Vegan Hollandaise Sauce Recipe

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What is Hollandaise sauce?

One of the classic French “mother sauces”, regular, non-vegan hollandaise is essentially a warm emulsion of fat and acid, stabilized with egg yolk. Traditionally, it’s made by whisking melted butter into egg yolks and lemon juice over gentle, controlled heat. The lecithin in the yolks helps keep everything suspended in a smooth, pourable sauce, without turning it into scrambled eggs.

Normally, getting hollandaise right means super-precisely managing temperature, which is kinda a PITA. Too hot and it’ll split, too cool and it won’t emulsify. Bit of a nightmare? Sure. Most people use a double boiler, but you can also make it with a high-speed blender if needed. Either way, the process is annoyingly sensitive and easy to mess up.

The end result is a thick, velvety sauce with a balance of richness and acidity. Most people season it simply with salt, white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne, but obviously, in this recipe, we are gonna make it a little more extra.

Hollandaise is best known as the sauce on eggs Benedict, but since we aren’t barbarians over here who eat the oval shaped babies that birds fart out, let it be known that the sauce works just as well on asparagus, garlicky sautéed greens, or scrambled tofu. It's also the base for a bunch of classic derivative sauces like Béarnaise (with tarragon and shallot reduction), Choron (with tomato purée), and Mousseline (which you can make by folding in vegan whipped cream right before serving).

🫙Vegan hollandaise sauce ingredients

Vegan Mayo

Use my vegan kewpie mayo for the extra umami that it gets from a little miso, but any plain, neutral vegan mayo will lay a solid foundation. I particularly like the original Vegenaise and also the vegan mayo by Hellmann’s.

The Plant Milk

Choose oat or soy milk, unsweetened and unflavored, for consistency that thins the sauce without muting its character. Soy milk works especially well here, thanks to its natural lecithin, which helps with emulsifying the sauce.

Vegan Butter

Earth Balance is my go-to when it comes to vegan butter, but if you’re on a budget, Trader Joe’s makes a solid version that gets the job done for a fraction of the cost. Learn to make your own in my vegan dairy crash course.

Rice Vinegar

Rice vinegar for its crisp, clean acidity brightens the butter, and when it integrates with the nooch, really helps to evoke a kinda dairy-like dimension of flavor. You can also use pickle juice here, but back off the black salt a little since pickle brine brings its own salinity. That brine’s the secret trick I use in my vegan cotija recipe, too.

Nooch

Nutritional yeast is the key to funk without eggs or dairy. I use this same trick in tons of vegan egg recipes, like my tofu scramble, vegan quiche, and homemade Just Egg-style recipe, because it gives that unmistakable eggy backbone without any actual eggs.

Black Salt (Kala Namak)

Sprinkle in black salt for that elusive “eggy” flavor—this is your secret handshake to classic hollandaise. Start small; kala namak can take over if you’re heavy-handed. I also use it to bring an eggy flavor to my vegan shakshuka and vegan matzo brei.

📖 How to make vegan hollandaise sauce

If your brain’s chanting “sauce now, photos later.” If patience isn’t on the menu, scroll to the recipe card for the goods, but if you’ve got 3 more minutes of willpower, let’s cook this thing together.

Step One

We Whisk You A Merry Christmas:

Combine the vegan mayo, plant milk, rice vinegar, nutritional yeast, paprika, and black salt in a medium bowl. Whisk thoroughly until the mixture is smooth and fully incorporated.

Step Two

Butter Call Saul:

Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan over low heat until completely liquid. 

✅ Allow the butter to cool for a few minutes so you aren’t mixing it into the mayo while it is still super hot.

Step Three

28 Hollandaise Later:

Slowly drizzle the liquid butter into the bowl while whisking vigorously with a small whisk or the tines of a fork.

Step Four

*Bubble Bubble Toil and Trouble:

Use immediately at room temperature or warm gently over a double boiler. Stir regularly for 2-3 minutes until just heated through without separating, and then drizle it all the heck over your bacon cheddar vegan breakfast hash!

*Don't worry. I know the real quote from Shakespeare is "double double" but cut my sweet dad jokes some slack here.

💡 Serving Suggestions

This sauce is the logical upgrade for you vegan breakfast sandwich, or to drizzle onto slices of shredded potato-crusted vegan breakfast casserole.

A little ramekin giant friggin' bathtub full of it on the side of your vegan breakfast bowl or chipotle-grilled seitan breakfast burrito? What's a matter, do you prefer your food less juicy and glorious or something? Of course the answer is yesssss you want sauce!