Make your own vegan cashew mayo with only a handful of ingredients and 5 minutes prep time! This delicious recipe is perfect for dipping, sandwiches or salads.
Once you’ve tried this flavorful vegan cashew mayo, you’ll want to slather it on everything! No more store-bought mayonnaise needed.
This creamy and delicious dip is made from only 5 simple ingredients and blended within seconds.
Unlike traditional mayo, our recipe is really healthy, oil-free and completely whole food plant-based!
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This cashew mayo is deliciously tangy and creamy, encouraging even picky eaters to eat more veggies alongside their nutritious dip!
If you love easy and healthy condiments, try our almond ricotta, cashew sour cream, vegan honey mustard and tofu ranch next.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 5 minutes + 5 ingredients needed
- Delicious, versatile & affordable
- Great for meal prep
- Much cheaper than store-bought vegan mayo
- Rich, creamy and tangy
Going from traditional mayo to this cashew-based version might just become your favorite plant-based swap — it’s the kind of condiment that makes anything taste fantastic and even loves you back.
Once you taste our cashew mayo, you won’t believe it’s vegan!
Ingredients needed
- Cashews — their slightly nutty and sweet taste is perfect to create the healthy, creamy mayo base which can be spiced to your liking.
- Lemon Juice — for the tangy flavor; you can use a bit of distilled white vinegar instead if you like.
- Nutritional Yeast — most vegan condiments need at least a pinch of that flavorful goodness!
- Dijon Mustard — the best variety for this recipe!
- Spices — salt & garlic powder is our favorite combination but you can add pepper and onion powders as well.
Find suggested swaps and our favorite uses for this recipe below! In terms of kitchen equipment, all you need is measuring equipment and a decent blender.
How to make cashew mayo
Soak your cashews for a couple of hours before making your mayo. Overnight is best! For a quick version, let the cashews sit in hot water for 15-20 minutes until they become plump.
Add all ingredients to a blender. It doesn’t have to be a super high-speed one but shouldn’t be very weak, either.
Blend until completely smooth. Add more liquid if needed!
Adjust to taste with some more nutritional yeast, mustard, salt or garlic powder.
Storage & serving suggestions
Cashew mayo is best prepared in larger batches and stored in a sealed container in the fridge. It keeps well for 7-10 days but it will thicken over time. This means you might need to thin it out!
Use it to make sandwiches, burgers, pasta salad, potato salad, as a dip for sweet potato fries or vegetable croquettes.
Other recipes made with vegan mayo include vegan chicken salad or chickpea “tuna” sandwiches!
Adjustments & tips
- Reduce the fat content by adding aquafaba!
- Replace the cashews with 12 oz of plain tofu for a nut-free and higher protein vegan mayo.
- Herbs like dill or a spritz of dill pickle liquid taste great!
- Adobo sauce or chipotle pepper blended into the cashew mayo creates easy and delicious aioli.
- Add maple syrup to make cashew mayo dressing.
- Replace lemon juice with vinegar for a tangier version!
More healthy vegan condiments
If you enjoyed our cashew mayo recipe, why not try some of the following goodness next?
Did you try our vegan mayo recipe and how did you like it? Feel free to share in the comments below, rate the recipe or Pin it for later.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cashews soaked & drained (150 g)
- 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 cup water 240 ml
Instructions
- Drain your soaked cashews and place them into a high-speed blender jar together with the rest of the ingredients.
- Blend everything until smooth, adjusting the amount of added water to reach your desired consistency.
- Taste test your cashew mayo, adding more salt, lemon juice or nutritional yeast if wanted.
- Serve as a dip or dressing and store any leftovers in a food container for up to a week in the fridge — be aware that the vegan mayo will become a bit thicker over time.
Notes
- It's best to soak the cashews overnight but if you have a good blender, a few hours are enough.
- Add a spritz of apple cider vinegar for tanginess or some dill pickle liquid if you’re up for it. Onion powder may also be your jam!
- Adobo sauce or chipotle pepper blended into the cashew mayo creates easy and delicious aioli.
- You can replace the cashews with 12 oz of plain tofu for a nut-free and higher protein vegan mayo!
Alena Schowalter is a Certified Vegan Nutritionist who has been a vegetarian since childhood and vegan since 2012. Together with her husband, she founded nutriciously in 2015 and has been guiding thousands of people through different transition stages towards a healthy plant-based diet. She’s received training in the fields of nutrition, music therapy and social work. Alena enjoys discussions around vegan ethics, walks through nature and creating new recipes.
This is absolutely the best vegan mayo I have tried. I have mixed in horseradish for spreading on sandwiches. I have used it in vegan potato salad, mixing a little mustard, stevia and black salt. The sweet/tangy taste along with the black salt reminds me of my mom’s old recipe (which used a lot of heavy oil mayo and eggs). This recip is versatile.
wow, thanks for the lovely feedback! You’ve tried so many different varieties that I need to remake now, hehe :)
Have just tried it and it is amazing! Thank you
I followed the directions to a T. I would suggest finding a different recipe with more cashews and less water. This is the consistency of salty/savory cashew milk. Yuck.
Would like to try to make this. I can’t eat cashews. Could you substitute the cashews with sunflower seeds?
Thanks.
Hi Kathy, yes, that’s a great swap! Let us know how you like it :)
Please what’s an alternative to the Dijon mustard, as I can’t find it where I live.
pretty much any mustard will do, no problem :)
What is the serving size?
I can’t wait to make this recipe. I love your site Alena. I want to cut back on oil and on salt intake, your recipe allows for decreasing salt and has no oil.