Makes 1 1/2 cups
Total time: 15 minutes || Active time: 15 minutes
Most people figure it out as children: Are you a mayo person or not? My sister Michelle wasn’t. She was straight-up ketchup. But I needed few excuses to slather, dip and otherwise defame any morsel with some mayonnaise. Cans of tuna with lots of it; slather it on the bread, too. Salads, burgers, French fries (how European of me)…you name it, it got mayo.
But I’m not sure what makes a mayo person a mayo person. Is everyone else just afraid of living? In fact, I could hold a spoonful of it in front of my sister’s face if I wanted to see her cry. But I only did that once in awhile.
And I still love mayonnaise. There are plenty of decadent and delicious vegan varieities on the market these days (and, yes, plenty of not so great ones, too.) But there’s just something so homey about making your own! A connection, I guess. To the land, to your kitchen, to life, and probably mostly to your blender.
The thing is, I haven’t had that much success with a convincing homemade vegan mayo. I mean, pureed tofu and stuff can be good but in the end it’s still pureed tofu. I want something thick and fatty and creamy and tangy — something that would make my sister cry. And I think I’ve found it!
For the oil, I chose grapeseed because I based it on my favorite storebought vegan mayo: Vegenaise in the purple jar! But I bet olive oil would work, or maybe an olive / canola combo? I am also in love with the Olive Oil Flaxseed Lowfat Vegenaise so in went the flax seeds, and I think that’s what’s making the difference, helping to emulsify and stabilize the ingredients and keep everything on the up and up.
This homemade version was so fresh and delicious, it just leveled up everything it touched. My chickpea salad sandwiches became even more precious. My potato salad was a work of art. I used some as the base for a ranch dressing, and dolloped a little (ok a LOT) on a veggie burger. And life was good. And my sister, well, she was three states away and safe…for now!
Hope you enjoy, and come back later this week for a few recipes utilizing this mayo, including this simple Chickpea Salad Sammich!
Notes
~I think that the kind of milk you use here is way important. Choose the most neutral tasting milk you can find. I would NOT go for hemp or oat milk here. I used unsweetened original flavored Blue Diamond Almond Milk. I know that other almond milks have a pronounced almond taste, so if you can’t find Blue Diamond, then I’d go for an unsweeteend unflavored soymilk. I wish Vitasay still existed in the states! But life is cruel and it doesn’t.
~Depending on the strength of your blender, your times may differ. The important thing is to pay attention to consistency through each step. I use a Breville, which I love and recommend! But no matter your machine, you have to get the flax seeds good and blended, so that the flecks are barely noticeable. That activates its gloopy properties and will also make your mayo prettier.
~ The other important thing to remember is that the oil needs to be added little by little. A lot of mayo recipes say to stream it in slowly but all at once, and I don’t think that is quite necessary. Just add it a tablespoon or two at a time, blend for awhile, then add more.
~The taste of this mayo is very strong at first; the vinegar and salt mellow out over time, so don’t adjust straight from the blender. Let it chill for at least a few hours before deciding on any tweaking you’d like to do for next time.
~Can you use a different vinegar? I’d think so! Distilled white, or apple cider will probably work well. I just prefered the taste of white wine vinegar. I use lemon juice, too, because it adds a brightness to the mix that the vinegar alone lacked.
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (see note)
1 1/2 tablespoons ground golden flax seeds (sometimes called flax meal)
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground dry mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup grapeseed oil
Directions
Combine milk and ground flax in a blender. Blend on high speed until flax meal is barely noticeable, and the mixture is frothy, about a minute.
Add the sugar, dry mustard, onion powder, salt, vinegar and lemon juice, blending for a few seconds to combine.
Now begin to add the oil. With the blender running, use the hole at the top to stream in a tablespoon at a time, blending for about 30 seconds after each addition (if using a high power blender like Vitamix 5 to 10 secs should do it.). Give your blender a break every now and again so that it doesn’t heat up the mayo. You should notice it thickening by the halfway point. By the time you’ve used 3/4 of the oil, it should be spreadable. And with the last addition, you should have a thick mayo. If it seems watery, keep blending.
It will probably taste saltier and tangier than you’d like straight out of the blender, but trust me, the flavors mellow and becomes perfect. Transfer to glass tupperware, seal tightly and refrigerate for a few hours, and it will thicken even further. Use within a week.
I tried this recipe. It is great. I made my own almond milk by putting 1/2 cup of almonds to 1 1/2 cup of water in the blender. Blend for about a minute and strain through a milk bag. I also mixed all the other ingredients, except the flax meal and oil, in the blender for thirty seconds so the seasoning with give it a richer taste. I then added the flax meal and last the oil as the recipe called for. If you like it more like Miracle Whip, I used only 2 tsp. of the apple cider vinegar and added another teaspoon of honey. To make a dressing, you take a tsp. of onion powder. 1/2 tsp. sea salt, and 1/4 tsp. of herbamaire and add 1/4 c. water, mix well then adding the vegan mayo. It can be used as an onion dip, placed on bake potatoes, used on cole slaw. I have tried this recipe with many things and everyone has loved it. The vegan mayo is a very easy recipe to make.
Mine is sooooo watery and not white at all
I would LOVE to know what is in that chick pea sandwich, it looks amazing!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have tried dozens of vegan mayo recipes and this is by far the best I have tried. It has a fantastic creamy consistency and very thick and stable. I used soy milk and canola oil because that is all I had on hand. As you said, the taste mellows perfectly after a few hours. I’m going to use it to make a chickpea of the sea sandwich later. Can’t wait! I have a long list of things to try this with.
Mine didn’t work 🙁 And I was so excited. I don’t know if it’s because my blender gets too hot or what. The only substitution I used was unsweetened cashew milk instead of almond as I’m allergic to almond… I don’t see that being the issue though. I even eventually started putting the blender in the freezer for 15 or so mins in between every couple of oil tablespoons and that barely helped keep it cool – two minutes blending and it was hot again. I still have a slight bit of oil to go, as I’m once again letting it cool, but I don’t see it shaping up with what little oil I have left. Not to mention how agonizing it is to have to wait forever for it to re-cool after such a short time blending!
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY :(!!!!!!!!!
I recently made this recipe and it turned out so well, so much better than I could have anticipated! In an effort to save money on grapeseed oil, I used half canola, half olive oil, and substituted dijon mustard for mustard powder. I added a few tablespoons of oil every 15 seconds, and it turned out just fine. As Isa indicated, the flavor is quite overpowering initially but after having the mayonnaise set overnight it turned out great. Highly recommended!
Is there another nut milk that could be used in place of almond milk? My husband has an allergy to soy and almonds. I really want to start making a veganaise, as it is expensive to buy on a regular basis.
Thank you Isa for all your awesome recipes!
Isa, thank you for this recipe! Vegenaise is expensive, and Whole Foods is far from where I live, so now I don’t have to depend on it!
I used soy milk, also 1/2 cup, and by the time I used about 2/3 of the grapeseed oil, the mayo was already nice and spreadable, probably could stop adding the oil then. Next time will use almond milk, as I started to notice soy makes me bloated, so no more of your marinated tofu and tempeh recipes 🙁
I have Nutribullet, and had to start and stop it to add the oil, but it wasn’t bad. The end result is what matters, and by about day two the mayo mellowed out very, very nicely, it tasted almost like Vegenaise.
I just love this recipe, but it comes out way too thick. I don’t like using vinegar so I used all lemon juice. does that make a difference? I also make my own almond milk with 1 cup blanched almonds and 4 cups water and a 1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt. I don’t strain the milk it has more fiber that way. I have a vita mix and I honestly don’t see any difference. I am very concerned about health and make as much as possible from scratch.
I love this recipe but I did make a few changes sort of. I use 1/8 cup blanched almonds and 1/2 cup water in place of the milk and I grind my own flax seed and mustard seed and I use only 3/4 cup of grapeseed oil because the with the changes it makes it way too thick to spread. People from my church loves it too. God bless you and havew a nice evening.
I can’t wait to try this!!! 1) because mayo is freakin’ awesome, and 2) because Isa is freakin’ awesome. So mayo made by Isa…. going down this week. Gonna get my spicy fries ready for dipping!
Yummy, thanks for the recipe. I am german, I NEED Mayo with my pommel frites. 🙂
I made this today – needed mayo and we were out. Substituted based on what we had on hand. Used Blue Diamond standard almond milk, so skipped adding the sugar. No lemons so used 2T vinegar, used 1t stone ground mustard instead of the powder, and made with Canola oil. The texture is good, and it tastes a bit like tarter sauce (probably because we didn’t have lemon). My only problem was that the flax seed did not “disappear” – still was very apparent in the final product although I have a BlendTec and blended for 2 minutes prior to adding the oil. Any suggestions?
Have you ever tried making mayo with aquafaba? (liquid from cooking chick peas, or liquid in canned chickpeas. Apparently this stuff is a good egg/egg white substitute) I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll try yours first IF we have any almond milk left..