When the popular vegan mayonnaise by Follow Your Heart reached 4 dollars for a small jar in our market I decided I was no longer buying it. I thought it was a fantastic product, but the price was unreasonable for what it was. I knew if I tried enough variations I could make my own. After all, the ingredient list wasn’t that long, or complicated. This is my version of homemade vegan mayonnaise.
Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise
Makes about 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
½ cup of soy milk, plain and preferably unsweetened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of canola oil
¼ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon of agave
¾ teaspoon of kosher salt
½ tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
zest from 1/8 of an organic lemon
1/8 teaspoon of dry mustard
Directions:
Put everything in the blender and process until it is thick. I make mine in my Vitamix and it takes about 15 seconds. If you have a lower speed blender you may need to process a little longer. The homemade vegan mayonnaise will become thick and completely emulsified exactly like a mayonnaise made with egg.
Comments:
You will not be able to tell the difference between this and egg mayonnaise. The flavors may be slightly different from your favorite brand, but the texture and overall flavor profile are just like egg mayonnaise.
I have kept this in my refrigerator for a couple of weeks. It will last as long as the soymilk.
If you only have sweetened soy milk wait and add the agave at the end, you will probably need less, but that will vary by brand of soymilk and your taste.
Update April 2010:
For those of you looking for another opinion of how well this works, check this post at Diets, Desserts and Dogs. I was quite pleased when Ricki referred to the mayo as ethereal. I still have not made this recipe with almond milk and don't know whether it will work or not. Since we have given up oil it may be a while before I get around to making the almond milk version.
OMG! This was so good! I couldn't believe it, it turned out exactly like Vegenaise. I was pretty skeptical at first, but then I actually blended it and was like HOLY CRAP. I added a little bit of onion powder, garlic powder and dill. I'll never buy Vegenaise again! Thanks so much! =]
ReplyDeleteCici,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for letting me the recipe worked for you.
I was skeptical that I could replicate Vegenaise at home too! My husband was shocked when it worked. They charge so much for a bottle of the stuff I had to play around with it.
Alicia
How would adding an avocado work with this recipe??
DeleteAlicia, which is your fav mayo recipe? I see you have a few.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteWhich recipe I use depends on what I want at that time. This recipe is very close to Vegenaise. If that is what you want go with this one.
If you want something that is lower in fat the reduced fat almond milk version comes close to low fat regular mayo.
At the moment I am partial to the pine nut version since the fat is nut fat and therefore less processed.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. The short answer is that my favorite depends on how I will be using it and who will be eating it. ;)
Alicia
Hi Alicia!
ReplyDeleteI was very excited to see this recipe- but I don't know what I did wrong. I put everything in my vitamix but it never thickened. Should I have poured in the oil through the top? Also, I used almond milk since that is what I always have on hand. Do you think that would matter?
Thanks,
Lea
Lea,
ReplyDeleteI have made mayo (although not this recipe) with both almond milk or soy milk so I don't think that is the problem. But ... it could be.
When I made egg based mayo I did stream in the oil slowly but haven't had to do that with this recipe to be a thick emulsion.
Was the almond milk the only change you made? I only ask because this has always thickened for me. The oil is what is emulsifying to make the mayo thick. Is it possible that you didn't add enough? I would probably turn the machine back on and stream some oil in to see if you can get it to thicken. Assuming that works you can adjust the seasonings after it thickens. Please let me know if that works.
Alicia
Mine didn't thicken either. I used rice milk.
ReplyDeleteteatimewithdoz,
ReplyDeleteI haven't made any mayo with rice milk yet. Thanks for the input on that. This specific recipe I have only made with soy milk.
I don't have any non-dairy milk in the house now but I am going to make this again to see if I can figure out if the almond and rice milks are the problem.
Alicia
I am wondering about the almond milk myself because that is what we have on hand. I notice when I make almondaise, that when I add the lemon juice, it becomes thick. Lea did you add the lemon? I am also wondering if just doing equal parts soaked almonds and water would work better if it is because it is milk (but not sure why unless it is more water content???!!) Has anyone had success yet?
ReplyDeleteJoelle,
ReplyDeleteGood point about the lemon juice. I had not thought to ask that question.
I haven't tried this with almond milk yet since we hadn't needed mayo since the question. Thanks for the reminder to make this soon with almond milk.
Alicia
I spotted this recipe a while ago and have been waiting to try and make a batch for a vegan event this weekend. I have just made it following the recipe and it worked great. I made it in two batches because of my small blender, and made the mistake of not halving the oil correctly so one batch turned out like really think mayo (the one with more oil) and the other came out like really nice pouring mayo. I mixed the two together afterwards to get a great consistency, so you have got the proportions spot on.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Paula
Paula,
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know. I always had great success with this recipe. Glad it worked for you too! :-)
Alicia
Lori,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to hear it worked for you. Thank you very much for letting me know. :-)
Ali
I'm so bummed I couldn't get this to work! I just tried two batches and neither would thicken - I followed your recipe to the T. No substitutions. Even used my Vitamix. :-((
ReplyDeleteJanet,
ReplyDeleteI wish I could tell you what went wrong but mine always emulsifies so I have no idea what happened. The only suggestion I have is to slowly add the oil into the Vitamix while it is on. That is how I used to make traditional mayo.
Ali
OK, I pulled out my trusty McGee and read about emulsions for a bit to see if I could figure out what was going wrong. There are three contributing factors to a "broken" emulsion:
ReplyDelete1) The liquid to be dispersed (oil) has been added too quickly to the emulsifying agent (acids).
2) Too much dispersed liquid (oil) is in the emulsion
3) The emulsion has been allowed to get too hot or too cold.
I tried the emulsion a third time, but this time mixed the emulsifying liquid first and then slowly poured the dispersing liquid through the top of the Vitamix, as in a traditional mayonnaise. I also kept the Vitamix at a lower speed so the emulsion wouldn't heat up too quickly and break the sauce, Success!
But this still doesn't answer why the original instructions worked for some and not for others. Could there be another contributing factor? I returned to Mr McGee, who had no further thoughts on the matter. My guess is there's a different composition in some of the brands of the emulsifiers that effect the final product.
Janet,
ReplyDeleteI am happy it worked when you tried the traditional mayo stream. I always made mayo that way until I saw a chef (I think it was Jose Andres) make mayo with a boatmotor without streaming. When I tried putting everything in the blender all at once it worked fine and I stopped streaming the oil since that can be very messy. Also Spanish aioli is made in a mortar and pestle without the stream. I wonder if temperature of the ingredients have anything to do with how easily they emulsify? Either way, glad it worked for you. The third time is charm as my grandmother used to say.
Love "On Food and Cooking" by McGee ... that is a great resource. I have learned a ton from that book.
Ali
Janet,
ReplyDeleteI just realized part of my response was vague and you probably aren't reading minds today. ;-) When I mentioned temperature I was wondering if your soy milk was cold. Mine is usually not cold since I tend to make it when I need it rather than get it out of the refrigerator.
Ali
This was amazing! I just whipped up a batch. I used a dab of regular yellow mustard in place of mustard flour, brown sugar in place of agave, didn't have lemon zest, and used sour orange juice in place of lemon juice. I also used regular table salt. It only took a few seconds in the Vitamix and looks/tastes just like vegenaise (or regular mayo), despite my substitutions. Thanks so much for posting!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I don't have a Vitamix, however I have a decent blender, do I process the ingredients at high/medium or slow speed? Thanks, :)
ReplyDelete417be,
ReplyDeleteI would suggest that you add everything but the oil and turn the machine on high and then slowly stream in the oil like making a egg based mayo. That should give you the best results.
I hope it turns out for you,
Ali
Wow, your recipe is unbelievable. I used to be a big fan of Vegenaise, but now I can make it at home. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIf the blender motor gets too hot it can break a sauce. I've had it happen with vinaigrettes. If you aren't using a Vitamix, and the mixture isn't processing fast enough, that could be the trouble.
ReplyDeleteAlso, like others said, it could be the products being used. My experience has been not to use rice milk for anything I need thickened.
By its nature it has no thickening agents in it.
Thanks for this recipe, I'm going to try it as soon as I get some soymilk (tonight!)
If a blender motor gets to hot, it can break a sauce. I've had this trouble with vinaigrettes and blenders in the past.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this recipe, I'm going to try it as soon as I get some soymilk. (tonight!) Have you tried any other sweeteners besides agave?
This came out amazing!!!! I have a regular blender, and it took me literally minutes to make. This saves so much money all the way around. Thank you so much for posting this!Ill never have to buy Vegenaise again. next time Im going to use Grapeseed oil. :)
ReplyDeleteJust made this with disappointing results. I don't have any vinegar so I substitued with extra lemon juice. I used two drops of stevia in place of agave and used grapeseed oil. I can't imagine why it would matter what oil I use, or why any other of those substitutions would make a difference. Is that little bit of vinegar important? Everything was room temp except the lemon juice. I don't blame the recipe, it obviously has worked for lots of people and I will try again.
ReplyDeleteI thought if it didn't turn out I would just use it as salad dressing, but it's way too watery for that. Any suggestions on what to do with the curdly, watery result? I hate to waste things.
Mommy,
ReplyDeleteI make this using a high speed blender (specifically a Vitamix) and that may make a difference. Mustard helps to emulsify dressing so you could try that, though it will change the taste. With egg based mayo the "fool proof" method calls for slowly streaming the oil into the running machine that contains the remaining ingredients. You could try either of those.
Ali
Hourra! It's wonderful! I mixt canola oil and olive oil, for taste, and more mustard. Thank you Vegan Epicurean!
ReplyDeleteI tried this recipe once before with coconut milk and had no success (apparently protein is an important part of the chemistry here). I went out and bought soy milk and tried it again. It thickened beautifully this time! Sadly, it tastes terrible. It's bitter. I thought it was the mustard so I doubled the recipe, but it still has that bitter tone. I used olive oil instead of canola so that is my only guess for why mine doesn't taste good. Does olive oil work differently? I would have never thought it would.
ReplyDeleteAshwee,
ReplyDeleteOlive oil can be very astringent depending on the region where it comes from and many people like that "bitterness". The nicer oils have the most peppery flavor. Oils like canola and grapeseed are very neutral and would not impart flavor. Canola oil has a better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio than olive oil if that makes you feel any better about using it in this recipe.
Ali
I much prefer the grapeseed vegenaise to the regular one. Has anyone tried it with grapeseed oil and does it resemble the grapeseed vegenaise then.
ReplyDeletethanks
This is really good! Next time though, I am going to try and use grapeseed oil...but please try this, it is great!
ReplyDeleteI am allergic to agave, is this just to sweeten it? any ideas for alternatives?
ReplyDeleteKandi,
ReplyDeleteYes the agave is for a touch of sweetness. You can substitute any sweetner that you typically use but I would stay with a liquid rather than crystal type.
Ali
I made this for the first time today and it was great. After hearing about the problems I added the oil last, streaming it in while the blender was running-just a simple Oster Beehive-and it was perfect! Thanks so much.
ReplyDeletekandi,
ReplyDeleteagave is chemically almost identical to both honey and high fructose corn syrup. basically, interchanging these in most recipes just depends on your idea of what is healthy, and/or your dietary restrictions. i would never use HFCS for a variety of reasons, but if you're down with it this would probably be the cheapest option. i prefer raw honey, which is loaded with healthy stuff, but of course is not vegan. judging from the tiny amount of agave used in this recipe, as epicurean says, i doubt it would make much difference to use a different liquid sweetener--just be careful not to over sweeten the mayo (you'd end up with "vegan miracle whip" if you were lucky). if you use HFCS or honey, then the measurements would be the same as with agave.
kandi,
ReplyDeleteagave is chemically almost identical to both honey and high fructose corn syrup. basically, interchanging these in most recipes just depends on your idea of what is healthy, and/or your dietary restrictions. i would never use HFCS for a variety of reasons, but if you're down with it this would probably be the cheapest option. i prefer raw honey, which is loaded with healthy stuff, but of course is not vegan. judging from the tiny amount of agave used in this recipe, as epicurean says, i doubt it would make much difference to use a different liquid sweetener--just be careful not to over sweeten the mayo (you'd end up with "vegan miracle whip" if you were lucky). if you use HFCS or honey, then the measurements would be the same as with agave.
I've made this quite a few times now and it has always turned out perfect. Sometimes it takes a little more or less oil, but I slowly stream it into the blender (just in case) until the mix is too thick to blend and it seems to work fine. I also started adding a bit of onion and garlic. Great recipe which is easily tinkered with to make a good ranch dressing.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to comment and say this recipe is awesome (been using it for a while now). I like to add lots of Sriracha and garlic powder and use it as "fire sauce" for sushi. Also, I always use an immersion blender when making this (check out the Cuisinart one for $29.99 on Amazon, it's the one I have) and I don't stream the oil in or anything; I just pour everything in, whir for 10-15 seconds and voila!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this recipe!!
"i prefer raw honey, which is loaded with healthy stuff"
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as a healthy sweetener.
I would disagree...pure stevia extract is. :-)
DeleteI saw in a more recent post that you wanted to play around with an oilfree mayo. I found a recipe using chia seeds to thicken and no oil. That would be a good experiment. This mayo recipe you made is perfect though!!
ReplyDeleteDon't all those ingredients cost more than $4? I'm going to make it anyways since there's nowhere to buy vegenaise in my town.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that I spent $1 to make this. We must not shop at the same places. ;-)
DeleteThanks for the recipe! This worked perfectly!
ReplyDeleteThis works really well with unsweetened coconut milk!
ReplyDeleteI just want to say I made this a few weeks ago and my husband and I are HOOKED! He is very finicky on his mayo. I asked him to try it on his sandwich he was taking to work. When I called him to ask how it was, he said he had already eaten his sandwich completely forgetting it was on there; he couldn't tell the difference! Been eating it ever since.
ReplyDeleteFor those interested in the nutritional difference, with everything we used, everything was the same except for the following;
4 less calories than hellman's mayo...
.5 grams less saturated fat
3g vs. 6g of polyunsaturdated
6g vs. 2.5g monounsaturdated
37g sodium vs. 90g
1% calcium vs. 0%
46mg potassium vs. 0g
I call it a win-win!!!
This stuff rocks!!! My husband forgot he was trying it out for me (since he LOVES mayo on his sandwiches). When I called to ask him how he liked it, he said he ate his sandwich already forgetting he was testing it. he couldn't tell the difference! we are hooked!!
ReplyDeleteHere are my comparisons based of Hellman's mayo.
vegan mayo
calories 86 90
fat 10 10
saturdated 1 1.5
trans 0 0
polyunsat 3 6
monounsat 6 2.5
cholesterol 0 5
sodium 37 90
carbs 0 0
fiber 0 0
sugar 0 0
protein 0 0
vitamin a 0 0
vitamin c 0 0
calcium 0 1%
potatassium 46mg 0mg
I began my search today for vegan potato salad which yielded many recipes using Veganaise. I have none at home and zero stores in this market carry it. Then I thought there must be a vegan mayo recipe out there. I stumbled on your blog and gave the recipe a whirl. Wonderful! It thickened beautifully in my regular ol' Oster and tastes better than real mayo (as I recall). I'm taking this to a family affair tomorrow where I will be the only vegan, but I suspect no one will know my potato salad's secret! I'm sure it doesn't matter, but I used sunflower oil as that is what I had. Thank you for a yummy recipe. I foresee using this often. Again, thank you.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, just awesome...
ReplyDeleteCan this be made with unsweetened almond milk? Would it turn out any different?
ReplyDeleteI just made this and it's amazing. It's really important to drizzle in the oil last as you're blending if you're doing an immersion blender especially. I worked it out on a spreadsheet and I think it costs something like 60 cents to make :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I have made your recipe few times now...the first two times it turned out perfect! I was so exited...almost stopped buying vegenaise... :-)
ReplyDeleteBut than week later I tried to make it with almond milk and less oil and it didn't thicken at all...almond milk and same amount of oil...same result :-( I tried few more times even with the original ingredients again and no luck...it just wont thicken... I am so disappointed... I have read all the comments here and still not sure what went wrong...
I made it with cold milk,room temp milk and it still didn't work. I will try again and slowly add oil last and see if that fixes it...I have shared this recipe with my friends and now worry that they will also have a hard time thickening it... I just want to finally understand what am I doing wrong...
I cant wait to try this out this weekend and hope it works for me ;) my son has an egg allergy and we buy veganaise original and love it but it is so expensive so I would love to try to make it myself !
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Alicia! I tried this recipe since we can't get Vegannaise where we live (Costa Rica) and I nailed it on my very first time :) So happy to have stumbled upon this recipe which has become our life saver! You're awesome!!!! Zahira
ReplyDeleteI've tried making this with almond milk and although it initially came together, it fell apart within a few days.
ReplyDeletethis time I followed it to the T with the soy milk and canola oil and it was AMAZING!!!!
Yes the ingredients out of the store are more than $4 but you'll be able to make tons of jars with this. I use it in cooking mock tuna salads and potato salads so this is fantastic. Thanks!
Just made this yesterday, i used coconut honey instead of agave and it was soo delicious! Now i can eat coleslaw again. Thanks for this recipe! Based from my calculations a tbsp would be around 94 cal.
ReplyDeleteI made this yesterday and it was soo delicious. Tried it with coconut honey instead of agave. I live in the Philippines and coconut honey is more accessible here than agave. Veganaise is not even heard of here so I have to make my own. :) It's very tasty and creamy i dont put more than a tbsp in my coleslaw salad. :) It's actually better tasting than actual mayo. Thanks this would be my go to mayo from now on. Next time i'll try sesame oil instead of canola :)
ReplyDeleteI made this with only apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice and acv. Delish. Best mayo ever, great mouthfeel, wonderful taste. My new go to recipe!
ReplyDeleteDear all - I am grateful for this great recipe - and for all the helpful comments.
ReplyDeleteToday I made this for the first time. I used Almond milk, which is what I have on hand, but didn't change anything else. Putting it all in the Vitamix, I cranked it up - and ended up with a runny mess. Thanks to the comments educating us about emulsions, I researched a bit to find out if you can fix a broken emulsion. I realized that I had over-heated the mixture, causing it to "break" because I had the Vitamix on too high, and it heated everything up.
So with new knowledge in hand I started another batch, having poured out the watery batch into a glass measuring cup. This time I took no chances - I put everything except the oil in the blender, adding a small ice cube for insurance so I knew it was cold. Turning the Vitamix on a much lower speed, I streamed in the oil, and Voila! Nice and thick just like the pictures.
But I still had the other batch, sitting on the counter, runny and a little curdled-looking. I decided to see if it would "fix" if I streamed that runny batch into the newly made successful batch. Keeping the speed fairly low, I slowly streamed the entire broken emulsion into the new successful batch - and IT WORKED! I now have a double batch of lovely vegan-aise and no wasted ingredients.
All of your comments, along with the great recipe, helped me figure it out. Thank you everybody!
This turned out pretty good! I was looking for something that was identical to the Follow Your Heart veganese but cheaper, and it doesn't taste exactly the same but it's similar. Mine is slightly thinner but maybe that's because I don't have the greatest blender.
ReplyDeleteAlso don't deviate from the recipe at all! I put in an extra couple drops of agave thinking it would make no big difference but my mayo sort of tastes like whip cream now...
Gratitudes for this recipe!! I made my first batch last night and it was a wonderful experience. I already had all but one of the ingredients in my pantry. The execution of the recipe was very simple and best of all the taste was outstanding! I prefer this to the egg mayonnaise of my past. Thank you so much for sharing such a tasty offering. It means a lot to me that I am able to partake of vegan mayo that I can afford. Many thanks for what you do and sharing with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteHello! I found this recipe while trying to work out why mine didn't work. I went to a vegan restaurant in Belgium and the mayo was AMAZING so I asked for the recipe. She gave it to me but it didn't work out... So after some experimentation I think I have worked it out.
ReplyDeleteBlend together 100ml (1/2 cup) soy milk, salt, pepper, mustard, agave.
While blending, slowwwlly stream in 500ml 2 1/2 cup) oil. She said it is important that the oil hasn't been left out as it oxidises and doesn't work. I just bought a new bottle of cheap oil.
When the oil is added, slowly stream in 3tbsp apple cider vinegar.
The chef made it very clear to put in the vinegar last! I think this is important with emulsifying it. Hopefully this should work for all the other commenters whose mayo didn't emulsify!