Egg is an important basic ingredient for cooking. Whether for breakfast, in pasta or cakes – egg is indispensable in numerous dishes and contributes to both taste and consistency. In Germany, almost 20 billion eggs are eaten per year, which corresponds to almost 239 eggs per inhabitant.
However, more and more people, such as vegans or flexitarians, are opting for a plant-based diet either entirely or increasingly, which challenges gastronomy to replace animal-based components such as eggs with plant-based alternatives. We show you which foods can serve as vegan egg substitutes in gastronomy.
What is the function of egg in the kitchen?
Chicken egg performs many functions for both cooking and baking. As an independent dish, it can be prepared as scrambled eggs, fried eggs, omelettes or mustard eggs. Many cooks use egg enema for meat broths or eggs as a filler for soups.
In addition, egg is a binder for sauces or batter as well as an emulsifier that combines two immiscible ingredients – as in mayonnaise or dressings. Egg is also sometimes used as a coloring agent, for example in cream dishes or to coat cakes and pastries. And as beaten egg whites, it gives a fluffy consistency to all kinds of pastries and desserts.
The versatile uses are due to the total of 40 proteins contained in the egg. Apart from the chemical and physical benefits, eggs are also a valuable ingredient in terms of taste thanks to their 115 different flavors.
Yet dishes that contain chicken egg in the original recipe can certainly be prepared without it. There are many home recipes that can be used as plant-based egg substitutes, and meanwhile a wide range of ready to cook egg substitute products come very close to the real taste and effect of eggs.
Homemade vegan egg substitute
Many foods that can replace chicken egg are standard in well-equipped kitchens anyway, such as:
- applesauce and banana as a vegan egg substitute in cakes
- flaxseed and chia seeds as a vegetable egg substitute for baking
- Kala Namak with tofu for vegan scrambled eggs
- flour (soy, lupine, chickpea and corn flour) and starch as vegan binders for sauces and soups
- aquafaba (water from beans and chickpeas) as vegan beaten egg whites
- vinegar as an alternative to the egg in the cake
- pureed silken tofu for cheesecakes and chocolate mousse
- tomato paste or oatmeal as a vegetable binder for roasts and patties
- turmeric as a natural coloring agent to imitate egg yolk
Ready to cook vegan egg substitute
However, you can also choose to use ready to cook products. As a powder, vegan egg is usually produced from flaxseed, corn, soy, lupine, and chickpea flours, with additional thickeners added to get close to the original.
New on the market is vegan egg substitute as a liquid. It is made with the proteins of legumes, such as mung or field beans, with the addition of oil, water, flavorings and stabilizers. Even vegan guests do not have to do without hard-boiled eggs, because there are now whole eggs made from purely vegetable ingredients that come amazingly close to real eggs in taste and appearance.
