I've never made my own but please report back if you try it!

Vegenaise is actually really good if you want something already made. It's usually with the tofu in the refrigerated section of health food stores.

I am concerned about cholesterol as well, but I draw a line at mayonnaise. The recipe on the vegan site is still primarily oil, and you will help your cholesterol more by making mayonnaise with olive oil, which is what I am currently doing. You only need one egg for one cup of oil, and that will make many, many servings. Using the wrong oil could be worse for your cholesterol than consuming a tiny amount of egg.

I buy hard tofu, and so I'm not familiar with soft tofu, although I do not see why you could not use it. BTW, I also hate the reduced fat mayos that use sweeteners instead of fat. I do not want mayo to be sweet at all; otherwise I would buy Miracle Whip.

If you make mayonnaise with olive oil, do not use extra virgin, as it will have too strong of a flavor. I think there are some other oils you can mix with it if you do not like the flavor of olive oil, but I have gotten used to its flavor and am fine with using all olive oil.

Lars

Picture one hard boiled egg yolk....about the size of a large marble....smaller than a golf ball. Now think of what 1/16 of that egg yolk would look like....not much is is? contains about 14 MG of cholesterol...roughly the same amount as 1 oz of water packed tuna.....but the difference in taste is huge.

Olive oil is good for you and the guide lines for egg consumption have changed to say that one egg a day is fine....go for the real thing!
Linda C

Soft and silken tofu aren't quite the same thing. I think that the texture (and the curdling agent) is the difference rather than the nutrition or flavor. Silken is sort of custardy and the one I usually see in recipes like smoothies where it's going to be ground up. If you can't find Silken I would try the other though. My only concern is whether you would get the creamy consistency that you are looking for in this recipe.

I'm with the real mayo people. I tend not to like recipes where something is pretending to be something else. I blame way to many instances where carob was faking chocolate as a child - blech...

Tofu mayo will be much lower in fat and calories than real mayo. I often use tofu in dips and spreads to lower the fat. I just made a great quiche with it this week. The soft, silken tofu that I find in the store is made by MoriNu. Silken tofu comes in soft, firm and extra firm. It comes in 10 oz. aeseptic containers.
You can often find Nayonaise in the health food section of the grocery store. More and more stores seem to be carrying it as more folks are trying various dietary modifications.
That said, I only really like real mayo, and not the "healthy" types of mayo they are putting out these days. BF just got some this week--he can eat it!

Wow! This is interesting reading!

I think Lars makes a good point. If you're going to emulsify 1-1/2 cups oil into the tofu, then the end product will not be really much lower in calories or fat content than traditional mayonnaise. The lack of an egg will lower its cholesterol but LindaC's point is true too. One egg alone, spread out across several servings is not a deal breaker either.

I'm sure the real point of this recipe is for it to be vegan rather than lower in calories or fat content. Because of the oil, it might come out tasting better and having a better texture than regular tofu mayo recipes.

Eggs have good cholesterol, not bad and has been said, you will end up eating such a tiny quantity. I agree - the oil is important.

I wouldn't eat this recipe if you are worried about cholesterol. I'd make something with maybe some EV olive oil or coconut oil. You need to read up on what is really healthy and what the corporations that manufacture the stuff want you to think is healthy. There's a big difference. Dr. Mercola's website will have you shaking in your boots...HAHA!

Vegan means without anything from the animal at all, this doesn't not mean it's healthier than a omnivorous diet, which is btw what humans are.

I guess I didn't see the 1.5 cups oil in that recipe. In that case, I see very little difference in tofu mayo compared to regular mayo, particularly if that mayo is made with the "good fats" like canola or olive oil. You can buy both of those types of mayo. I agree, the cholesterol in the egg is minor, so this is probably not the place to skimp unless you have some other reason for wanting to not eat eggs. Or if you're not a huge fan of mayo in the first place, might as well eat Nayonaise, even though mayo doesn't have that much egg in it, you can then save the egg for something you'd appreciate it in more.

I am so lucky, I actually really enjoy eating all the healthy foods, it is no sacrafice for me. BF is struggling now with arthritis, and we were looking at the anti-inflammatory diets today online, and we eat all those good for you foods because we like them--oily fishes, whole grains, greens, vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts . . . Luckily I really don't like the fatty meats like beef and pork sausage and the processed meats like corned beef. The hardest thing for me to give up is cheese and other dairy products! I ate a whole carton of Cherry Garcia last week, I think I finally flipped after years of deprivation. What can I say, it was on sale! (That's BF's favorite excuse!) Anyway, nothing wrong with tofu mayo if you like to try it, it doesn't taste that bad. I mostly use tofu as a fat/egg "substitute" in quiche, spinach dips, puddings, etc. That's where it subs for a lot of the fatty ingredients. Also great in smoothies if you have milk issues.

Just remember the Vegan and Low Fat/Cholesterol are two different things. Below is a link to the Mayo Clinic. You will find all sorts of recipes for healthy foods.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/low-fat-recipes/RE00100

Here is a link that might be useful: mayo clinic healthy recipes etc

If you are a vegan, you may or may not eat "healthy" but there is little chance you are going to have a high intake of cholesterol, since plants are very low in cholesterol, if they have any at all. The highest oils for cholesterol are cottonseed and corn oils, two common oils found in pre-packaged and junk foods. Canola oil is also on the high end too. But even on the high end, it is only about 20% of what a common animal product might have. For example, butter has 2.5 g/kg cholesterol and canola oil, one of the highest, has ~.5 g/kg. Olive oil has .05g/kg. And these oils are some of the highest plant sources of cholesterol. So by its very nature, a vegan diet is low in cholesterol. It is possible to eat a low cholesterol containing diet and NOT be a vegan, so you don't have to adopt a vegan diet to eat low cholesterol, but you will have to limit your intake of animal fats and increase your intake of plant products and fiber. One way to lower your cholesterol intake is to eat vegan meals. So maybe not become a total vegan, but eat vegan some of the time, which is what I think a lot of folks are doing these days. I know BF and I eat vegan about 50% of the time. We still eat animal products but limit them.

I guess also there is one school of thought that says that plant sterols compete with cholesterol binding sites in the body (not sure where these all are) and therefore will help lower cholesterol levels. Not sure where the research is on that one at this time, I've only scanned it. I've never had to worry about cholesterol, luckily! And I try to avoid high calorie foods, which are usually high in saturated fats, so I just naturally eat low cholesterol.

So anyhow, as others have said on here, it matters more from a cholesterol standpoint, what kind of oil you use for your mayo, than the tiny bit of egg in it.

I found a great site for info on plant cholesterol, BTW. Linked below. I'll be taking BioChem this fall for graduate school. I can't wait (NOT!!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Cholesterol and Plants (from Bowling Green Univ. Dept. of Biochemistry)

My only comment is that Kenji's recipes are generally the best. I am a great fan of his (and Serious Eats) and his vegan experience blog was an eye-opener for me.

He worked for America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated before and I've often linked to his prime rib method here, and many people use that now. I trust Kenji's recipes more than I trust most.

Now back to the other discussions, I just wanted to put in a good word for the author of the recipe.

Hey Sushipup thanks for clueing me in on that blog. You're right, it was fascinating! And also a lot of those recipes sound delicious!

Great post Bbstx! I think a lot of folks might be interested in trying some vegan mayo. I know some folks in this world are actually allergic to eggs or don't like them. I have never been a huge fan myself, but I don't dislike them either. I routinely skip the egg yolk in baked goods to lower the fat, instead use two egg whites, although that seems kind of wasteful. I suppose if I was going all paleo I wouldn't eat baked goods at all, but I love them too much to cut them out entirely! I see nothing wrong with compromises to fit what works for each individual, which is one of the points Kenji made in his blog.

You need to find someone who uses egg tempera - a very old painting method. My mom is a painter and waste lots of egg whites. We talk about using the whites up but don't. She separates in her studio where there are lots of pigments beautiful and very toxic.

Don't discount the ill effects on your cholesterol by non animal foods such as sugar, white flour and hydrogenated oils. These are much more toxic to your body than any egg is!

For sandwiches I will sometimes sub out hummus or avocado for mayonnaise. That reeeaaalllyyyy wouldn't work for something like chicken salad....

I LOVE THE COOKING FORUM !!

Y'all have convinced me that I won't save all that much cholesterol, and little if any fat if I make vegan mayonnise.

See new post to give me ideas of what to do with 14 oz of soft tofu!

You can also make aioli without egg. It's often made that way in Provence.
With a pestle and mortar crush 6 to 8 garlic cloves to a fine puree then add oil drip by drip. Season. Sometimes, a little mashed potato can be added. Give it a try!