# The question of the ages. Mayo or Miracle Whip? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276 "2005-02-15T23:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/21 "2005-02-16T00:19:52Z")
Mayo, mayo all the way! Miracle Whip is \*awful. \* All that sugar does not go with a cheese sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/22 "2005-02-16T00:28:08Z")
Mayonnaise only if it’s homemade, that jarred stuff is awful by comparison. Miracle Whip for some things like potato salad, because Mom always used it, and for pickled peach mold which just doesn’t taste right otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/23 "2005-02-16T01:03:03Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > But I really can’t tell one bit of difference between mayonaisse and Miracle Whip, and think it’s silly to pretend that there is a significant difference. Of course, now I’m probably going to get dragged into the Pit for making such a statement. Pretending there’s a significant difference? They’re as similar as a baked potato and potato salad are, i.e., they have the same base but one’s tasty in its simplicity whereas the other has far too much crap added to it, making it inedible. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/24 "2005-02-16T01:08:40Z")
We usually have both mayo and Miracle Whip around the house. I prefer mayo on my sandwiches, but if it happens to get made with MW I don’t complain. I can definitely tell the difference, but to me they’re both good. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/25 "2005-02-16T01:13:16Z")
This is not a question- mayo. What REALLY terrifies me though is that some use Miracle Crap as salad dressing. ::shudder:: ::vomit:: ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/26 "2005-02-16T01:31:30Z")
Mayo definitely! ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/27 "2005-02-16T01:36:18Z")
Nalley brand mayo is all I buy. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/28 "2005-02-16T02:58:54Z")
Mayo, for me. It just seems to work and taste better in all the things I make. Guacamole, tuna and chicken salad, potato salad, dips and sauces… Miracle Whip (I’ve substituted in a mayo-deficient emergency) seems to give everything a weird whang. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/29 "2005-02-16T03:14:39Z")
Definitely Mayo…and it must be Best Foods (Hellman’s east of the Rockies). I had Miracle Whip once, when I was a child, I gagged and nearly threw up. I haven’t gone anywhere near the stuff since. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/30 "2005-02-16T03:17:07Z")
Love them both. Grew up with only Miracle Whip…my mom seemed to think mayo was too expensive, or high-falutin’, or something. I think all those stories about food poisoning scared her, because the stories never specified that it was home-made mayo that was the problem. Started using real mayo after I got married, but only for certain things. Have to have both on hand because Miracle Whip is necessary for deviled eggs and potato salad to taste right, and for BLT’s, and for the kids. Mayo for all dips and on fresh tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/31 "2005-02-16T03:21:53Z")
Well…for preference, neither. But if I were to be chained down and one or the other spooned into my mouth, I’d go for the mayo. Miracle whip is absolutely disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/32 "2005-02-16T03:23:14Z")
Mayo and Miracle Whip are two different things and should be treated as such. I personally have no use for Mayo (it tastes like nothing!, I see no value in using it) but Miracle Whip has its uses: Egg or Tuna or Chicken salad, BLT’s and Ham and cheese sandwiches are about all. So for me it’s not much Miracle Whip but absolutely no Mayo. Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/33 "2005-02-16T03:47:41Z")
Add me to those who say both. They are two completely different animals. **Unclviny** , mayo does too gots flavor. And if for nothing else, it’s good for smearing on the outside of a grilled cheese sammich. Much easier than butter and just as tasty. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/34 "2005-02-16T03:52:59Z")
Miracle Whip for most uses. Mayo for Pea Salad. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/35 "2005-02-16T03:53:05Z")
I would gladly suck Satan’s jism out of a dead goat, just for that Tangy Zip [SUP]TM[/SUP] to put on my sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/36 "2005-02-16T04:09:18Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > I tasted actual mayonnaise at some point in my adult life, and it made me gag. I guess it all comes down to what you were raised on. Ugh, not true at all. I grew up with Miracle Whip - indeed, I had no idea there was anything other than MW until I was an adult. Nowadays, it’s Hellman’s, homemade, or nothing. I can’t stand Miracle Whip. It will not be allowed in my house. And for those of you who say there’s no difference, I just chalk it up to yet more Tastebud Zombies. You all just don’t have the same kind of tastebuds as I do, I guess, either that, or you’re undead. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/37 "2005-02-16T04:58:11Z")
Let me preface my response by saying that I am a BLT freak. I only use tomatoes that I have grown myself. I use specific brands of bacon and bread for the toast, but I was brought up in a house that was split on the Mayo/Miracle Whip issue. So 3 years ago I coerced my long-suffering wife to help me do a blind taste-test with mayo and MW, all other ingredients being the same. The winner: Hellmann’s Mayo. It wasn’t even close. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/38 "2005-02-16T05:26:59Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > No, it’s Satan’s semen. After it’s gone rancid. > Bleeeecch. Funny you say that, since I believe mayonnaise tastes like a cross between egg whites and semen. I’m into flavor, I guess. If I’m out of MW I’ll use catalina or blue cheese dressing to make a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Mirasol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Mirasol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirasol)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/39 "2005-02-16T05:43:19Z")
Miracle Whip is so good and tangy! Mayo is like Micracle Whip without the tang, and the tang is the whole point–well, it is to me. I’ll eat mayo to help make a sandwich not so dry, but it doesn’t do so much for me. Miracle Whip is essential to a good egg salad or deviled eggs, as well. Just not the smae with mayo! I had no idea so many folks didn’t like MW! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276/40 "2005-02-16T05:55:06Z")
I had never heard of Miracle Whip until someone served a potato salad made with it. It is a great recipe - Miracle Whip, mild seeded mustard, fresh diced skinned & seeded tomatoes, crumbled bacon, hard-boiled eggs, optional herbs, optional diced avocado and of course 'taters. I started making it as directed - with Miracle Whip and haven’t dared to change that. Whenever I buy a jar I make one batch of potato salad and it is all gone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-question-of-the-ages-mayo-or-miracle-whip/290276.md?page=3)