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Vegan Egg Replacements – A Complete Guide

by Sarah McMinn / Posted: / Updated: / Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

Looking for fail-proof egg replacements in your baking and cooking? Follow this guide and make perfect eggless baking and cooking recipes. With egg replacements for everything from baked goods to custards to savory breakfast dishes, I’ve got you covered!

A collage of different egg substitutions

When first going vegan, it can be hard to imagine a life without eggs. Believe me, I know.

However pretty quickly you’ll find, just as I did, that eggs are easy to replace in nearly everything and, in truth, eggs turn out to be completely unnecessary. In the decade and a half that I’ve been a vegan I’ve seen amazing progress in the plant-based food movement and one of the most impressive areas is that of the “vegan egg” which continues to gets to expand and get better every year.

While there are many commercial products out there, this guide is focused on simple, easy to find, solutions for vegan egg replacements for nearly everything.

Table of Contents show

Vegan Egg Substitutes

A variety of egg replacers on a concrete countertop

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

These are the most common, everyday egg replacers that work in your baking, dessert making, and cooking! All of these substitutions can be found easily at your local grocery store or online.

Pro Tip: No egg replacer acts or tastes the same in every recipe so when using recipes will require a little tweaking from these guidelines. New recipes always come with a little trial and error.

Egg Replacements in Baking

In baking, eggs are most commonly used as leaveners, thickeners, and binders.

Most cookies, muffins, pancakes, quick-breads, and cakes all use eggs for a combination of these. Lucky for us, many plant-based foods have similar properties and therefore do the same thing in simple baked goods. Here’s a list of the most common vegan egg substitute in baking.

Chickpea flour in a wooden tablespoon

Chickpea Flour

Uses – High in protein, chickpea flour works both as a binder and leavener and is one of the best natural egg replacers for baked goods such as scones, cookies, and biscotti.

To Substitute – mix 3 tablespoons of chickpea flour with 3 tablespoons of water for each egg, until thick and creamy. Chickpea flour can be found online or in most health stores or bulk sections of well-stocked grocery stores.

Non-dairy Yogurt & Silken Tofu

Uses – Without adding additional flavors yogurt and silken tofu are a great substitute for binding and thickening in muffins and cakes.

To Substitute – Add 1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt or silken tofu for each egg. Yogurt and silken tofu have no leavening properties, so in most cases, you’ll want to add about 1/8th teaspoon baking soda (per egg).

Chia seed egg in a glass container

Flax seeds & Chia Seeds

Uses – Great for most baked goods such as muffins, bread, and cookies, flax and chia seeds are amazing plant-based egg replacers. They add many health benefits to your baked goods, without adding additional flavor.

To Substitute – Blend 1 tablespoon of flax or chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water until the mixture is thick and gelatinous. Each flax or chia “egg” can substitute one egg.

Fruit & Veggie Puree

Uses – This includes applesauce, banana, pumpkin, and sweet potato puree. Purees work as binders and thickeners and are perfect for moist, dense, baked goods such as muffins, doughnuts, and quick bread.

To Substitute – Add 3 tablespoons of puree for each egg. Note: purees do not add leavening properties and in some cases make batter denser. When using, add about 1/8th teaspoon baking soda (per egg) to the recipe to help with leavening.

Vegan buttermilk in a small glass jar

Buttermilk

Uses – Without adding additional flavors vegan buttermilk is a great substitute for binding and thickening while also providing rise in muffins, pancakes, and cakes.

To Substitute – To make buttermilk mix 1 cup of soy milk with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. This can replace the liquid in the baked good. Add an additional 1/4 cup of buttermilk for each egg you want to replace. You can replace up to 2 eggs with this method.

Egg Substitutes in Custard.

Ice cream, mousse, pastry cream, bread pudding, french toast, and cheesecake are all examples of common custards.

By definition, custards are made through the coagulation of egg proteins. Sounds hard to duplicate? Not at all.

Unlike replacing eggs in baked goods, which is relatively easy even for new bakers to veganize, custards are made by a lot of adjustments to perfect texture and taste, making a direct substitution for every recipe impossible. That being said, with some trial and error, you too can make your own vegan egg substitute for classic custards.

Small white bowl of raw cashews

Cashews

Raw cashews, soaked and ground to a VERY SMOOTH cream, have very similar properties – high in fat and protein – to whipped egg yolks making it one of my favorite ways to make custards like Pot de Creme. Virtually flavorless, the cashew nut remains a hidden ingredient, taking on the flavors surrounding it.

Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is commonly used to replace whipped egg yolks. Ice cream, for example, is made by whipping egg yolks. The egg yolks give the ice cream the texture and richness associated with ice cream. This 5-Ingredient Coconut Milk Ice Cream substitutes coconut milk for both the eggs and heavy cream, making it so creamy, airy, and thick.

Silken Tofu

For a healthier version, well-blended tofu will take on any flavor, and can be used instead of cashews in puddings, pudding cakes, and cream pies. This is a cheaper, lower-calorie version of cashews.

Aquafaba in a small brown bowl

Aquafaba

A relatively recent discovery, aquafaba is the liquid from canned bean (usually chickpea). When whipped up it is similar to whipped egg whites. These work incredibly well in mousses, meringues, and other recipes that rely on the tender texture that whipped egg whites create.

Chickpea Flour

Because of its high protein content, chickpea flour has awesome coagulation powers when baked. When few eggs are required rather than being the base of the recipe, chickpea flour may be the best option. For example, when making French Toast or Bread Pudding.

Egg Substitutes for Eggs

You can even replace eggs in cooking!

Quiches, frittatas, and omelets can all be recreated with a few plant-based ingredients that will amaze you at how delicious they can be. These foods have great texture and absorb the flavors around it, making them the perfect canvas for your favorite savory dishes.

Crumbled tofu with nutritional yeast

Tofu

Tofu is one of the most used egg replacers. It is best used in scrambles, quiches, and egg salads. When using tofu in eggy dishes it is almost always best to use regular firm tofu to replicate an eggy consistency. Check out my recipe for perfect scrambled “eggs” to check out the process.

Chickpea flour

With surprising similar texture and flavor to eggs, chickpea flour has become a common substitution for omelets and quiches. This is a method I haven’t tried personally but is very commonly found in recipes these days.

White Beans & Chickpeas

Adding little additional flavor, whipped up beans are high in protein and can create a similar texture to beans when baked in frittata or quiche. Chickpeas also make a nice soy-alternative to a scramble.

More Vegan How-To Guides

If you’re new to veganism, make sure to check out my Beginners Manual to Going Vegan and the Vegan Starter Kit.

Written by Sarah McMinn

@mydarlingvegan on Instagram
If you give one of these recipes recipe a try, snap a photo and share it on Instagram. Make sure to tag @mydarlingvegan so I can see your creations!

Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the 4-Week Vegan Meal Plan.

Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest and read more about me here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. GZR says

    Hi! This post is awesome, thanks! My son was recently diagnosed as allergic to eggs (and several other foods) so I’m desperately trying to figure out how to make my mom’s Passover rolls safe for him (or at least for people to eat around him). Eggs are a very important / prominent ingredient. I was going to try aquafaba (surprised you don’t have that listed – you should check it out! Apparently it’s amazing!) but then read it’s not great in recipes calling for more than 3 eggs. Do you think chickpea flour would be the best substitute? Maybe a combination of chickpea flour and silken tofu? I considered applesauce but don’t think I can use baking powder. Here’s the base recipe, per my mom’s memory. Would love your input!
    2/3 c oil (she uses vegetable oil but I may try avocado or olive oil, since my son is allergic to corn)
    1 1/3 c water
    Boil them, add 1-2 TB sugar
    Mix in 2 cups matzoh meal (I think 2 cups) till it balls up
    Cool, then add 6 eggs one at a time.
    make balls and bake at 350 for ???40-60 min???

  3. RAJSHREE says

    Dear Sarah
    Thanx for your help I have not tried any eggless replacers other than agar strips will try your recipes very soon.

  5. Vickie says

    Hi Sara – since my last contact I have been experimenting with chick pea flour. I found it very inexpensive in Indian markets under a different name, Besan Flour. Saving grace though – check ingredients and it listed only chick peas. I’ve found that my treatment of chick pea prep has made all the difference. If I over mixed it, my biscotti was dry. It was better with just combining equal parts of chick pea flour and water until almost completely blended with some very small pieces not dissolved.

    And now I’ve just tried it with the basic QO oatmeal cookie recipe and by using 2 part chickpea flour to 1 part water and using my combining method, I was able to get this no egg cookie chewy just like the regular ones. I’m ready to try Chick pea flour in an egg omelette! What should the proportion be?

    Thanks so much!

  7. Dee says

    Hi Sarah

    I recently made a crumble with 2 cups oats, handful of walnuts, 5 tbsp almond flour and 1 tsp of flax seeds with 5 tbsp maple syrup and 5 tbsp of coconut oil. Although it tasted nice, the crumble didn’t bind together at all and did not stick to the fruit beneath it. Do you have any suggestions as to what I could do to make it bind next time ?

    Thanks

    • Sarah says

      My best guess is the crumble needed more liquid. Perhaps add a little more coconut oil or water. The crumble should stick together when pressed between your fingers.

  8. Vickie says

    Hi – love this post – very helpful! I also volunteer and cook at a Buddhist temple and your ideas are helping me with my cooking there as well.

    I would like to make french toast for Christmas morning. Do you think the thick coconut milk will work as a replacement for the egg yolks? Thanks so much!

  12. patty says

    my son has multiple allergies, wheat, corn, rice, dairy, soy, chickpea, beans, eggs

    what can I use as an egg sustitute in a quiche and breads

    • Sarah says

      Wow. That must be hard. I imagine you could use cashews to make a quiche base, although it would need something to make it light and would involve a lot experimenting to get that one right. Quiche is a hard one because it usually uses tofu and chickpea flour to help get the right consistency. In terms of breads, you could try applesauce or bananas for the binder, this will vary depending on what kind of bread you want to make, but should work for many. Good luck.

  13. Harriet says

    I want to do this recipe. What egg replacements would you recommend for qn egg heavy cake like this.

    • Sarah says

      This one is tricky because of the whipped egg whites. I think to replicate a recipe like this would take a huge recipe overhaul. It looks amazing though and if I think of something I’ll let you know!

  14. Kristina says

    Hi Sarah! I am looking to veganize the following recipe –

    I found a recipe for vegan nutella but I’m stuck on how to replace the egg yolk. Do you have any idea on what would work best here? And how? The chickpea flour, maybe? Thanks so much in advance! Kristina

  15. Judy says

    THANK-YOU for the chickpea flour tip! I haven’t had good luck with flaxseeds in the vegan loaf kinds of things I’ve been trying to make for my picky eaters (also gluten and soy free). I’ve never heard this before, but I’ve had chickpea flour in my pantry forever, and usually use it to make socca and the like. I bet it’s sticky enough–protein and fatty enough–to really bind.