How to Cook and Bake Without Eggs

By the author of The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living and The Flat Broke Cookbook 

With the price of eggs, you might be thinking about cutting out recipes that require them for cooking and baking. I have good news: that may not be necessary.

I’ve navigated a world without eggs my entire life. First, my father was allergic to eggs when I was growing up, and then later, my youngest daughter was allergic to them. We became pros at dodging food that contained eggs in meals out or cooked by other people, and I also learned how to bake and cook without them.

Here are my best tips for how to cook and bake without eggs.

There are two ways to cook and bake without eggs:

• Look for recipes that don’t contain eggs in the first place.
• Learn to use substitutes.

I’ve used both of these strategies.

Recipes that don’t have eggs to start with

First things first, there are a surprising number of recipes that just don’t have eggs to begin with. Start with those as opposed to diving straight into the world of substitutions.

For example, a lot of Great Depression recipes omitted eggs (and other expensive ingredients) simply because folks couldn’t afford them. So-called “Depression Cake” doesn’t contain eggs, milk, or butter, and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s easy to find recipes for this cake online.

Here’s a chocolate depression cake recipe, and here’s a vanilla depression cake recipe.

Shortbread cookies are also egg-free from the get-go. Also, things like apple crisp (or other fruit crisps) don’t have egg in the topping. It’s made from just oats, sugar, and butter.

Sometimes visiting the recipes of other countries can help. For example, Russian tea cakes are egg-free, as are Mexican wedding cookies. Nahnkhatai are highly spiced cookies from India. Melomakaronos are traditional Greek Christmas honey cookies. Ma’amouls are tasty Lebanese date cookies. I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones that come to mind.

Some vegan recipes are super-thrifty as long as they don’t require wildly exotic ingredients and substitutions.

Egg substitutes

Let me be absolutely clear that the little carton of “egg substitute” in the dairy fridge at your local store is really just eggs that you don’t have to break. I find that name very misleading, and people have mistakenly thought it was safe for my daughter to eat things made with “egg substitutes,” sending us straight to the ER.

And it should go without saying (but for some folks, I need to add this) these work as an ingredient, not the star of the dish. You can’t make an applesauce omelet or fried baking soda.

There are quite a few egg substitutes that work well in standard recipes, though. Some of them are thrifty, and some are not. Here are the ones that I have used regularly for years.

Egg wash

You can use any kind of cooking oil in place of egg wash on a baked good. I use coconut oil on sweet foods and olive or sunflower oil on savory foods.

Applesauce

Unsweetened applesauce works in both sweet and savory baked goods. I find that it makes the dish a little bit moister and airier too. Use 1/4 cup of applesauce per egg.

Baking Soda

You can mix this with oil or white vinegar, depending on what kind of recipe in which you’re using it. The standard is one teaspoon of soda to one tablespoon of liquid per egg. Use vinegar for things that you want to be light and fluffy, like pancakes. Use oil for things that can be a little more dense, like dinner rolls, quickbreads, or cake.

Aquafaba

This super-fancy-sounding thing is just chickpea liquid. So the next time you’re draining a can of chickpeas, save the liquid to use in place of egg whites. Three tablespoons equals one egg or two egg whites.

Flax Seed

This has long been a go-to for me because it works extremely well in both sweet and savory dishes, and it doesn’t cost much money at all. Either buy it in powder form or whiz it up in your food processor to get a powder. For the equivalent of one egg, add one tablespoon of ground flax seed to 3 tablespoons of water and let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Yogurt

I like to use this in dense recipes like banana bread and zucchini bread. 1/4 cup of yogurt is the equivalent of one egg. I feel like this adds a lot of richness to my recipes. I’ve also regularly used it in casseroles and other savory dishes that call for egg and won’t be weird with a touch of dairy.

Soda water

Plain old fizzy water works really well for recipes that you want to be light and fluffy. Use a quarter cup for one egg. Depending on what you’re making, you could also use soda pop. For example, if you were making orange-cranberry muffins and had some orange soda pop kicking around, it would work well and enhance the orange-y flavor. You can also add Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper to chocolate cake mix with tasty results.

How do you cook and bake without eggs?

I know there are tons of other egg substitutes out there, but these are tried and true for me. If you’re looking for more egg-free baking ideas, check out my pumpkin pie filling and cookie recipes.

Have you been baking and cooking with fewer eggs due to the high prices? Do you have any egg substitutes that you like to use? What do you recommend? Let’s talk about it in the comments.

About Daisy

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.