Professional application guide
Vegan mayo with aquafaba: liquid or powder?
Aquafaba makes a thick, stable vegan mayo, with no egg yolk at all. The whole recipe rests on one ratio: 5:1 oil to aquafaba, by weight. This guide walks you through the method and the common pitfalls, then helps you decide whether liquid or powder makes more sense in your kitchen. Updated: .
One batch makes about 500g of mayonnaise.
Liquid
- 60gper batch, with 300g of oil
- 16 batchesfrom a 1L Tetrapak
Powder
- 4gper batch, mixed with water
- 50 batchesfrom a 200g pouch
How to make vegan mayo with aquafaba
Here aquafaba stands in for the egg yolk, not the white. Nothing is whipped: it is a cold emulsion, built with shear.
- In a tall, narrow vessel, combine 60g chilled aquafaba with the mustard, salt and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Start the stick blender and drizzle in 300g of oil in a thin, steady stream. Keep the shear high so the emulsion takes.
- Once it thickens, taste and season. Too tight? Blend in a few grams of cold water.
- Transfer to a clean container and refrigerate at once. Made hygienically, it keeps up to 7 days in the fridge.
Large batches? Use a high-shear blender to control droplet size and keep the emulsion stable.
Liquid or powder? Start with how often you make mayo
A batch of mayo uses very little aquafaba: 60g. So a 1L pack makes 16 batches, and once it is open you have 3 to 4 days to use it. If you won't make that many in that time, powder is the better choice: a 200g pouch makes 50 batches and has no date to watch once opened. The finished mayo needs the fridge either way, so the choice is about the opened pack, not the sauce.
| Your kitchen | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Deli or sandwich counter making fresh mayo every service | Liquid, 1L Tetrapak | Poured at blending temperature, and the pack turns over in time |
| Restaurant with mayo on one menu dish | Powder, 200g pouch | An opened litre would outlast its 3 to 4 days |
| Cold store already full of finished sauce | Powder | The pouch never takes a chilled slot |
| You want fewer dated items on the sauce station | Powder | No opened, perishable pack to label, log and inspect |
| Producer blending dry sauce bases | Powder | It goes into the premix dry |
| Central kitchen or industrial line | Liquid, 10L bag-in-box or 1T IBC | Drawn by the kilo each shift, straight into the high-shear mixer |
Prefer liquid but make mayo rarely? Freeze it in portions: two 30g portions make one batch. Thaw fully in the fridge and stir until even before blending.
Working with each format
Liquid
- Lives in the fridge once opened, so it is at blending temperature when you pour.
- Weighs on any kitchen scale.
- Discard it if it smells off, shows bubbles or has separated.
Powder
- 2g powder + 30 ml water = 32g of aquafaba, equivalent to the same mass of liquid aquafaba. 2g of powder replaces 1 egg white.
- For one batch of mayo: 4g powder + 60 ml water. Use a fine scale.
- Make it up with cold water, or chill it to 4 to 6 °C before blending.
When the emulsion goes wrong
| What you see | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The emulsion never starts | Oil added too fast, or too little shear | Thin, steady stream with the blender at full speed |
| Slow, unstable emulsion | Aquafaba too warm | Use it at 4 to 6 °C |
| Too thick to work | The emulsion tightened | Blend in a few grams of cold water, not more oil |
| Unstable on large batches | Droplet size not controlled | Move to a high-shear blender |
| Thin result from frozen stock | Thawed aquafaba came back thinner | Stir until even. If still thin, reduce briefly over low heat |
| Shelf life shorter than 7 days | Hygiene or a slow trip to the fridge | Clean container, refrigerate immediately |
Where to buy VERY AQUAFABA
Professional enquiries: Discuss your production needs
General enquiries: Get in touch
