The Follow Your Heart Original Vegenaise meets
the Hellmann's Vegan Dressing and Spread
The original plant-based mayo, still unbeaten after five decades. We tested it head-to-head against the Hellmann's Vegan Dressing and Spread ($6.98) across 6 key dimensions.
Follow Your Heart Original Vegenaise
“The original plant-based mayo, still unbeaten after five decades”
Hellmann's Vegan Dressing and Spread
“The big brand nails plant-based mayo at the lowest price per ounce”
Head-to-Head Breakdown
Strengths & Weaknesses
Follow Your Heart Original Vegenaise
- Perfect 10/10 from Sporked and #1 at Tasting Table, the strongest consensus across our sources for any product in this category
- Short, readable ingredient list with 8 whole-food ingredients, no modified starches or preservatives
- Citrusy, garlicky flavor profile that stands out from generic vegan mayo competitors while still working as a universal substitute
- Contains soy protein, ruling it out for soy-allergic buyers; Follow Your Heart makes a soy-free version but it scored lower across sources
- Make It Dairy Free's blind test was lukewarm, noting 'too much mustard' and a thicker-than-expected consistency
- Requires constant refrigeration even when factory-sealed, so you can't keep a backup in the pantry
Hellmann's Vegan Dressing and Spread
- Best Classic at Vegan in the Freezer (4.8/5) and #1 at Everything Vegan, with the closest taste match to traditional egg-based mayo
- Cheapest vegan mayo we evaluated at ~$0.29/oz, making weekly purchases painless compared to $0.50+/oz specialty brands
- Available at every major grocery chain in the US; you'll never have trouble finding it
- Ingredient panel includes modified food starch, EDTA, sorbic acid, and bioengineered ingredients; the longest and least readable label in our lineup
- Make It Dairy Free's blind test found 'texture is good but doesn't taste like mayo, no tang,' a surprising miss for a brand known for tang
- Plays it safe on flavor; Tasting Table ranked it behind Vegenaise and NotMayo because it's 'far too standard' to compete with more interesting products
The Verdict
Our Bottom Line
Follow Your Heart invented plant-based mayo in the 1970s, and five decades later their Original Vegenaise still beats everything else on the shelf. Sporked gave it a perfect 10/10, calling it 'creamy, rich, and nearly indistinguishable from egg-based mayo.' Tasting Table ranked it #1 of 9 brands in their worst-to-best ranking, with reviewer Hunter Wren Miele describing spreading it on bread as 'a sacred experience.'
Follow Your Heart Original Vegenaise
Follow Your Heart invented plant-based mayo in the 1970s, and five decades later their Original Vegenaise still beats everything else on the shelf. Sporked gave it a perfect 10/10, calling it 'creamy, rich, and nearly indistinguishable from egg-based mayo.' Tasting Table ranked it #1 of 9 brands in their worst-to-best ranking, with reviewer Hunter Wren Miele describing spreading it on bread as 'a sacred experience.'
- You want the most authentic mayo flavor from a plant-based product, with citrus and garlic notes that separate it from generic alternatives
- You care about short, readable ingredient lists without modified starches or preservatives
- You regularly use mayo in recipes (dressings, dips, baking) and need something that emulsifies well when thinned
- You shop at natural grocery chains like Whole Foods, Sprouts, or well-stocked Kroger locations
- You've tried vegan mayo before and were disappointed by bland or overly processed options
Hellmann's Vegan Dressing and Spread
Hellmann's has been making mayo for over 100 years, and their plant-based version proves the formula translates. Vegan in the Freezer named it Best Classic with a 4.8/5 score, praising its 'perfectly uniform texture with plenty of body.' Everything Vegan ranked it #1 of 6 brands. Tasting Table placed it #3, noting it 'tastes just like the real deal' with a 'creamy, mouth-coating' quality.
- You want a dead-simple swap for regular mayo with the closest possible taste match
- Budget matters and you go through mayo regularly at ~$0.29 per ounce
- You shop at mainstream groceries (Walmart, Target, Kroger) and need guaranteed availability
- You're new to vegan mayo and want the safest, most familiar starting point
- You use mayo primarily as a background ingredient in sandwiches or recipes where it shouldn't stand out