Add some nostalgia to your veggie burger with this creamy vegan Big Mac sauce. This fast food copycat is lightly sweet and dotted with minced onion and pickles. It comes together in just 5 minutes.
It’s the perfect sauce for barbecues and cookouts, or use it as a dipping sauce with fries.
Like many folks, one of my husband’s first jobs was slinging burgers at McDonald’s. He’d stack up Big Macs with lettuce, cheese, and an extra bun in the middle. Then he’d finish with a slathering of special sauce for good measure.
Many years later, whenever we’re at a vegan restaurant with a plant-based take on that iconic sandwich, I know without hesitation that my husband will be ordering their “Big Mock.”
When we’re at home, it’s easy to make a copycat Big Mac sauce with vegan mayo, ketchup, onion, relish, and seasonings.
Then simply spoon it onto a freshly grilled veggie burger for a taste that feels familiar and cozy. (While you can put this sauce on a double patty, you don’t have to!)
It’s not just for burgers. This sweet and savory sauce is also a delicious alternative to Thousand Island dressing on sandwiches. Plus, it’s a tangy dipping sauce for fries and onion rings.
In this post:
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.
Vegan mayo: Because of its great flavor and texture, Vegenaise is my go-to. However, there are loads of egg-free mayo brands on the market. Use whatever kind you like.
Ketchup: Ketchup brands vary by sweetness. I recommend using a natural ketchup that doesn’t include high fructose corn syrup, so that it’s not overly sweet.
Traditional Big Mac sauce gets its color from paprika rather than ketchup. However, I preferred the flavor of ketchup during recipe testing.
Relish: For sweeter flavor, choose sweet pickle relish. For more bite, use dill pickle relish.
Onion: Minced onion adds crunch and robust flavor.
Onion powder and garlic powder: These pantry staples add deep savoriness to the sauce.
Salt: A pinch of salt brings it all together and heightens the flavors.
Step by step instructions
This section shows how to make this recipe at a glance with process photos of the steps. For complete ingredient amounts & instructions, keep scrolling to the recipe card below.
To make vegan burger sauce, combine the following in a bowl:
- Vegan mayo
- Ketchup
- Pickle relish (sweet or dill)
- Minced onion
- Granulated onion
- Granulated garlic
- Salt
Tip: While this vegan burger sauce can be enjoyed right away, it’s even better after the flavors have had a chance to meld. If you can, pop it into the refrigerator in a covered container for a few hours before digging in.
Make it your own
You can make this homemade Big Mac sauce your own by varying the ingredient amounts.
- To make it spicy, replace some or all of the ketchup with sriracha
- For more tanginess, add apple cider vinegar or a squeeze of lemon juice
- For more bite, replace granulated garlic with minced raw garlic
- To make it saltier, add more salt
Serving ideas (burgers, fries & more)
This creamy special sauce pairs perfectly with veggie burgers, of course. It can also be used as a dipping sauce, sandwich spread, or drizzled onto bowls.
Use it as a dipping sauce with:
- Baked french fries
- Onion rings
- Beer battered fried pickles
- Air fryer potato peels
- Vegan pigs in a blanket
Use it as a sandwich spread on:
- Seitan reuben (instead of Thousand Island sauce)
- Jackfruit corned beef reuben (instead of vegan Thousand Island dressing)
- Vegan turkey Rachel sandwich (instead of Thousand Island)
- Vegan pork tenderloin sandwich
Use it as a finishing sauce on:
- Vegan cheeseburger pizza
- Vegan reuben bowl (instead of Thousand Island dressing)
Storage instructions
Store vegan burger sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last about 5 to 7 days. I do not recommend freezing it.
More vegan burger sauces
If you love a saucy burger, try one of these other plant-based burger sauces:
- Vegan dill pickle dip (It’s amazing on a smashed Impossible burger!)
- Sriracha vegan mayo
- Spicy chili crisp sauce
- No cook barbecue sauce
- Vegan honey mustard
FAQ
No, traditional Big Mac sauce at McDonald’s isn’t vegan. They use standard egg-based mayo. My homemade vegan version has the same creamy, tangy flavor but with eggless mayo instead.
Absolutely! Make it in advance, and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. It lasts 5 to 7 days in the fridge.
Mayonnaise can lose its emulsion over time, making it very runny. If you use runny mayo, the vegan burger sauce will also be thin. For best results, use vegan mayo that is thick and creamy.
If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Big Mac sauce: 5-minute copycat recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan mayonnaise (I use Vegenaise)
- 2 teaspoons ketchup
- 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish or dill pickle relish
- 2 teaspoons minced onion
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Combine vegan mayonnaise, ketchup, sweet pickle relish, minced onion, onion powder, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
- You can serve the vegan Big Mac sauce right away. But for the best results, I recommend putting it in a covered container and refrigerating it for several hours. The flavors get a chance to deepen and meld, and it becomes even more delicious.
Notes
Nutrition
Updated with new content, recipe, and photos May 19, 2026. Originally published October 1, 2015 as vegan Big Mac sliders.
Becky Striepe
Miniature food just plain tastes better than regular-sized food.
Cadry
Agreed! You’ve got to love cute food.
lysette
All Hail – Praise Seitan! I couldn’t wait to get a car so I could drive around -or park- listening to music as loud as I wanted. Such a sweet memory Cadry 🙂 down to three bucks an hour and the condiment caulking gun!
Cadry
Thanks, Lysette! Those first tastes of freedom are sweet when you finally own your space.
Bianca
YAY!! I haven’t had these yet, but I’ve the chick’n ones. So good! LOVE Gardein and Chao!
Cadry
Yes, the chick’n ones are so good! I hesitated for a long while, because I wasn’t sure how good a frozen bun would be. They are really tasty, and I love it that I don’t have to make a special trip for buns. Everything is right there in the freezer.
Shell
Cad, this is a really fun idea. I’ve never had a real Big Mac, but would love to try your version. The fries look great, too!
Cadry
Thanks, Shell! I’m surprised that you’ve never had a Big Mac. And yes, I love those baked fries. We make them at least once a week.
johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe
those burgers look gorgeous – I remember enjoying Big Macs as a child but it is a long long time since I had one – these days we have enough good veg burger options that I don’t miss them but I would love one of these for old time sake (I had three siblings who worked at Maccas so it was part of my childhood)
Cadry
Yes, I can’t say that I miss Big Macs at all. However, it was still a fun sense memory to re-live in vegan form.
Susan
I don’t think I have ever had a vegan big mac. These look like just the right size!
Cadry
Yes, with two full-sized burgers it really can get to be a lot! It’s nice to have little mini burgers, so you still get the experience without leaving half of a sandwich behind.
Veganopoulous
yum! It’s funny, I never ever liked the Big Macs before I was vegan, but always love the vegan versions 🙂
Cadry
I love it when it works out like that! David wasn’t really into dairy cheese. He loves nut-based cheeses like Miyoko’s so much more than he ever did the dairy version.
Jaclyn
The sandwiches look great! What’s even awesomer? The “Praise Seitan” shirt! Love it!
Thanks for the recipes!
Love the Blog!
–Jaclyn
Cadry
Thanks for the nice comment, Jaclyn! David has had that shirt for years now. It’s a longtime favorite from Herbivore Clothing.