Simple Swaps: Save chickens, swap out the eggs

Are you looking to reduce or cut out eggs but worried how to make your fave feasts without them?

We’ve got you covered with a list of our favourite plant-based egg substitutes that’ll be sure to whisk you away!

After all, eating plant-rich doesn’t mean going without. An abundance of exciting food awaits.

What's wrong with eggs?

Truth is the egg industry is very much like the meat industry; a profit-driven machine that puts farmed animals through indescribable horrors. Hens have no quality of life and are slaughtered for meat once their bodies give out and stop producing enough eggs. Whilst all male chicks are deemed ‘worthless’ and killed en-masse in grinders.

Read more on the Price of Eggs on Tamara Kenneally's website or via Peta’s website.

We want a better future for these complex and clever animals.

How to cut out eggs

You may have seen in our No Meat May Starter Kit, there’s plenty of high-protein alternatives to eggs, some examples include:

Egg replacer
Chickpea flour
Tofu
Flax egg
Banana
Chia seeds
Aquafaba

Read on to see how you can use each of these in replace of eggs...

Egg replacer

Egg replacer is a plant-based powder, keeping things super simple for you in the kitchen. It’s typically made of potato and tapioca starch with a leavening agent.

Other egg replacers contain fava bean protein, brown rice protein and chia flour - a great choice if you want that extra protein hit.

Egg replacers are ideal for replacing egg in baking, in recipes like cakes, pastries and muffins.

Chickpea flour

Chickpea flour (also known as gram flour) is excellent to replace egg in batter mix. mix 3 tablespoons of chickpea flour with 3 tablespoons of water to create a thick and creamy egg-like mixture. TA DA! Works great in french toast, fritata, yorkshire puddings and even to make an omelette!

Tofu

Silken tofu has a soft, silky consistency that will give you an eggy texture! Pulse it in a blender or food processor to make deliciously creamy sauces, a la carbonara! Also great for custards and cheesecake.

Firm & medium firm tofu is excellent for making a tofu scramble! A lower fat, high protein alternative to scrambled eggs. Just add a pinch of kamala namak (black salt) for that eggy flavour.

Flax egg

You may have seen the word flax egg thrown around in the baking world before. Quite simply, just mix Flaxseed meal with water and rest for 5 minutes to get your flax egg. It's an ideal replacement for those following a wholefood plant-based diet as it's 100% natural, vegan, and gluten-free. Ideal for use in cookies, pancakes, waffles, banana bread and muffins.

Banana

A mashed banana can go a long way as an egg replacer, but it’s best suited for baked goods, such as cakes and pancakes. For this swap, use 1/4 cup of mashed ripe banana per egg. The riper the banana, the more sugar and moisture, so keep that in mind when adding additional sugar or liquids. Ideal for cakes, muffins and breads, and delicious in pancakes!

Chia seeds

Similar to the flax egg, chia ‘egg’ is just 1 tablespoon of chia seeds mixed with 2.5 tablespoons of water and left to rest for 5 minutes to rest. Too easy! Ideal for breads, waffles, and cookies.

Note! Chia ‘eggs’ are best suited for recipes that require 1-2 eggs. It adds slightly more texture than other egg substitutes, so if you need a smoother mixture in your baking you might do better with chickpea flour or egg replacer powder.

Aquafaba

Who would have thought the water strained from a tin of chickpeas = an incredible egg-white replacer. Typically aquafaba comes from strained chickpea cans, but you can also get it from white bean water or lentil water! Aquafaba (meaning 'water-bean') can be used to make a vegan pavlova or meringue, in chocolate mousse, to make a plant-based mayonnaise, buttercream, and even in cocktails where egg-whites would normally be used.

Note: you need a mixer to make this bad boy, whipping for around 3-6 minutes. Throwing in cream of tartar helps speed up the whipping process as well! Check out Minimalist Baker’s full breakdown here.