Key takeaways
- Plant-based eggs provide an alternative for individuals seeking to reduce their cholesterol intake, lower their consumption of animal products, or minimize their environmental impact.
- While plant-based eggs can closely mimic the taste and texture of chicken eggs in dishes like quiche and muffins, they may have a noticeable aftertaste when used in scrambled eggs.
- Compared to chicken eggs, plant-based alternatives often contain less protein and higher levels of sodium, and they are more processed.
The latest food to get a plant-based makeover? Eggs.
When I first received an offer to try out plant-based eggs, I gave it a hard pass. Like many non-vegans, I was skeptical that vegan eggs could create the same fluffy, chewy effect as the real thing.
Additionally, eggs are generally considered a healthy food. As a nutritionist, I’m well aware of their many dietary benefits.
Did I really need to replace them with a shape-shifting mixture of mung beans, soy, and other ingredients?
Despite my reservations, the more I heard from fellow foodies about how much they loved their animal-product-free omelets and scrambles, the more curious I became.
Before long, a box of plant-based eggs arrived at my door, and I began experimenting.
Here’s what I learned about how eggless eggs hold up to their original counterparts in cooking and baking, plus a look at their pros and cons for health.
Though they may seem like a relatively recent invention, egg-free eggs have been around for a while. Several varieties are available, each with its own ingredient list.
Many older iterations of vegan eggs act as a binder in baking, rather than as a stand-alone food. These may begin with a base of flax or chia seed.
Many vegan egg products contain a variety of ingredients, including:
- Commercial products: Mung bean proteins, starches, oils.
- Flax egg: Ground flax seeds and water.
- Powdered egg substitutes: Binding starches such as potato starch and plant-based proteins.
- Liquid egg substitutes: Plant-based proteins and oils such as sunflower.
- Tofu scramble: Firm tofu, nutritional yeast, and seasonings such as black pepper and garlic.
You can even make your own:
- Combine 1 tbsp. flaxseed meal with 2 1/2 tbsp. water.
- Let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Add to your recipe.
For eating on their own, a fresh harvest of vegan eggs is now available on the market.
Volumizing agents and emulsifiers, such as cellulose and carrageenan, contribute to the mix to mimic a fluffy, egg-like texture, while nutritional yeast, salt, and herbs help recreate the savory flavor of eggs.
For my own DIY test kitchen experiment with vegan eggs, I tried JustEgg, a stand-alone product intended for eggy eating (not just baking).
JustEgg comes in both pourable and precooked forms. It’s made with a blend of mung bean protein and canola oil, along with spices and other flavoring agents, to give it its signature eggy taste.
If you’re considering trying eggless eggs, you probably have nutrition and ethical concerns in mind. These products stand out for certain dietary and environmental benefits.
The main benefits include:
- no cholesterol or saturated fats
- can improve and aid heart health
- cruelty free and ethical
- no greenhouse gases are emitted
Without animal products, vegan eggs contain no cholesterol. For heart health, this may be a plus, as the
On the other hand, the cholesterol in eggs isn’t the dietary devil it was once thought to be.
“Recent research shows that you no longer need to restrict dietary cholesterol from eggs, since there wasn’t a strong connection made between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol levels. An egg a day does not link to heart disease among healthy people,” says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN.
Taub-Dix is the author of “Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You From Label to Table.”
“This easing up of restrictions doesn’t mean that we should be eating four-egg omelets every day. Moderation is still the same song we sing when it comes to most foods,” she says.
For many people, the environmental benefits behind plant-based eggs are another major selling point.
Egg-laying hens, even free-range ones, are a source of greenhouse gases, which
Meanwhile, without any animals involved, animal cruelty is a non-issue with vegetarian eggs.
Just because vegan eggs are plant-based doesn’t mean they’re a superior nutritional alternative to chicken eggs.
For one thing, fake eggs have less protein. Compared with roughly 6.3 grams in a large egg, one serving of JustEgg’s liquid product contains 5 grams.
Then there’s the matter of sodium. A single serving of JustEgg folded plant eggs contains 300 milligrams (mg) of sodium. Vegan eggs are also a far more processed food than chicken eggs.
A diet high in ultra-processed foods can link to obesity and cancer. Not surprisingly, the level of processing it takes to achieve vegan eggs reflects in their ingredient lists. Compared to the one-word ingredient label of ‘chicken eggs,’ this can be off-putting.
However, even unpronounceable ingredients aren’t necessarily cause for alarm.
“Some people may not be happy about unfamiliar ingredients on the ingredient list, like transglutaminase. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) classifies transglutaminase as GRAS (generally recognized as safe), and the USDA deems the ingredient safe to use in meat and poultry products,” says Taub-Dix.
| 1 large chicken eggs | JustEgg liquid product | |
| Calories | 60 | |
| Total fat | 5.01 g | 4 g |
| Saturated fat | 1.61 g | 0 g |
| Cholesterol | 207 mg | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 64.9 mg | 210 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 0.48 g | 0 g |
| Fiber | 0 g | 0 g |
| Sugars | 0 g | 0 g |
| Protein | 6 g | 5 g |
Nutrition stats aside, the question on everyone’s mind when it comes to vegan eggs is: How do they taste?
I put them to the test in my own kitchen with three of my favorite recipes: quiche, muffins, and scrambled eggs.
Quiche
First on the agenda in my personal food laboratory was quiche, a versatile dish suitable for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
I whipped up my first-ever vegan quiche with JustEggs’ liquid mixture, a sprinkle of cheese, and a dusting of salt and pepper.
After baking for 20 minutes, my creation emerged from the oven looking — I kid you not — exactly like regular baked eggs. Food science is magic.
I poked at it with a fork to test its texture. Indeed, it matched what I’d expect from my usual quiche almost perfectly, down to the top layer of crispy eggy crust.
In fact, the JustEgg mixture seemed to even hold together better, with a thicker, less goopy structure than regular eggs.
Now for the moment of truth: How did it taste?
The flavor of the eggless quiche was definitely very close to that of real eggs, but not exactly spot-on, with a slightly too savory taste. Still, I’d never believe what I was eating was made of beans.
Scrambled eggs
Next, it was time to try vegan eggs in their most basic preparation: scrambled.
When added to the pan, the bean-based liquid appeared indistinguishable from beaten eggs. As the mixture cooked, it even clumped up just like real eggs.
Texture-wise, though, the mixture seemed a bit stickier. It even stuck to the pan like real scrambled eggs. Additionally, since the vegan eggs didn’t brown, determining if cooked was difficult.
Upon tasting my scramble, I wasn’t sold on the taste. Due to their added flavoring, the vegan eggs didn’t need salt, but they left an unpleasant aftertaste that lingered.
Muffins
I’m constantly whipping up muffins for breakfast, so a taste test using these baked goods was a near-guarantee for me.
Instead of cracking an egg into my favorite banana muffin recipe, I poured in a bit of JustEgg. To my surprise, there was no noticeable difference in the finished product, either in flavor or texture.
Baking gets my vote as the best place to use vegan eggs.
Plant-based eggs can include a variety of ingredients such as:
- starches
- plant-based proteins
- beans
- tofu
Plant-based eggs should resemble the taste of regular eggs.
Plant-based eggs have many beneficial nutritional qualities such as being lower in saturated fat.
Both real eggs and vegan eggs offer advantages for health and nutrition. As a nonvegan, I’m personally not ready to “fly the coop” just yet by replacing chicken eggs with vegan eggs.
For goals such as reducing cholesterol, animal protein intake, and saturated fat, or minimizing your environmental footprint, plant-based eggs can be an ideal choice.