To prepare this guide to help you find the healthiest mayonnaise brand, I went to some local stores to check out the mayo selection. I was amazed by the variety of products—there is of course vegan mayonnaise, but there is also Paleo mayonnaise, light mayonnaise, organic mayonnaise, “classic mayonnaise,” and more.
The fact that mainstream brands like Hellmann’s are now offering organic and “healthy” mayonnaiseand versions prepared with higher-quality eggs and oils shows how much consumer demand drives changes in ingredients. Yay!
More good news: there are some good and okay healthy mayonnaise options available, including ones you can buy at most grocery stores. (Spoiler alert: Always buy organic mayo, and skip the “light” versions.)
The bad news? Of all the brands I looked at, only one is really, truly Good Stuff. As I ranked these mayos from most to least to least healthful, I realized that there needed to be extra categories beyond Good, Bad, and Sneaky for this review. So, you’ll see below that we’ve got Best Stuff, Good Stuff, Okay Stuff, Sneaky Stuff, and Bad Stuff to help you pick the healthiest mayonnaise brand.
The Healthiest Mayonnaise Brand
Primal Kitchen Mayo
As you’ll see below, the Best Stuff when it comes to mayonnaise isPrimal Kitchen Mayo. We believe this is the healthiest mayonnaise brand because it uses only avocado oil for fat,contains just six ingredients, and comes in a glass jar.
What even is mayo?
In its traditional form, mayo is a simple condiment. It’s a combination of:
- Oil
- Egg and/or egg yolk
- Acidic ingredients like lemon juice or vinegar
- Other flavoring ingredients (salt, mustard, etc.)
You know I’m a big fan of making things from scratch, so you probably won’t be surprised to hear that the healthiest and most delicious mayo is made in your own kitchen. If you’d like to try making your own mayo—it’s actually really simple!—check out the recipe at the end of this post. But don’t worry, I’ll also give you my thoughts on all the store brands.
The best store-bought mayo products have ingredient lists that are very close to the one above. The worst products have a several more ingredients, including highly processed and sketchy ingredients (see below). Vegan mayo products, because they don’t contain egg, contain other ingredients to make up for it.
What’s wrong with most mayonnaise?
Ask people what’s unhealthy about mayo, and most will tell you it’s because mayo is “high in fat.” It’s true that traditional mayo has a lot of fat in it—oil is the primary ingredient. But there’s more to the story. Most conventional mayo products contain:
- Poor-quality oils: The worst thing about most mayo is not the number of fat grams per serving, but rather the quality of the oils. Canola and soy are the most common oils you’ll find on mayo ingredient labels, because they are cheap and neutral in flavor.
I’m wary of canola oil because non-organic canola is usually genetically modified. Even organic canola oil is the product of a lot of processing, involving chemicals and high temperatures that can compromise the fatty acids. However, canola oil is probably better than safflower and sunflower oils because it does contain some omega-3 oils.
Sunflower and safflower oils are both found in SO many packaged foods. While they each might provide some benefits for the heart, they are high in omega-6 and may contribute to inflammation in the body when consumed in excess.
Soybean oil worries me because unless it’s organic, it is most likely from genetically modified plants, and it is high in omega-6 oils.
Because there is so much controversy concerning vegetable oils, when preparing food at home, I use only olive, coconut, avocado, or toasted sesame oil and sometimes butter or ghee.
- Poor-quality, conventional eggs: Eggs and egg yolks are another key ingredient in mayo. Cheap, non-organic eggs are problematic because conventionally raised chickens are typically exposed to higher levels of agricultural chemicals, environmental toxins, hormones, and antibiotics. Sadly, most chickens are raised in terrible conditions. Although “free range” and “cage free” sound good, those terms don’t necessarily mean that chickens have a better life or their eggs are any healthier than those from more confined animals. Look for pastured organic eggs.
- Preservatives keep mayo from spoiling. That’s a good thing. What’s not good is that a lot of conventional mayo contains concerning preservatives like potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA.
- You will find highly processed starches and added sugar (including high-fructose corn syrup) in a lot of mayo products. This is especially true in light and vegan mayonnaises.
- “Natural” flavorsare often anything but natural. They are sometimes highly processed and can have a lot of concerning additives that are not listed separately. (More on natural flavors.)
Best Vegan Mayonnaise
Primal Vegan Mayo Spread & Dip
The healthiest mayonnaise brands for vegans also comes from Primal Kitchen because the main ingredient here is organic avocado oil. You’ll read more about this brand and other vegan options below.
Healthiest Mayonnaise Brand Ingredients
Fortunately, not all store-bought mayo is Bad Stuff. When you look at the ingredients in good mayo products, you’ll see a relatively short list of familiar, whole-food ingredients.
As I mentioned before, when you’re shopping for mayo, look for organic and non-light versions.
Here are the ingredients I found in healthier versions of store-bought mayo:
- Healthier, organic oils: The best oils I found in good store-bought mayo were avocado oil and olive oil. Other vegetable oils aren’t ideal, but because mayo is a condiment, you’re probably not eating a ton of it. Soybean oil is okay if it’s organic. Keep in mind that the avocado oil in our best mayo is not organic even though every other ingredient is. However, avocados are one of the EWG’s Clean 15 fruits and vegetables with the least amount of pesticides.
- Organic eggs: If you’re eating animal products like eggs, you should look for organic versions to reduce your exposure to agricultural and environmental toxins. The very best eggs are from organic, pasture-raised chickens.
- Preservatives like rosemary oil are much better than the highly processed ones you’ll find in most conventional mayo products.
- Real flavoring ingredients like salt, herbs, and spices are preferable to vague “natural flavors.”
- Glass jars are better than plastic containers because glass won’t leach any substances into your food.
Best Stuff
Primal Kitchen Mayo
This brand checks every box. It contains only avocado oil for fat, has a total of only six ingredients, and comes in a glass jar.
Ingredients: Avocado Oil, Organic Eggs, Organic Egg Yolks, Organic Vinegar, Sea Salt, Organic Rosemary Extract.
Sir Kensington’s Avocado Oil Mayo
This is the only version of Sir Kensington’s that is Best Stuff, but it’s a an excellent choice. They’ve removed all the oils beyond avocado, and you can choose from a glass jar or plastic squeeze bottle–I’m sure you can guess which version we prefer:).
Ingredients: Avocado Oil, Organic Certified Humane Free Range Egg Yolks, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Lime Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Lime Oil.
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Good Stuff
365 Organic Mayo
I like this one because it’s all organic. However, with the canola oil as the first ingredient, we cannot call this Best Stuff.
Ingredients: Organic Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Organic Cage-free Whole Eggs, Filtered Water, Organic Cage-free Egg Yolks, Organic Distilled Vinegar, Sea Salt, Organic Mustard (Organic Distilled Vinegar, Water, Organic Mustard Seed, Sea Salt, Organic Spices), Salt, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Organic Rosemary Extract.
Follow Your Heart Avocado Oil Vegenaise
This brand comes in a number of varieties, some of which are healthier than others. TheOrganic Vegenaise or the Avocado Oil Vegenaise are the the best choices from this brand. Theoriginalis made with canola oil, and thelow-fat versionuses safflower oil. Thegrapeseed oilversion contains soybean oil in addition to grapeseed oil. Follow Your Heart does have a soy-freeversion using safflower oil, but nothing is organic in this one.
Organic Vegenaise ingredients: Organic Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.
Avocado Oil Vegenaise ingredients: Expeller-pressed Avocado Oil, Expeller-pressed High-oleic Safflower Oil, Filtered Water, Brown Rice Syrup, Apple Cider Vinegar, Pea Protein, Sea Salt, Mustard Flour, Lemon Juice Concentrate.
Hellman’s Organic Mayonnaise
Surprisingly, this is not a terrible option! “Natural flavor” isn’t ideal, and you can read more about that here. Soybean oil, even organic, is also of course not our favorite, but we do think it’s better than sunflower or safflower oil.
Ingredients: Organic Soybean Oil, Water, Organic Whole Eggs, Organic Distilled Vinegar, Organic Egg Yolks, Salt, Organic Dried Cane Syrup, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Natural Flavor.
Primal Vegan Mayo Spread & Dip
Since vegan mayo does not contain eggs, an alternative ingredient must be added. In this case it is a potato protein blend. We are not familiar with potato protein, but according to this article, it is an allergy-free protein. Primal Kitchen’s vegan mayo also contains two gum ingredients for thickening purposes. Because mayo is consumed in small amounts and these are plant-sourced, we aren’t too worried.
Ingredients: Avocado Oil, Water, Organic Vinegar, Salt, Potato Protein, Tamarind Gum, Konjac Gum, Citrus Fiber, Rosemary Extract, Mustard Oil
Trader Joe’s Vegan Mayo Spread and Dressing
Trader Joe’s recently swapped out the canola oil for avocado oil and got rid of the sugar in their vegan mayo. This blend does still have some gums and fillers and “natural flavors,” but is still what we consider Good Stuff.
Ingredients: Avocado oil, water, chickpea broth (water, chickpeas), white vinegar, sea salt, natural flavors, mustard flour, lemon juice concentrate, gum arabic, xanthan gum, garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, oleoresin, and black pepper.
Okay Stuff
Chosen Foods Classic Organic
I like that this is organic, but they are using cheap safflower oil as the main ingredient.
Ingredients:Organic Blend Oil (Organic High Oleic Safflower Oil, Organic Avocado Oil, Organic Coconut Oil), Filtered Water, Organic Egg Yolks, Organic Whole Eggs, Organic Distilled White Vinegar, Organic Mustard (Distilled Organic Vinegar, Water, Organic Mustard Seed, Salt, Organic Spices), Salt, Organic Rosemary Extract.
Sir Kensington’s Organic Mayonnaise
Sunflower oil is the first ingredient in this version of Kensington’s. Plus, this mayo has sugar in it, which is not necessary. (See Best Stuff, above, for a version that’s of Sir Kensington’s that we love!)
Ingredients: Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Certified Humane Free Range Egg Yolks, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Fair Trade Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Lemon Juice, Citric Acid, Lemon Oil
Tessemea’s Organic Classic
I appreciate that this brand has a fairly simple list of all organic ingredients. However, with sunflower oil as the first ingredient, this one cannot be called Good Stuff.
Ingredients: Organic High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Organic Egg Yolks, Water, Whole Eggs, Organic Distilled Vinegar, Organic White Mustard, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Organic Rosemary Extract.
Trader Joe’s Organic Mayonnainse
Soybean oil has some heart healthy benefits but it is high in omega-6 fats. I like that every ingredient is organic in this mayonnaise.
Ingredients: Organic Expeller Pressed Soybean Oil, Water, Organic Egg Yolks, Organic Distilled Vinegar, Salt, Organic Mustard, Organic Spices and Organic Lemon Juice
(You’ll notice that I’ve linked a bunchof products toThrive Market. Thrive isa Costco-meets-Whole-Foods-meets-Amazon model, with hard-to-find healthful foods delivered at steeply discounted prices. I encourage you all to give it a try!)
Bad Stuff
Most of the conventional mayo products out there have sketchy ingredients. Here’s just a sampling:
Some people preferDuke’s Real Mayonnaiseto Hellmann’s. It has similar ingredients, but they don’t offer an organic version. Duke’s contains calcium disodium EDTA as a preservative, as well as “natural flavor.”
Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaisehas mostly straightforward ingredients, but it does contain calcium disodium EDTA and “natural flavors.” Not surprisingly, none of the ingredients is organic. They boast that their eggs are “100% certified cage-free eggs,” but that means nothing from the health perspective, and little to nothing for the well-being of the chickens.
Kraft Miracle Whipis what I grew up with. It contains modified food starch, high fructose corn syrup, and potassium sorbate. Yuck!
Sneaky Stuff
Hellmann’s Vegan Carefully Crafted Dressingis certified vegan and non-GMO, but nothing is organic, and they add some Bad Stuff ingredients like modified food starch, modified potato starch, and calcium disodium EDTA. Also, I’m a little doubtful that the soybean oil is truly non-GMO, since almost all non-organic soy is genetically modified.
Spectrum Organic Mayonnaise with Olive Oilis Sneaky because soybean oil and canola oil are the primary oils. Olive oil is the fourth ingredient, so this is definitely not an olive oil-based mayo! Aside from that, it’s an okay choice, but not exactly a healthy mayonnaise.
Healthy Mayonnaise Recipe
I made up my own recipe from looking at two different cookbooks in my kitchen:
- The Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther
- Mediterranean Paleo Cooking by Caitlin Weeks, Nail Boumrar, Diane Sanfilippo
Ingredients:
- 4 egg yolks, room temperature (get the highest quality eggs you can find—I like pastured, organic eggs)
- 1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice or 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups organic extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
- Put the lemon juice, egg yolks, and salt in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients for about 10 seconds.
- With the food processor running, very slowly add the olive oil in a thin, continuous stream.
- When the mixture thickens, stop adding oil. You may have some oil left over. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a few teaspoons of water until it reaches the desired consistency.
You can keep this mayonnaise in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
To your health,
Suzanne, Certified Holistic Health Coach
