What Is Follow Your Heart Vegenaise?
Vegenaise is the egg-free mayonnaise made by Follow Your Heart, a plant-based food company that's been around since long before "vegan" was a marketing category. Follow Your Heart started in 1970 as a small vegetarian sandwich counter in Canoga Park, California, and co-founder Bob Goldberg developed Vegenaise in 1977 — meaning this product predates the Beyond Meats and Oatlys of the world by roughly four decades. The name is a mashup of "vegetarian" and "mayonnaise," and it's since become one of the most widely stocked vegan condiments in US grocery stores, moved by the tens of millions of gallons annually. Danone acquired Follow Your Heart in 2021, but the Vegenaise recipe and branding have stayed largely unchanged.
We're looking at the flagship Original Vegenaise here, plus how it compares to the newer wave of vegan mayo competitors that have shown up in the last decade.
Ingredients
Vegenaise keeps its ingredient list short, which is part of its appeal to people comparing it against ultra-processed condiments. A representative ingredient list for Original Vegenaise reads: expeller-pressed oil (Follow Your Heart offers versions using canola, safflower, or grapeseed oil depending on the SKU), filtered water, brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar, pea protein, sea salt, mustard flour, and lemon juice concentrate.
Two things stand out. First, there's no soy protein isolate in the base recipe the way there is in a lot of plant-based products — Follow Your Heart even sells a dedicated Soy-Free Vegenaise line for people avoiding soy specifically. Second, the emulsifying job that egg yolk does in traditional mayo is handled here by pea protein rather than the aquafaba (chickpea brine) some newer vegan mayo brands use, which affects texture more than most people would expect.
The Vegenaise Product Lineup
Original isn't the only version on shelves. Follow Your Heart sells several Vegenaise variants, and it's worth knowing the differences before you grab one at random:
- Original Vegenaise: The flagship canola-oil-based recipe described above.
- Soy-Free Vegenaise: Same general profile, formulated without soy protein for people avoiding that allergen specifically.
- Grapeseed Oil Vegenaise: A lighter-tasting version using grapeseed oil instead of canola or safflower.
- Reduced Fat Vegenaise: A lower-fat reformulation aimed at people watching calorie or fat intake without giving up the format entirely.
- Flavored varieties: Follow Your Heart also periodically offers flavored spins (chipotle, roasted garlic, and similar limited or regional releases) that swap in additional seasonings on top of the base recipe.
All of the core varieties are formulated to be vegan, but flavored and limited releases are exactly where it pays to double-check the label — a "chipotle" version, for instance, could theoretically introduce an ingredient the plain original doesn't have, even if none currently do.
Is Vegenaise Vegan?
Yes. Vegenaise is vegan across its core lineup — no eggs, no dairy, no honey, and no other animal-derived ingredients in the standard Original, Soy-Free, Grapeseed Oil, or Reduced Fat versions. It's also Non-GMO Project Verified and Kosher Parve certified, and most versions are labeled gluten-free. As always, if you're checking a specific flavor or limited variety, it's worth running the label through the spvegan.com ingredient checker before buying, since brand line extensions occasionally introduce new ingredients that the flagship product doesn't have.
Nutrition: Vegenaise vs. Other Vegan Mayo Brands
| Product | Serving Size | Calories | Total Fat | Sat. Fat | Sodium | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow Your Heart Vegenaise (Original) | 1 tbsp (14g) | 90 | 9g | 0.5g | 70mg | 0g |
| Hellmann's Vegan Mayo | 1 tbsp (14g) | 70 | 8g | 0.5g | 100mg | 0.5g |
| Sir Kensington's Fabanaise | 1 tbsp (14g) | 90 | 10g | 1g | 80mg | 0g |
The three are close enough that nutrition shouldn't be the deciding factor for most shoppers. Vegenaise sits in the middle on fat, comes in lowest on sodium of the three, and — like all oil-based mayo alternatives — carries essentially zero protein or fiber per serving, since it's fundamentally an emulsified oil product rather than a whole-food source of nutrition.
Taste and Texture
Vegenaise's texture is noticeably thicker and tangier than traditional egg-based mayo, with a more pronounced apple-cider-vinegar bite than most people expect on first taste. That tang is polarizing: longtime fans consider it the whole point (it holds up better in dressings and dips where a milder mayo would get lost), while people switching over from Hellmann's or Duke's sometimes find it too sharp straight out of the jar on a sandwich. The pea-protein emulsion also gives it a slightly denser, less "whipped" mouthfeel than aquafaba-based competitors like Fabanaise, which tend to feel closer to conventional mayo texture-wise.
It performs well in cooked and blended applications — potato salad, coleslaw dressing, remoulade, ranch-style dips — where the tang gets balanced out by other ingredients. As a straight sandwich spread, it's good but distinctly its own thing rather than an invisible egg-mayo replica.
Where to Buy Vegenaise and What It Costs
Vegenaise is broadly distributed for a vegan specialty product — it's stocked at most mainstream grocery chains (Kroger, Whole Foods, Publix, Target) as well as natural food stores and online retailers, not just niche vegan shops. Pricing runs somewhat higher than conventional mayo, generally in the mid-to-upper range for specialty condiments; expect to pay more per ounce than a bargain mayo brand and roughly comparable to other name-brand vegan mayo competitors. A 16 oz jar is the most common size, with smaller and bulk options available depending on the retailer.
How It Compares
| Brand | Emulsifier | Soy-Free Option? | Flavor Profile | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegenaise (Follow Your Heart) | Pea protein | Yes | Tangy, pronounced vinegar note | Dressings, dips, cooked applications |
| Hellmann's Vegan Mayo | Modified food starch | No (soy-based) | Closest to traditional Hellmann's | Sandwich spread, drop-in mayo swap |
| Sir Kensington's Fabanaise | Aquafaba (chickpea brine) | Yes | Milder, closer to classic mayo | People sensitive to tang |
Who Should Buy Vegenaise?
Vegenaise makes the most sense for people who already cook a lot from scratch — it shines in dressings, slaws, sauces, and dips more than it does as a straight 1:1 sandwich replacement for people used to a milder mayo. It's also a solid pick for anyone avoiding soy specifically, since the Soy-Free version is one of the few widely available vegan mayos that doesn't rely on soy protein. If you're newly transitioning off traditional mayo and want something that tastes as close as possible to what you're used to, Hellmann's Vegan or Fabanaise might be an easier first step before working up to Vegenaise's stronger tang.
Final Verdict
Vegenaise earns its status as the vegan mayo other brands get compared to — it's been doing this since 1977, the ingredient list is clean, the sodium is reasonable, and the soy-free option covers a real gap in the category. The tangy flavor is the one thing that keeps it from being a universal recommendation; it's a genuinely better product for cooking and dressings than it is a seamless sandwich swap for someone who just wants their BLT to taste the same as always.
Rating: 8/10. A legitimately excellent, well-established product that loses a point for its polarizing tang and another half-point it can't quite make up for niche use cases where a milder, more traditional-tasting mayo wins out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vegenaise vegan?
Yes. Vegenaise contains no eggs, dairy, honey, or other animal-derived ingredients across its core lineup, including the Original, Soy-Free, Grapeseed Oil, and Reduced Fat versions.
What is Vegenaise made of?
The base recipe is expeller-pressed oil, filtered water, brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar, pea protein, sea salt, mustard flour, and lemon juice concentrate. Pea protein replaces the egg yolk that traditional mayo uses as an emulsifier.
Is Vegenaise soy-free?
The standard Original Vegenaise formula doesn't rely on soy protein isolate, and Follow Your Heart also sells a dedicated Soy-Free Vegenaise line for shoppers who want to be certain. Always check the specific product label, since ingredient sourcing can vary by SKU.
Is Vegenaise gluten-free?
Most Vegenaise varieties are labeled gluten-free, but check the specific product you're buying, since formulations and certifications can differ across flavors and package sizes.
Does Vegenaise taste like real mayo?
It's close but not identical — Vegenaise has a noticeably tangier, more vinegar-forward flavor than traditional egg-based mayo. Some people prefer it for that reason; others find it too sharp as a plain sandwich spread and prefer it more in dressings and dips where the tang gets balanced out.
Who owns Follow Your Heart now?
Danone, the multinational food company, acquired Follow Your Heart in February 2021. The Vegenaise recipe and branding have continued largely unchanged since the acquisition.
Is Vegenaise healthier than regular mayo?
Nutritionally, Vegenaise is similar to regular mayo in calories and fat, since both are primarily oil-based. The main differences are that Vegenaise contains no cholesterol (since there's no egg) and uses plant-based fats rather than a mix that may include less desirable oils, but it's still a calorie-dense, high-fat condiment either way.
How does Vegenaise compare to Hellmann's Vegan Mayo?
Vegenaise has a stronger, tangier flavor and slightly less sodium per serving, while Hellmann's Vegan Mayo tastes closer to traditional egg-based mayo and may be an easier switch for people new to vegan condiments. Both are fully vegan and widely available at mainstream grocery stores.
