In today’s post, I’m sharing a recipe for a delicious, quick & easy vegan mayonnaise that uses basic pantry ingredients, is ready in five minutes and costs as little as 34p! I never thought I’d find another mayo as tasty as Vegenaise, but this home-made version is just that. So if you’re on a budget or have difficulty finding great-tasting vegan mayos in your shops, then I definitely recommend giving this one a try.
While I’m a little late to the party (as per usual), the home-made vegan mayo craze kicked off in 2015, following a discovery by French musician Joel Roessel that the water from a can of beans (or left over from cooking beans) could be used as a plant-based alternative to egg whites. Ingenious! This discovery was then further developed by American software engineer Goose Wohlt (who named it ‘aquafaba’) and the Facebook community Aquafaba (Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses!)
For those unfamiliar with the term ‘aquafaba’, it’s basically the Latin for ‘bean water’ (Aqua = water Faba = bean). The Latin name sure does sound more appealing, doesn’t it?
Literally within weeks of the aquafaba discovery, my Facebook newsfeed started filling up with images of meringues, pavlovas, marshmallows, mousses, macarons and mayonnaise that were being made with this liquid that we usually throw down the sink. Basically, all the foods that I loved in my pre-vegan days and never dreamed I would ever get to eat again.
The reason I was slow to join the home-made mayo craze is because the American Follow Your Heart Vegenaise had made its way into my local health food shop. I can honestly say that Vegenaise was the best mayo I’d ever tasted (even better than the traditional egg-based mayo) so I was in no rush to find a replacement.
However, after repeatedly seeing aquafaba mayo videos popping up on social media, the intrigue got the better of me and I decided to give it a try.
And the verdict?
I LOVE IT! Not only does it taste gorgeous, but it’s really fun to make too! Literally within seconds of whizzing the runny ingredients together, they turn into this mass of thick, white, creamy deliciousness.
The great thing about making your own mayonnaise is that you can adjust the flavour to suit your personal preferences. A lot of mayo recipes that I’ve tried are too acidic for my taste buds, so I cut right back on the vinegar in my version.
You can also switch up the flavour of the mayonnaise depending on what you’re planning to serve it with. For my vegan doner kebabs and smashed chickpea sandwich fillings, I love to add a couple of teaspoons of sweet chilli sauce to the mayonnaise for a touch of spiciness.
Another big advantage to making your own mayo is that it is super cheap! Using sunflower oil, it cost just 34p to make 240ml / 1 cup’s worth of mayo. (The equivalent amount of Vegenaise costs £1.77).
Using organic oil, it still only cost 70p (compared to £2.25 for the equivalent amount of organic Vegenaise).
If you’re on a budget or can’t get access to a decent vegan mayo, then home-made is definitely the way to go.
Recipe Card
Quick & Easy Vegan Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 3 TBSP aquafaba I use the water from a can of unsalted chickpeas
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
- 200 g / 1 cup neutral-tasting oil e.g. organic rapeseed (canola) oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil
- Sweet chilli option [See Note below]
Instructions
- Place the aquafaba, vinegar, syrup, mustard and salt in a jug. Using a stick (immersion) blender, whizz the ingredients until fully combined.
- Add 2 TBSP oil and pulse the blender until the oil is just combined (this only takes a few seconds). Add another 2 TBSP oil and pulse for a few seconds again until combined. Repeat this process, adding just 2 TBSP oil at a time, until all the oil is incorporated and the mayonnaise has become thick and creamy. (It is important to add the oil slowly so it has a chance to emulsify).
- Taste test and add a touch more vinegar, mustard, sweetener or salt, if desired.
- Transfer the mayonnaise to a clean glass jar and refrigerate. The mayonnaise should keep for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Pin for later ⬇️
If you make this Quick and Easy Vegan Mayonnaise, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
Sharon xx
The best – La meilleure!
I’ve done this for yearsss and I want to thank youuu…
Brigitte from Montréal, Québec
xxx
So happy to find this recipe as I can’t find Just Mayo anymore. I make a batch once a week. Also note 200 g is not 1 cup. Which is correct? I have gone with 200 g and it works well. But if 1 cup also works assume would result in more Mayo.
Amazing recipe! I’ve been looking for years for a good homemade version as I don’t have access to vegenaise where I live. This one tastes exactly like the store bought vegenaise and is so easy to make! You made my day!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for the recipe. I have tried a few others and this is my favorite. Just the right amout of sweet, salt and tangy. Blends up in a nice perfectly thick mayo.
I tried this today, it worked fine. It was a bit oily for my taste so I experimented with blending in some of the chick peas from the tin. In the end about half was peas. It tasted even better, lovely & nutty. There were some unblended skins so next time I’ll run the peas through a seive before adding them to make it smoother.
This is a great recipe, so easy and the mayo is delicious!!! I make this at least once a month. Thanks 🙂
I have been using this recipe since I first discovered it last year and it has never failed me. Watching the Aquafaba change and thicken with the other ingredients blows my mind every time!
Love it!
The only thing I’m trying to improve on is getting rid of the slight oily taste that is sometimes there and only notice if I taste the mayonnaise on it’s on without adding it to any ingredients. I only use sunflower oil because the other oils can make the mayonnaise look too dark. I haven’t tried canola oil, would that be better taste and still keep it light?
This recipe is brilliant! I’ve used it so many times.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
My daughter recently had a blood test and is now avoiding soy, wheat, eggs, and poultry. Man, it’s been rough feeding her. Everything has soy! Even veganaise! And all the sub recipes I found use soy milk.
Thank you for this ..maybe she can eat tuna melts again! On wheat & egg free bread of course!
Hi, Does this work with olive oil?
Hey James. A light olive oil should work fine in this mayo recipe. You basically need to use a neutral-tasting oil so that it doesn’t affect the flavour. Best wishes, Sharon
This is by far the best Vegan Mayo recipe. No one in my family guessed that it was NOT Hellman’s.
I used dried Cannellini beans. Followed the package directions for a quick soak, then added all to the crock pot on simmer all night.
I drained the beans reserving the priceless nectar! I boiled the cannellini aquafaba just a bit and it was nice and thick. I used agave and grapeseed oil and an immersion blender. PERFECT! Thank you, thank you!
YAY! So pleased you enjoyed and the family enjoyed the mayo, Pam! ❤️
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave feedback. It’s very much appreciated! 🙏 Best wishes, Sharon xx
Our trouble is finding vegan mayo without mustard. The one brand we use is Best Foods/Hellmans, but can only find at one store now, which makes me nervous as my daughter is very allergic to mustard! Can this recipe be made without the mustard?
Hi Brandy. The mustard in this recipe is for flavouring the mayo so, yes, you can leave it out. Hope this helps! Best wishes, Sharon x
I didn’t put 2 tablespoons of oil at the time. I put everything together and used my handheld mixer and it worked perfectly fine and tastes great. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
I’ve made this 3-4 times and it worked once, but the other 3 times it will thicken really well, then toward the end of adding the last 1/4-1/2 cup of the oil it ‘breaks’ and then goes completely liquid and won’t go back to mayo. Is it over blending or am I doing something else wrong?
200ml is less than 1 cup. If you add 1 cup of oil, then you will need to add more of everything else. The same happened to me, and it firmed up again after I compensated for this false equivalence.
This turned out so thick and creamy – honestly nicer than normal mayo! I would say that 1/2 tsp salt was a little too much, but that’s probably because I used table salt rather than sea salt. I will 100% make again! 🙂
I don’t know where I went wrong but mine came out runny and never firmed up. I made chickpeas in my instant pot and used the water from there. I also used avocado oil. Everything else was the same.
Hi Debbie,
I have never got this recipe to work with chickpeas I’ve cooked myself, I’ve always had to use tinned. However, I did read on another recipe that maybe boiling down and concentrating the aquafaba from your instant-pot might help!
Mine did too, till I looked at 1 cup and saw that it more than 200ml. Thus, I had to add more of everything else to balance out the oil.
I made a variation of this and it was delicious. Very easy and versatile. Thanks for the recipe.
Hello
We have made several different vegan mayo’s and one thing to keep in mind is that all the ingredients have to be at room temperature this may help with the final product and the blending process!
We just did this at home in our food processor (immersion stick died on us) and it came out perfect! We also replaced the maple syrup with honey and it worked fine, so it looks like quite a forgiving recipe!