Name: Vegan Chipotle Aioli
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: ¾ cup cashews; ½ cup silken tofu; 3 tablespoons lime juice; 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (roughly chopped); ½ teaspoon salt; 2 to 3 whole chipotle peppers in adobo; 1 teaspoon adobo sauce; 2 tablespoons oil (olive, grapeseed, avocado, etc.); ¼ teaspoon paprika

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Creamy, smokey and spicy! Vegan tofu chipotle aioli is the perfect sauce to slather on tacos, sandwiches or dip your fries in. If you follow a plant-based diet, just want to eat more plants, or want a creamy sauce that also cuts the calories mayo brings to the table this sauce is equally delicious and just requires a quick blend of the food processor.

Have you ever had a sauce you want to put on all the things?! The dipping of the fries is not enough. It needs tacos and veggie burgers and just….all the things. THIS vegan chipotle aioli is that.

The girls and I were having lunch at by CHLOE. in the Seaport, chowing on delicious vegan eats and it was pretty hard to believe everything was plant-based. (Go for the guac burger!) The tofu chipotle aioli for dipping the air fryer sweets was so similar to the mayo-based spicy sauce I had sitting in the fridge at home…recreating it just needed to happen.

So here we are. Waiting for our food to cook so we can cloak it in creamy, smokey, spicy goodness.

The current rotation is for dipping cauli-tots and topping Beyond burgers for our Meatless Monday meals. It’s thick enough to be the perfect dipping sauce and still creamy like regular mayo. At the end of the day, we’re adding a little more protein and plants into the meal. I, for one, am totally down with that idea.

Is aioli the same as mayonnaise?

Yep. Same same, friend. It’s just a fancy way to say mayo blended with other ingredients into a rich flavored sauce.

How do you make vegan chipotle aioli?

There are a few different ways to get this done, but the special thing about this recipe is that we’re adding silken tofu to up the creaminess. The only prep that’s required for this is to soak the cashews in hot water for about an hour. This softens them up so they blend smooth. *But don’t worry, there’s a short cut if you didn’t make time for that in your plans.*

After draining the cashews, just add everything to the blender or food processor and puree it until its smooth.

TIP: to save yourself the dishes of a cutting board and knife, just use some kitchen scissors to roughly cut the fresh cilantro.

Also, a note about the spiciness. If you love the smokiness of chipotle but don’t really care for a lot of heat, you can adjust the level by adding fewer peppers. I recommend you start with two and if you’re still craving a little more zip, then blend in a third.

And that’s all it takes to get the spicy plant-based sauce.

Do you have to soak the cashews?

Unfortunately, yes. The water helps soften them so they get that smooth and rich texture.

BUT WAIT! Don’t sigh and go searching for another recipe just yet. A short cut to the soaking is bringing cashews and water to a boil in a saucepan, turn off the heat and let them sit for 15 minutes. After that, drain and go about the recipe.

If you happen to be bad at thinking ahead (totally raising my hand over here!), this is a great hack.

What do you serve with it?

Anything. Ok, ok….I can be more specific.

Using it as a saucy garnish for tacos is high up on the list. You can swap out the wasabi ranch for vegan chipotle aioli on these sprout and kale tacos. Salmon sliders or veggie burgers are a solid decision. Of course, there’s always the option to just bake off some fries and let the dipping commence.

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it went with a comment and recipe rating below. You can always show off your delicious eats on social media by tagging @hungerthirstplay or adding the photo to the pin on Pinterest!