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.

• 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.