Eggs are one of the most common ingredients to use in cooking – especially baking. Sometimes it'segg white that's used, sometimes the yolk or a combination. Egg substitutions can be tricky, so your first task is to understand the purpose of the eggs in the recipe
The first thing to think about when replacing eggs in a recipe is what is the purpose of the egg in the recipe - is it to add moisture, to help the mixture to rise,
Binding
Eggs help combine ingredients and hold a recipe together. This makes foods more stable. Omit baking powder if this is what your 'eggs' are used for.
- 1 tbsp chia seeds + 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp warm water
- Silken tofu
- ¼ cup pureed sweet potato, pumpkin or avocado.
Best for waffles, pancakes, cookies and muffins.
- 3 tbsps natural almond butter
- Soy yogurt
Leavening
Leavening aka giving rise or 'puffing up' foods e.g. in a souffle or meringue
If the eggs are used for leavening (to help give rise to your recipe) you will want to use a substitution that includes baking powder.
- You can still use egg white on the OMS diet if you aren't vegan
- Aquafaba can be used to make meringues as a egg white subs.
- In baking, some people use seltzer/fizzy water - the air bubbles will expand during baking and will give it a lighter texture.
- 1 tbsp white/apple vinegar + 1 tbsp baking soda
Moisture
The liquid from eggs is absorbed into the other ingredients in a recipe, which helps add moisture to the finished product.
Best for brownies and muffins:
- Half a mashed banana
- Quarter of a cup of apple sauce
- Quarter of a cup pureed pumpkin
Emulsifier
An emulsifier helps to combine two ingredients that don't normally combine, e.g. in mayonnaise
- Flax egg replacer
- Soy Lecithin granules
- Soy
Flavor & colour
- For an egg flavour you can sub in some black salt called kala namak.
- You can also use tumeric to get the egg yolk colour
Finishing
An egg wash can be used to brown or gloss baking and stop it drying out e.g. on pastry or c
- Soy, rice or almond milk
- Fruit glaze
- Maple syrup or honey
Thicken
Eggs can be used to thicken a mixture e.g. carbonara sauce
- Quarter of a cup of mashed avocado
- 1 tbsp Agar Agar + 1 tbsp water
- Potato starch
You can also use an egg replacer in your recipes. This product works very well for binding (mix 10g egg replacer with 40g water for one egg). To add some leavening, simply add 1 tbsp baking powder to the mix.
