You may choose vegan egg replacements, because you’ve purposely cut eggs out of your life – or maybe you’ve just run out. Our list of vegan egg substitutes for cooking and baking will help you get the delicious results your looking for.
As a rule, vegans do not consume animal products. But for various reasons, many vegetarians or omnivores also decide to forgo eggs, or consume them less often. The cruel and unsanitary conditions that egg-laying hens are often subjected to, as well as concerns about antibiotics and harmful substances such as dioxins, make people think twice about consuming eggs from conventionally raised hens.
If you are looking for vegan egg replacements, you can choose from a variety of possibilities. The only type of egg preparation that can’t be magically replaced with a vegan egg substitute is the classic hard or soft boiled egg. For everything else, there is a trick or a product to get you the results you’re looking for.
Vegan Egg Replacers: Avocado, Banana or Apple Puree
Fruit puree is a tasty vegan egg substitute in baking. Pureed avocados work well in savory dishes and mashed bananas or applesauce when baking something sweet. Fruit purees are among the most uncomplicated vegan egg replacements. Fruit is available everywhere and pureeing it requires only a simple blender; sometimes you can even do it with nothing more than a fork.
To get the quantity exactly right, you’ll need to experiment a little. The amount of fruit puree you need to replace an egg depends on the other ingredients and what the preparation is like. Generally speaking, about half a mashed banana or a tablespoon of applesauce can replace an egg. When using bananas as a vegan egg substitute in baking, the flavor is often detectable, while applesauce is relatively tasteless.
If the recipe calls for eggs in the form of beaten egg white, then a mixture of sparkling water, oil, flour and baking powder is more suitable.
Incidentally, avocados can also be used to prepare an “egg” as a topping for bread: For this you need the Indian salt “Kala Namak”, which contains hydrogen sulphide and lends an especially egg-like flavor. You can buy it in your local organic supermarket, or here on Amazon**. This salt is also suitable for creating an egg taste in salads, for example – or even for preparing vegan “scrambled eggs”.
Vegan Egg Substitute #2: Flaxseed and Chickpea Flour
For breads and other savory pastries, flaxseed is an excellent choice as a vegan egg substitute. Flaxseed can be bought in health food stores and organic food stores. About one tablespoon of flaxseed mixed with three tablespoons of water corresponds to one egg.
Chickpea flour and soy flour, mixed with water (two tablespoons of flour to two tablespoons of water), are also suitable as binders in savory baked goods.
Tofu as “Scrambled Eggs”
When prepared in the right way, soft tofu can be made in a dish that strongly resembled scrambled eggs. There are countless different ways to do this: the type of tofu used, the seasoning, and the addition of other ingredients depends entirely on individual taste.
Pureed silk tofu is also suitable as a vegan egg replacer in quiches or casseroles, as it sticks like a real egg. You can even use it for cream desserts – but remember to balance the grainy soy taste with something acidic.
Tasty Vegan Egg Replacer: Chickpeas and Pasta
This vegan egg substitute is a bit more elaborate than using only tofu. First, mash the cooked pasta until it’s chunky. Then mash the chickpeas separately with turmeric until a creamy mixture is formed. Mix the two together and season the mixture (again, very important for the egg taste is Kala Namak). Then fry the whole thing in a pan with onion and vegetables as “scrambled eggs”. It can also be served as an egg salad replacement (in which case you can also add some vegan mayo).
Meringue Without Eggs
This might sound unbelievable at first, but you can make an eggless meringue replacement with chickpea water (the water that drains off from a normal glass/can of chickpeas).
Try using it to make chocolate mousse: All you have to do is froth up the chickpea water with a whisk, just like you would when making regular meringue, and add a little baking powder or locust bean gum. Chickpea-water egg white replacement even has its own special name: aquafaba.
Buying Vegan Egg Substitutes
If you are in a hurry, there are different kinds of vegan egg substitutes you can buy. Our tip: Choose products with few additives and natural ingredients.
The Plant Based Egg is a vegan egg replacement formula developed by Freely Vegan. Made from of psyllium husk, flaxseed, pectin, agar, milled Chia, and sunflower lecithin, this killer vegan egg replacer does it all: binds, leavens, provides structure, and emulsifies.
But be careful! Usage differs according to whether you’re using gluten-free flour or not, so be sure to read the instructions carefully.
You can buy The Plant Based Egg in health food stores, or order it online on Amazon**.
This article was translated from German to English by Christie Sacco. You can read the original here: Ei-Ersatz selber machen: 6 Ideen für das vegane Ei
** Links to retailers marked with ** or underlined orange are partially partner links: If you buy here, you actively support Utopia.org, because we will receive a small part of the sales proceeds. More info.Do you like this post?