Vegenaise is slightly lower in calories, fat, and saturated fat than traditional mayonnaise, but the differences are small enough that neither product is dramatically healthier than the other. Per tablespoon, you’re looking at roughly 10 fewer calories and 2 fewer grams of total fat with Vegenaise. The real distinction comes down to cholesterol, eggs, and your specific dietary needs.
Calories and Fat: A Side-by-Side Look
For a one-tablespoon serving, regular mayonnaise contains about 100 calories and 11 grams of total fat, with 1.5 grams of saturated fat. Vegenaise comes in at about 90 calories and 9 grams of total fat, with just 0.5 grams of saturated fat. That saturated fat difference is the most notable gap between the two. Saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol levels, so cutting a full gram per tablespoon adds up if you use mayo regularly in sandwiches, dressings, and dips.
That said, neither product is low-fat. Both are oil-based spreads, and the calorie difference of 10 per tablespoon is negligible in the context of a full day’s eating. If you’re piling on several tablespoons in a chicken salad or coleslaw, the calorie totals will be comparable regardless of which jar you reach for.
Cholesterol: Less of a Factor Than You’d Think
Because Vegenaise contains no eggs, it has zero dietary cholesterol. Traditional mayo, made with egg yolks, contains 5 to 15 milligrams per tablespoon. That sounds like a win for Vegenaise, but it’s worth putting in context: the daily cholesterol you’d get from even generous mayo use is quite small. A single whole egg has about 186 milligrams. A tablespoon of mayo contributes a fraction of that.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition watchdog group, has noted that if you’re not vegan, “there’s no need to go eggless for your health’s sake.” The cholesterol in regular mayo is low enough that it’s unlikely to meaningfully affect your blood lipid levels on its own.
What’s Actually in Each Product
Traditional mayonnaise is, by FDA definition, an emulsion of vegetable oil, an acidifying ingredient like vinegar or lemon juice, and egg yolk. The oil must make up at least 65% of the product by weight. Most commercial brands use soybean oil as their base.
Vegenaise replaces the egg with plant-based emulsifiers. The original version uses expeller-pressed canola and safflower oils, filtered water, brown rice syrup, apple cider vinegar, soy protein, sea salt, mustard flour, and lemon juice concentrate. “Expeller-pressed” means the oil was mechanically extracted rather than processed with chemical solvents, which some people prefer. The brown rice syrup serves as a mild sweetener to balance the acidity.
For those avoiding soy, Follow Your Heart makes a soy-free version that swaps soy protein for pea protein and uses high-oleic safflower oil. High-oleic oils are bred to contain more monounsaturated fat (the type found in olive oil and avocados), which gives that version a slight edge in fat quality.
The Oil Question Matters More Than You’d Expect
Both Vegenaise and conventional mayo are predominantly oil, so the type of oil used has an outsized impact on the nutritional profile. Most standard mayonnaise brands rely on soybean oil, which is high in omega-6 fatty acids. Western diets already skew heavily toward omega-6 and are low in omega-3, and an imbalanced ratio between the two is linked to increased inflammation over time.
Vegenaise’s use of canola and safflower oil doesn’t entirely solve this problem. Safflower oil is also high in omega-6. Canola oil, however, has a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio than soybean oil and contains a moderate amount of omega-3 fatty acids. So the oil blend in original Vegenaise is a slight improvement, though not a dramatic one. If oil quality is your priority, the grapeseed oil or high-oleic safflower versions of Vegenaise offer a somewhat better fatty acid profile.
Who Benefits Most From Switching
For vegans, the choice is obvious: Vegenaise is one of the few egg-free options that closely mimics the taste and texture of real mayo. For people with egg allergies, it removes a common allergen entirely.
If you’re managing high cholesterol or heart disease risk, Vegenaise’s lower saturated fat is a genuine, if modest, advantage. Over weeks and months of regular use, small reductions in saturated fat intake do contribute to better cholesterol numbers. The zero-cholesterol aspect is less impactful, since dietary cholesterol from mayo is already minimal.
For people without specific dietary restrictions or health concerns, the nutritional gap between the two is honestly not large enough to matter much. Your overall eating pattern, how much mayo you use, and what you’re putting it on will have a far bigger impact on your health than which brand sits in your fridge. If you prefer the taste of one over the other, that’s a perfectly reasonable way to decide.
What About Sodium and Sugar
Both products contain sea salt, and their sodium levels per tablespoon are similar, hovering around 80 to 100 milligrams. Vegenaise does contain brown rice syrup, which adds a small amount of sugar that traditional mayo doesn’t have. The amount is minimal (less than a gram per serving), but it’s worth noting if you’re strictly monitoring added sugars.
Traditional mayo, by contrast, sometimes contains calcium disodium EDTA as a preservative, depending on the brand. Vegenaise’s ingredient list is generally shorter and relies on vinegar and lemon juice as natural preservatives, which appeals to people trying to eat fewer processed ingredients.