For each egg in baking, use ¼ cup of liquid egg substitute. In cookies, use 2 egg yolks plus 1 tablespoon of water. In cakes and quick breads, use ½ teaspoon of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of water or milk.
Pick an ingredient and the swaps appear here, with amounts. The full chart is below.
The swaps, for 1 large egg
| Swap | Best in | How |
|---|---|---|
| Liquid egg substitute | Most baking | ¼ cup |
| Egg yolks | Cookies | 2 yolks plus 1 tbsp water |
| Baking powder and vinegar | Cakes, muffins and quick breads | ½ tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp water or milk |
| Cornstarch | Baking with 3 or more eggs | Replace 1 egg in every 3 with 1 tbsp cornstarch |
When an egg swap won’t work
Where eggs are the dish itself, such as a quiche, custard, frittata or deviled eggs, there’s no good swap. In baking, eggs bind, lift and add moisture, so the fewer eggs a recipe uses, the better a swap works.
Meatloaf and meatballs
The swaps above are for baking. In meatloaf and meatballs, the egg holds everything together, and our egg-stuffed bacon meatloaf is best made with real eggs. Cooking for one or two? The recipe converter tells you how to use part of an egg.
How much is one egg?
A large egg is about 3 tablespoons once beaten. That’s the amount each swap above replaces.
Swaps from Colorado State University Extension, Ingredient Substitutions (reviewed August 2025), and New Mexico State University Extension, In a Pinch Ingredient Substitution, both of which list a large egg at about 3 tablespoons. Checked on October 30, 2026. More swaps: ingredient substitutions.