By Team Dirty
Apr 7, 2023,
Mayo is the finishing touch on sandwiches, the base of many deli-style salads, and the secret ingredient in some cakes. But, like many of our tasty favorites, we may think we have to give it up when we decide to eat healthier. Even plant based mayos from the supermarket are full of oil and hard-to-pronounce ingredients. Fret not, dear heart. You don’t have to resign yourself to dry sammies or bid adieu to potato salad. Our Oil-Free Vegan Mayo is tangy, creamy, and egg-free. It’s also easy to tweak for a nut-free version.
Intimidated by the idea of making your own mayo? We’ll walk you through every step. You’ll be shocked by how simple and easy it is, and you’ll be making regular batches in no time. So, are you ready to break up with conventional mayo? Onward!
Oil-Free Vegan Mayo ingredients
Raw cashews: these babies are a plant based powerhouse. They’re super versatile and can be soaked and blended into sauces, dressings, and fillings for texture and creaminess. Cashews are a fantastic whole-food source of fat, so they’re a go-to replacement for oil in conventional recipes. Plus, they bring nutrients and fiber to the party. “Raw” means unsalted and unroasted. If you or a loved one can’t have cashews, you can substitute with an equal amount of soaked, raw sunflower seeds (shelled, of course).
Tahini: this is peanut butter’s Middle Eastern cousin. A sesame seed paste that’s savory with slightly bitter umami notes, it complements salty flavors and spices very well. Its consistency can vary a lot from brand to brand, so if yours is very thin or very thick, you may want to adjust the amount of non-dairy milk you use. When in doubt, start small and taste before adding more. If you’re not a fan of its bitter notes, look for tahini made from roasted sesame seeds.
Unsweetened non-dairy milk: use any kind of unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk. We like soy, oat, or almond for this recipe.
Coconut aminos: this salty, fermented sauce is similar to soy sauce, but has a slightly sweeter taste. It adds a complex pop of flavor that we love.
Let’s get this party started
First up, get your cashews soaking in hot water. They’ll need about 10 minutes to soften, which gives you enough time to measure out everything else (pro tip: you can measure all of your non-cashew ingredients directly into your blender). If you get done early, turn up some Whitney Houston and enjoy a three-minute dance party in your kitchen.
If you have a fancy schmancy high-speed blender, you can skip soaking altogether! We don’t recommend skipping the dance party, though. It makes the mayo taste better. Don’t ask us how, we’re not scientists.
Once your cashews are soaked and your song is over, drain and discard the soaking water and pop the cashews into your blender. If you haven’t already added your other ingredients to the pitcher, do that now.
Now, turn the blender on, and sit back while it does the work. When your Vegan Mayo is nice and creamy with no visible cashew pieces hanging around, turn it off, pop off the lid, and give it a taste test with a clean spoon.
Adjust seasoning as needed. If it’s thicker than you’d like, add a splash of non-dairy milk. If it’s too thin, soak some more cashews and add a few at a time until it’s your desired consistency. Getting it exactly how you want it is a huge perk of making your own mayo.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape all the goodness into an airtight container. We like glass jars.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 10 minutes (40g / can sub with raw sunflower seeds for a nut-free mayo)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (158 ml)
- ⅓ cup tahini (75 g)
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Drain the cashews and discard the water.
- Place the cashews into your blender, along with the rest of the ingredients.
- Blend until super creamy and smooth, about two or three minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
What to do with your Oil-Free Vegan Mayo
This recipe makes about one cup of mayo. It’ll keep for five to seven days in the fridge and you can freeze the leftovers. If the mayo separates after defrosting, toss it back into the blender for a quick spin.
We love this mayo slathered on a yummy TLT (tempeh, lettuce, and tomato) sandwich made with these smoky tempeh strips.
The only limit to how you can use your Oil-Free Vegan Mayo is your imagination.
- Make this phenomenal Shredded Jackfruit Cubano Sandwich
- Mix it with Sofrito Sauce to create a killer dressing for a Caribbean-Cuban Fusion Bowl
- Plan a Sunday picnic and serve Eggless Egg Salad sandwiches
- Batch cook and enjoy our Cuban meal plan featuring this perfect mayo
- Smear it on a Super Easy Plant Powered Sandwich
- Up the Chickpea Mash creaminess
Already fallen in love with our Vegan Mayo? Let us know in the comments below.
Wishing you lots of kitchen dance parties and creamy condiments.
Xo
Team Dirty
36 Comments
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how long does it keep?
HI Lisette –
This keeps for about 7 days.
xo
Molly
What kind of bread is that? It looks amazing!!
Hey Laurie –
It’s Alvarado St. Bakery Sprouted bread. It’s made in Berkeley. It keeps about a week on the counter and it makes AMAZING toast! I often freeze half the loaf so none of it goes to waste.
https://www.alvaradostreetbakery.com/
Can you use something else of the soy milk
Hi Valerie,
Yes, you could definitely sub another non-dairy milk here, such as almond milk.
Karen
Team Dirty Girl
Would this work with almond milk? I have all the ingredients except I used up the last of soy milk last night 🙁
Can you replace the soy milk with another nut milk without compromising the flavor?
Hi Colleen, yes, you can replace the soy milk with another nut milk. I’d recommend almond milk. There may be a tiny flavor change but nothing drastic. 😉
xo
Meghann
Team Dirty Girl
How about unstrained oat milk? Strained oat milk??
Hi Marge,
Most of our recipes are very substitution-friendly. I personally prefer oat milk and use it in all instances. If you prefer unstrained oat milk, you’re welcome to try it, but the texture may be offputting. I would recommend strained oat milk, but as always, you do you! It’s your food and it’s important that you do what works for you.
If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to us right here.
Cheers,
Stephanie
Thanks, Steph. I’m making your eggless egg salad right now, and when I make it again (I’m sure I’m going to like it), I’ll have cashews ready to make your mayo. I like unstrained oat milk because I find using a nut bag to strain is a huge nuisance. So far for muffins & cakes it’s totally fine. I know mayo is different, but I have a feeling it’ll be fine for me. I’ll try it and report back! Tonight I’m going to use avocado mayo and mix into it all the spices that are in this mayo recipe.
Can you use brags instead of coconut aminos? (Having a hard time finding that). Thanks!
Holly, you can totally use liquid aminos instead of coconut aminos, but realize it will have a slightly different flavor. Coconut aminos have a bit of a sweeter taste whereas liquid aminos have more of a salty taste.
I have made this like 3 times now. It’s really yummy. I left out the tahini (didn’t have any on hand) and used liquid aminos. Still tastes great! I’ve used it as a salad dressing too. It’s perfect for when I just want greens for lunch but want a little flavor with it. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi April,
Glad you are digging the mayo and thanks for sharing your tip on the liquid aminos, that might help someone else!
Karen
Team Dirty Girl
Cashews are out of my budget, so I make mine with raw sunflower seeds. Still tastes great!
Nice substitute, Kate!
What brand of coconut aminos do you recommend?
Trader Joe’s has them for $2.99! That’s the best deal I’ve found and they taste the same as all the others.
[…] tbs of Vegan Mayonnaise (here is a great recipe if you want to make it […]
What is a good substitute for amino ? unable to get it for budget reasons right now
Hi Dawn, From our substitution guide, soy sauce blended with a little water and soaked date. Coconut aminos are less salty and a little sweeter than soy sauce. We always recommend low-sodium soy sauce in any case and in this recipe, since you are using only 1 tbsp, using 1/2 soy sauce 1/2 water, should work fine even without the date. Hope that helps. ~Karen
Thank you
I have one more question. The lady that substitute the sun flower seeds for the cashews . Do you know if she soaked them or not ?
Can this be made with white beans as a substitute for the cashews?
Hi Angela, You can definitely sub white beans for cashews here but the mayo will be much thinner and it will not have the same mouthfeel. Sunflower seeds or a mixture of white beans and sunflower seeds might also work and give a thicker texture. ~Karen
How many servings would this be for?
Hi Jennifer, it makes about 1 cup of mayo and there are 16 tablespoons in a cup. It will depend on how you are using it. If you straight-up use it on sandwiches with say, two tablespoons at a time, ~8 servings. ~Karen
Hi, I am curious as to the macronutrient breakdown for this recipe? It sounds delish, but if it is high in calories it might not work for us right now….
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for stopping by! As far as nutrient breakdowns, we don’t calculate them for any of our free recipes. You could calculate the calories if you like using one of the freely available nutrient calculators (I’ve used Cronometer in the past). ~Karen
Made this. All I taste is tahini and it was tan in color and runny. What did I do wrong
Hi Trish, Oh no! I’m guessing it might have to do with the brand of tahini. There are many threads in our private Facebook group about good tahini versus not-so-good tahini. I used a brand called Soom, but Whole Foods 365 and Trader Joe’s brands also get a lot of love. If you just aren’t into tahini, you could use sunflower seed butter to make this as well. ~Karen
Hi, loved the recipe for Tempeh strips and can’t wait to try it, except have never liked smoked flavours so assume best option is just to use ordinary paprika? Also followed the link to Mayo recipe and wondered what nuts would be best sub for cashews please as I am trying to follow a reduced lectin diet – maybe blanched almonds? Many thanks and love your inspirational newsletters. Thank you xx
Hi Sandy! For the smoked paprika, you can just leave it out. Its main purpose in the recipe is to deliver that smokey flavor, so no need to substitute (unless you want to!). For the cashews, you could sub with almonds as you suggested or sunflower seeds. Have you seen our Substitution Guide? It’s a great resource for finding reliable substitutes. We hope you enjoy!
This is very good! I omit the salt and just use Bragg’s Aminos and it comes out perfect! My tahini was runny so I added some raw sunflower seeds to thicken. And i make a double batch because I use it in Chickpea salad every week!