Eggs substitutes

Eggs substitutes — 9 options, ranked, with the exact amount

Also called whole egg, whole eggs, large eggs, chicken eggs, hen's eggs

Use thisBest of 9 options

Use Flax egg

1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water for every 1 egg

It depends on which of the egg's four jobs your recipe is using, and on how many eggs it calls for. For binding and moisture in cookies, muffins, pancakes, quick breads or meatballs, a flax egg works: 1 tbsp ground flaxseed plus 3 tbsp water per egg, left 5 minutes to thicken. These swaps hold for one or two eggs. A recipe built on three or more eggs, or one where the egg sets the dish, cannot be swapped at all.

Verdict —: Tweak it
The tweak —: Stir 1 tbsp ground flaxseed into 3 tbsp water and let it stand 5 minutes until it thickens into a gel.
Best for —: when the egg's job is to hold the mixture together

Checked 22 Jul 2026 · no sponsored swaps

But first: what are the eggs doing?

Pick your case

How many eggs does the recipe call for, and what happens to them?

This is the case every swap on this page is built for. Use a flax egg for binding, or yogurt or applesauce when the recipe is sweet and you want moisture. Recipe-by-recipe amounts are on for cookies, for muffins, for brownies, for pancakes and for meatloaf.
Notes on flax egg, commercial egg replacer or plain yogurt
1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
Stop here. At three eggs and up the egg IS the recipe: there is nothing else holding the crumb together or lifting it. No amount of flax gel or applesauce will do this. Find a recipe written to be eggless instead, such as the ones behind vegan egg, rather than converting this one.
Nothing on this page coagulates the way egg protein does. Silken tofu will give you a savory tart that is pleasant but is not a quiche, and a cornstarch-set pudding is a different dessert with its own recipe. Choose the dish, not the swap.
Notes on silken tofu
¼ cup per egg
That is the white's job, not the whole egg's, and aquafaba is the one substitute that foams. The amounts and the longer whipping time are on our egg white page and its meringue guide.
Notes on aquafaba
3 tbsp + 1 tsp oil
These are not substitutions, they are different recipes: crumbled firm tofu with turmeric for scramble, aquafaba-and-oil for mayonnaise. Start from for scrambled eggs or for mayonnaise rather than swapping into an egg recipe.
Notes on silken tofu or aquafaba
¼ cup per egg

Count the eggs first. One or two, stirred into a batter, and any swap on this page can work: pick flax for binding and yogurt or applesauce for moisture. Three or more, or an egg that sets or whips the dish, and the honest answer is that this recipe cannot be converted; find one written without eggs. Choosing by flavor similarity is what goes wrong, because the egg's flavor is the least important thing it was doing.

Job by job4 jobs

A whole egg is doing up to four jobs at once: its protein glues a mixture into one mass, it is about three quarters water, the protein in the white traps air when you beat it, and the whole thing turns solid when heated. Which of those the recipe is leaning on decides the swap, and how many eggs it calls for decides whether a swap is possible.

Moisture & hydrationprimary

A large egg is about 37 g of water in 50 g of egg, so removing it and adding nothing back gives a dry, tight crumb.

Aerationsecondary

Beaten egg, especially the white, holds air in a foam that the oven expands, and in a sponge, angel food or chiffon cake that foam is the entire rise.

Bindingprimary

Egg protein sets around the other ingredients as it cooks and glues them into one mass, which is what stops a meatball crumbling and keeps a cookie from spreading into a puddle.

Setting & gellingsecondary

Egg protein coagulates between about 145F and 185F/63C and 85C, which is what turns a quiche, custard, flan or lemon curd from liquid into something that holds a spoon mark.

Every option, one card

Ranked · per 1 egg

Eggs substitutes compared
#	Substitute	Instead of 1 egg	Verdict
1	Flax eggwhen the egg's job is to hold the mixture together	1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp waterTweak it	Tweak it
2	Commercial egg replacerwhen you want the same result twice	1 ½ tsp powdered egg replacer + 2 tbsp water, or the amount on your boxTweak it	Tweak it
3	Plain yogurtwhen you want a moist, tender crumb rather than a chewy one	¼ cup plain unsweetened yogurtYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
4	Unsweetened applesaucesweet batters where moisture matters more than structure	¼ cupYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
5	Mashed ripe bananawhen banana flavor is welcome anyway	½ medium very ripe banana, mashed smooth, about ¼ cupYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
6	Chia eggwhen you have chia but no flaxseed	1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp waterYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
7	Aquafabawhen the egg is beaten and the air is the point	3 tbsp + 1 tsp neutral oilYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
8	Silken tofuwhen you want creamy body rather than lift	¼ cup, blended completely smoothYou'll taste it	You'll taste it
9	Baking soda + vinegarwhen you have literally nothing else and the cake is already mixed	1 tsp + 1 tbsp white vinegarYou'll taste it	You'll taste it

What changesWhat changes, option by option9 options

Flax egg

faintly nutty and toasty, easy to hide in chocolate

Ground flaxseed stirred into water makes a mucilaginous gel that binds a mixture much the way egg protein does, and it is the most reliable everyday swap for one or two eggs.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Binding
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water for 1 large egg
Then: Stir and leave it 5 minutes, until it thickens and pulls into strings off the spoon like raw egg white. Use it while it is still gel; if it stiffens to a paste, whisk in a teaspoon of water.
Best for: when the egg's job is to hold the mixture together, cookies, muffins and quick breads, meatballs, meatloaf and veggie burgers
Taste: faintly nutty and toasty, easy to hide in chocolate, banana or spiced batters and noticeable in a plain vanilla one
Texture: slightly denser and chewier, and a touch gummy if you use more than two eggs' worth
Look: brown flecks all through the crumb, less rise and a flatter top, and cookies that spread less and brown a little less
Prep: Stir 1 tbsp ground flaxseed into 3 tbsp water and let it stand 5 minutes until it thickens into a gel.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

It must be GROUND flaxseed. Whole seeds pass through the batter and bind nothing; grind them in a spice grinder if that is what you have.
Give it the full 5 minutes. Used straight away it is just water and the mixture will be slack.
For a recipe with 2 eggs, double it once. Do not go past 2 eggs' worth: the gel starts to taste gluey and weigh the crumb down.
Cookies made with flax spread less, so flatten the dough balls before baking or you get domes.

Ground golden flaxseed leaves paler flecks than brown, which matters in a vanilla cake and not at all in brownies.

Holds for one or two eggs. It cannot whip and it cannot set, so never in a sponge, custard, quiche or meringue.

Commercial egg replacer

neutral, the closest to tasting of nothing

A dosed blend of starches and raising agents made to bind and lift a batter, and the most consistent option across different recipes because the guesswork has been done for you.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Binding
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 ½ tsp powdered egg replacer + 2 tbsp water, or the amount on your box for 1 large egg
Then: Whisk it to a smooth slurry with no dry lumps before it goes into the batter. Brands differ, so the box wins over this page.
Best for: when you want the same result twice, plain vanilla and white batters where flax flecks would show, seed and nut allergies
Texture: slightly drier and more crumbly than a real egg, because there is no fat in it
Look: very close to the original, with a marginally paler crust since there is no egg protein or yolk to brown
Prep: Whisk 1 ½ tsp powder into 2 tbsp water until smooth, then add to the batter.
Pantry: Special trip
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, nut-free

Whisk the powder into the water separately. Tipped in dry it makes lumps that bake into pale streaks.
Most brands include a raising agent, so do not also add extra baking powder.
Check the label if you avoid gluten or soy: formulas vary, and some are potato-and-tapioca based while others are not.

The only option here that was designed for the job rather than borrowed from another one, which is why it is the safest choice in an unfamiliar recipe.

Rated by the makers for up to 2 eggs in most recipes. It does not whip to a meringue and does not set a custard.

Plain yogurt

faintly tangy

Thick, slightly acidic dairy that carries moisture and enough body to hold a crumb together, and whose acid gives baking soda something to react with.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Binding
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: ¼ cup (60 g) plain unsweetened yogurt for 1 large egg
Then: Stir it into the wet ingredients. If the batter looks stiffer than the recipe photo, loosen it with a tablespoon of milk.
Best for: when you want a moist, tender crumb rather than a chewy one, chocolate cake, spiced muffins and coffee cake, the swap you can make without going to the shop
Taste: faintly tangy, which reads as richness in chocolate and spice and as sourness in a plain sponge
Texture: moister and more tender, and softer the next day, but with less spring
Look: a flatter top and a tighter, closer crumb; cookies come out puffy and cakey rather than spreading
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegetarian, gluten-free, nut-free
Contains: dairy

¼ cup of yogurt is about 60 g against a 50 g egg, so for a thin batter cut 2 tbsp of the recipe's other liquid.
If the recipe uses baking soda, yogurt's acid helps it: no change needed. If it uses only baking powder, add ¼ tsp of baking soda per egg replaced to get some of the lost lift back.
Use plain, not vanilla or fruit yogurt, unless you want the sugar and flavor.

Full-fat yogurt does the job better than nonfat, because part of what the egg brought was fat. Buttermilk or sour cream works the same way at the same amount.

One or two eggs in a batter that already has baking powder or soda. Never in anything that must set or whip.

Unsweetened applesauce

slightly sweeter with a mild apple note

Cooked fruit puree that adds water and pectin, so it keeps a sweet batter moist while doing very little of the egg's binding work.

Covers: Moisture & hydration
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Binding — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: ¼ cup (60 g) unsweetened applesauce for 1 large egg
Then: Stir into the wet ingredients. Because it binds weakly, keep the mixture thick: this is a batter swap, not a burger-patty swap.
Best for: sweet batters where moisture matters more than structure, muffins, banana bread and snacking cakes, when you have no flaxseed and no shop nearby
Taste: slightly sweeter with a mild apple note, invisible in cinnamon or chocolate and detectable in vanilla
Texture: distinctly denser and moister, verging on wet and pudding-like if you replace more than one egg
Look: a low, flat top and a close, damp-looking crumb; cookies stay pale and cakey and do not develop crisp edges
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

Use unsweetened. Sweetened applesauce adds roughly 2 tsp of sugar per ¼ cup and will brown faster.
¼ cup applesauce is 60 g against a 50 g egg and carries no fat, so cut 2 tbsp of the recipe's other liquid and add 1 tsp of oil per egg replaced.
Add ¼ tsp baking powder per egg replaced, since applesauce contributes no lift at all.

Mashed pumpkin or sweet potato puree works the same way at the same amount, and pear or prune puree does too if you want the color darker.

One egg, in a sweet batter. Two makes the crumb wet and heavy, and it will not hold a burger or a meatball together at all.

Mashed ripe banana

clearly of banana; there is no hiding it in a vanilla or lemon recipe

Sticky fruit puree that both moistens and glues a little, at the cost of tasting unmistakably of banana in the finished bake.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Binding
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: ½ medium very ripe banana, mashed smooth, about ¼ cup (60 g) for 1 large egg
Then: Mash it until there are no lumps left. Lumps of banana bake into wet pockets that look like underbaked batter.
Best for: when banana flavor is welcome anyway, banana bread, oat cookies, pancakes and brownies, the swap that needs nothing but fruit you already have
Texture: dense, moist and slightly fudgy, with less rise
Look: a darker, spottier crust and a close, damp crumb; cookies come out soft and cakey with no crisp edge
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

Use a banana that is heavily spotted or black. An underripe one binds poorly and tastes starchy.
Cut the recipe's sugar by about 1 tbsp per banana used, since ripe banana is already sweet.
Drop the oven by 25F/15C and expect a longer bake: the extra sugar and moisture brown the outside before the middle is done.

The flavor is the whole decision. In banana bread it is free; in a Victoria sponge it is the reason people can tell something was swapped.

One or two eggs, and only in a bake that can carry the flavor. It cannot whip and cannot set.

Chia egg

close to neutral, milder than flax

Chia seeds soaked in water swell into a firm gel that binds like a flax egg but sets thicker, so it weighs the crumb down slightly more.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Binding
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water for 1 large egg
Then: Leave it 10 minutes, or 5 if you ground the seeds first. It should be a thick gel you can heap on a spoon, not a bowl of seeds in water.
Best for: when you have chia but no flaxseed, dark, wet batters where the seeds disappear, energy bars and oat cookies that are meant to be dense
Texture: denser and slightly more gelatinous than flax, and gummy if you push past two eggs
Look: dark speckles right through a pale crumb, a flatter top, and a slightly wet-looking crumb where the gel has held water
Prep: Stir 1 tbsp chia seeds into 3 tbsp water and leave 10 minutes until it thickens to a gel.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

Grind the seeds if you do not want visible specks: whole chia stays visible and slightly crunchy in a pale crumb.
Wait the full 10 minutes. Chia gels more slowly than flax and an under-soaked chia egg simply adds water.
Add 2 tbsp extra liquid per egg replaced, because chia keeps absorbing water inside the batter and can leave the crumb dry.

Interchangeable with a flax egg in almost any recipe, one step behind it because the gel is firmer and the seeds show.

One or two eggs. No whipping, no setting, and not in anything meant to look clean and white.

Aquafaba

neutral once baked, faintly beany raw

The starchy, protein-rich liquid from canned chickpeas, which whips into a foam like egg white and is the only substitute here that can hold beaten air.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Aeration
Misses: Binding — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 3 tbsp aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) + 1 tsp neutral oil for 1 large egg
Then: The oil matters: 3 tbsp of aquafaba on its own is the equivalent of an egg WHITE, so without it you have silently deleted the yolk's fat from the recipe.
Best for: when the egg is beaten and the air is the point, meringue, mousse, macarons and cocktail foam, light cakes where a flax egg would be too heavy
Texture: lighter and more open than any other swap here, but a whipped aquafaba foam weeps sooner than an egg-white one
Look: good rise and a pale, matte crust; a piped aquafaba meringue holds its shape but dries whiter and more chalky than egg white
Prep: Measure 3 tbsp from the can; whip with cream of tartar for 5-10 minutes when the recipe needs a foam.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

Add 1 tsp of neutral oil per egg to stand in for the yolk's fat, unless the recipe is fat-free anyway.
Use the liquid from unsalted chickpeas, or the cake will taste faintly of brine. Rinse-and-drain water is not aquafaba.
To whip it, allow 3 to 5 times as long as egg white, chill it first, and add 1/8 tsp cream of tartar per 3 tbsp to hold the foam.
If it looks watery, simmer it down by a third and cool it; canned liquid varies a lot in thickness.

3 tbsp is one egg white's worth, and that single fact is where most aquafaba failures start. For meringue work, see our egg white page rather than this one.

It foams and moistens but it does not coagulate, so nothing set by egg protein will work: no quiche, no custard, no flan.

Silken tofu

neutral to faintly beany

Soft, high-water tofu that purees to a texture close to raw beaten egg and gives creamy body to a dense bake or a savory filling.

Covers: Moisture & hydration; Binding
Misses: Aeration — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: ¼ cup (60 g) silken tofu, blended completely smooth for 1 large egg
Then: Blend it, do not mash it. Any graininess left in the puree shows up as grey specks in the finished bake.
Best for: when you want creamy body rather than lift, dense cakes, brownies and cheesecake-style fillings, savory tarts and vegan scramble
Taste: neutral to faintly beany, which sugar and cocoa hide easily and a plain sponge does not
Texture: creamy, heavy and close-grained: excellent in a fudgy brownie, leaden in a light cake
Look: a flat top, a pale crust and a dense crumb with no visible air holes; a savory tart filling looks matte instead of glossy
Prep: Blend ¼ cup silken tofu until completely smooth before adding it to the mixture.
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free
Contains: soy

Use silken, not firm. Firm tofu will not blend smooth and gives a crumbly, chalky result.
It adds no lift, so add ¼ tsp baking powder per egg replaced in anything that is meant to rise.
It brings no color: brush the top with plant milk or maple syrup if the recipe relied on egg for a golden crust.

The only option here that behaves like something between a yolk and a custard base, which is why it turns up in vegan cheesecake and nowhere near a sponge.

One or two eggs in a dense bake. It softens on cooking rather than coagulating, so a quiche made this way is a nice tart, not a quiche.

Baking soda + vinegar

faintly soapy if you use too much; undetectable in chocolate at this amount

Not a substitute for the egg at all, but a burst of carbon dioxide that stops an eggless cake coming out squat, for the day when the pantry is genuinely empty.

Misses: Moisture & hydration — not covered; Aeration — not covered; Binding — not covered; Setting & gelling — not covered

What these mean

Amount: 1 tsp baking soda + 1 tbsp white vinegar for 1 large egg
Then: Stir the vinegar in at the very end and get the pan into the oven immediately. The fizz is the whole effect and it is gone in a couple of minutes.
Best for: when you have literally nothing else and the cake is already mixed, single-layer chocolate cakes and cupcakes
Texture: open and crumbly, with nothing holding it together, so slices break when you lift them
Look: a good initial rise that sinks in the middle as it cools, and a coarse, holey crumb
Pantry: Likely in your cupboard
Suits: vegan, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free

It does no binding, so use it only in a batter, never in meatballs, burgers or anything you have to shape.
Do not increase it to compensate. More than 1 tsp of soda per egg tastes soapy and metallic.
Use it in one-egg recipes only, and get the batter into a preheated oven within a minute of mixing.

Listed because it is all over the internet as an egg substitute, and it is not one. It is a leavening patch on a cake that has lost its structure.

One egg, in a cake batter, once. It replaces none of the egg's jobs; it only hides the missing lift.

Don’t swap it here

4 cases

The recipe calls for three or more eggs and has little else holding it up: sponge, angel food, chiffon, popovers, choux pastry, souffle, meringue.Use a recipe that was written without eggs rather than converting this one. There is no ratio that makes an eggless angel food cake work.
The egg is what sets the dish: quiche, custard, flan, creme brulee, lemon curd, custard ice cream, bread pudding.Make a version built on cornstarch or agar, or a silken tofu tart, and accept it as its own dish. Do not bake an unset custard longer, because you will only curdle the dairy.
Mayonnaise, hollandaise, aioli or any warm butter emulsion.Make aquafaba mayonnaise from a recipe designed for it, such as for mayonnaise, and see our egg yolk page for warm sauces.
You are trying to bind burgers, meatballs or fritters with applesauce, banana or aquafaba.Use a flax egg, or 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs plus 1 tbsp of water per egg, which binds a savory mixture well.

Safety

2 notes

Allergen
Egg is one of the major food allergens, and so are some of its substitutes: soy in silken tofu, and wheat or soy in some commercial replacer blends. If you are baking for someone with an egg allergy, read the label on every replacer, and treat aquafaba as a legume product.
Source — FDA: Food Allergies (opens in a new tab)
Raw egg
Recipes that leave the egg raw or barely cooked, such as homemade mayonnaise, mousse, tiramisu or cookie dough, carry a salmonella risk. Use pasteurized shell eggs or pasteurized liquid egg for those, or use aquafaba, which needs no cooking.
Source — FDA: What You Need to Know About Egg Safety (opens in a new tab)

If it went wrong

4 fixes

The cake or muffins came out dense, damp and gummy in the middle.Too much puree. Applesauce, banana, yogurt and tofu are all wetter than an egg and add no protein to set the crumb, so the damage compounds with every egg you replace.Bake it 5-10 minutes longer next time at 25F/15C lower, cut 2 tbsp of other liquid per egg replaced, and replace only one egg. This batch is not recoverable once cooled, but it will eat well warm with custard.
The veggie burgers or meatballs fell apart in the pan.The binder was applesauce, banana or aquafaba, none of which glue a shaped mixture.Scrape the mixture back into a bowl, work in 1 flax egg plus 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs per portion, chill it 30 minutes so it firms, then shape and cook again.
The batter looked split or curdled after adding the substitute.A cold, acidic puree such as yogurt going into a creamed butter-and-sugar mixture, which seizes the fat.Keep mixing gently and add a spoonful of the recipe's flour: it will come back together and bake fine. Bring the yogurt to room temperature first next time.
Cookies came out puffy and cakey instead of spreading.Flax gel, yogurt and purees all hold water and none of them spread the way egg does.Flatten the dough balls to the thickness you want before baking, and drop the oven 25F/15C so the edges set more slowly. Chilling the dough will make the problem worse, not better.

Measure it

8 measures

1 large egg50 g out of the shell = about 3 ¼ tbspRecipes assume large. If your eggs are medium (44 g) or jumbo (63 g), weigh out 50 g per egg called for.
Inside 1 large eggwhite 30 g (about 2 tbsp), yolk 18-20 g (about 1 tbsp)Which part the recipe wants decides the swap: the white whips, the yolk emulsifies.
Water in an eggabout 37 g of the 50 g, roughly 75%This is why removing an egg and adding nothing back gives a dry, tight crumb.
Where egg protein setswhites 145-150F/63-65C, yolks 149-158F/65-70C, a whole-egg custard 175-185F/80-85CCheckable with a probe thermometer, and the reason no plant swap sets a custard.
The swap ceiling1 to 2 eggsEvery option on this page holds for one or two. Three or more and the egg is doing structural work you cannot replace.
1 flax or chia egg1 tbsp ground seed + 3 tbsp water, yields about 3 tbsp of gelClose to the 3 ¼ tbsp volume of a real egg, which is why the amount works.
¼ cup puree swaps60 g of applesauce, banana, yogurt or tofu against a 50 g egg10 g heavier and with no fat, so cut 2 tbsp of other liquid in a thin batter and add 1 tsp of oil.
Aquafaba equivalences3 tbsp = 1 whole egg's volume, and also = 1 egg whiteFor a whole egg, add 1 tsp of oil to stand in for the yolk. A yolk on its own is about 1 tbsp, and 1 tbsp of aquafaba plus 1 tsp of oil is the yolk equivalent.

Questions

8 questions

What is the best egg substitute for baking?

For binding in cookies, muffins, quick breads, brownies or pancakes, a flax egg: 1 tbsp ground flaxseed plus 3 tbsp water per egg, left 5 minutes until it gels. For a moist cake where you also want tenderness, ¼ cup plain yogurt or unsweetened applesauce per egg. For the most consistent result across unfamiliar recipes, a powdered commercial egg replacer. All three hold for one or two eggs and none of them work in a recipe built on three or more.

How many eggs can I substitute in one recipe?

One or two. Past that the egg stops being an ingredient in the batter and becomes the structure: a three-egg sponge has almost nothing else holding it up, and a custard or quiche relies entirely on egg protein setting between 145F and 185F/63C and 85C. If your recipe needs three or more eggs, look for a recipe written to be eggless rather than converting the one you have.

How do I make a flax egg?

Stir 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed into 3 tbsp of water and leave it 5 minutes. It is ready when it thickens and pulls into strings off the spoon, like raw egg white. It must be ground flaxseed, not whole seeds, which bind nothing. Use it while it is still a gel; if it stiffens into a paste, whisk in a teaspoon of water.

Can I use applesauce instead of eggs?

In a sweet batter, for one egg, yes: use ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce, cut 2 tbsp of the recipe's other liquid and add 1 tsp of oil plus ¼ tsp of baking powder. Applesauce brings water but almost no binding and no fat, so the bake comes out denser, moister and flatter. It will not hold burgers, meatballs or fritters together, and replacing two or more eggs with it gives a wet, pudding-like crumb.

Does aquafaba work as a whole egg?

Only with an adjustment. 3 tbsp of aquafaba is the equivalent of one egg WHITE, so using it for a whole egg silently removes the yolk's fat and lecithin: add 1 tsp of neutral oil per egg. Aquafaba is the only substitute here that whips into a foam, which makes it the right choice for meringue and mousse, but it never coagulates, so it cannot set a quiche or a custard.

What can I use instead of eggs in meatballs or veggie burgers?

A flax egg, or 2 tbsp of dry breadcrumbs plus 1 tbsp of water per egg, which binds a savory mixture just as well. Chill the shaped mixture for 30 minutes before cooking so it firms up. Do not use applesauce, banana or plain aquafaba here: none of them glue a shaped mixture and the patties will break up in the pan.

Are there recipes where you simply cannot replace the egg?

Yes, and it is worth knowing them before you start. Anything whipped where the foam is the dish (meringue, pavlova, macarons, souffle), anything the egg sets (quiche, custard, flan, creme brulee, lemon curd), anything built on three or more eggs (sponge, angel food, chiffon, popovers, choux) and warm emulsions (hollandaise, mayonnaise). For those, cook something else or start from a recipe designed without eggs.

Why did my eggless cake come out dense and flat?

Two reasons, usually together. The swap was wetter than the egg it replaced, and nothing added the air a beaten egg contributes. Cut 2 tbsp of other liquid per egg replaced, add ¼ tsp of baking powder per egg, bake 25F/15C cooler for slightly longer, and replace only one egg where you can. A flatter top and a closer crumb are normal with any egg substitute, not a sign you did it wrong.

Tips for substituting eggs

8 tips

Count the eggs before you choose anything. One or two is a substitution problem; three or more is a different recipe.
Ask what happens to the egg in the method. Stirred into a batter means bind and moisten. Beaten to a foam means air. Baked in a dish on its own means set. Only the first of those has a workable swap.
Flax and chia eggs must sit until they are actually gel, 5 minutes for flax and 10 for chia. Using them straight away is the single most common mistake.
Every puree swap is wetter than an egg and carries no fat: cut 2 tbsp of the recipe's other liquid per egg replaced and add 1 tsp of oil.
Egg also browns the crust. If you replace it, brush the top with plant milk, cream or maple syrup or the bake will look pale.
3 tbsp of aquafaba is one egg WHITE. For a whole egg, add 1 tsp of oil to cover the yolk's fat.
Add ¼ tsp of baking powder per egg replaced in anything that is meant to rise, because no substitute here lifts as well as a beaten egg.
For savory mixtures, 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs plus 1 tbsp of water binds as well as any of the fancier options and costs nothing.

Scale it

Scale a swap to your recipe, or convert cups to grams.

Sources — FDA: What You Need to Know About Egg Safety (opens in a new tab), USDA FoodData Central (opens in a new tab)

Eggs drawer All ingredients