Easy Vegan Swaps for Eggs
Most of us grew up eating eggs in various forms, as well as using them for baking and in other recipes. Fortunately, there are now lots of incredible, versatile alternatives out there, so you never have to miss them again! It’s worth remembering though, that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for egg replacers. So, we’ve broken them down for you so you can see which will best suit your recipe.
Egg Replacer | How to Use (Qty’s equivalent to one egg) | Best For |
---|---|---|
Apple purée | 60g/4 tbsp/¼ cup mixed with ½ tsp baking powder as a raising agent | Cakes, quick breads and brownies. Use in moist items, not anything crispy |
Aquafaba (tinned chickpea water, whisked) | Liquid from one tin (salt-free works best), whisked until stiff | Meringues, marshmallows, macarons, mayonnaise, mousse, some cakes, butter icing, cheeses, and ice creams |
Baking powder and cider vinegar | 1 tsp baking powder + 1 tbsp cider vinegar. Mix together and add to the cake mix immediately | Cakes, cupcakes, fruit cake and quick breads |
Banana | ½ a medium-large banana, mashed thoroughly | Good in banana bread as well as quick breads, muffins, brownies, most cakes and pancakes |
Chia seeds | 1 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 2.5 tbsp water creates 1 ‘chia egg’. Let it rest for 5 minutes to turn gel-like | Similar to a ‘flax egg’ it works well in pancakes, muffins, cookies and quick breads |
Commercial egg replacer (eg Ener-G Egg, Orgran, Free & Easy) | 1½ tsp + 2 tbsp water (use as directed on the packet) | Biscuits and cookies – items that are crispy |
Gram (chickpea) flour | 2 tbsp gram flour for every 350g regular flour. Sieve well as it is prone to lumps | Pancakes, farinata/socca, Indian snacks (eg onion bhaji), nut loaves and savoury burgers |
Ground flaxseed (also known as linseed) | 1 tbsp ground to a powder mixed with 3 tbsp warm water creates 1 ‘flax egg’. Mix together and let it sit for a few minutes until it turns gloopy | Pancakes, bran muffins, cakes, breads, oatmeal cookies, burgers and nut loaves. The taste can be quite strong so best to only use 1 egg’s worth in any recipe |
Silken tofu | 55g/scant 4 tbsp/¼ cup, mixed with ½ tsp baking powder | Cakes or other moist recipes – best not to use with biscuits or pancakes (makes them too heavy) |
Soya flour | 4 tsp mixed with 2 tsp water to form a paste | Cakes, muffins, cookies and other squidgy things. Also nut loaves and savoury burgers |
Soya yoghurt | 4 tbsp (or 500ml if making the Vegan Recipe Club’s Luscious Vegan Sponge Cake) | Makes things moist, so great to use in quick breads, cakes and muffins – best not to use with biscuits or anything crispy |
Sweet potato | 1 small sweet potato, peeled, cubed, steamed until soft then mashed to a purée | Use in the same way as apple purée or banana |
- Eggs are used to do two jobs: bind a mixture together and make it rise during baking. The egg replacers above will do the binding part (apart from aquafaba). For raising your bakes you can use bicarbonate of soda and/or baking powder but use the table above to see the different ways of using egg alternatives.
- Try not to over-use baking powder or bicarbonate of soda. Adding too much can actually have the opposite effect, so stick to the amounts given in the recipe. In a typical recipe: for every 250g self-raising flour use ½ tsp baking powder and ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix all of your dry ingredients together first then add the liquid ingredients at the last minute. When you don’t use eggs, you’re relying on the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda to do the leavening. They will start working straight away so make sure you mix them up just before you put them in the oven.
- Try not to over-stir your cake batter – just make sure it’s thoroughly combined.
- One tip we’ve learned from Ms Cupcake is to tap out the bubbles in cake mixtures. She recommends giving the cake tin a whack on the counter just before it goes in the oven and then again when it hits the oven shelf – this is to stop the raising agents working prematurely.
- Black salt: if you want something to have that eggy taste, try adding black salt (kala namak) to dishes such as scrambled tofu or quiche. You can buy it from some supermarkets, health food shops, Asian supermarkets and online.
- Tofu: tofu is great to use as a direct egg alternative for dishes such as tofu scramble or a tofu egg butty. It absorbs flavours well, has great texture and can be coloured with a pinch of turmeric to create an eggy look. As mentioned above, you can also add a pinch of black salt to give it an eggy flavour. Use firm tofu or firm silken for a tofu scramble, quiche or butty and generally silken for desserts.
- Commercial egg replacers (try Free & Easy, Orgran, EnerG): these are very easy to use and can be used in a variety of different dishes. They can be used as a direct substitute for egg in a lot of cases, but have a look at the table above to see if there’s a more suitable alternative for your recipe. They won’t work in dishes such as scrambles, omelettes and quiches.
- Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg: this is great if you fancy a quick scramble without any hassle. You just need to add some of the vegan egg powder with a bit of vegan margarine or vegan butter (eg Naturli Vegan Block is great for use in cooking) and water, then whisk it up and heat until you have a delicious egg-free scramble. It can also be used in the same way as the commercial egg replacers mentioned above.
Tofu Egg Mayonnaise Sandwiches
These magical sandwiches look and taste pretty much like the traditional egg mayonnaise equivalent – and the filling takes but a moment to make!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/tofu-egg-mayonnaise-sandwiches
Super-fast scrambled tofu
So fast, easy and delicious! Silken tofu is super healthy, full of protein and other goodies as well as making a very creamy scramble.
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/super-fast-scrambled-tofu
Quick & easy fried tofu egg butty
This is basically a tofu steak, pimped up with a few flavourings. No, it’s not egg, but it tastes pretty good in a breakfast sandwich.
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/quick-easy-fried-tofu-egg-butty
Vegan omelette or egg butties
This delicious vegan alternative to omelette is quick and easy to make – and can be used for alternative egg butties by making little ones!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/vegan-omelette-or-egg-butties
Vegan eggs benedict
Enjoy a lovely, healthy vegan take on this classic dish. It is quick to assemble but you do need to do some prep beforehand – read through the recipe and ingredients the night before and go for it!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/vegan-eggs-benedict-2/
Cheesy broccoli & tomato quiche
A few new twists on our old deluxe quiche recipe to make it super delicious. Easy, simple and so tasty… this one is definitely a crowd pleaser.
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/cheesy-broccoli-tomato-quiche
Vegan shakshuka
This is a veganised version of the traditional Middle Eastern breakfast using scrambled tofu!
Brunch omelette with smoky garlic mushrooms
Chava Eichner says: ‘The basic omelette recipe is ideal for a variety of different fillings. This mushroom and pepper option is superquick and full of punchy flavours from the smoked paprika and garlic. A tasty, nutritious brunch, lunch or midweek supper.’
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/brunch-omelette-with-smoky-garlic-mushrooms/
Farinata
This is a poshed up version of a traditional Mediterranean street food. It’s a mixture between a tortilla (omelette) and a savoury pancake and lends itself to different additions and different meals.
Coconut & raspberry cake with white chocolate icing
Juicy raspberries, sweet coconut and white chocolate… we can’t think of a better combination! The cake itself is fluffy, moist and very easy to make!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/coconut-raspberry-cake-white-chocolate-icing
Breakfast muffins with apple & peanut butter
A great way to start the day, these muffins are easy, cheap to make and taste great! Give yourself the morning boost you need!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/breakfast-muffins-with-apple-peanut-butter/
Chocolate mug cake
If you’ve never made a mug cake before then you’ll be blown away with how well it works and how tasty it is! Made in under 10 minutes, it’s the quickest way to get an indulgent sweet treat!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/chocolate-mug-cake
Vegan cherry meringue pie
El, our amazing pastry chef, loves cherries, pies, meringue and blow torches and this recipe uses all of them!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/vegan-cherry-meringue-pie
Blueberry lemon drizzle cake
A classic cake with a blueberry twist… a favourite for tea time and coffee shops! Moist, delicious and very moreish!
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/vegan-blueberry-lemon-drizzle-cake
Blueberry & whipped cream aquafaba meringue nests
Yes, aquafaba is just posh for ‘bean water’! Since this discovery, over-excited, sugared-up vegans and other experimental foodies across the planet have been experimenting in an absolutely amazing way. This stuff makes meringues.
https://www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk/recipes/blueberry-whipped-cream-aquafaba-meringue-nests
Buy our egg replacer chart for lots of helpful tips: a bright and colourful poster displaying all the methods to achieve a crackin’ substitute whenever eggs are called for – tried and tested by Viva!’s Vegan Recipe Club. Laminated, so ideal to stick up in the kitchen or classroom.
Cook up lots more delicious cakes and treats with Vegan Recipe Club’s eggless baking section
Enjoy eggless delights such as quiches, tarts, scrambles, farinatas, omelettes, butties and more in Vegan Recipe Club’s egg alternatives section