Egg Replacements

For those starting on a plant-based diet, eggs might seem difficult to replace. To find a suitable replacement for egg, we need to know why we are using it. I think there are the following categories:

• Nutrition

• Binding and thickening

• Adding air

• Flavour

Let's look at these in more detail

Nutrition

One hen's egg will contain approximately: 70kcal, 6g protein, 0g carbs, 0 fibre, 4g fat (0g omega 3, 0.7g omega6), 1.6g saturated fat, 1851mg cholesterol.

Vitamin and mineral content will be about 28% of your selenium requirement, 23% of B2 and B12 requirement, B3, vitamin A, zinc and vitamin D, folate and thiamine and Iron are present but provide less than 10% of RDA so I have not looked into these today.

Taking the macronutrients first; we need 6g protein and 4g fat to match the egg. The amino acid profile of egg is distributed fairly evenly. A substitute may be 50g tofu, which provides 6g protein and 3.5g fat (0.2g omega 3 which is better) and similar calories. 50g of seitan is another option with more protein at 10g but lower fat -0.6g and higher carbs - 1.8g.

Now the vitamins and minerals:

• 28% of selenium RDA is 15.4mcg. Other foods with this amount are: one fifth of a brazil nut, 2 table spoons of sunflower seeds,1/3 cup shitake mushrooms and 1 and a half cups of pinto beans. It is worth noting that selenium is a mineral from the soil, so where crops are grown affects the selenium value.

• B2 is found in tofu, mushrooms, spinach, almonds and avocado. B12 is in nutritional yeast (i will link my favourite below) and fortified products. Of course, I advise supplementing B12 if you are plant-based, at 2.4mcg daily.

Binding and thickening

By this I mean "bringing it all together" and making your ingredients stick. You might use eggs in cakes for this reason or add to burgers when making your own.

Egg replacer products are available widely online and health food shops from brands such as "Free and easy", "crackd" and "Organ". I will link my preferred one at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively a mashed banana, tinned pumpkin, blended Silken tofu or flaxseeds/chia seeds soaked in water may do the trick.

Adding air

The egg replacers above may also add air to cakes. You can also add carbon dioxide by including bicarbonate of Soda to your dry ingredients and lemon juice or vinegar to the wet, these will fizz when mixed and add air bubbles to the batter.

My preferred option especially for meringue is Aquafaba. Aquafaba is the water from your tin of chickpeas! This will whip up really well and is completely free as it is otherwise thrown away after draining your chickpeas.

Flavour

Finally, Flavour! Egg is such a distinctive taste and smell because of the sulphur. If that is what you are after then I suggest buying some black salt and adding right at the end of the meal.

Scrambled egg can be replicated by mashing tofu and frying, I add seasonings such as nutritional yeast, black salt, turmeric, and black pepper. I also add this mashed tofu to noodles, which mimics adding egg to a stir fry.

Feel free to use. I may receive a small commission of sales through this link.