Vegan Mayo {Aquafaba}

If there’s a world with no mayo in it, I don’t want to live there.

Creamy, drippy, luscious… it’s the perfect topping for burger, or for dressing a salad. I also like to use it as a dip–yam fries love this stuff, and polenta fries might be my favourite.

I think people are afraid of making mayonnaise, though it’s not really that hard to do. Basically, you take an egg yolk, add acid, and then finish with oil to create an emulsification. Obviously if you’re a vegan, the egg yolk is out.

There certainly are commercial vegan mayo options out there to buy, but why not make your own? It’s cheaper, fresher, and delicious-er. Oh yeah.

In this case, aquafaba makes a pretty good stand-in for the egg yolk, though it is more of an egg white replacement in general. However, with the right tools and the right ingredients, it’s super doable.\

Want more Aquafaba recipes? Check out my new cookbook: Aquafabulous!: 100+ Egg-Free Vegan Recipes Using Aquafaba (Bean Water)

You’ll need an immersion blender. You could certainly make this in a regular blender, but the quantiles would need to be at least doubled. For making smaller quantiles like this, an immersion blender is perfect.

Please don’t be scared by the fact that this recipe calls for an entire head of garlic. Yes, yes, you’ll be safe from vampires (I’m watching a lot of Buffy lately), but also, roasting the garlic makes it sweet, not strong. The texture of the roasted garlic is also going to help to give the mayo body and thickness, as well.

By the way, once you have the base recipe mastered, there are a million different ways to flavour it–variations abound!

Here’s how to make vegan mayo:

Aquafaba Mayo {Vegan}

(recipe from Aquafabulous!: 100+ Egg-Free Vegan Recipes Using Aquafaba)

Ingredients

• 1 bulb garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tbsp aquafaba
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil

Method:

1. Place a square of foil down on your work surface. Slice the top off of the bulb of garlic, enough to expose the cloves underneath. Place it on the foil, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold up the sides of the foil and then seal top to make a little package with the garlic inside. Place on a baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes. The finished garlic should be a caramel color and the paper husks should be almost transparent. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Watch this video to learn how! 

2. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their paper skin in a small container with deep sides. Add aquafaba, lemon juice, mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Using an immersion blender, blend well until smooth, creamy, and starting to thicken to a pudding-like consistency. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and pepper if needed.

3. With blender running, slowly add the vegetable oil. Blend for another few minutes, until it’s thick, rich and creamy.Use immediately or transfer to an airtight container, cover and store in the fridge for up to 10 days.