What Is Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo?
Hellmann's is the mayo brand most Americans grew up with, so when the Unilever-owned giant put out an egg-free version, it landed differently than a niche vegan condiment brand launching a new product. This isn't a small startup trying to convince skeptical shoppers that mayo can exist without eggs — it's the market leader saying the same thing, at grocery store scale, sitting on the shelf right next to the original.
The product is currently sold in the U.S. as "Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo Spread & Dressing," a name that's done some shuffling over the past few years. It launched as "Hellmann's Vegan," and in some markets (notably the UK) Unilever later rebranded it to "plant-based" language after internal research reportedly found that the word "vegan" made flexitarian shoppers — people who eat mostly plant-based but aren't strict vegans — feel like the product wasn't for them. In the UK, that rebrand also came with a recipe tweak: less rapeseed oil, with sunflower oil and xanthan gum added. The U.S. version hasn't advertised the same overhaul, and it's still labeled Certified Vegan and Certified Plant Based directly on Hellmann's own site — so functionally, nothing about the eggs-are-gone promise has changed here, even if the marketing language has gotten softer.
It's sold in a 30 oz jar, roughly the same size as a standard jar of regular Hellmann's, and it's positioned to sit in the same fridge door: sandwiches, salads, dips, veggie burgers, the works.
Ingredients
Here's the full ingredient list as printed on the U.S. jar:
Canola oil, water, modified food starch (potato, corn), distilled vinegar, less than 2% of: sugar, salt, lemon juice concentrate, sorbic acid and calcium disodium EDTA (used to protect quality), natural flavor, paprika extract (for color).
A few things stand out next to a traditional mayo ingredient list. There's no egg yolk, obviously — that's the entire point. In its place, Hellmann's uses modified food starch (potato and corn) as the emulsifier and thickener, rather than the pea protein, aquafaba, or soy protein that most vegan mayo competitors lean on. That's a genuinely different approach in the vegan mayo category, and it shows up in the texture and nutrition numbers below.
The rest is standard mayo scaffolding: vinegar and lemon juice for tang, sugar and salt for balance, sorbic acid and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives, and paprika extract purely for that pale-yellow color regular mayo gets from egg yolks. "Natural flavor" is doing some unspecified work here — Hellmann's doesn't break down what's in it, and starch-based sauces of this type generally lean on it to round out a "creamy, eggy" taste without eggs. If you're checking for hidden animal-derived flavorings, "natural flavor" is always the line worth a second look, and running it through the spvegan.com ingredient checker is a reasonable habit any time a packaged sauce lists it without elaboration.
Is Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo Vegan?
Yes. Every ingredient on the label is plant-derived or synthetic, there's no egg, dairy, honey, or animal-derived processing aid disclosed, and Hellmann's own product page carries both a Certified Vegan mark and a Certified Plant Based certification. This is one of the more straightforward "is it vegan" calls we've made — there's no cross-contamination asterisk, no shared-equipment caveat, and no ambiguous additive like an unspecified "natural flavor" sourced from animal byproducts as far as any published documentation shows.
The one thing worth flagging isn't a vegan-status problem, it's a marketing-honesty one: the front-of-jar language has moved away from the word "vegan" toward softer "plant-based" branding, which is a deliberate positioning choice, not a formula change in the U.S. product. If you're vegan for ethical reasons and care about brands that lead with that identity rather than downplay it, that's a legitimate reason to prefer a company like Follow Your Heart or Sir Kensington's, which keep "vegan" front and center. But on the narrow question of whether this jar is safe for a vegan diet, the answer is a clean yes.
Nutrition Facts Compared to Other Vegan Mayo Brands
All values are per 1 tablespoon (14g) serving, as listed on each brand's official nutrition label.
| Brand | Calories | Total Fat | Saturated Fat | Sodium | Carbs | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo | 70 | 8g | 0.5g | 100mg | 0.5g | 0g |
| Follow Your Heart Vegenaise (Original) | 80 | 9g | 0.5g | 70mg | 0g | 0g |
| Just Mayo (Hampton Creek/Eat Just) | 90 | 10g | 1g | 75mg | 0g | 0g |
| Sir Kensington's Fabanaise | 90 | 10g | 1g | 95mg | 0g | 0g |
The starch-based formula actually earns Hellmann's the lowest calorie and fat count of the four by a real margin — 10 to 20 fewer calories per tablespoon than Vegenaise, Just Mayo, or Fabanaise. That's the direct tradeoff of using modified food starch and water to bulk out the recipe instead of relying on oil and plant protein alone to build the emulsion. The flip side shows up in the sodium column: at 100mg per tablespoon, it's the saltiest of the group, and it's the only one of the four that isn't a flat 0g carbs, thanks to that starch base. None of these differences are dramatic on their own — this is still an oil-based condiment eaten a tablespoon at a time — but if you're mayo-ing your sandwiches liberally and watching sodium specifically, it's worth knowing Hellmann's isn't the lightest option there even though it's the lightest on calories.
Taste and Texture
This is where being the incumbent actually pays off. Hellmann's spent decades calibrating what "mayo" is supposed to taste like to the average American palate, and the plant-based version is clearly built to replicate that reference point as closely as possible rather than to taste distinctly "vegan" in the way some earlier-generation substitutes did.
The texture is smoother and slightly looser than Vegenaise, which tends to run thicker and holds stiff peaks better if you're using it as a binder in something like a vegan deviled egg filling or a chunky salad dressing. Hellmann's spreads more easily straight from the jar, which makes it pleasant on a sandwich but slightly less structurally useful in recipes that need mayo to hold shape. The flavor profile leans tangier and less rich than Just Mayo, which uses pea protein and tends to taste a touch more "eggy" and dense by comparison. Fabanaise, built on aquafaba (chickpea brine), sits somewhere in between — noticeably tangier than Hellmann's, with a slightly more pronounced legume aftertaste that some tasters pick up on and others don't notice at all.
If your baseline expectation is "the regular Hellmann's I grew up with," this is the closest a vegan mayo gets to nailing that specific memory. If you've never had traditional mayo or don't care about matching it, some of the more distinctly plant-forward options might edge it out on richness.
How It Compares to Other Vegan Mayo Options
| Brand | Emulsifier Base | Vegan Certified | Texture | Where to Find It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo | Modified food starch (potato, corn) | Yes | Smooth, spreadable, looser | Nearly every major grocery chain |
| Follow Your Heart Vegenaise | Soy protein / expeller-pressed oils | Yes | Thick, holds peaks | Most grocery and natural food stores |
| Just Mayo | Pea protein | Yes | Dense, eggy | Grocery and natural food stores |
| Sir Kensington's Fabanaise | Aquafaba (chickpea brine) | Yes | Tangy, slightly looser | Grocery, Whole Foods, natural stores |
Price-wise, Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo is generally priced in line with its regular mayo — typically in the same $6–$8 range for a 30 oz jar depending on retailer and region — which undercuts several of the specialty vegan brands on a per-ounce basis, especially Fabanaise and Just Mayo, which usually sell in smaller jars at a premium. Availability is also Hellmann's clearest edge: because it ships through Unilever's existing distribution, it's stocked at mainstream grocery chains that may not carry any of the smaller vegan-specific brands at all.
Who Should Buy Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo
This one is an easy recommendation for anyone who wants "regular mayo" taste and texture without the egg, especially if you're newly vegan, cooking for a mixed household, or just don't want to make a special trip to a store that carries the smaller brands. It's also the practical pick if price and availability matter more to you than supporting a mission-driven vegan-first company — Hellmann's isn't going anywhere, and neither is your ability to find it.
It's a weaker fit if you specifically want a thicker, peak-holding mayo for recipes like vegan potato salad or deviled "eggs," where Vegenaise's firmer body does more work, or if you're the kind of shopper who wants to put your grocery dollars behind a company built around plant-based food from day one rather than a legacy brand adding a plant-based line.
Final Verdict
Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo does what it sets out to do: it tastes and spreads close enough to the real thing that most people wouldn't clock the swap on a sandwich, it's genuinely and certifiably vegan despite the softer "plant-based" branding, and it's the easiest of the major vegan mayos to actually find. It loses a few points for being the saltiest option in this lineup and for a looser texture that won't satisfy anyone who wants mayo doing structural work in a recipe. Fair, but not the last word for a package.
Rating: 7.8/10
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo the same as Hellmann's Vegan Mayonnaise?
Yes, it's the same underlying product line — Hellmann's shifted the front-of-pack branding from "vegan" to "plant-based" as part of a broader marketing decision, but the U.S. jar's ingredients and vegan certification haven't changed as a result.
Does Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo contain eggs?
No. It uses canola oil and modified food starch instead of egg yolk to build the emulsion, and there's no egg listed anywhere on the ingredient panel.
Is it gluten-free?
Hellmann's markets this product as gluten-free. The modified food starch is sourced from potato and corn rather than wheat, so it doesn't introduce gluten on its own.
Why does Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo have fewer calories than other vegan mayos?
It relies more heavily on water and modified food starch to build volume and texture, rather than a higher ratio of oil to water like some competitors, which brings the calorie and fat count per tablespoon down.
Can I use it as a 1:1 substitute for regular mayo in recipes?
In most cases yes, especially for sandwiches, dressings, and dips. For recipes that rely on mayo to hold a stiff structure, like a thick potato salad binder, a firmer vegan mayo like Vegenaise may perform better.
Is Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo certified vegan by a third party?
Hellmann's own product page lists it as Certified Vegan and Certified Plant Based. As with any packaged product, checking the current jar for the specific certification logo is a good habit since formulations and certifications can change over time.
Does it taste different from regular Hellmann's mayo?
It's noticeably close, which is the point — Hellmann's built it to mimic the flavor profile of its original mayo as closely as possible, and most tasters describe it as slightly tangier and a touch less rich than the egg-based original.
Is Hellmann's Plant Based Mayo more expensive than regular mayo?
Generally it's priced close to Hellmann's standard mayo line, which makes it one of the more affordable vegan mayo options compared to smaller specialty brands.
