Vegan Mayo (Thick and Creamy)
If you can’t live without mayonnaise, you don’t have to if you want to eat vegan. Here’s my fave Vegan Mayo recipe! It only takes 5 minutes, tastes incredible and uses easy ingredients!
I remember the first time I tried vegan mayo, or plant based mayo, about four years ago. It tasted just like regular mayonnaise and kind of blew my mind. It tastes exactly the same! Vegan mayo here costs me quite a lot, and I remember one day wondering if it was possible to make it at home and friends – here we are!
Not only is it possible to make vegan mayo at home, but it’s also easy and takes only a few minutes. It’ll save you a lot of money since it’s some basic affordable pantry ingredients (really), and tastes incredible!
What ingredients are in vegan mayo?
I’m so glad you asked! Vegan mayo is made up of three basic ingredients – soy milk, oil and salt. Let me break them down a bit for you.
- Soy milk – You’re going to need to use soy milk for this recipe. Truthfully, apart from almond milk, it’s the vegan milk I always have in stock. Why? Emulsification. Soy milk contains natural emulsifiers that make it perfect for so many purposes. I use it to make creamy and solid vegan butter, as the perfect buttermilk in pancakes and cakes and more, and here – in mayo! It works perfectly and binds to the oil to make it nice and fluffy and mayo like!
- Oil – oil adds the necessary fat and binds with the soy milk. You want to use a subtle/mellow and odourless oil for taste. I love olive oil and coconut oil but they can be a bit overpowering here, so I recommend a more neutral oil like sunflower seed, canola or grape seed oil.
- Salt – salt is such a superior ingredient to me. It acts as a flavour enhancer here and really boosts the flavour.
Now, for the other ingredients. I always add in some apple cider vinegar, mustard, black pepper and garlic powder which for me take it over the top and give it that quintessential mayonnaise flavour. If however you’re using this for a sweet dessert, leave those out.
Expert Tips & FAQ
- I go through this in detail in recipe, but the best tool to use is an immersion blender in an open cup (like the beaker that comes with it). Air is an essential ingredient and you need free-flowing air to allow the emulsification to properly take place.
- You can’t do this in a container that is completely sealed off (just like my whipped coffee recipe). You can use a blender, but ensure it’s an open blender. I would do it that way by blending the soy milk first and then slowly streaming in the oil in the top. Cover it loosely with a cloth so it doesn’t splash. If you’re doing that, you might need to double the quantity so there’s enough for the blade.
- You should start with all your ingredients at the same temperature, preferably at room temperature.
Flavour Customisations/Add-ins
Feel free to customise this vegan mayo recipe with flavour add-ins. Here are some of my favourites:
- add in some dried Italian seasoning and an extra pinch of garlic powdered for herbed garlic mayo.
- Add in some sambal oelek or sriracha for a spicy mayo
Related Recipes
These are my favourite recipes where I use my homemade mayo:
- Bang Bang Broccoli
- Bang Bang Cauliflower
- Vegan BLT Sandwich
- Loaded Vegan Potato Salad
- Vegan Tuna Sandwich
- Vegan Tartar Sauce (with vegan fish tacos)
- spread on some No Knead Bread
Enjoy friends! If you make this post about these Vegan Mayo (Thick and Creamy), please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much! P.S. – do you know that we have an entire blog dedicated to low carb recipes named Low Carb Vegan Recipes?! Be sure to check it out!
Vegan Mayo (Thick and Creamy)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup original soy milk, (125mL)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, or lime juice or white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon dijion mustard
- 1 cup oil, I recommend any neutral oil (don't use coconut oil) (250mL)
Instructions
- Make sure all your ingredients are room temperature. If your milk is cold, you can microwave it for about 10 seconds.
- Add the original soy milk, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, sea salt and mustard in the immersion blender beaker/jar and stir together.
- Pour the oil over the soy milk mixture. Let it sit for about a minute.
- Place your immersion blender into the bottom of the jar. Blend and keep it firmly pressed against the bottom for about 15 seconds while the mixture emulsifies. Slowly move the blender up and down to properly blend and incorporate all the ingredients until thick and fully combined.
- Taste and add/adjust any ingredients if needed. Place in a sealed jar in the fridge. It thickens up in the fridge even more. Enjoy!
Notes
Expert Tips & FAQ
- I go through this in detail in recipe, but the best tool to use is an immersion blender in an open cup (like the beaker that comes with it). Air is an essential ingredient and you need free-flowing air to allow the emulsification to properly take place.
- You can’t do this in a container that is completely sealed off (just like my whipped coffee recipe). You can use a blender, but ensure it’s an open blender. I would do it that way by blending the soy milk first and then slowly streaming in the oil in the top. Cover it loosely with a cloth so it doesn’t splash. If you’re doing that, you might need to double the quantity so there’s enough for the blade.
- You should start with all your ingredients at the same temperature, preferably at room temperature.
- If you don't have the immersion blender cup, be sure to use a tall and narrow jar (like a Weck Jar).
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Hello, I’m about to try the recipe and the only oil I have is Olive or Vegetable .. Can I use one of these. Thank you
Hi Stephanie,
Olive oil will make it better so I would suggest vegetable. I usually use avocado, or sunflower oil!
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for sharing. This is the best vegan mayo I’ve made…so thick and creamy.
Can this mayo be frozen? It’s makes more than I will use in 2weeks?
Hi Claudia,
Yes! It might be a little watery on thawing so I would just re blend it a little to bring back the texture!
Thank you! Some going in the freezer now!
Fantastic and sooooo easy to make. I use sunflower oil and have also added other herbs that worked out well. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing so happy to hear!!
Wow is this fast, easy and delicious! I wanted a toast and tomato sandwich for lunch so whipped this up while my bread was toasting and voila! Thanks so much for such a great recipe!
Can you use almond milk? Staying away from soy.
Hi Shari,
Please check the comments – readers have shared how they’ve used alternative milks! Enjoy so much!
This made the most delicious potato salad. I don’t have an immersion blender but the Vitamix worked great!
Wow, Jessica! So easy. So simple. So perfect! I’ve been making vegan mayo for ages (soak cashews overnight, etc.) and I love my cashew mayo, but you have to plan ahead.
This! I just had a couple minutes and thought I’d try it. I had all the ingredients except garlic powder. Texture is great. Flavor could’ve used some garlic powder (haha). I considered throwing in some fresh or roasted garlic but I wanted to time it.
Zero to Mayo in under 2 minutes! Incredible recipe. Thank you.
Q…have you tried it with any other ‘milks’???
Aw so so happy you enjoyed so much Susan!! You’re so welcome!
I haven’t been tons of commenters have with work arounds! Some mentioned adding in a bit of aquafaba if using oat milk or almond milk. I hope that helps!
This is the best mayo. Even if i weren’t doing a vegan plan, i will continue to use this!
This was a success of a recipe for a vegan loved one. Thank you so much! 🫰🏽👩🏽🌾