Short answer
Yes, plain mayonnaise is halal. It is made from eggs, vegetable oil, vinegar or lemon juice, mustard and salt, all of which are halal; the vinegar may be wine vinegar, which is halal in the Hanafi school. Check flavoured mayonnaise and burger sauces for bacon, wine or other animal ingredients.
Mayonnaise made of eggs, oil, vinegar and seasoning is halal. Wine vinegar in it is halal for Hanafis, because the wine has fully turned into vinegar.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Mayonnaise is an emulsion of oil and egg yolk, sharpened with vinegar or lemon juice. Standard ingredients are all halal:
- eggs or egg yolk;
- soybean, rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil;
- vinegar (distilled, cider or wine) or lemon juice;
- mustard, salt and sugar;
- calcium disodium EDTA, a synthetic preservative.
Wine vinegar: halal in the Hanafi school (see white wine vinegar). Followers of the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools have stricter conditions for wine vinegar and may prefer mayonnaise made with other vinegars.
Things to check: flavoured mayonnaise (bacon, truffle with wine, some aioli recipes), burger and sandwich sauces in restaurants, and natural flavours that may use an alcohol carrier. Japanese-style mayonnaise usually adds rice vinegar and MSG, both halal (see rice vinegar and MSG). Egg-free vegan mayonnaise is halal.
Mayonnaise needs no halal certification when the ingredients are plain, as eggs and plant oils are halal by default. When in doubt, check the label with the halal food checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:4
يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ مَاذَآ أُحِلَّ لَهُمْ ۖ قُلْ أُحِلَّ لَكُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتُ ۙ وَمَا عَلَّمْتُم مِّنَ ٱلْجَوَارِحِ مُكَلِّبِينَ تُعَلِّمُونَهُنَّ مِمَّا عَلَّمَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۖ فَكُلُوا۟ مِمَّآ أَمْسَكْنَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱسْمَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْحِسَابِ ﴿٤﴾
They ask you, [O Muhammad], what has been made lawful for them. Say, "Lawful for you are [all] good foods and [game caught by] what you have trained of hunting animals which you train as Allah has taught you. So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of Allah upon it, and fear Allah." Indeed, Allah is swift in account.
Wholesome foods are lawful.
Sahih Muslim 2052
Sahih... نعم الأدم الخل ...
"What an excellent condiment vinegar is."
Vinegar, a main ingredient of mayonnaise, is a praised food.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Ashriba. Wine that has become vinegar is lawful, whether it turned by itself or by treatment.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha. Things are permitted by default unless evidence shows otherwise.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.