A few simple egg substitutes that do not require a chicken. Unless you just want a chicken as a pet, in which case I won’t judge. We have three!
So if you need to bake, bind, thicken, or just scramble, give these a try. It couldn’t be less complicated, more inexpensive, or easy to find the ingredients these days. Most grocery stores will carry these items. Costco and amazon carry flax and chia at a great price, and tofu can be found at just about any grocery store in the produce section!
GROUND FLAX SEED MEAL: Just mix 1 tablespoon flax with 3 tablespoons of water (per egg needed) and let it sit a few minutes. We have noticed this gives baked goods a nice rise. Don’t use it in lightly colored baked goods like a vanilla cake or breads, because you will see flecks of flax in your finished product.
CHIA SEED: Again it's a 1 to 3 ratio just like a flax egg. It will also leave dark colored flecks in your baked goods, so consider that when baking. We like to use flax and chia eggs in things like chocolate cake, brownies, muffins, and certain cookies.
STARCH EGG: Starch eggs are like chia or flax eggs, in that it’s a 1 tablespoon starch to 3 tablespoon water ratio. It will not thicken like the others so you can simply mix the starch ( I use tapioca or corn) with the water and its ready to use. I often use starch eggs when wanting to bind dense things like brownies or blondies, or if I am trying to bind something like a casserole.
AQUAFABA: Aquafaba is in the simplest terms liquid from cooked beans. Most people use a white bean, like a navy bean or most often chick peas. If you whip the liquid with some cream of tarter or salt to stablize it, it will whip up like egg whites. I often use 1/3 cup whipped aquafaba in place of one egg. In a cake recipe that calls for 4 eggs, I will often use 2 flax or starch eggs, and 2/3 cups aquafaba folded into the batter at the end.
EGG REPLACER: Egg replacer can be found in most grocery stores. Its advantage is it’s light color so it works well in breads, light cakes, cookies, and so forth. We normally keep some on hand for these types of baked goods.
Organic Tofu: Tofu works great to mimic a scrambled egg or egg salad. The texture is very similar once you crumble it up. With the help of some turmeric for coloring, along with a few other ingredients, you will end up with a super tasty replacement for eggs!
** Tofu is made from soy beans. Non-organic soybeans are often genetically modified to become pesticide resistant. This means they are covered in chemicals that kill pests, but do not kill the plant. Our family tries to avoid as many GMO ingredients as we can. Therefore when buying tofu, or produce, I buy organic when available.
