Hampton Creek's Just Mayo

Who knew eggless mayo could create such a buzz? Certainly the egg industry has taken offense to this vegan mayo creeping into their territory. The levels their willing to stoop to is really quite shameful. Alas, I am not interested in discussing this controversy here, I'm here to talk about the actual product itself, which people are raving about! But is Just Mayo really all that it's.... cracked... up to be? Continue below to get my own take on it.....





Cost. Now, I've heard some people claim this stuff is to be found cheaper than normal eggy mayo, but I have not found it to be that way. Around my parts, here in my Portland OR suburb area, it seems to be priced comparably to Vegenaise everywhere I've found it so far (Fred Meyer, Whole Foods and New Seasons), around $4-5 for a 16 oz jar. Seeing as how you can find egg mayo at the same price for a 32 oz jar, I am not impressed.

Packaging. It's par for the course when it comes to mayo. Glass jar, plastic lid. Lid was sealed with that shrink wrapped plastic deal that's supposed to be perforated to make it easy to come off but mine wasn't and the whole thing just came off intact when I tried to open the jar anyway and I had to use a knife to cut it off the lid.

Nutrition label

Nutrition. Make no mistake, this is not a healthy food! Sure, it's a better option than egg mayo, with its lack of cholesterol and slightly lower saturated fat level, but it's almost entirely fat! All the significant calories in one serving come from fat!

Hold on hold on, let me back up here a sec. I want to point out that fat, as a macronutrient, is not necessarily bad for you. But fat in a refined form such as oil, instead of packaged in a natural, plant form (ie whole nuts, seeds, avocados, etc), is bad for you. Yes, even olive oil.

So with that in mind, to reiterate, Just Mayo (along with most any other vegan mayo) is a better option than egg mayo, but is in no way, shape or form a health promoting food stuff! Just because something is better doesn't make it good for you.

It tastes creamy with a hint of disappointment. 

 Get in mah belly! I'm sorry, I'm really so sorry. I wanted to love this stuff ever so much, but in all honesty, I was disappointed. It smells like mayo, it has the creamy texture of mayo, but something about the flavor is just off and I can't seem to put my finger on it. It doesn't taste bad per se, but I can't say I love it, or even really like it. It seems to taste fine at first, but there's just something about the aftertaste, maybe it's the pea protien? I'm not sure. When it comes to vegan mayo, Vegenaise or Miso Mayo top Just Mayo for me. Honestly, my failed runny homemade mayo attempts tasted better than this. I would put it above Nayonaise or that crap from Spectrum though.

Perhaps it's just me. I know plenty of people are crazy about it, say it tastes better than the egg laden variety, but unless I find it on sale super cheap, I'm gonna give it a miss from here on out. I would recommend at least giving it a try, if at least to rub it in to the big egg lobby.

In all fairness, I did only taste it straight from the jar and I made coleslaw with it. I usually use mayo just as a sammich condiment and not much else, let alone just eating it straight from the jar. Maybe I'll revise my review a bit if it happens to taste amazeballs on a sammich.

Coleslaw a la Just Mayo. I'll do a review on this recipe later.

BONUS ROUND!!! It's free from many common allergens including soy. No gluten either for the celiacs out there. It's also non-GMO verified. There's a lot good going for this product, but there is something that does bug me about it - it does not mention vegan anywhere. Not on the package, not on Hampton Creek's website, nowhere. Perhaps it's a marketing thing? I am quite aware that vegan foods often have a negative reputation, where so many people will refuse to even touch something if they know it's vegan. Still, it would be nice if they mentioned the v-word somewhere.

And that wraps up this review! Now I'm tempted to review the other, much better tasting vegan mayos out there!