Easy Vegan Mayonnaise

This thick and creamy vegan mayonnaise is an excellent egg-free substitute for regular mayo. You can use vegan mayo for sandwiches, as a base for dressings, and in salads.

Homemade Vegan Mayo

You can make vegan mayo in two ways: using soy milk or with aquafaba. I’ve included tips for both below!

Our vegan mayo recipe is easy, tastes incredible, and lasts in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Key Ingredients

  • Soy milk or aquafaba: Our vegan mayonnaise recipe works well with soy milk or aquafaba. If I had to pick one, I would lean towards soy milk. If you cannot eat soy or have a can of chickpeas lying around, my recipe below works well when made with aquafaba (here’s my ultimate guide to aquafaba).
  • Oil: Just like when making regular mayonnaise, you must stream in oil to thicken the mayonnaise. I use a neutral oil like safflower or vegetable oil. Olive oil is an option, but your mayo will pick up the flavor of your olive oil, so I recommend a lighter, fruitier bottle.
  • Vinegar: Red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar adds tanginess. Vinegar livens up all the other ingredients and makes it taste delicious.
  • Salt: As with most recipes, salt is essential in making the mayo taste good. So, add a pinch more salt if your mayonnaise doesn’t pop in flavor. I bet it will fix it!
  • Dijon mustard: Mustard is another emulsifier and adds extra tanginess. When making our egg-based recipe, we add mustard and love it, so it is perfect for adding here.
  • Lemon juice: We list fresh lemon juice as an optional ingredient, but I always add some when I have lemons.
  • Sweetener: I typically do not add any sweetener, but it does an excellent job balancing out the vinegar. You can add maple syrup, brown rice syrup, and even cane sugar.

How to Make Vegan Mayonnaise

When making the more traditional egg-based mayo, oil is slowly whipped or blended into the egg. By doing this slowly, the mixture emulsifies. That’s why mayonnaise is thick, white, and creamy.

When making vegan mayo, the method is no different. In the egg-based recipe, the egg is what aids in the emulsification process. Whereas, in the vegan recipe, soy milk or aquafaba do the heavy lifting.

Ingredients for Vegan Mayo. Left: Soy Milk, Right: Chickpeas in Cooking Liquid (aquafaba)

A food processor is my device of choice when making vegan mayo. Whenever I use it, the recipe always works. Mayonnaise is an emulsification, meaning the oil is suspended in the soy milk (or aquafaba), making a thick and creamy mixture.

Adding oil to a food processor to make vegan mayonnaise

Using a food processor makes it easy to add the oil slowly. When you make mayo, you want to add the oil drop by drop at first. I know it takes time, but trust me, adding the oil slowly helps the emulsification process. Add it too quickly, and your mayonnaise may never thicken, leaving you with a mess.

Thick and Creamy Vegan Mayo in a food processor

You can also use an immersion blender to make this vegan mayo recipe. Use a tall jar, and remember to add some air towards the end of making the mayo. I do this by slowly moving the blender up and down. As you do this, you will notice that the mayonnaise gets thicker.

Regular blenders are not as foolproof for this recipe. It’s possible to make this recipe using your blender, but we have not had as much success with it as with the food processor and immersion blender.

You can also make it by hand, but it will take some time and elbow grease. I highly recommend the food processor or immersion blender.

Ways to Use Vegan Mayonnaise

Homemade vegan mayonnaise isn’t just for sandwiches! Use it to make one of these delicious salads: We love using it to make our potato salad, our creamy coleslaw or our broccoli salad.

It’s absolutely perfect for making tuna Salad or chicken salad. If you don’t eat seafood or meat, simply substitute the tuna or chicken for mashed chickpeas like we do for this smashed chickpea salad.

You can also turn mayo into your own creamy sauces! Try this simple tartar sauce or make my easy fry sauce.

Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise

Easy Vegan Mayonnaise

  • PREP
  • TOTAL

Vegan mayonnaise is an excellent egg-free substitute for regular mayonnaise. We use it for sandwiches, as a base for dressings, and in salads. Below are methods for making vegan mayo in a food processor and using an immersion blender. We have not had as much success with a regular blender.

For the best results, use room-temperature ingredients.

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

1/2 cup (120ml) soy milk, at room temperature

1 tablespoon red or white wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, optional

1 cup (236ml) neutral oil like safflower oil or vegetable oil

Pinch cane sugar or maple syrup, optional

Directions

  • Using a Food Processor
  • 1Add the soy milk to a food processor bowl. Process for 1 minute or until the liquid begins to thicken.

    2Add the vinegar, salt, mustard, and lemon juice, and process for another 30 seconds until well blended.

    3Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Then, with the food processor running, slowly add the oil in tiny drops until about a quarter of the oil has been added (slowly adding the oil is critical for proper emulsification).

    4When you notice that the mixture is beginning to thicken and emulsify, you can be a little less strict. Continue to add the oil slowly, but increase to a thin stream instead of drops of oil.

    5After adding all the oil, scrape the bowl and then process for 10 seconds.

    6Taste the vegan mayo, and then adjust with more salt or a sweetener if you feel it needs it.

    7As the mayonnaise sits in the fridge, it thickens even more (after 3 to 4 hours). If the mayonnaise is too thin, you can blend more oil. Do this slowly.

  • Using an Immersion Blender
  • 1Add the soy milk, vinegar, salt, and mustard to a tall glass jar or cup with an immersion blender.

    2Blend on high with an immersion blender until the mixture begins to thicken.

    3With the immersion blender on high speed, slowly add the oil. This will take one to two minutes. Adding the oil slowly helps the mayonnaise emulsify and thicken.

    4As you finish adding the oil, move the immersion blender up and down to introduce some air.

    5As the mayonnaise sits in the fridge, it thickens even more (after 3 to 4 hours). If the mayonnaise is too thin, you can blend more oil. Do this slowly.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Storing: Store vegan mayo in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. As it sits, some liquid might pool at the top. However, I’ve found that it mixes back with a spoon with no issues. I do not recommend freezing.
  • Substitute soy milk with aquafaba: Use 1/4 cup (60ml) of aquafaba. The aquafaba whips up to a larger volume, so we use less than when making this recipe with soy milk. The other ingredients listed in the recipe do not need to change. Since we use less aquafaba, there may not be enough liquid for the processor blades to blend at first. Once you start adding the other ingredients, you should be okay. I’ve had the best results with aquafaba from canned beans. Before opening the can, vigorously shake it so the aquafaba becomes extra starchy from the beans.
  • The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. Calculations are for mayonnaise made with soy milk and no added sweetener.
Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 tablespoon / Calories 82 / Total Fat 9.2g / Saturated Fat 1.2g / Cholesterol 0mg / Sodium 58.4mg / Carbohydrate 0.1g / Dietary Fiber 0g / Total Sugars 0g / Protein 0.1g
AUTHOR: Joanne Gallagher
Adam and Joanne of Inspired Taste

We’re Adam and Joanne, a couple passionate about cooking and sharing delicious, reliable recipes since 2009. Our goal? To inspire you to get in the kitchen and confidently cook fresh and flavorful meals.More About Us

70 comments… Leave a Review
  • Emma April 5, 2025

    This was amazing! It was so easy! I ran out of mayo and didn’t want to risk raw eggs for regular mayo because I’m pregnant, so this was a life saver! Used the aquafaba as I’ve been eating a lot of chickpeas and always have some of it on hand.

    Reply
  • Janice March 14, 2025

    This is an excellent recipe! Best mayo I ever tasted and no fancy ingredients needed. Could olive or avocado oil be substituted? Thank you so much for sharing this!

    Reply
  • Adobehead January 17, 2025

    I tried again with soy milk and it is thick and delicious. It took ages and heated up the stick blender, so next time, I will observe the room temp. Suggestion and see if that makes a difference. I am so happy to be rid of another commercial product! Thank you.

    Reply
  • Heidi Quine December 30, 2024

    Woah. This recipe really works! I’m based in SE Asia where it’s hard to find plant based mayo, so gave this a whirl. I can’t believe it worked! I was worried I’d muck up the emulsification step with the oil, but it was absolutely fine. I didn’t need to add the optional sweetener.

    Reply
  • S.C November 11, 2024

    I liked the texture and consistency but I feel like all I could taste is the vinegar (I hate vinegar) is there anyway I could add less of it? Or replace with something else? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Joanne Gallagher January 30, 2025

      You can try lemon.

      Reply
  • Christine November 3, 2024

    This recipe is great! I use it as a base for homemade Caesar dressing and it works perfectly! I didn’t change a thing!

    Reply
  • Kdf May 25, 2024

    I didn’t think there was any way I could do this successfully (I’m not the best in the kitchen), but I made creamy-fluffy plant based mayo with this recipe! It tasted great and I’m getting ready to make my second batch. So if you’re on the fence — try it! You might be impressed with yourself.

    Reply
  • arnold April 15, 2024

    Excellent recipe. I blend everything (half oil) in a small blender for about min then the rest of the oil, blend again, and it turned out great. Close to the one I buy at the grocery store. Thank you !

    Reply
  • Maria March 31, 2024

    Hi, Thank you.. great tasting… I used for potato salad and broccoli salad. Fantastic…

    Reply
    • Joanne April 23, 2024

      Hi Maria, Thanks for coming back and letting us know!

      Reply
  • Allyson V March 23, 2024

    So, I normally don’t leave comments on blogs but honey today that is gonna change. I want to start off by saying this recipe 100% works! Thank you Joanne, you are some kind of kitchen warrior! So, for the folks who read the comments section, I want you to know that this is NOT for the faint-hearted or those in a hurry. Despite that I was in the Army and make just about EVERYTHING from scratch, this one had me mentally (and somewhat physically) stressed lol. A few things to keep in mind with the recipe: 1. If you don’t have a food processor with a small opening (I have a ninja and the opening is somewhat large), you are going to take a soymilk bath! I think maybe it’s good for your skin somehow but I dunno. I tell you I was freaking covered in soymilk, and it was truly disheartening at first and to be perfectly honest, I really did consider quitting, but I’m no quitter! So, I said a quick prayer to Jesus and persisted! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, (apparently including making vegan mayo). 2. I didn’t start seeing any thickening of the mayo until about half a cup was added in, DROP by DROP. I literally used a dropper for this since the first time I tried this I failed epically. But, this time the motivation was there since there is no way I can afford a jar of vegan mayo and I really really want some mayo. 3. After adding the half cup by the drop, I was able to very lightly stream in and drop in the rest of the oil. I did end up adding 1/4 more oil to get the consistency I wanted. 4. Have some time on your hands. This who process took me about 1 hour including taking out the ingredients. Was it work it? YAAAAAS! Thanks again for such a wonderful recipe! Love, Allyson

    Reply
    • Joanne Gallagher April 21, 2025

      Wow, Allyson! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving such a thoughtful comment! SO happy this worked well for you!

      Reply

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