So much depends upon mayo. If you think that’s an exaggeration, try eating a dry sandwich or a tempeh salad with nothing but lemon juice to moisten it.
For omnivores, the solution is easy: Grab a jar of egg-based mayonnaise off any supermarket shelf. For vegans, it’s a little more difficult; oil-based Vegenaise* and soy-based Nayonaise* aren’t exactly everywhere, but people in larger towns and cities should be able to track them down.
However, for those of us who avoid added oil, there’s only one packaged option, the strange-tasting, not-very-mayonnaisey Fat Free Nayonaise*. Well, I say “Nay” to Nayonaise. Make your own mayo!
Tofu-based mayonnaise recipes abound–FatFree Vegan Recipes has some here, here, and here–but most are too sweet and all taste too much like blended silken tofu for my family’s tastes. My husband and daughter have gotten used to the not-fat-free stuff in the jar, and when our local stores recently stopped carrying the brand we use, I knew I had to create something that they would like as much or more.
We’ve never met a cashew-based dressing or sauce that we didn’t like, so I combined the fluffiness of silken tofu with the flavor (and a little fat) of blended cashews to come up with a mayo that somehow manages to be lighter than regular Nayonaise and much, much better than FatFree Nayonaise.
Even with the fat from the cashews, a tablespoon of my mayo contains only 15 calories and less than a gram of fat. You can use it on sandwiches, in salads, even in cooked dishes–anywhere you’d use mayo. You can also use it instead of oil in any oil-based salad dressing, instantly transforming it into a creamy dressing. Try blending a couple tablespoons of it into my Balsamic-Raisin Dressing. Or mix it with sweet relish to make a tartar sauce perfect for serving with Jackfruit “Crab” Cakes. Yum!
Note: Don’t do soy? Be sure to check out my tofu-free MiracleNaise!
MiracleNaise: Soy-free!
Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise
Ingredients
- 1 12.3 ounce package lite firm or extra-firm silken tofu see note
- 1/2 cup raw cashews about 2 ounces
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon prepared mustard any variety
- 1/8 teaspoon granulated onion powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Drain water from tofu and place it and all other ingredients except salt in a high-speed blender. Blend at highest speed until light and creamy. Add salt to taste and blend again. Seal tightly and keep refrigerated. Stir before each use.
Notes
To make this in a food processor or regular blender, use 1/3 cup of cashew butter instead of cashews and process until smooth.
Nutritional info is approximate.
Vegenaise Original has 90 calories and 9 grams of fat per tablespoon. Regular Nayonaise has 35 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. Fat Free Nayonaise has 10 calories and 0 grams of fat.
Update: I tried freezing and then defrosting the mayo, and it came out a little less fluffy but still tasting the same.
Please pin and share!
Cadry
This is very intriguing! I like the flavor of Vegenaise, but I don’t use it very often because it’s not the healthiest of spreads. How long do you think your mayo will keep in the refrigerator?
Susan Voisin
I’m experimenting with it now to see how long it will last, but my guess is just 2 or 3 weeks since there are no preservatives in it. It’s easy to halve the recipe, so I recommend doing that if you won’t use it up that quickly.
Cadry
I made this a few days ago. The whippy texture is so lovely and the flavor is the perfect canvas for sandwiches. I love having an oil-free alternative to Vegenaise! Thanks!
Joanna @ Running Places
How long it will keep was the first question that popped into my head! Halving the recipe is a good idea 🙂
Susan Voisin
People say it freezes well, but I haven’t tried it.
Shelley
Susan, I love you. 🙂 Thank you for this recipe. No exaggeration, I think you just saved my summer.
Sara
Hello Susan! I’m very excited about trying this mayo recipe, but since I don’t have a high speed blender or cashew butter, would it work to soak the cashews over night and then blend in a standard blender or food processor? Thanks.
Susan Voisin
Sara, I think it will work. Enjoy!
Shellie
I was just going to ask the same re soaking the cashews. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks.
wendy (healthy girl's kitchen)
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! I am so going to try this the next time when I would have passed by a recipe because it has mayo in it. No longer!
Pat
We are just beginning to leave behind dairy, fat, meat, etc. and I am loving your web site. I’ve already tried a number of recipes. This will be one I try very soon because my favorite sandwich (since childhood) is peanut butter and mayonnaise and I’ve been a little whiny about giving it up. I’m assuming this will go well with almond butter (my fav). Thanks!
Outdoorgrrl
I have a jar of Veganaise in my fridge, but don’t use it very often. It’s just a jar of fat in my book. This looks like an delicious alternative for making chickpea salad sandwiches and the like. I’m going to give this a try! Thanks!
Kale Crusaders
Such a great idea to include cashews! Cashews magically make everything better.
Heather @ Better With Veggies
This looks awesome – great idea!! I have been buying Vegenaise, but I love the idea of making my own healthier version. 🙂
Katrina
How funny that you posted this recipe! Just yestersay I was thinking of vegan mayo substitudes. Too bad my son has an allergy to nuts…
Susan Voisin
Check out the recipes I linked to in the second paragraph. They all use tofu but no nuts.
Katrina
Thank you!!!
Ninufar
You can also try tahini paste (ground sesame seeds), if they’re okay for your son. Oddly enough, this afternoon (before reading this post) I decided to try another vegan mayo recipe, too, mixing silken tofu (fresh in a tub kind), hummus with tahini in it, and more lemon juice & mustard, & it’s great! Can mix with a fork and wire whisk, if you’re not set on a perfectly even texture.
JL goes Vegan
Oh, my, I’m totally going to make this!
Susan
hi. Do you think the mayo can be frozen? Thanks for all the great recipes Susan.
Susan Voisin
I haven’t tried freezing it. Give me a few days to try it, and I will get back to you.
Michelle Bolanger
Any word on how it worked frozen?
Susan Voisin
Freezing works! No difference in taste or texture, though perhaps a little less fluffy.
Val @ Tips on Healthy Living
Really creative! Any other nuts that you can suggest using? Would almonds would work as well?
Susan Voisin
Cashews are much creamier than almonds, so they are what I recommend. But you can always experiment with other nuts and see what happens.
Val @ Tips on Healthy Living
Ah OK, good to know, thanks! I might try with walnuts because I’m not a huge cashew fan.
Janae Wise
Aren’t cashews amazing! I LUV them. They are a vegans dream. Thanks for the recipe, your pictures are always so lovely.
Somer
That is brilliant! I love vegenaise, but have been trying to make a mayo without oil, to use for sandwiches and dips and that still tastes good and will work with the “eat to live” diet. This looks like it will fit the bill exactly! Thanks!
Liz Ellis
Would you consider posting some simple dressing recipes using this new vegan mayo. Maybe a creamy “honey” mustard or thousand island?
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Also, thanks to your blog, I’ve been vegan for almost two years now. I’m a life time vegan 🙂
Kelsey
I like Vegenaise but I’ve never tried a homemade version! This sounds perfect.
Testarosa
How about coming up with a recipe that doesn’t contain soy products since some of us are allergic?
Thank you,
Testarosa
Val Lewis
Testarosa,
Just leave it out and double the cashews….I have made mock mayo using only soaked cashews (makes them softer- soak overnight), plus the lemon juice, mustard, salt, onion powder and I add garlic because I love it. You could also throw in a couple of good chopped olives (not canned ones)
Marcia
Thank you for your suggestion Val – I will try it and let you know!
Marcia
Val – just to follow up on my I-will-try-it-and-let-you-know post: I doubled the cashews as suggested and left the rest as is. I discovered that there wasn’t enough “liquid” to allow the nuts to smooth out so I added some unsweetened almond milk until it reached the right consistency. After it looked okay, I tasted it and discovered the lemon juice was a bit over powering. I think I would at least triple the amount of cashews or more if I were going to keep the other ingredients the same. I wondered about making the “liquid” half lemon juice and half Braggs Cider Vinegar or maybe all cider vinegar. I didn’t want to add garlic this time but once I get it worked out, I will probably try it because I bet it would be a nice addition! All in all a great effort and a wonderful idea so I’m thrilled…thanks to all for your input.
Jessica
There are PLENTY of recipes on this website that are soy free. And last time I checked, this wasn’t soyfreevegan.com so maybe a little less snark on a website packed with FREE recipes that plenty of people are excited about.
Ali
I didn’t consider the person with food allergy asking for a recipe on a basic condiment like mayo to be insulting but I thought Jessicas was towards her was. Mayo isn’t just any recipe. It is one of the basics to be able to have in the kitchen. Living with allergies is very difficult and frustrating. By asking, the girl was able to get some suggestions that she could use. Good for her. As frustrating as the allergies are is the lack of understanding that some people have about them.
Kate
Testarosa: The internet is fillllllled with with non-soy vegan mayo recipes. The majority of the vegan mayo recipes I’ve seen are cashew/almond/oil based and are soy-free.
Susan V: I was so happy to find this recipe as I was specifically looking for a tofu-based recipe that actually tasted good! Thanks!
Now if someone wants both non-soy and low fat, that’s definitely a rare combo for vegan mayo. No idea if it would work, but I’ve made a “swiss cheese” spread by Bryanna Clark Grogan that was mostly water and cornstarch/flour based, and surprisingly flavorful. Also had a small amount of tahini, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, miso, and garlic and onion powder I believe. Something like that might be worth experimenting with. It was thinner than what I’d want for mayo, and obviously the wrong flavor, but with some tweaking and maybe some thickeners like xantham gum it might be a start?
Linda
Thank you so much for this! I am on a fat-restricted diet at the moment, and as a new vegan, I am missing mayo terribly. It sounds delicious and so easy to make. 🙂
sandy
Wow! this looks awesome!
Thanks so much for the post – can’t wait to try it!
Orfa P
This website is amazing! Im such a vegan junk food addict and your recipes are sooo helpful! Thanks a ton for your delicious ideas 🙂
Lesley
I can’t wait to try this – it couldn’t have come at a better time because the only store nearby that stocked unsweetened plain soy yoghurt just stopped, and I used that for making a really good Ranch dressing – since the recipe calls for vegan mayo or yoghurt, I can try this! Thank you!
elizabeth
Thank you for this rccipe!
I’ve been using Vulcan Fire salt on my salads, etc and its great, Thanks for the tip. I have to be careful to use sparingly and not overdo it like I did the other day when my salad was way too hot to eat!
Josette
Oh Susan Thank you so much for this fantastic recipe! I have never tasted a nearly fat free mayo as good as this one. For lunch, I made a sort of Waldord salad with celery, apples,walnuts and a little of this mayo and it was so good, like in the days when I made recipes with the real mayo. For dinner, I could not resist and made a couscous salad with Trader Joes Chickenless strips, tomatoes, olives, cucumber and a little avocado, with some lemon juice and 2 Tbsp of mayo. With a small slice of freshly baked wholemeal bread, again a real winner! I also like the idea of making a tartar sauce with some pickles and mixing it with your balsamic raisin dressing. Once again thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Jeanette
What a fabulous idea, combining cashew and tofu to make mayonnaise!
mary
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I LOVE THIS RECIPE!
Danielle
Thank you so much for this recipe Susan! We recently moved to Vietnam and I can’t find any of my vegan products 🙁 I will try this recipe (even though nuts have been difficult to come by in our area).
Do you have any suggestions for a ‘buttery’ spread? I used Earth Balance back in the states but can’t find anything like that out here.
Kelli
Here is a link to Bryanna Clark Grogan’s “Buttah” recipe. I don’t know how available the components are in Vietnam, but it’s worth a shot. 🙂
http://vegan.com/recipes/bryanna-clark-grogan/bryannas-vegan-butter/
Danielle
Thanks Kelli! I just checked it out. A few of the ingredients seem a bit difficult to find out here, but well worth trying to!! Hopefully I will be able to try this recipe out 🙂 Thanks again!
Vickie Taylor
Thank you so much for this recipe, Susan! I’m an almost-vegan, and I’ve been miserable at not being able to make coleslaw, potato salad, and egg salad the way I like for my summer picnics. (I know, eggs are clearly not vegan. That’s why I’m an “almost” vegan–but I *only* eat eggs from my home-raised, free-range, organically fed chickens!).
Anyway, back to the point. I was every excited to make this today. I didn’t have any cashews so I used some slivered almonds (will try cashews next time since you said they’re creamier). At first, I still wasn’t quite happy with the taste as I still tasted too much tofu, so I decided to make it a spicy flavored mayo. I added two cloves of garlic, 3 spring onions, and 1 jalpeno pepper (cored and de-seeded). It is AH-MAZ-ING!
Then I turned right around and took one cup of the mixture and made a creamy balsamic salad dressing (which I’ve also been missing because I try to avoid the processed foods and the calorie count is too high). I just took about a cup of the mayo mixture, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, a little more lemon juice, about a teaspoon each of black pepper, oregano and thyme, and a little salt substitute and bam! Wonderful, healthy salad dressing!
Thank you so, so much!
Greg from Brooklyn
Hi Susan,
Great website! Feel like supporting for effort. Didn’t notice any tabs for that.
God bless,
Greg
jodiellis09
Tried this mayo today for the first time, used it in a salad and it was great!
Dawn
Yay!! I am so excited to try this. And I think I have all the ingredients. I am soaking some cashews already to make your Hidden Cashew Ranch Dressing. Now to have a dressing and a spread. Yum!
Vegetarians
I agree that Mayonnaise plays a big role in the world of food and Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise is much healthful than the usual mayonnaise. I’m wondering how long is the shelf life of this mayo?
Lydia
Awesome recipe! I have always hated mayo. This is so good. Just starting my plant based life. Thank you for such a good blog.
Tamara
Wow, I will have to try this! Thanks for providing a blender version. A vita is on my “someday” list, but I don’t have it quite yet. 🙂
Low Fat Vegan Chef Veronica
So funny you should say this. My husband just commented on this today that what people REALLY enjoy about sandwiches is the mayo. And when you’re oil free vegan like we are a sandwich is just not the same as the tofu or tempeh can be quite dry. So the solution is usually hummus, guacamole, a lot of dijon mustard or something like that.
Cashew mayo is probably the best tasting. I can’t stand the taste of Veganaise myself. I do like to put mustard, barbecue sauce and relish on a burger instead of just mayo and ketchup though.
Dawn-Renée
This was amazing. I am trying to find creative ways to reduce calories….My husband and I love bánh mì sandwiches, but are no longer eating bread or mayo. I came up with a bánh mì salad, and this ‘mayo’ mixed with sambal oelek and a little tofu water to thin the consistency is the perfect dressing!!! I don’t have a vitamix, so I crushed the cashews with a mortar and pestle before putting it in the blender, and it did take me awhile to blend it. It came out more the consistency of hummus, but it’s really good. The Vitamix is on the list for my birthday!
Rachel
Made it! LOVE IT! Now I can eat healthy and delicious coleslaw a few nights a week. Thank you so much Susan!
Connie Fletcher
YUP!!!! Me too!!!
Dawn-Renée
Does anyone know how many tablespoons this recipe makes?
Susan Voisin
32
Dawn-Renée
32, duh! 🙂 I am getting twice the calories over at livestrong.com, though.
Susan Voisin
That’s strange! I just checked my calculations, and they’re correct. I even tried weighing the cashews, which came out to be between 2 and 2.5 ounces in half a cup. Even using 2.5 ounces, I get only 16 calories per tablespoon.
Dawn-Renée
I wonder if I used a different tofu on the site? Will try again.
Dawn-Renée
I am getting pretty much the same thing, even when I specifically put Mori-nu Firm in. Even using lite didn’t change it much. 🙁 It’s still awesome, but man. If I can get it down to 15, I wanna!
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Amount per Serving
Calories 28
Calories from Fat 17.6
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1.96g
3%
Saturated Fat 0.61g
3%
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 25.22mg
1%
Total Carbohydrate 1.13g
0%
Dietary Fiber 0.16g
0%
Sugars 0.25g
Protein 1.52g
3%
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/tofu-cashew-mayo/#ixzz1tCYUFXs0
Susan Voisin
Are you sure they’re using raw, not roasted, cashews to do the calculation? I just did it by hand and came up with about 16 calories. The main contributors are the tofu (200 calories for the lite) and cashews (155 per ounce for 2 ounces= 310. So 510 calories divided by 32=15.9375. You can check these amounts at http://www.nutritiondata.com.
Dawn-Renée
Yes, raw cashews. I think that is where the problem is. They are saying that 1/2 c is 660-ish calories and 54 g of fat.
Dawn-Renée
My package says 190 cal and 15 g of fat in 1/4 cup (28 g). I think LS was having trouble with the 1/2 cup amount. When I use grams on LS, it comes out to 310. Thanks for helping me to figure it out!! And thanks for the awesome recipes. We are not vegan, but it never hurts to eat vegan part of the time. Looking forward to trying your quiches!
Corrin Radd
So much depends
upon
A dollop of
mayo
From cashews and
tofu
Blended in my Vita-
mix
Susan Voisin
Fabulous! I love it when people get my allusions!