Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise

Vegan Mayonnaise

A quick post here, but something quite special.  Have you played with aquafaba yet?  It is a sensation and amazing in so many ways. This very simple vegan mayonnaise is both rich and creamy whilst purely plant based.

AQUAFABA?

Aquafaba is basically the cooking broth of chickpeas or other beans.  It can be used in a whole host of amazing ways, from making vegan meringues, fudge, pavlova and macaroons to a brilliant egg substitute in baking.  See The Vegan Society’s 13 Amazing things to do with aquafaba.   There is also an awesome Facebook page called ‘Vegan Meringues – Hits and Misses!‘ which has thousands of people playing and talking about this bafflingly brilliant ingredient.  Exciting times!

It seems we are only just getting to grips with all of the uses for this aqua faba (Greek for ‘water’ and ‘bean’).  There is much experimenting going on in kitchens across the world.  I know most of my non-vegan friends are really excited about the prospects of converting something so innocuous and plentiful into sensationally light and dreamy cakes and whipped creams.  Even Baked Alaska is now possible, purely plant! (see the brilliant Lucy’s recipe here).

When making things like mayo, dips, hummus etc that call for quite a lot of oil, I normally opt for something a little less expensive.  Extra virgin olive oil is never (and should never be) cheap and is best drizzled unadulterated onto warm bread or salad leaves.  The flavours are so subtle and fragrant that they can be wasted on a dressing or hummus.  My advice, find a decently priced middle of the roader with good flavour but not a hefty price tag.  Rapeseed oil is a wonderful one and if you’re in the UK, its grown and made here and has the most amazing flavour and deep colour.  It’s making quite a comeback.  Many new modern style producers are making rapeseed oil in the same way that high quality olive oil is made.  It shows!  Here are two of the very best Blodyn Aur and  Bennett and Dunn.  Having said all of that, I wouldn’t use these oils here.  Something more neutral like a sunflower oil is perfect.

There are so many ways of flavouring things mayonnaise, blend with roasted red peppers or onion, try it with any combo of herbs, add chipotle chillies or smoked paprika, lime and coriander…….go wild with it!  Have fun……

Here goes our basic, everyday mayo recipe.  Nice amount of vinegar, touch of sweetness and a little kick of Dijon mustard.  After you give this simple recipe a try you’ll never go for shop bought mayo again.

Recipe Note

You may like to add 1 teas lemon juice and reduce the vinegar content.  We don’t normally do this as it is means your mayo won’t last as long in the fridge.  It does taste nice though.

Most vegan mayo lasts a good six weeks after opening, to give you some gauge of how long it will last in the fridge.  Our mayo normally doesn’t make it past a few days.

The Bits – Makes roughly 200ml Mayonnaise

1 1/2 – 2 tbs apple cider/ white wine vinegar

2 tbs chickpea/ bean broth

1 teas dijon mustard

1/2 teas sea salt

1/2 teas sweetener (we use rice syrup)

125 ml neutral oil (like sunflower)

All you need to make glorious mayo

Do It

Add all of the ingredients bar the oil to a narrow cup/ jug (a measuring jug works well).  With a stick blender, blitz the mixture a few times and then gradually drizzle the oil into the jug whilst the blender is running.

The amazing aquafaba makes such a creamy texture

The mayonnaise will thicken and become white and creamy.  Keep blending, for a minute or two, until the thickness resembles your favourite mayonnaise.

Do not add any further vinegar to the mayonnaise at this stage, it will ruin the thick texture.

You can do this in a food processor if its easier.

Serve

You know how you like it!  Although we’ve taken pictures of mayo being served like a dip, its worth remembering that this is predominately oil.  Mayo is always  good spread over some freshly toasted bread and made into a sandwich or Jane’s favourite, with chips (they are French Fries to our American contingent)

Vegan Mayo – How do you like it?

Foodie Fact

Sunflower oil is light and highly nutritious and can also be used to keep skin moist and hair shining.  It has a good balance of mono and polyunsaturated fats (the good ones) and is also high in vitamins, especially Vitamin A and E, a potent antioxidant.

Unrefined oils, like sunflower, are best in recipes that do not require cooking.  Unrefined means that the nutrients, colour and flavour are still there.  Refined oils are generally more stable at high temperatures i.e. when frying or baking.

We’ve been on some lovely walks recently up near Snowdon

The lake beside Plas-y-Brenin, looking down towards Snowdon