Can You Substitute Mayonnaise For Eggs (And How To Do It)

Eggs can be used for just about anything. Not only do they taste great cooked as they are, in many different forms, but they can also be used within countless dishes to create new textures and tastes.

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Perhaps the best-known usage for eggs is in baking. Eggs are largely a crucial ingredient in making cakes, pastries, and pies, thanks to how they take to the cooking process, and bind ingredients together.

There are alternatives, especially for vegan recipes, to help a cake to rise, but none quite match a simple egg.

However, as many avid bakers amongst you may know, sometimes we just forget about certain ingredients, and only realize once we’re deep into a recipe.

Likely, you’re here because you’ve run out of eggs, and need some right now! Whether you’re baking or not, you might be wondering if there are any similar alternatives that you already have in your kitchen. Such as… Mayonnaise?

It might sound odd at first, but can mayonnaise actually be substituted in place of eggs? Why don’t we find out, so that you can get such a strange question out of your mind!

Can You Substitute Mayonnaise For Eggs?

Yes! It may sound entirely strange, but you can in fact substitute mayonnaise for eggs. This is because mayonnaise already has a high egg content, since, well, it’s made of them!

Mayonnaise also contains lots of oil, which many recipes call for, so it can also be used in place of your standard vegetable or sunflower oils.

Mayonnaise can be used for baking or to add flavor to food during cooking. Trust us, though it may sound slightly strange to eat a cake that has been made from mayonnaise, it does actually work surprisingly well!

How Do You Substitute Mayonnaise For Eggs?

If you don’t have any eggs lying around, but plenty of mayonnaise, or you simply want to try it for yourself, you will need around three heaped teaspoons of mayonnaise for every egg you need in a recipe.

Once it has been added to your recipe, at the point when you would ordinarily use eggs, you simply mix it in with the rest of the recipe, and it will act exactly the same as an egg would.

However, it is worth noting that mayonnaise is made only from egg whites and contains no yolk, so if you need a replacement for egg yolk, specifically, then you may need to turn to something other than mayonnaise.

Are There Any Other Alternatives For Eggs?

If you’re looking to get involved in a baking project, but don’t have any eggs to hand, don’t worry, there may be some other things in your kitchen that can be used to bring your recipe to life. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Peanut Butter

Yep! You heard that right! Peanut butter actually makes for a perfect replacement for eggs when baking, as it will achieve a similar texture to egg once cooked.

However, of course, you should expect that, when you use peanut butter instead of eggs, it will slightly alter the flavor of your recipe. This can be used to your advantage, though, as peanut-butter-flavored cakes, brownies, and other treats are delicious!

Banana

This yellow fruit can also make for a perfect egg replacement too! Simply grab a few bananas and mash them down into a light paste. This helps to create a consistency very similar to a beaten egg that helps to give your cakes and other baked goods more structure.

Again, using bananas will slightly change the taste of any recipe you use them in, although, with a taste as nice as banana, this isn’t always too much of a downside!

Avocados

Avocados should also be used similarly to bananas and mushed down to a light paste that can help you to create structure in your baked goods. This can actually also create a rather surprisingly pleasant taste.

Using avocados in place of eggs is perfect for creating more savory baked goods, or even adding a unique twist to more sweet cakes.

Apple Sauce

This one might be a bit more of a surprise than others. Apple sauce has a rather similar texture to egg, especially when mixed into existing recipes. Thus, you can use it to help your baked treats to rise!

Apple sauce, also, of course, adds an apple-flavored twist to your cakes and pastries, which can make them even more joyful to eat (as if they needed any help)!

Let’s Finish Up!

You’re likely still reeling from the surprise upon hearing that mayonnaise can be substituted in place of eggs. But it’s very much true.

Because of the high egg content in mayonnaise, mostly containing egg whites, they make for a perfect backup solution should you find yourself missing a few eggs from your recipe.

And if you don’t even have mayonnaise lying about in your kitchen, don’t worry, because there are plenty of other things that you can use to create perfect cakes, such as avocados, bananas, applesauce, and even peanut butter!

This is how vegan cakes and brownies have been able to become so prominent. Though eggs are perfect for baking, they aren’t all that you are limited to!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Oil Instead Of Eggs?

You can use oil to help replace eggs whenever you are cooking. However, you cannot just use oil alone. Instead, you should mix some vegetable oil with water and baking powder, to create a solution that is remarkably similar to the consistency of egg whites.

This helps to create a baking agent very similar to an egg that will cause your cakes to rise. We wouldn’t recommend cooking this solution as if it were an actual egg to consume, however. It definitely wouldn’t taste very good!

Can I Use Milk Instead Of Eggs?

Yes. If you don’t have any eggs, but plenty of milk and milk powder, simply mix some milk powder into milk and use that solution instead. The milk will be full of protein which allows the cake to rise and maintain its structure.

What Happens If You Don’t Use Eggs In Cookies?

If you forget to add eggs to your cookie recipe and don’t replace them with an alternative, your cookies will likely come out very dry, crumbly, and very flat.

Your cookies will not have been able to spread out, so they will also be very small. Altogether, you would be left with highly unsatisfying cookies!

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Jess Smith

Hi, my name is Jess Smith, and I love cooking in my spare time. Around three years ago, I decided to give up my day job as a teacher to pursue my passion for food. While I have enjoyed sharing tips and tricks on Social Media, I have decided to expand my horizons through this blog.

Through this blog I hope to help others learn the basics and more intricate details of cooking. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to cook a meal, only to realize you are missing one ingredient from your list. This is why I love to write articles chatting readers through some great substitutes that can be used in an emergency.

I hope you will find this blog useful, and that it will help you to develop your culinary skills, to help you cook up a storm!