Our homemade vegan mayo is a versatile and easy recipe you can make in 1 minute with 6 simple ingredients and an immersion blender.
This thick, creamy, spreadable, and tasty recipe feels just like regular mayo. You can use it in salads and dressings, as a dip, or as a spread in sandwiches and wraps.

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Classic mayonnaise is a blend of oil, lemon juice or vinegar, and egg yolk. The egg yolks are the emulsifier that binds the lemon juice and the oil together.
We use unsweetened soy milk as the emulsifier for our vegan mayonnaise recipe. Like egg yolk, soy milk contains lecithin, which, when blended with lemon juice and oil, forms a thick, creamy, and stable mayonnaise.
You can make this recipe in just a minute with an immersion blender and a tall container with a wide opening.
You can expect a delicious thick cold sauce with an almost identical taste and texture to regular mayo.
It's perfectly spreadable and can be used in sandwiches, hamburgers, and wraps.
You can use it as a salad dressing in vegan tuna salad, potato salad, rice salad, barley salad, or dip with french fries and steamed artichokes.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Unsweetened soy milk
We tried almost all commercially available non-dairy milks, and unsweetened soy milk is the best one to make a vegan mayonnaise with the perfect creamy and stable texture and a delicious flavor.
We tried oat milk, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, and hazelnut milk, and they didn't work.
Oils
You can make vegan mayonnaise with any neutral vegetable oils.
However, we recommend mixing two oils to produce a mayonnaise that has a better, more balanced flavor and doesn't taste too much like one oil.
As a rule of thumb, we use ¾ of a light, neutral vegetable oil like sunflower, canola oil, or avocado oil, ideally refined so that it has little flavor, and ¼ olive oil to give the mayo a deeper taste and balance out the other oil.
The olive oil can be extra virgin, but it doesn't have to be. It's best if its flavor is not too strong.
Don't use coconut oil because it's saturated (solid at room temperature); you'll make butter, not mayo.
I know you are wondering if adding two oils is necessary. We think it makes a big difference in flavor, so we strongly recommend it. Adding only one type of oil will make the mayo taste too much like that oil.
Mustard
Mustard adds a pleasant tangy flavor. Regular mustard or Dijon mustard work; we usually use squeeze mustard, and the mayo turns out great.
Lemon juice
Add acidity and tanginess that is so perfect in mayonnaise. You can replace lemon juice with apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
Salt
Salt is necessary to add taste. Sea salt and kosher salt are best. You can also add black pepper if you like, although we prefer not to add it to keep our mayo smooth.
Sweetener + Spices
Sweeteners and spices are optional; we don't add any to our vegan mayo.
Add a tablespoon of maple syrup or agave syrup if you like your mayo with a hint of sweetness.
You can also add garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, or chili powder.
Equipment
You will need an immersion blender and a tall container that can fit the blender. We like to use a tall mason jar with a wide opening or a measuring jar.
This is to facilitate the emulsion of oil and milk. A wide and shallow container won't work.
We did not get good results using a food processor, a standard blender, or a hand mixer. However, with an immersion blender, it comes out perfect every time.
How to make vegan mayo
To a tall container, add all ingredients: soy milk, neutral vegetable oil, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, and salt.
The container should fit your immersion blender (like a mason jar or measuring jar with a wide opening).
You don't need to add the oil a little at a time. You can just put it in all at once with the other ingredients.
Blend for 30 seconds or until thick and creamy, moving the blender up and down the container. This facilitates the emulsion.
Tip: add 3 more tablespoons of vegetable oil for a thicker mayonnaise. Add 3 more tablespoons of soy milk if you want a thinner mayonnaise.
Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice.
Serving Suggestions
You can use this recipe just like you would use regular egg-based mayonnaise.
Spread: on a slice of bread, in a sandwich, or a wrap.
Dip: for french fries, sweet potato chips, sweet potato wedges, veggie sticks, fried eggplants, rice balls, and steamed artichokes.
Dressing: use as a dressing for vegan egg salad, vegan tuna salad, vegan potato salad, creamy pasta salad, carrot raisins salad, and any other salad you'd use regular mayo.
Sauce: mix it with other ingredients to make a delicious sauce like our spicy chipotle sauce, a garlic aioli sauce, or a green goddess dressing.
Variations
Spicy vegan mayo
Use the same recipe and add the following:
- ½ tablespoon maple syrup: for a touch of sweetness, you can replace it with agave syrup or any other syrup.
- 1 to 2 tablespoons Tabasco hot sauce: You can replace Tabasco with any other hot sauce. You can even replace it with a couple of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a smokier flavor.
- ½ clove garlic: it perfectly complements the hotness of the mayo. You can replace it with 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
Vegan aioli or garlic mayo
Use the same recipe and add the following:
- 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, depending on how much you like garlic.
To have the smoothest vegan aioli, the trick is to thinly slice or mash the garlic before adding it and blending it. - ½ to 1 tablespoon of maple syrup or agave syrup.
You can use this basic recipe for vegan mayo to make a lot of different variations. For example:
Vegan chipotle sauce
A smokey, creamy, and spicy sauce you can use instead of regular mayo. We make it with chipotle in adobo sauce, vegan sour cream, vegan mayo, garlic, lime juice, and salt.
Check out our vegan chipotle sauce recipe.
Kind of a ranch dressing
Blend in a couple of tablespoons of plant-based yogurt and a handful of fresh herbs (like dill, parsley, and chives), and you get a delicious dressing similar to ranch dressing.
Tips
- Use refined or neutral vegetable oils: especially if you are serving this recipe to non-vegans, make sure to use refined vegetable oil so they won't be able to taste its flavor, and mix it with a good quality olive oil following our measurements.
A mix of sunflower and olive oil is by far the best combination of oils we have tested to make vegan mayo for texture and taste. - Thicker mayo: if you want a thicker mayonnaise, add 2 to 3 more tablespoons of oil.
- Thinner mayo: if you want a thinner mayonnaise, add 1 to 3 more tablespoons of unsweetened soy milk.
How to scale the recipe
Always use 1 part of soy milk and 2 parts of oils.
Then divide the oil part into 3 parts of neutral vegetable oil and 1 part of olive oil.
So, for example, if you want to make a double batch, you could use 1 cup of soy milk and 2 cups of oil.
Of those 2 cups of oil, use 1.5 cups of light vegetable oil (like sunflower oil) and 0.5 cups of olive oil.
Questions
No. The oil and the milk won't emulsify in a food processor or hand mixer, and the mayo won't turn out creamy and thick.
I would recommend not to. We had mixed results with it, and the mayo did not turn out creamy in some cases.
The best is if you use an immersion blender and a tall container.
It doesn't matter. Just put everything in a tall container and blend with an immersion blender.
You can add less oil, or more soy milk, to make the mayo more like a salad dressing.
You can use aquafaba, the water in a can of chickpeas. Vegan mayo made with aquafaba is not as thick and creamy as the one made with soy milk.
It can be. Just read the labels on the ingredients you use. If they are, then your mayo will be gluten-free.
Aquafaba is the water from a can of chickpeas. We use aquafaba occasionally in our recipes (it works like magic in this vegan brownie cake). However, we are not the biggest fan of aquafaba in vegan mayo.
The mayo is not as thick and creamy; it separates easily, it tastes a little off, and it's more like a salad dressing than a real thick mayo.
Storage
Make ahead: you can use this recipe for meal prep as it keeps well for several days.
Refrigerator: store the vegan mayo in an airtight container (like a mason jar) in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing: we do not recommend freezing it.
For more condiment ideas, check out our dressing and sauces category page.
Recipe
Vegan Mayo
Equipment
- Immersion blender
- Tall container that can fit the blender (like a mason jar with wide opening)
Ingredients
- ½ cup soy milk unsweetened
- ¾ cup neutral vegetable oil sunflower, canola, or other (+ 3 tablespoon if you want an extra thick mayo)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a tall container: ½ cup soy milk, ¾ cup neutral vegetable oil, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon mustard, and ¾ teaspoon salt.
- Blend for 30 seconds or until thick and creamy, moving the blender up and down the container. This facilitates the emulsion.
- Tip: add 3 more tablespoons of vegetable oil for a thicker mayonnaise. Add 3 more tablespoons of soy milk if you want a thinner mayonnaise.
- Taste and adjust for salt and lemon juice.
Video Recipe
Notes
Nutritional Values
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Roos
Thank you for this great recipe, it turned out really great! How long exactly will it last in the fridge?
Roos from the Netherlands
Louise
Hi Roos,
I'm so happy you liked the mayo! You can store the vegan mayo in an airtight container (like a mason jar) in the fridge for up to 5 days. We do not recommend freezing it.
All the best,
Louise
Danielle Medina
Hi, Can you omit the oil or do you need a substitution? We are oil-free.
Louise Valentin
Hi Danielle,
Thanks for your comment.
Oil plays a vital part in the texture, flavor, and emulsion of this recipe - so, unfortunately, it cannot be omitted.
We'll make a cashew nut mayonnaise within too long which is without oil, maybe that could be a match 🙂
Have a great day!
Kindest, Louise
Marggie
This mayonnaise is wonderful for someone like me who can’t have eggs!
It whipped up in seconds and was thick and creamy, tasted great.
The only thing that I would change is the olive oil, it added a stronger flavor.
Would it be okay to just use all vegetable oil?
Louise
Hi Maggie, thanks so much for your message. Yes, you can use vegetable oil instead of olive oil, we mix the oils so that the flavor is more balanced - but please do as you prefer! Have a wonderful day and week ahead. Kindest, Louise
Nicole
I didn't see the comment about "not using oatmilk". It ended up super runny, so I threw a block of silken tofu in and that did the trick! Delicious.
Nico
Hi Nicole, thank you for your kind comment - I'm so happy you managed and that you liked the flavor, silken tofu is a powerful partner! Have a great rest of your day! Cheers, Nico
Kevin
Can you define a serving? It’s not posted in the nutritional label!
Nico
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment. 1 serving is approximately 1 (heaping) tablespoon, so around 20 grams. I hope that helps! Have a great rest of your weekend, cheers Nico.
Kevin
Thank you! This recipe is the BOMB! ❤️
Mike
This mayo is epic 😍. It emulsifies really well and lasted for 2 weeks in the fridge.
Louise Valentin
Fantastic, Mike! I'm so happy you liked the texture - thanks for commenting here as well. Take care. Nico
Anne
We have some family members who don't do well with soy. Would almond or oat milk be okay? If so, which would you recommend? We use the plain extra creamy oat milk but will buy another kind.
Nico
Hi Anne, So sorry that I am late with this reply, I missed your comment. So, you can use almond milk but not oat milk (it will not turn into a thick mayo, but instead a runny dressing). As for the almond milk texture, look for a creamy version. I like Elmhurst milked almonds and Califia barista blend, but as long as you go for extra creamy texture you should be fine. Be mindful of sugar content in the plant milk you choose. Some people like a slightly sweet mayo, then some added sugar is fine. But if you don't appreciate that, look for a sugar-free version.
I hope that helps! Cheers, Nico
Lindy
This recipe was easy and really good! You mentioned that almond milk could possibly work, and that some brands were better than others. Could you give me a brand that works well? I'd love to try a soy free version! Thanks!!
AngelaKin
Love this Mayo❤
Anonymous
Is the olive oil extra virgin?
Chef Nico
Hi there, it can be, but not absolutely necessary 🙂
Carole
I made the tofu with mushrooms! It was amazing that will be keeper! Looking forward to many more of your plant base recipes Bravo 👏
Nico
Thanks so much Carole, I’m delighted you like it! 🙂
kathleen
Looks great...could this be tweaked to make a sweet "mayo" or cream? Eg oil, soy milk and sugar?
Chef Nico
Hi Kathleen, I am not sure, I haven't tried. It depends what you are trying to make. I'd say check out our vegan custard blog post for a sweet cream / custard variation. I am afraid tweaking this one would result in something a little too greasy.
Hope this helps.
Nico