Vegan Mayo

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.

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 3/4 of a light, neutral vegetable oil like sunflower, canola oil, or avocado oil, ideally refined so that it has little flavor, and 1/4 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.

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.

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.

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.

Spicy vegan mayo

Use the same recipe and add the following:

• 1/2 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.
  
• 1/2 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.
  
• 1/2 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.

• 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.

For more condiment ideas, check out our dressing and sauces category page.