Name: Vegan Hollandaise Sauce
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: ½ cup vegan butter; 1 tablespoon corn starch; ¾ cup plant-based milk (, at room temperature); 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard; ¼ teaspoon salt; ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder; ⅛ teaspoon onion powder; ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon ground turmeric; pinch black pepper; pinch cayenne pepper ((optional))

Jump to Recipe Video Print

5 from 9 votes. Leave a review!

This vegan hollandaise sauce recipe is the perfect dairy and egg free alternative to classic hollandaise. It creates a rich, satisfying sauce that’s non-vegan approved and tastes exactly like you’d expect a thick and creamy butter sauce to be.

Many vegan hollandaise recipes try to create a lighter alternative, but this recipe does not. It follows the same basic formula of traditional hollandaise, just without eggs or dairy! Pour this incredibly versatile sauce over steamed, grilled or sautéed veggies, or any other foods you’d use creamy, thick butter sauce!

Top view of two plates of asparagus spears with hollandaise sauce poured over the center of the spears with a half lemon slice on the bottom of the spears. Front plate (bottom of image) has small glass jar of hollandaise sitting on it. White-grey marble background with white and blue stripped towel along left side of plates.

Get the Veg Out newsletter for vegan recipes + nutrition content!

This post contains affiliate links (including Amazon Associates) and I earn from qualifying purchases.

Is Hollandaise Sauce Vegan?

Traditional hollandaise sauce is not vegan.

Hollandaise sauce is one of the mother sauces in French cuisine. It’s classically made by emulsifying butter with egg yolks to create a thick, rich and creamy sauce, with some lemon juice for a burst of fresh acidity.

Hollandaise sauce can be made vegan by selecting dairy free butter substitute and switching the eggs for a different thickening ingredient. In this case, we use some starch and plant-based milk to add bulk for a thick, rich and delicious sauce.

Glass jar of hollandaise sauce being poured over a pile of asparagus spears on a plate. A second plate of asparagus, without any sauce, sit in the back. Lemon slices to the front left of image with a white and blue stripped towel along the left side with a half lemon and jar of peppercorns to the back left.

Dairy Free Hollandaise Sauce Ingredients

Beyond the base ingredient of vegan butter, all remaining ingredients work together to create a creamy, comforting and versatile sauce with a delicious, classic flavor.

Vegan butter: Hollandaise is essentially a thickened butter sauce. To create a vegan version, select your favorite plant-based butter alternative.
Corn starch: In place of egg yolk, thicken the sauce with corn starch. It’s a common ingredient and does an amazing job at thickening sauces.
Plant-based milk: For added bulk, and to give the corn starch enough liquid, this recipe uses plant-based milk. I use soy milk, but any plant-based milk should work; just keep in mind the flavor of the milk will come through in your sauce. Cashew or coconut milk would be my go-to alternatives if you want to keep it soy-free or simply don’t like soy milk.
Nutritional yeast: To add a delicious dairy flavor, nutritional yeast is my favorite ingredient!
Lemon juice: Traditional hollandaise sauce uses lemon juice for acidity and balances the rich texture and flavor of butter. This vegan recipe uses lemon juice in the exact same way. It’s truly a stand-out layer of flavor you won’t want to miss!
Dijon mustard: This ingredient is optional, but I like to increase the flavor with a touch of Dijon mustard.
Turmeric: This is also an optional ingredient and is used exclusively for color. Classic hollandaise is a light orange-yellow color and turmeric helps mimic that.
Garlic and onion powder: To round out and enhance the flavors of this sauce, add in some garlic and onion powder.
Salt and pepper: Every recipe requires some salt and black pepper flavor, right?!
Cayenne pepper: A small pinch of cayenne pepper offers spicy heat that brings something extra to the sauce.

If you want to make this recipe soy free, simply select a soy free plant-based milk (cashew or coconut would be delicious) and make sure your vegan butter substitute is soy free as well!

Top view of an arrangement of ingredients in small glass bowls and jars on white-grey marble background. From top left: soy milk, vegan butter, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, lemon slices (decoration), corn starch, spice mix, fresh asparagus spears (decoration).

How to Make Easy Vegan Hollandaise Sauce

Get your whisk ready because that’s the most important aspect of creating this decadent sauce! It’s fairly easy to make, just read the detailed directions below.

Step 1: Prepare the Hollandaise Base

The hollandaise sauce base includes vegan butter, corn starch and plant-based milk. This creates the bulk of the sauce and needs to be prepped before spicing and serving!

In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in corn starch until no clumps of starch remain.

A hand holds a small whisk and is whisking butter in a pot. Some of the butter is melting but most is still solid.

At this point, very slowly pour in the room temperature (or slightly warmer) plant-based milk while whisking continuously and vigorously. Add about 2 tablespoons at a time and whisk thoroughly.

Top view of a pot filled with melted butter. One hand holds a small whisk and is whisking the sauce in the pot while another hand holds a small glass jar of milk, about to pour it into the pot.

Continue until you’ve added all the milk.

Part way through adding milk, the sauce will look like it’s separating (areas with thickened milk and areas of melted butter that aren’t incorporating). This is perfectly ok. Don’t worry, just keep whisking and adding milk slowly.

Once all the milk is in, the sauce will be completely smooth!

Top view of a pot that contains a light yellow mixture that is being whisked by a hand holding a whisk at the top edge of the pot. The contents of the pot are blurred, in motion. A second hand is pouring milk into the pot from the right side of the image. The sauce looks like there are some areas of melted butter and some smooth and creamy sections.

Keep your pot over medium heat and continue whisking for another 1-2 minutes to give the starch some extra time to thicken.

Top view of a hand that is whisking a light yellow, creamy sauce in a pot. The hand and whisk are blurry, in motion.

Step 2: Spice and Serve

When the sauce is nicely thickened, remove from heat and whisk in the remaining ingredients. It takes a moment for the nutritional yeast to dissolve and become smooth.

Top view of a pot with a light yellow, creamy sauce in it. A hand on the left side of the image holds the end of a small whisk that is sitting in the sauce. A second hand, on the right side of the image, holds a small glass dish full of nutritional yeast, over the pot.

You’re now ready to serve your vegan hollandaise over vegetables like asparagus!

Top view of a pot with a thick sauce that is a deep yellow color. A hand holds a whisk that is in the sauce and the whisk has left groove marks through the thick sauce along the bottom and left side of the pot.

Please note the sauce begins to separate when left to sit. This happens with any hollandaise sauce because it’s so high in fat content. Simply whisk it (yes, more whisking) and it’ll return to a deliciously smooth and creamy texture.

A hand pours yellow hollandaise sauce over a pile of cooked asparagus spears that sit on a plate, on the right half of the image. The left half shows a second plate with asparagus spears covered in hollandaise with a lemon slice sitting on the plate.

How to Serve Vegan Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise is a versatile sauce that can add richness to any vegetable side dish or vegan eggs benedict! If you have access to vegan seafood alternatives, this is a delicious buttery dipping sauce for that.

Small glass jar filled with creamy, light yellow sauce with wooden spoonful of the sauce placed in front of jar, on white-grey marble countertop. Lemon slices in bottom left corner with a blue and white stripped towel, half lemon and jar of peppercorns in top left corner.

Hollandaise is also commonly served over meat dishes so you could easily use this for vegan meat or seitan dishes!

Serving hollandaise over sautéed asparagus is certainly one of my favorite uses for this sauce, but you can get creative and use it however you like. It can also be the base recipe to create other delicious sauces, like a vegan Béarnaise sauce!

Side view of two round white plates each with a pile of cooked asparagus down the center, topped with light yellow, creamy sauce in the center of the asparagus spears with a lemon slice on top. White-grey marble background with a half lemon and jar of peppercorns to the back left of image.

Refrigerate or Freeze Leftover Hollandaise

Refrigerate leftover sauce in an airtight container for up to a week. Reheat hollandaise in a small pot on the stove over medium heat while whisking regularly.

You can reheat this hollandaise in the microwave, however it won’t be fully smooth (some butter will stay separate). If this isn’t a concern for you, go ahead and microwave.

It’s also possible to freeze leftovers in an airtight, freezer-safe container; however, once thawed (place in fridge overnight) the sauce won’t be as smooth. Some butter will remain separated from the rest of the sauce. The flavor tastes the same, so if the slight change in texture isn’t a concern for you, feel free to freeze for up to 2 months.

Top view of a small glass jar of light yellow hollandaise sauce with wood spoon of sauce resting across the top of the jar. White-grey marble background with a white and blue stripped towel along left side. Lemon slices in bottom left corner, jar of salt in bottom right corner and half a lemon with a jar of black pepper in top left.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

Square cropped image of a glass jar of hollandaise sauce being poured over a pile of asparagus spears on a plate. A second plate of asparagus, without any sauce, sit in the back. Lemon slices to the front left of image with a white and blue stripped towel along the left side with a half lemon and jar of peppercorns to the back left.

Vegan Hollandaise Sauce

This vegan hollandaise sauce recipe is rich, flavorful and completely free from dairy, eggs and gluten. It’s the perfect sauce to top any vegetable or savory breakfast!

5 from 9 votes. Leave a review!

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 10

Total Time 15

Servings Servings

Calories 166 kcal

Cuisine French-inspired, Vegan

Equipment

Small sauce pot
Whisk

Ingredients

½ cup vegan butter
1 tablespoon corn starch
¾ cup plant-based milk , at room temperature
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon ground turmeric
pinch black pepper
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Hollandaise Base

Add vegan butter to a small saucepot. Melt the butter over medium heat.
½ cup vegan butter
When you’ve melted the butter completely, whisk in corn starch until there are no clumps of starch left.
1 tablespoon corn starch
Slowly add room temperature plant-based milk while whisking continuously. The key to a clump-free hollandaise is to whisk vigorously and constantly while very slowly adding plant-based milk (about 2 tablespoons at a time).
¾ cup plant-based milk
Once you’ve added all the milk, let the sauce cook and thicken completely by keeping it on heat while whisking for another 1-2 minutes.

Step 2: Spice and Serve

When you’ve thickened the sauce, remove the pot from heat and whisk in the remaining ingredients.
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder, ⅛ teaspoon onion powder, ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon ground turmeric, pinch black pepper, pinch cayenne pepper
Serve hot. Due to the sauce’s high fat content, it separates as it sits. Just whisk thoroughly and its consistency will improve!
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container; when ready to reheat, whisk in a pot over medium heat.

Video

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Serving (⅙ of recipe)Calories: 166 kcalCarbohydrates: 3 gProtein: 3 gFat: 17 gSaturated Fat: 2 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4 gMonounsaturated Fat: 9 gSodium: 260 mgPotassium: 97 mgFiber: 1 gVitamin A: 1079 IUVitamin C: 1 mgCalcium: 40 mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!