The Best Vegan Alternatives For Deviled Eggs

While deviled eggs may conjure ideas of Thanksgiving and 1950s cocktail parties, they have a much longer history that dates back to ancient Rome. At the time, Romans served spiced and sauced eggs as appetizers for their fancy meals. The first evidence of stuffed eggs is in 13th-century Spain and the preparation made its way to U.S. cookbooks by the mid-1800s. Referring to deviling as a food term gained popularity in the late 18th century. In a sense, the deviled eggs we know today didn't appear until the mid-20th century, when adding mayonnaise to the recipe became more common. 

That's all well and good, but what are vegans and people who don't eat eggs to do when they crave a deviled egg? Substitute foods have come a long way in recent years. However, vegan alternatives to deviled eggs aren't the easiest item to find on menus and in fridge displays. In a world where you can buy vegan haggis, mass-market vegan deviled eggs may one day be on the way. For now, we have some flavor-packed alternatives for you to try.

A deviled potato is similar to a stuffed potato as it involves cooking a potato and scooping out the insides — without the second bake. You then mix up the insides with deviled egg ingredients, as you would do with the yolk of an egg. Once the filling is ready, you can pipe or spoon it back into the potato skin. For optimal results, you should boil the potatoes first and cool them in an ice bath. Smaller potatoes, such as Yukon golds, are good candidates since they are around the same size as an egg. 

After the taters are cooked, cut them in half and use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out a yolk-sized hole toward the bottom. To make your filling, you must ensure your potatoes are silky smooth. Some options include mustard, vegan mayo, and apple cider vinegar. You should also add turmeric, which isn't necessary for flavor but adds a fun color to mimic egg yolks. You probably won't fool anyone into thinking they're eating a deviled egg with this alternative, but it sure tastes delicious. Plus, a deviled egg potato salad is a fun mashup.

There are a couple of ways to use tofu as a deviled egg alternative. You can use it as part of the filling or make it the egg white. To make a tofu base, start by pressing the tofu to remove excess moisture. The shape here won't fool anyone, but flavor and texture-wise, these are a worthy alternative to deviled eggs. Once the tofu is to your liking, rub it with kala namak, a unique type of black salt. Its sulfuric content and taste make it an excellent addition to plant-based egg dishes. 

If you want to use tofu for the yolk, it's best to use something soft like silken tofu to ensure a smooth texture. You can then mix the tofu with whatever fixings you'd like. Consider adding mustard and turmeric to give it the color needed to pass these off as eggs. Don't forget to add more kala namak for flavor. You can use this filling in just about any of the egg white options we suggest, such as over firm tofu or in a pickled mushroom.

WunderEggs is a brand of store-bought vegan hard-boiled eggs that you could use to make deviled eggs. Upon buying a pack, all you need to do is scoop out the yolk and prepare it like a deviled egg. Made of almonds, cashews, coconut milk, konjac, agar, and black salt, WunderEggs do much of the work for you. 
That convenience comes at a price, though. At $1.25 a unit, as of July 2023, they're much more expensive than chicken eggs. However, if you're looking to mimic a deviled egg in appearance, texture, and flavor, WunderEgg is your best bet. 

Do they look exactly like eggs? No, but they come pretty darn close. We're not saying you'd fool the pickiest of carnivores, but there's no pleasing some people. You can also use WunderEggs to top salads, mix them into pasta dishes, and any other way you'd use boiled eggs. Interestingly, they cannot be heated, which is worth noting.

Vegan chef Tabitha Brown created a deviled egg substitute using pickled mushrooms, which she says came to her in a dream. She first marinates white button mushrooms in pickle brine to approximate the texture and flavor of egg whites, then sprinkles them with kala namak. Next, she makes a chickpea filling to substitute the egg yolk. Though she doesn't have an exact recipe, she uses relish, mustard, chickpea, and other seasonings in the filling.

Her take on a pickled mushroom is reminiscent of a pickled egg recipe. Make sure to make a quick or short-pickled mushroom – only keep the mushroom in brine for a short amount of time — so that it retains most of its original texture. The mushrooms need to be solid enough to hold up to the filling rather than so rubbery that the texture completely changes. You can eat a quick-pickled mushroom in as quickly as two hours. Avoid using fermented mushrooms for this vegan deviled egg. Fermentation — which uses yeast, bacteria, or similar microorganisms to change a food's chemical structure — breaks down the mushroom too much to support a filling. 

If you like introducing science into the kitchen, using agar and plant milk as a vegan deviled egg alternative is an excellent option. Agar is a vegan gelatin substitute made from a type of algae. While it is a food additive, it is not digestible. When you mix agar and plant milk, you can create a mixture reminiscent of an egg white. If you've never used agar flakes, they need to be hydrated and boiled to activate their gelling properties. 

Fill egg-shaped molds with the mixture and let them set as you would jello. Then, you can stuff your eggs with whichever vegan alternative you prefer. Keep in mind that a softer filling, like silken tofu, works better here as the agar mixture is fairly delicate. Meanwhile, if you have leftover agar, you can do some pretty cool things with it, like make a transparent raindrop cake or dessert dumplings.

Chickpeas or hummus are a great replacement for a yolk filling to pair with any of the alternative egg whites we suggested. For example, if you want to fill potato skins with something different, hummus or a chickpea mixture would be a great option. Eggs and chickpeas contain similar amounts of phosphorus and calcium, as well as plenty of protein, so nutritionally they are a good swap.

Chickpeas have a grainy texture similar to that of an egg yolk when mashed. For color, consider adding turmeric or mustard. You can also mix chickpeas with other ingredients, such as tofu, to add extra protein and structure to the filling. If you use ready-made hummus, look for different versions with added ingredients like beets or red peppers. Olives and olive brine are also a traditional addition to deviled eggs, and what goes better with hummus than olives? Chop some up and mix them into your filling before loading up your choice of whites.

The category of what is considered a deviled food is broad. However, when it comes to savory foods, it usually involves something tangy and spicy. For instance, deviled Brussels sprouts can be made by seasoning the orbs with butter, mustard, salt, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper. The ingredients are simmered together for a short time and then the sprouts are served with toothpicks for easy handling. While this is not exactly a deviled egg alternative, it will fill that deviled egg-sized hole in your heart with its fatty, sharp, and spicy flavor. 

You can devil nearly any vegetable, but Brussels sprouts are pretty traditional (along with cabbage, corn, and tomatoes). Consider making a vegan deviled food buffet with several options from this list. You may have noticed Worcestershire sauce among the ingredients and dismissed it for not being vegan. However, there are vegan alternatives and recipes to make your own version at home. Supermarket giant Kroger even sells a variety of vegan Worcestershire sauce products.

A popular option for vegan and non-vegan deviled eggs is to use an avocado mixture for the filling. The creamy and unctuous texture of avocados creates a mouthfeel akin to eggs but in a plant-based format. If you want to add more potassium to your diet, avocados are an excellent choice. (Chances are, you do; surveys consistently demonstrate that Americans do not consume sufficient potassium in their diets, per the National Institutes of Health.) 

Avocados work well in emulsions, just like eggs, which is part of why they do well in this type of recipe. When blended together, the other liquid ingredients won't separate from the avocado. Another option is to use guacamole instead. This swap will change the flavor profile, but it will be equally delicious in its own way. You can get fancy when it comes to decorating your deviled guacamole eggs. Pipe the guacamole using a star tip or just spoon it in if you want to eat your veggie egg right away. To make the avocado taste a little eggy, make sure to season it with kala namak.

Deviled eggs are the ultimate party food, and so are crostinis and canapés, so why not mix them together and make a vegan scramble on bread? The goal here is to remind your taste buds of deviled eggs ... not that you'd be tricked into thinking you're actually eating them. For this recipe, you can use a store-bought vegan egg mix like Just Egg or whip up a chickpea flour or tofu scramble. Let the scramble cool then mix in any deviled ingredients you'd like, such as relish, jalapeños, olives, vegan mayo, mustard, and vinegar.

This is a great place to use nutritional yeast, which is a perfect pairing with scrambles, both chicken egg and vegan. If you season the dish with kala namak too, it will take this recipe up a notch. Keep the servings small to mimic the size of a deviled egg, such as by scooping it on slices of baguette.

Lentil pâté is similar to hummus, so this is sort of like using chickpeas as a replacement, but with a slightly different flavor profile. Some people even mix lentils with egg yolks to make deviled eggs. To make this vegan, you can make a traditional Passover dish consisting of a lentil and walnut pâté as a filling. You can use the recipe as is, but if you add a bit of kala namak, it will give your mixture an eggy flavor. Of course, add any other mix-ins you'd like. Use this mix as a filling for pickled mushrooms or agar and plant milk whites.

Lentils are very high in protein, and you can use any color of lentil for this filling. Just make sure to whip and mix them properly so they are smooth and mimic the texture of an egg yolk. A chunky mixture won't be a very convincing vegan alternative to a deviled egg.

Use chopped, roasted eggplant or baba ganoush to fill vegan deviled eggs. Some people make baba ganoush deviled chicken eggs, and Sri Lankan cuisine features the dish wambatu baduma, or deviled eggplant. The latter dish is a vinegar and mustard-forward eggplant and cashew curry that's served over rice, while the former is touted as a way to make egg yolks a bit healthier. 

To make your filling, you could mix store-bought baba ganoush with deviled egg ingredients and top any of the suggested vegan egg whites. Or, you can use homemade baba ganoush, which you can even make in the air fryer. Otherwise, you can blend roasted eggplant with deviled egg ingredients to directly control the flavors of the filling. Or, why not make a wambatu-baduma-inspired deviled egg? Flavor the eggplant with cumin, garlic, curry leaves, and green chili peppers. Finally, chop up some cashew nuts to sprinkle on top.