Aquafaba Mayo
This Vegan Aquafaba Mayo is super creamy, and tangy as heck! It’s incredibly easy and comes together in less than 5 minutes!
Mayo is another one of those things I like better as a Vegan. I didn’t care for it except in certain situations. But nowadays, I love it and probably have some almost everyday whether it’s just as a condiment or part of a dressing for something like Hawaiian Style Mac Salad!
And this vegan mayo, is rich and creamy just like regular mayo! You can tailor it to your tastes and amp up the flavor in any direction. It’s perfect for sandwiches, dressings, spreads and sauces! You can use it in some Vegan Tuna Salad too!
Why isn’t mayo vegan?
Almost every mayo out there uses egg as a binder. Therefore, it’s not vegan! The good news is this is very easy to make vegan!
We’ll be using some Aquafaba (the liquid from a can of Chickpeas / Garbanzo Beans) instead of eggs. This is a common egg replacement in a lot of vegan recipes, and it’s pretty dang magical!
Not only is it easy to make, but it’s a lot more affordable than the store-bought version too. All we need are a few ingredients, and something to blend it with.
If you are allergic to Chickpeas, you can make my other Vegan Mayo Recipe instead!
I love using my Immersion Blender because it’s FOOLPROOF for a creamy texture! You can use a regular blender or food processor, but there’s more room for error and it takes longer as you need to slowly drizzle the oil. If you go too fast you will break the emulsion and you’ll end up with mayo soup!
The ingredient list for this Vegan Mayonnaise Recipe is relatively short and the ingredients are super common too!
Ingredients
- Oil – I recommend a neutral oil. I use Canola Oil, but any oil should be fine. Vegetable, Avocado Oil, Sunflower Oil will all work fine. I would personally avoid Olive Oil (especially Extra Virgin) as it has too strong a flavor in my opinion.
- Aquafaba – The liquid from a can of Chickpeas! It’s a magical ingredient used in many vegan recipes. Try to get Salt Free Chickpeas, otherwise you may need to adjust the salt in the recipe.
- Vinegar – I like White Wine Vinegar for this, but feel free to use Apple Cider Vinegar, or lemon juice will work too!
- Mustard – Dijon or Yellow Mustard will work great!
- Salt – Start with 1/2 tsp of salt and add more as you see fit.
- Lactic Acid – This is totally optional, but a little pinch of lactic acid goes a long way to make this vegan mayo tangy as heck! You can also use Citric Acid, just use half what I recommend of Lactic Acid.
- Other Flavorings – Feel free to add any other seasonings you like! Garlic, chives, etc. I’ve heard some people put Black Salt (Kala Namak) to add an eggy flavory, but I haven’t tried this yet.
How to make homemade vegan mayonnaise
First add the Aquafaba to a Mason Jar or Mixing Cup. Add the rest of the ingredients and lastly, add the oil. Do not mix the aquafaba and oil before adding the Immersion Blender. You want to keep them separated into two distinct layers.
Lower the Immersion Blender slowly to avoid mixing the two layers. Start the blender at the bottom. Mix for about 10 seconds or until you can see an emulsification happening, and then slowly move your way up.
It’s good right away, but it’ll get thicker after a few hours / overnight in the fridge.
storage
Store it in a mason jar or airtight container in the fridge. This vegan mayo will last about 2 weeks, though I always eat it before then!
How to use Vegan mayo
You can use this like you would use non-vegan mayo! It’s great in some Vegan Chicken Salad, a BLT, or Coleslaw, Macaroni Salad, Potato Salad, anything that needs something creamy!
can I make this Chickpea free?
If you have a chickpea allergy, you can use one of my other Mayo Recipes!
They are both super delicious. I find that the Aquafaba Mayo is slightly creamier and smoother, but the Mayo made with Soy Milk is thicker.
How to avoid a runny mayo!
A reader named Cameron has this to say, he’s made this more times than I have so take his advice!
Another 30+ maker of this mayo. I had made this dozens of times without issue until one time I slightly stirred the mix to incorporate the ingredients beforehand. Big mistake. If you add everything to a mason jar the aquafaba settles to the bottom with the oil on top. The two layers are crucial. When you put the immersion blender to the bottom of the jar and blend you’re initially mixing the emulsifier (aquafaba) then the oil naturally starts to incorporate which creates the thick mayo we all know.
If you mix the aquafaba and oil too much before blending it will never thicken unless you let it rest for hours to separate again.(I know because I’ve experienced it before).
So, yes, to play it safe you should slowly add the oil like you would a traditional mayo. But if you have two distinct layers just stick the immersion blender to the bottom gently, then blend and it will almost instantly thicken.
Related Recipes
You can use this anywhere Vegan Mayo is called for! How about one of these recipes?
If you made and enjoyed this recipe, please leave a rating & review! It really helps out the blog and it makes my day, thank you!
Aquafaba Mayo
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Neutral Oil (Vegetable, Canola, Avocado etc)
- 1/4 cup Aquafaba
- 1 – 3 tsp White Wine Vinegar (or Regular Vinegar, Apple Cider)
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard (or Yellow Mustard)
- 1/2 tsp Salt (more to taste)
- 1/4 tsp Vegan Lactic Acid (or 1/8 tsp Citric Acid, Optional)
Instructions
- Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature.
- First add the Aquafaba to a Mason Jar or Mixing Cup. Add the rest of the ingredients and lastly, add the oil. Use less vinegar for a more mild mayo. 3 tsp (1 Tbsp) will make it nice and tangy!NOTE: You can also slowly drizzle the oil in as you blend if you want to make sure you get a good emulsification, but I've never had an issue with blending all the oil at once!
- Do not mix the aquafaba and oil before adding the Immersion Blender. You want to keep them separated into two distinct layers. Lower the Immersion Blender slowly to avoid mixing the two layers. Start the blender at the bottom. Mix for about 10 – 15 seconds or until you can see an emulsification happening, and then slowly move your way up. You can pump the blender up and down to get any rogue oil, but you should have some mayo after about 30 – 40 seconds of blending.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning. If it's thick enough, use right away or store in the fridge overnight to thicken. Should be good for about 2 weeks!
Food Processor Method
- You can use a regular food processor for this. Just add everything EXCEPT the oil to the blender. Slowly drizzle in the oil while the blender runs on HIGH. Start very, very slow, like a few drips at first. Once the emulsion takes place you can drizzle in faster, but take your time, other wise you risk breaking the emulsion.
Notes
How To Avoid Runny Mayo
A Reader named Cameron has made this mayo more times than me, so I’d take his advice! Another 30+ maker of this mayo. I had made this dozens of times without issue until one time I slightly stirred the mix to incorporate the ingredients beforehand. Big mistake. If you add everything to a mason jar the aquafaba settles to the bottom with the oil on top. The two layers are crucial. When you put the immersion blender to the bottom of the jar and blend you’re initially mixing the emulsifier (aquafaba) then the oil naturally starts to incorporate which creates the thick mayo we all know.So, yes, to play it safe you should slowly add the oil like you would a traditional mayo. But if you have two distinct layers just stick the immersion blender to the bottom gently, then blend and it will almost instantly thicken.
I’m not crazy about the taste of Chickpeas, but I had used some in a recipe and had aquafaba. I used it to make this recipe. I was quite impressed by how yummy this is. Even without the lactic acid I think I like this better than Hellmann’s mayonnaise. However, it is a little bit runnier. But, WOW, it is YUMMY! Thanks for this great recipe and helping me to stretch my budget by using something I would normally throw away!
So glad you liked it!
This turned out awesome! Definitely better than Hellmann’s.
Have you tried freezing this? Was wondering if it would affect the texture.
Glad you like it! I don’t think freezing would work since it might make the fat separate, but not sure!
Just made it. Very runny, but good flavor. Wondering why it’s so runny. In fridge now, but wanted to use it right away.
Hi, sorry to hear that. It should thicken up in the fridge. Did you use an immersion blender?
Please check out my recommendations in the comments to make sure it thickens. This really is the best vegan mayo recipe. Use ACV and add some paprika + black salt and it’s essentially Duke’s.
Sometimes this recipe works out amazingly, the best mayo! And then very rarely the mixture doesn’t emulsify so I’m left with a “soup” of all the stuff instead. Any ideas as to why? Thanks!
The mayonnaise came out delicious but very runny, I think I will try the soy version.
I can only find lactic acid in 80% liquid form. Does this also work? the quantities are the same? I also want to make your instant mac&cheese recipe but I don’t know if the liquid lactic acid will work for it since the mix is all powder.
Anyway, I have been able to find citric acid in powder form, so if this is better I might go for it.
Sorry to hear the mayo came out runny. Did you use an immersion blender? Liquid Lactic Acid will work okay, but not for the mac powder unfortunately. Citric acid could work, but use less as it’s more potent!
Please check out my recommendations in the comments to make sure it thickens. This really is the best vegan mayo recipe. Use ACV and add some paprika + black salt and it’s essentially Duke’s.
I have been making this weekly for years .. if folks are saying it came out runny it’s because they didn’t take the time at the start to blend very very slowly with a small amount of oil first and gradually increase until it becomes thick and then you can go faster
Maybe they didn’t read your tip at the end ?
Glad it works out for you, I’m not sure, I need to make a full length video tutorial I think though!
Another 30+ maker of this mayo. I had made this dozens of times without issue until one time i slightly stirred the mix to incorporate the ingredients beforehand. Big mistake. If you add everything to a mason jar the aquafaba settles to the bottom with the oil on top. The two layers are crucial. When you put the immersion blender to the bottom of the jar and blend you’re initially mixing the emulsifier (aquafaba) then the oil naturally starts to incorporate which creates the thick mayo we all know. If you mix the aquafaba and oil too much before blending it will never thicken unless you let it rest for hours to separate again.(I know because I’ve experienced it before).
So, yes, to play it safe you should slowly add the oil like you would a traditional mayo. But if you have two distinct layers just stick the immersion blender to the bottom gently, then blend and it will almost instantly thicken.
Oh wow, this is great to know, I’ll add that as a note in the recipe, thank you so much!
The taste is a little different for me. I really need to try it with your recommended white wine vinegar. I used white vinegar starting with less and increasing but never got the exact flavor i was looking for.
It got so thick so quick i could believe it! I don’t understand how anyone has this turn out runny or thin at all. I used immersion blenders in restaurants dozens and dozens of times to make traditional egg mayo and it never came out this thick.
This shit is amazing.
Hey that’s awesome to hear, thank you! Not sure what flavor profile you are going for but you can really flavor this however you’d like!
Yeah, I’m an idiot. After refrigeration it was perfect. I think the heat from the immersion blender and starting with room temperature ingredients is what thru my taste off initially. I wouldn’t change a thing, just added some black salt.
I did not realize how much aquafaba was in one can of chickpeas, just over 3/4 cup in mine. I had well over a quart of mayo after everything. Incredible.
ah, no worries! I should add a note that it will thicken in the fridge, thank you for the feedback!
Hey I tried a few of your recipes and they were awesome! Appreciate you taking the time to do what you do. I tagged you in my taco post on Instagram (sereneveganllc). Anyway, so my question is, should I leave this mayo on the counter afterwards, because I put mine in the fridge and it got rock solid. I’m thinking, would it go bad if I left it on the counter for a few days? How do you store yours and keep it fresh without turning Rock solid? Appreciate the feedback because before I put it in the fridge I put it on some of your burgers and it was awesome!
Hi, that’s odd, what kind of oil did you use? If you used something like olive oil it will harden in the fridge (that’s one of the reasons I don’t recommend using olive oil!)
I wanted to add that after overnight refrigeration and a little black salt added this mayo is perfect. I will never go back to store bought.
I also wanted to know if the addition of lactic acid pushes the shelf life over 2 weeks.
Oh good to know, thank you!!
This recipe contains a mistake in the measurements. The US measurements say to use 1/4 cup of aquafaba, but the metric measurements say to use 120 mL. 1/4 cup is 60 mL.
Oh dang, thank you for catching that, I’ll fix it!
Sometimes this recipe works out amazingly, the best mayo! And then very rarely the mixture doesn’t emulsify so I’m left with a “soup” of all the stuff instead. Any ideas as to why? Thanks!
(Reposting as I noticed I added the review as a reply to someone!)
Hey sorry to hear that it sometimes doesn’t work! A reader Cameron left a bunch of tips on his comment, I’ve gone ahead and added them to the post.
I never realized this when making it (I think I just lucked out and did it intuitively), but you need to keep the oil and aquafaba separated before you start blending, and you really need to see an emulsification happen before you start lifting up. You can also just slowly drizzle oil in to guarantee and emulsification, hope that helps!
Thanks for the reply! I’ll try that next time I make this (today in fact).
So realistically I should start blending everything and then add the oil as I’m blending?
That is the most fool-proof way to do it. Though I do think as long as you keep those layers intact it works every time, for me at least!