Need An Alternative To Mayonnaise? Substitute With These

As a kid, I really enjoyed the taste and texture of mayonnaise.  It adds moisture and creaminess to foods, when used as both a condiment and an ingredient in cooking.  But recently I’ve found myself looking for an alternative to mayonnaise.  Maybe its my changing tastes as I get older, but whatever the case, I’ve found a few options.

Four Great Mayonnaise Alternative Toppings

Mayonnaise is essentially an emulsion of cooking oil and egg yolk, and even though I no longer have such same negative feelings about fat, there are still reasons one may look for a mayonnaise substitute.  First, there’s the matter of the oil that’s used in mayo.  Then, I’ve met several people who simply don’t like the texture of mayonnaise.  Finally, there’s the simple issue of calories.  At about 90-calories per tablespoon, calories from mayo can add up fast.

Plain Yogurt

Plain yogurt tops the list of mayonnaise substitutes, as it offers the same creamy texture in cold dishes like tuna salad or on sandwiches, although its a bit sweeter than mayonnaise in my experience.  If the sweetness offends your sensibilities, you won’t want to use the flavored yogurts, as they’re loaded with sugar, so won’t be any better than mayonnaise for calories.  Unfortunately, using yogurt in cooked dishes will break down the creaminess, so I don’t find it to be a good option.

Hummus

Hummus is a blend of ground chickpeas and sesame, with other ingredients added to impart flavoring, or change the texture.  The dish traces its roots to the Middle East, and I discovered it while living in Pittsburgh.  As a dip or condiment, hummus has a lot going for it.  High in fiber, protein, vitamin C, and iron, it has a solid place in many vegetarian diets.

Personally, I’ve tried hummus as an substitute for mayonnaise in a few blended dips, and on sandwiches.  I’ve found that hummus works well on both hot and cold sandwiches.  I also recently had a wrap at a local deli, where they used hummus instead of mayonnaise, and it was quite tasty.  Unfortunately, since most of the hummus blends I’ve tried have had very little (if any) oil, they tend to try out when heated, so they don’t do a good job of retaining moisture in baked goods.

Horseradish

Made from the ground root of the plant of the same name, horseradish comes from the same family of plants as mustard and wasabi.  Known for their pungent bite, horseradish is prepared by grating the root and then “trapping” the flavor by adding vinegar.  Experts refer to this mixture as “prepared horseradish.”  If you’re worried about calories, beware of many of the U.S. horseradish blends (also known as horseradish sauce), as they’re usually a blend of horseradish and mayonnaise.

As a condiment, finely ground horseradish imparts a dramatically different flavor to foods than mayonnaise, but in my opinion, makes a nice alternative to mayonnaise.  As the English discovered long ago, horseradish nicely compliments the flavor of beef and ham.  Prepared horseradish can also be blended with sour cream or cream cheese to retain moisture in cooking, and also works well when blended with hollandise sauce, where its suggested for use with seafood.

Dijonnaise

Hellmann’s has recently introduced a blend of dijon mustard and mayonnaise that has a mere 5-calories per tablespoon.  The fact that it does contain a small amount of oil (soybean oil) makes it slightly more suitable for cooking, as the oil will help retain moisture in heated dishes.  So, if you don’t like the bite of horseradish sauce, this is a pretty good alternative.

Replacing mayonnaise with substitute condiments is relatively straightforward, especially assuming you enjoy some bite in your foods.  However, in cooking, mayonnaise is usually added because the oil helps retain moisture, and there are very few replacements that work well.  With some experimentation, you may find that horseradish blends that include sour cream, tartar sauce, or even sour cream alone, can make a good substitute in the right circumstances.

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