Homemade mayonnaise recipe that is low in fat, eggless, cholesterol-free, soy-free and nut-free. It tastes surprisingly like real mayo and perhaps even better. The secret is in the ingredient and in the process to produce a vegan mayo for a fraction of the cost of store-bought mayonnaise.
It’s been a while since I promised that I would share my vegan mayonnaise recipe. In fact, this goes back to when I posted the recipe for the Epic Vegan Tuna Mayonnaise. Some of you have emailed me since then with some specific requests about a homemade mayo without soy and also low-fat. So you guys put me into quite a challenge, but I was determined to rise to it nevertheless and I did enjoy it.
Most eggless mayonnaise require two main simple ingredients – soymilk or aquafaba (i.e. the liquid from a can of beans or from boiled beans) and oil. Both the soymilk or soy-free aquafaba mayo recipes call for quite a fair amount of oil for the emulsification to happen. So, the challenge was to get the emulsification to happen with little oil.
The low fat or oil-free vegan mayo versions that I’ve seen make use of a creamy base such as silken tofu or cashews.
But with my nut allergy, cashews are not an option. This rose the challenge even more – a vegan mayonnaise recipe that is soy-free, nut-free AND with the option of being low fat.
After some brain racking (over severals cups of tea) and numerous tests, I was satisfied with the results which are pretty astounding in my humble opinion. I am pretty excited to share it. But don’t take my word for it though, try the recipe for yourself and let me know.
This mayonnaise recipe is not completely oil-free but the amount that is called for can be adjusted and considerably reduced. Compared to many mayonnaise recipes out there, this particular recipe is relatively much much lower in fat.
In traditional mayo, the ratio of milk (or liquid) to oil is usually about 1:2. In my recipe, the ratio is about 4:1 which completely inverses the amount of liquid to oil.
The secret is in the ingredient and the process which involves a couple extra steps but so much worth it if soy-free low-fat nut-free mayo is what you’re after.
Dried (uncooked) white beans (cannellini or navy beans) are what I am using in this recipe. Dried chickpeas work well too but they will produce a mayonnaise that is slightly beige in colour. And I find that white beans have a much more neutral taste. I am basically extracting the milk from the beans and cooking this bean milk into a thick custard which then becomes a creamy base for the mayonnaise.
So, let’s not keep you waiting any longer. I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you do, tag us on Instagram @veganlovlie #veganlovlie or pin the image below and save the recipe for later.
Check out these other recipes from the blog:
Soy Sauce Substitute – recipe for a soy-free gluten-free alternative to soy sauce
Apple Tamarind Chutney – great as a dipping sauce for appetisers
{No-}Peanut Butter Zucchini Dip – an incredibly tasty dip that can also be used as a salad dressing
Watch the video for the easy step-by-step process. Enjoy!
Eggless Mayonnaise Recipe with Low Fat Option – Soy-free + Nut-free
Ingredients (yield one 300ml [10 fl. oz.] jar)
⅓ cup [65 g] DRIED white beans* (cannellini beans, navy beans or chickpeas), soaked overnight & drained – yield 1 cup soaked beans
1¼ cup [300 ml] water
Lemon peel from ¼ lemon
2 – 3 teaspoons [10 – 15 ml] lemon juice (more to taste)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon Indian black salt (kala namak)
2 – 4 tablespoons [30 ml – 60 ml] sunflower oil (or vegetable oil) or more**, see notes
1 – 2 tablespoons water [15 ml – 30 ml] (more as required to reach desired consistency)
Directions
Place the soaked white beans and water in a blender and process until well blended.
Pass the mixture through a cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve.
Squeeze out as much bean milk as you can.
Place the bean milk with the lemon peel in a saucepan.
Heat on medium temperature while stirring occasionally.
When the mixture starts to thicken, stir constantly until it reaches a thick custard consistency.
Then remove from the heat and set aside.
Remove the lemon peels and allow the custard to cool.
Once completely cooled, place the custard, lemon juice, sea salt, Indian black salt and 2 tablespoons water in a mixing jug.
Blend using an immersion (hand) blender until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Add in the oil and blend again until the mixture is emulsified.
Taste and add more lemon juice if you like your mayo more tangy.
If you want a thinner mayonnaise, add 1 tablespoon water at a time and blend again until you get the desired consistency.
Place the mayonnaise in a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks***.
Always use a clean utensil when removing the mayonnaise from the jar.
Notes:
Low fat option and choice of oil
*Canned or precooked beans will NOT work in this recipe. The bean juice needs to be exacted from soaked uncooked beans. Then the juice is cooked into a custard.
**You may use only 2 tablespoons of oil in this recipe if you want this mayonnaise to be low fat. In this case, start with just 1 tablespoon water. Otherwise, the mixture might be too watery to emulsify properly.
I have had best results with sunflower or vegetable oil. Olive oil does not work very well; it leaves a somewhat bitter aftertaste in the mayonnaise. So, I do recommend using the recommended oil as per the recipe.
Shelf life
***This mayonnaise may keep for more than a month if clean utensils are used. But for food safety, 2 weeks is the recommended shelf life. Go by the smell test to determine its freshness.
Vegan Mayonnaise Recipe | Low Fat + Soy-free + Nut-free
Ingredients
- 65 g DRIED white beans*, [⅓ cup] cannellini beans, navy beans or chickpeas, soaked overnight & drained - yield 1 cup soaked beans
- 300 ml water, [1¼ cups]
- Lemon peel from ¼ lemon
- 2 - 3 teaspoons lemon juice, [10 - 15 ml] more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon Indian black salt, kala namak
- 2 - 4 tablespoons sunflower oil, [30 ml - 60 ml], or vegetable oil or more**, see notes
- 1 - 2 tablespoons water , [15 ml - 30 ml] more as required to reach desired consistency
Instructions
- Place the soaked white beans and water in a blender and process until well blended.
- Pass the mixture through a cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve.
- Squeeze out as much bean milk as you can.
- Place the bean milk with the lemon peel in a saucepan.
- Heat on medium temperature while stirring occasionally.
- When the mixture starts to thicken, stir constantly until it reaches a thick custard consistency.
- Then remove from the heat and set aside.
- Remove the lemon peels and allow the custard to cool.
- Once completely cooled, place the custard, lemon juice, sea salt, Indian black salt and 2 tablespoons water in a mixing jug.
- Blend using an immersion (hand) blender until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
- Add in the oil and blend again until the mixture is emulsified.
- Taste and add more lemon juice if you like your mayo more tangy.
- If you want a thinner mayonnaise, add 1 tablespoon water at a time and blend again until you get the desired consistency.
- Place the mayonnaise in a jar and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks***.
- Always use a clean utensil when removing the mayonnaise from the jar.
Video
Notes
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Are white beans available in india? if yes, what they are called.
Sorry about my delayed response, I am only seeing your comment now. I actually don’t know what white beans are called in India or whether they are available. You can also use chickpeas if you can’t find white beans.
Very nice recipe chef 👍👌👏. I made it this afternoon, I split it in two portions and I added garlic on the other one 😋. Next batch I will try it with some nutrition yest wish me luck. Thank you for your effort 🌞😎
everything looks soo yummy
Can this recipe be made by omitting the oil? Thank you
Hi Becky, I find the oil to be essential to get the right texture and taste. If you want to try it without the oil, taste the mixture once you’ve blended the custard with a little lemon juice and the salt and see how you like it. Else, just 2 tablespoons of oil is enough for a low-fat version.
This recipe looks wonderful except that I am not eating oil these days; did you attempt this without the oil and, if so, how did it turn out?
Nevermind my last comment–I made this without oil! I blended everything with my stick blender and then added it to my vitamix and blended in 2 tablespoons of aquafaba on low-ish speed. That made it too liquidy and I wanted to save my work so I added 2 tablespoons of corn starch, blended it, and then cooked it a little while on the stove to let it thicken. It was very good on my sandwich, but congealed the next day after having been in the fridge. I put it in my nutribullet and the texture was a deadringer for storebought. Thanks so much for this recipe!
Is it possible to substitute sunflower oil to avocado oil.
I haven’t tried this with avocado oil, so I can’t say for sure. In terms of texture, I think it should work.
We used avocado oil and it worked perfectly! Love this recipe! We also added 1/8 tsp Dijon mustard.can’t thank you enough! 🙏🏼
Do I need to use an immersion blender? Will my Blendtec work?
Hi Robin, I find it much easier to use an immersion blender and get the emulsification happening but you should be able to use a regular or high speed blender too. Just make sure to blend the other ingredients first, then add the oil. You may need a little more oil with a regular/high speed blender. Hope this helps.
Hello,
Thank you for the recipe. What do you do with the left over pulp?
Can you use canned beans instead of soaking beans
Hi Ruth, your question has already been covered in the post and recipe notes.
I really liked your recipe. After soaking baby lima beans (it’s all I had) for 24 hours and blending until smooth in the Vitamix everything went through my sieve. I cooked my beans with the “pot in pot” method in my instant pot with the steam setting. It was a lot easier for me than on the stovetop, and they still came out nice and creamy.
Thanks again
Thank you so much, it is a great recipe!
this recipe looks delicious.
My husband cant eat lemon peel, can i add just more lemon juice afterwords, or substitute the zest for something else?
thanks
What an ingenious idea!! I am excited to make it!
Very Interesting recipe! When you say ‘lemon peel’ do you mean with the pith also or just the zest? Thank you!
Just the zest, not the pith as it will be bitter otherwise.