When it comes to healthy eating, my rule of thumb is this:
If I can find any given item on my grocery list all ready-to-go in a store and it is totally clean and nutritious, I will gladly buy it. I don’t need to be a hero and make everything from scratch.
However, if I can’t find it ready-to-go with the highest quality, I will make it myself. I simply won’t compromise my health for the sake of convenience.
Mayo is one of those items on my grocery list that gets tricky. You can find some tasty mayos on the market that are clean and garbage-free, but they have eggs in them. If you follow a plant-based diet like me, or have a food sensitivity to eggs, those mayos won’t work for you.
Yes, there are several “vegan” mayos on the market as well, but I have yet to find one that doesn’t have at least one ingredient I avoid (like soybean oil). Plus, they tend to be costly.
The good news is it’s SUPER easy to make your own plant-based mayo, and it is absolutely delicious!
Aqua what?!
Before we dive into the recipe, I want to quickly talk about a staple ingredient for this mayo that you may not have heard of before. It’s called aquafaba.
Aquafaba is the liquid that’s leftover from cooking beans, like garbanzo beans. It’s also the liquid that’s inside the cans of beans you buy from the store, which most people just dump out.
What’s really cool about aquafaba is that it can be used to replace egg whites as a thickening agent in many recipes like meringues, mousses and more.
I prefer using the aquafaba from canned garbanzo beans (AKA chickpeas), because it doesn’t have a dark color (it’s basically clear) or a strong flavor like darker beans (like black bean and kidney beans).
I also like using the aquafaba from cans of garbanzo beans, because you can use the beans for so many things! You can make hummus or a sweet and crunchy snack like these roasted maple and cinnamon delights.
You can even combine garbanzo beans with this mayo recipe to make a plant-based version of egg salad or chicken salad. YUM!
THE RECIPE
~Yields About 1 Cup~
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons of aquafaba from canned garbanzo beans
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, fresh-squeezed or bottled (The only ingredient in the bottle should be pure organic lemon juice, not from concentrate.)
- 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of yellow or dijon mustard
- 3/4 to 1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
- Pour the aquafaba, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt and mustard (everything but the extra virgin olive oil) into a high-speed blender. Or, you can pour the ingredients into a tall blend-safe container and use an immersion blender. (I use a Blendtec.)
- Begin blending the ingredients as you slowly pour in the olive oil (about a tablespoon or two at a time) until it thickens into a creamy mayo. I typically use 3/4 cup of olive oil, but you may need up to 1 cup to achieve the desired level of thickness.
LEFTOVERS: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
This is by far the most delicious mayo I have ever tasted! It has a very clean and bright flavor profile.
It even tastes great as veggie dip!
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Cheers to enjoying delicious mayo that’s clean, healthy and made solely from plant-based goodness!
With love and gratitude,
Kandi
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