You only need 6 ingredients to make this easy vegan mayo recipe! Thick, creamy, and ready in under 5 minutes, it's just as good as the real thing.
This vegan mayo recipe is the stuff that dreams are made of. It calls for 6 simple ingredients, it comes together in under 5 minutes, and it tastes just as good as the real thing. It’s thick, creamy, and rich, with a lightly sweet and tangy flavor. For the last few months, I’ve been adding it to salad dressings, stirring it into sauces, and slathering it on just about everything. I’m obsessed with it, and I think you will be too!
Vegan Mayo Recipe Ingredients
So, what makes this vegan mayonnaise so thick and creamy anyway? Soy milk? Cashews? Tofu? Nope! This vegan mayo recipe is completely nut- and soy-free. The secret ingredient here is aquafaba, the starchy liquid that you’d find in a can of chickpeas. We often dump aquafaba down the drain, but it can actually whip into soft peaks, like egg whites, and act as an emulsifier, like egg yolks. It’s what makes this vegan mayo so smooth, creamy, and cohesive. Here’s what else is in this recipe:
- Lemon juice – A classic mayo ingredient, it adds brightness and tang.
- Dijon mustard – Many traditional mayonnaise recipes call for ground mustard powder, but I like to use Dijon mustard instead. I always have it on hand, and it gives this vegan mayo extra depth of flavor.
- Cane sugar – It balances the tangy mustard and lemon juice.
- Sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
- Sunflower oil – It gives this vegan mayo body and richness. If you don’t have sunflower oil on hand, you can substitute another neutral-flavored oil like avocado oil or canola oil. I don’t recommend using extra-virgin olive oil in this recipe, as its strong flavor will overpower the other ingredients.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Vegan Mayonnaise
To make homemade vegan mayonnaise, add the aquafaba, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, and salt to a blender. Before you add the oil, whirr these ingredients together. This allows the aquafaba to start to whip up and become foamy.
With the blade running, slowly drizzle in the sunflower oil, and blend until thickened. The vegan mayo should be light, creamy, and opaque. That’s it!
Store the vegan mayo in an airtight container or Mason jar in the fridge for up to two weeks. Enjoy!
How to Use Vegan Mayo
Once you have this vegan mayonnaise on hand, you’ll find endless ways to use it! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Slather it on a sandwich, like my Seared Tofu Banh Mi, Chickpea Salad Sandwich, or Butternut Apple Cranberry Sandwich.
- Spread it on your burger bun next time you make veggie burgers or portobello mushroom burgers.
- Use it instead of regular mayo in mayo-based salad dressings. It works great in my Broccoli Salad, Grilled Corn Salad, Potato Salad, and Mexican Street Corn Salad.
- Swap it in for regular mayo in egg salad, or use it in my vegan egg salad.
- Use it as a dipping sauce for French fries and sweet potato fries.
- Make sriracha mayo by mixing 1/3 cup vegan mayo with 2 teaspoons sriracha. I love to serve this creamy, spicy sauce with nori wraps, sushi, tacos, sesame tofu, spring rolls, and more!
- Or make creamy chipotle sauce! It’s fantastic on tacos, burgers, and burrito bowls.
How do you like to use vegan mayonnaise? Leave a comment below to let me know!
More Favorite Plant-Based Basics
If you love this recipe, try making one of these plant-based cooking components next:
Vegan Mayo
Ingredients
- ¼ cup liquid from 1 can of chickpeas
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon cane sugar
- Scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup sunflower oil*
Instructions
- In a blender, place the chickpea liquid, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, and salt and pulse to combine.
- With the blade running, slowly drizzle in the sunflower oil and blend until thickened.
My whole family approved of this, which is nothing short of a miracle. 🙂 Best of all, with this I have finally achieved my dream of making homemade ranch dressing that I actually want to dip veggies in!! 10 stars!!!!
Both vegan and nut-free (cashews and other nuts are out)! I love the taste, too! Thank you so much, as I’ve had to skip most dairy free vegan replacements because of my nut allergy. I can enjoy this with no guilt and no epipen !
Hi Jen, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is amazing!!! I have made regular mayo for years but cutting out 99.9% of dairy from our diet, this recipe is far from a disappointment. My greatest joy is my husband loving everything I’ve made including going 100% gluten free. He’s lost over 60 pounds and I’m down 40. You are my first go to for anything vegan. I haven’t felt this inspired by food for a really long time. Thank you
Hi Tami, I’m so glad you loved the recipe!
Wow, genius recipe. Watching the mayo whip up feels like magic. We’ve made it two times now, and we were successful both times. I tried it with avocado oil, and it worked well. You’re right, olive oil (even one with a milder, more neutral flavor) has a very robust flavor. Looking forward to trying other dips on your website.
Ha, isn’t it crazy?! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Worked very well, although I couldn’t manage to incorporate all the oil. I used my Vitamix. Once the mayo was too stiff to accept any more oil, I stopped. I added a clove of garlic at the beginning. Delicious as a base for potato salad. Rave reviews. Thank you!
Hi Ellen, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
So yummy! Made coleslaw dressing for broccoli slaw. Big hit! So so much better, and better for you, than vegan mayonnaise from the store!!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Thanks. Made this and it was delicious. I used 1/2 sunflower and 1/2 avocado oil, with an immersion blender, so maybe wasn’t as thick as it could have been with all sunflower oil. But that was fine as I was using it for a coleslaw and worked perfectly.
Wondering if you know if this will freeze well?
Hi Susan, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I haven’t tried freezing it, but I have a feeling the oils will separate.
Hi Jeanine, thanks for the reply.
To let you know, I did try freezing (since it was either that or throw it out as we were heading away), and it did separate a bit after thawing, but was still useable in a coleslaw dressing when shaken well to recombine.
Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you for coming back to let me know!
I used avocado oil instead of sunflower oil and followed the directions using my Vitamix & the consistency was spot-on!
Can you think of a good substitute for the Aquafaba? I’m unable to have chickpeas and would love to try this vegan mayo recipe!
Thank you!
No, I’m sorry, that’s the base of this recipe. For another creamy sauce, try one of these cashew cream or cashew sour cream recipes:
https://www.loveandlemons.com/cashew-cream/
https://www.loveandlemons.com/vegan-sour-cream-recipe/
It looks so good and healty ,I’m buying the ingredients today and going to do it’ yummy
I used canola oil and my Mayo came out incredible thick. I used an immersion blender and drizzled very slowly and consistently. I also used Whole Foods 365 brand no salt added Garbanzo Beans. Miraculous!
I make my own Caesar dressing and it almost has the same quantity of salt .. I usually get the low sodium chickpeas so with regular chickpeas with sodium you need to decrease the salt it turned out too salty for me but the texture is spot on …super fast convenient mayo …I will use the mayo on cabbage slaw which always needs more salt . It’s definitely a keeper you can add some dry herbs or even garlic if you like garlicky ..
Well I try making it twice in my Vitamix and it was a miserable liquid failure both times. First time I made it in the full size Vitamix container and the second time I tried it in the “graims” container thinking maybe the first one failed because it was too little stuff in the big container but it failed too. Maybe it was my brand of chickpeas? I will try it again when I need hummus again but use the food processor this time and see if that works.
Smelled good and the taste was good but it was in no way spreadable.
Hmm, that’s so weird. Did you use sunflower oil? About how long did you blend for? (and I’m just curious what brand of chickpeas you used in case someone else asks).
Same for me. I used Goya. I even added in tapioca starch when it wouldn’t thicken, and put three full tablespoons of tapioca starch in and it still is just straight liquid. This is the second time I’ve tried, so that’s a bummer. I am using sunflower oil.
Haven’t made this yet, but wondering if I could replace the dijon? My son can’t have mustard seed.
Hi Sarah, I think it would be fine, it should only affect the flavor.
Oh how I wish this could be made without oil… bummer… it looks sooo good, but NO oil for us.
I know this is old, but I saw a YouTube video, and in the replies, someone had a recipe for tofu mayo (instead of oil based).
Here is the recipe from the comment:
“1 packet silken tofu, 3tbsp lemon juice, 1tsp white vinegar, 2 tbsp mustard, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp onion powder. salt to taste. All the ingredients can be adjusted to taste.”
They also said the silken tofu was 350 gr. Might be worth a try if you are still in need of an oil free mayo after three years, lol
Would it work to make this in a food processor or stand mixer, rather than a blender?
Hi Sarah, I’ve heard it works with an immersion blender, I don’t think it would thicken properly in a stand mixer. I think a food processor might work but I haven’t tried it.
It didn’t get *as* thick as I assume a blender would have gotten it but it did emulsify and thicken with the food processor. Also, it tastes amazing!
Vegan Mayo Recipe is simple super recipe. Please try our “Forbidden Rice and Kale Salad”
How long does this last in the fridge?
up to about 2 weeks!
Could you replace the sunflower oil with olive oil?
Hi Amanda, it would have a really strong olive oil taste, and I’m not sure how it would affect the thickness.
Good to know! Thanks for the response!!
I tried it with olive oil and it was runny. Didn’t thicken.
Hi Rick, yes sunflower oil thickens the best.
This looks great! I’m wondering how long aquafaba lasts in the fridge on its own? I’ve been storing some for a while and I don’t want to use bad aquafaba for this!
apologies for my slow reply – I’d use it within 5 days or so.
Can you use avocado oil instead of sunflower
Hi Mars, I think it’ll work but sunflower oil will make it the thickest.
I really didn’t believe this would taste like mayonnaise but omg it really does! I will make this every time I use a can of chickpeas.
Mine didn’t turn out as thick as pictured. However, I had to substitute canola for sunflower oil and u doubled the recipe so perhaps one of these factors affected my outcome.
Do you perhaps have the nutritional information for this recipe? I’m curious as to how it compares to regular mayonnaise healthwise.
Thank you for the great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it! I don’t have the nutrition facts handy.