The Perfect Egg Substitute During The Nationwide Shortages
Towards the end of 2022 into the beginning of 2023, many consumers may have noticed either an increase in the prices of eggs or a complete shortage of eggs at their local grocery store, and there are a few reasons for the egg price increases and shortages. For one, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that about 57.87 million birds in the United States have been affected by a widespread case of avian influenza, with Iowa having the highest number of cases at 15,923,974 affected birds.
Americans especially love their eggs, and about 288 eggs were consumed per person in the United States in 2022, according to Statista. So, what can you do when you need eggs but they are too expensive or can't be found at all? Of course, you have plenty of egg substitutes when it comes to baking, such as applesauce, mashed bananas, yogurt, buttermilk, silken tofu, flaxseed, and chia seeds, per Healthline. However, those egg substitutes don't really work when you want to actually enjoy the egg itself, whether it be scrambled, sunny side up, hard-boiled, or as an omelet.
Luckily, there are plenty of options for egg substitutes, especially during the egg shortages that many Americans may be facing throughout the nation.
Vegan eggs are the way to go if you want to eat eggs during a national shortage
Conveniently, there are a lot more egg substitutes today, with the vegan egg replacement market increasing by 168% each year in the United States, per Green Queen. Many vegan egg replacement brands use black salt in their products to recreate the flavor and smell of real eggs, while nutritional yeast is often used to give egg substitutes that classic yellow color of real eggs and can add a cheesy flavor.
A few vegan egg products that would be great substitutes during a nationwide shortage include JUST Egg, which is a liquid "egg" and is made of mung bean protein for texture and turmeric for color (via Runner's World). JUST Egg is best used to make scrambled eggs, omelets, quiches, and any other recipe that calls for a liquid egg. Simply Eggless is another egg substitute option and is made of lupin beans, while WunderEggs offers a plant-based version of a hard-boiled egg. Interestingly, real eggs and egg substitutes have relatively comparable nutritional values.
For example, three tablespoons of JUST Egg has 70 calories, 5 grams of fat, and 5 grams of protein, which is almost identical to a large real egg.