If you could choose between eating a big spoonful of vegetable oil and egg yolks versus a handful of cashew nuts, what would it be?
If you would rather nibble on the nuts, then you are in the right place!
Today we'll show you how to make an egg-free and oil-free vegan mayo alternative, prepared with cashew nuts and a few other plant-based ingredients.
The main goal of this recipe is to prepare a dipping sauce as tasty as traditional mayo - dare we say, tastier? - but much healthier.
To do this, we selected one magic ingredient: cashews.
These wonderful nuts replace both eggs and oil in our vegan mayo. We soaked them until super soft then and blended them with lemon juice and mustard until perfectly smooth.
The result is a velvety cashew mayo that has the same creaminess and richness as classic mayonnaise. You'll love it!
And the good news is, you'll get a much better nutritional profile out of this beloved dipping sauce.
Each serving has half the calories, fats, and saturated fats compared to regular mayo, and no cholesterol at all.
Ready for this? Let's whip 'n' blitz!
NOTE: The default ingredients yield one 340g (12 oz) jar of cashew mayo and one serving consists of 30g (1 oz).
Is classic mayo vegan?
Traditional French mayonnaise uses raw egg yolks and therefore is not vegan or suitable for those with egg allergy.
Instead, our homemade cashew mayo is vegan, egg-free, and oil-free.
We used soaked and blended cashews to replace eggs and oil and at the same time give creaminess, flavour, and richness to mayonnaise.
Is this cashew dip healthy?
You won't find a healthier vegan mayonnaise recipe than ours. It's egg-free, oil-free, and low-fat as we swapped eggs and oil with raw cashew nuts.
It's way better for you than regular mayo.
We soaked the nuts and blitzed them into a smooth mayo sauce that has a fraction of the fats, saturated fats, and calories compared to the classic mayonnaise.
The result is a rich and velvety vegan sauce with only 98 kcal per 30g (1 oz) serving and 8g of fats.
This means half the fats and calories compared to regular mayonnaise.
How do you make vegan mayo from cashews?
Making vegan from cashews is super easy. All you have to do is soak the nuts in warm water for a few hours or overnight until they're soft.
Then, blend them in a food processor until super smooth.
Tip in a few other mayo ingredients like lemon juice, mustard and salt, and your homemade vegan cashew mayo is ready!
How is vegan mayo made?
You can prepare vegan mayo at home in different ways and using various ingredients.
Many mayonnaise substitutes recipes use a combo of vegetable oil and plant-based milk like soy milk or whipped aquafaba (the brine water from canned chickpeas).
In our vegan mayo recipe, instead, we relied only on raw cashews for creaminess, thickness, and flavour.
When you soak cashew nuts and then blend them for a few minutes you get a velvety sauce that looks like mayonnaise.
And you won't need any oil or thickeners — easy and simple!
We also tried the recipe with both cashew cream and whipped aquafaba.
Aquafaba does add some fluffiness to the mayo, but we feel like it's not such a crucial difference worth the extra work needed to make it. So, we stuck to just cashews!
How long does this vegan mayonnaise keep?
Freshly made vegan cashew mayo will last for one to two weeks if you store it in the fridge in a clean tight-seal jar.
Use a clean spoon every time you want to scoop up some mayo to avoid any contamination.
What can I do with this vegan cashew mayo?
You can use this cashew mayo as a vegan alternative in all your favourite mayo-based dishes.
You can add it to sandwiches, wraps and veggies burgers or make a tasty salad dressing with it. It's also divine as a topping for fritters, bean patties, or vegan fish cakes.
Try it as a healthy dip for oven-baked chips, crispy nuggets, and vegetable crudités. We especially love it with our mushroom croquettes and jackfruit cajun nuggets.
And finally, you can use this cashew mayo as a base to make other sauces like vegan remoulade sauce, vegan tartar sauce, or vegan sriracha mayo sauce.
Ingredients
| Cashew Nuts | 200 g |
| Water | 60 mL |
| Lemon Juice | 2 tbsp |
| Dijon Mustard | 2 tsp |
| Salt | 1 tsp |
Step 1
Add the cashew nuts to a bowl, cover them with warm water, and leave them to soak at room temperature for at least 4 hours.
The longer you keep the nuts in water, the softer they will get.
It's very important you soak the cashews properly if you want to blend them into a perfectly smooth mayo.
Ideally, you'd want to keep them overnight, about 8 to 12 hours. We tested both ways, and the overnight option gives slightly better results.
Step 2
Now, drain the soaking water and rinse the cashews thoroughly.
Add them to a food processor, followed by lemon juice, water, Dijon mustard, and salt.
Blitz the ingredients for a few minutes until you have a super smooth mayonnaise.
It can take from 2 to 4 minutes to blend the cashews into a cream, depending on how powerful is your blender.
So, keep blitzing until even the small bits of cashews get blended, and scrape the sides of the blender a few times between pulses.
Step 3
Once ready, transfer the prepared mayo to a clean jar, close it, and store it in the fridge for up to a week.
Enjoy your healthy vegan cashew mayonnaise as a dip, salad dressing, sandwich filler, and in all your favourite recipes.
Tips
To balance the flavours, you can add a splash of maple syrup or date syrup to the cashew mayonnaise.