this mayo fool proof – and yummy! You can make SO many things when you have safe mayo. Thanks!
Hi, I am working with my teen daughter to do an elimination diet for her migraines. The list says no vinegar. We are committed to trying this to see if her migraines lessen and do not want to chance any factors that may spoil the elimination. Is white vinegar ok as opposed to other vinegars? Is this ok or should we just avoid until we start introducing elements back in? Thanks in advance for any help/ input…
Hi Noel, White distilled vinegar is ok. Good luck with the elimination!
Thank you for your reply and all the info posted here, grateful to have this resource !!
No problem at all! I’m so glad it’s helping. 🙂
Just made the Italian Dressing. It’s so wonderful! I did reduce the amount of oil a bit and added a few tbspns. of water instead. I’ll be making this a lot! Finally I can quit cheating with bottled dressings.
That’s awesome! Thanks, Karen!
Any way to make the mayo just a bit thicker? Like adding an extra egg white maybe? I have tried doing it super slow but still ends up a little runnier than my family prefers
Do you use the food processor or an immersion blender? An immersion blender may help with the thickness. You may want to take breaks in between how you pour. Also make sure your egg is at room temperature and not cold at all. You can warm it up in a little hot water to get it there.
my mayo came out super runny! Any tips?
You have to pour the oil sooooo slow (sometimes taking breaks for it to whip up) and have your egg be room temperature. Some people have better luck with an immersion blender over a food processor.
How long does the mayo last in the refrigerator?
I made the Italian Salad Dressing (because I was out of milk and couldnt make my FAVORITE ranch one from this site) and it was pretty good! I definitely enjoyed it fresh, not as much the 2nd day though. The oil obviously solidifies in the fridge so I had to warm it up a bit but I also found the flavor a little lackluster by day two. But still good and a great replacement for store-bought! I whipped it up in my tiny 3.5 cup food processor in no time.