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Product Review: Vegan Mayonnaise

By Holly Kalyn, Compassionate Cuisine Editorial Intern

There are “mayo people” and there are “mustard people,” and then there are “everything people,” like me. I definitely couldn’t imagine my life or my sandwiches without a little mayo in the mix. I used to love a gob of mayo in everything—dressings, sauces, sandwiches, potato salad, macaroni salad. Oh boy, those last two got me hungry. I know you “mayo people” know what I’m talking about! While in the midst of a vegan transition, I’d be remiss not to try some of the vegan mayos on the market and report my findings. If we’re living a kind life, traditional mayo, which is made with eggs and results in the torture of over 360 million hens each year, is no longer invited to our party. So I set out on a tasting mission and tried three brands of our favorite creamy spread. Well, my friends, like egg mayonnaise, not all are created equal in the land of vegan mayo—some are much better than others.  I took the liberty of rating the mayos on a scale of 1-3, 3 being the best. And the votes are in (I also asked for some assistance from my food-vacuuming boyfriend and mayo-loving mom). So here it goes!

365 Organic Vegan Mayo (Rating: 1)

This is Whole Foods’ house brand, which I found in the non-refrigerated aisle next to its traditional mayo foes. As the first vegan mayo brand I ever tasted, I had no frame of reference so I thought it was pretty good. One characteristic that tends to vary with mayo, I found throughout my trial, is texture. This mayo’s consistency was dense and custardy and also had the most prominent eggy flavor—if that’s what you’re into. I could see myself using this product in other recipes calling for mayo, but compared to the other two we tasted, this one’s flavor was less popular on its own. Ingredients: Organic Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Soy Protein Isolate, Salt, Organic Mustard Flour, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate.

Earth Balance Organic Mindful Mayo (Rating: 2)

Gotta love that name—mindful mayo. Has such a nice ring to it. I found this brand in the refrigerated vegan dairy-alternative section next to the vegan sour creams and butters. Interestingly, the ingredient list is almost identical to that of 365 Vegan Mayo. However, when this mayo hit my tongue, 365 Organic was pretty much ancient history, so they’re definitely doing something different. It’s light, fluffy, and almost jiggly texture was satisfying and balanced out by a nice vinegary flavor. Yes, this one was the most acidic in taste—courtesy of the apple cider vinegar.  Now, I love a nice tang in most foods so I might be biased—but judging by the wide eyes and smiles of my other two tasters, I wasn’t the only one who took a liking to this mayo. Ingredients: Organic Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Soy Protein, Salt, Organic Mustard Flour, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate.

Just Mayo by Hampton Creek (Rating: 3)

I don’t know where to start with this because IT WAS JUST SO GOOD! Their slogan is “Joy On Your Sandwich” and they are completely justified in this claim because it’s made compassionately, without harm to animals, and it tastes fantastic. First of all, it tastes the closest to real mayo—which means this will be my best friend this summer when I want to make potato salad, macaroni salad, and all of my mayo-based salads. Second of all, it has the creamiest, smoothest texture, like heaven on a cracker. You get the idea. Like Earth Balance, it still has a slight zest in flavor, but its more of a lemony tang versus a vinegary tang and is more subtle. Oh yeah, and did I mention it’s soy-free? This was our winner of the taste test, but of course, taste is subjective so you might go for one of the others! All are worth a try and will give you exactly what you need in order to kick the traditional mayo to the curb, forever! Ingredients: Non-GMO Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Lemon Juice, White Vinegar, 2% or less of the following: Organic Sugar, Salt, Pea Protein, Spices, Modified Food Starch, Beta-Carotene.

Remoulade (Rating: 100 billion on a scale of 1-3)

This is your go-to Russian Dressing, Zesty Sauce, Remoulade, whatever you want to call it. Chef Linda blessed us with this recipe that is sure to spread the belief that you don’t need dairy, eggs, or cruelty for something to taste outrageously good. She says to put it on Tempeh Reuben Sandwiches, but in my house, we dipped red peppers and chips in it. If this is any indication of how perfectly tangy and flavorful this sauce is, my meat-eating dad who has a very picky palate was going at this pretty hard last night with some pepper sticks. So it’s “My Dad-Approved,” which also means it’s “Kid-Approved.” Try it out! I used the Earth Balance brand in this recipe, but next time I will try Just Mayo. So there you have it! Three contenders for best vegan mayo—mine was Just Mayo. Have your own taste test and tell us which one you’ll be using in your macaroni salad!