Easy vegan mayonnaise recipe

All you need to make mayo is soy milk, oil, and a hand held stick blender. The vegan mayonnaise is ready in about five minutes, including prep and washing up!

After disastrous attempts to make traditional mayonnaise, I have stayed away from all mayo-like recipes of drizzling and emulsifying. But this autumn I bought soy milk – the key ingredient in vegan mayonnaise and a product we never have at home – for a friend who was visiting. It was left unopened and I ignored the disgusting thing for weeks, until suddenly I realised that I had all the ingredients at home for making vegan mayonnaise.

Soy milk contains an emulsifier, which allows the oil and water to marry. Make sure you pick a soymilk that has a high percentage of soy and no sweeteners or flavourings. Neutral-tasting sunflower oil works best but you can mix and match as you wish. Most recipes use vinegar but it's too overwhelming for my taste. I tried to research if it's a necessary ingredient but couldn't find science that pointed one way or the other. Maybe vinegar is simply a good preservative? I use lemon juice instead and it works well. I added a pinch of garlic powder to the recipe, and: perfect mayo!

We eat a lot of egg-free mayonnaise in our household so making our own will save us quite a bit of money – and I'll know exactly what we're eating. The recipe is based on a recipe from the Finnish cookbook Vege!.

Vegan mayonnaise

55g – just under 75ml – organic, unsweetend soy milk (no other milk will work)
100g – just under 150ml – organic sunflower oil
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
A pinch of salt
A small pinch of garlic powder

Prepare a small jar or container for the mayo. Measure the ingredients into a narrow blending dish or measuring cup that still fits your immersion blender. Start blending from the bottom up, just a few pulses or seconds at a time and blend until even.

Add oil if you think it's too runny, add soy milk if it seems too thick, and just give it another whirl.

TIP: The garlic mayo is particularly delicious dolloped over fried beetroot slices or fried mushrooms.