Chia Egg
The Chia Egg recipe is an easy one to make and is so versatile! Why would you use chia in your favorite baked goods? Because this egg substitute is a great binder and it’s healthy, too!
When I was vegetarian and thinking about a vegan diet, I did so in a series of steps. The very first, and easiest for me, was to give up eggs.
I never really liked eggs all that much, especially the runny yolks. And I especially didn’t like the impact eggs had on my digestive tract.
Surprisingly, giving up eggs wasn’t difficult in my day-to-day diet, but it did leave me scratching my head about baking. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this little trick: chia seeds as egg substitutes!
For example, I used a chia seed egg in these Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies and they’re delicious!
I know it sounds implausible, but this chia substitute is easy to use in many of your baked good recipes, and it works! I like to use it in baked goods like cookies, muffins, and even pancakes.
How to Make Chia Eggs
It’s easy to make a chia egg. Simply combine chia seeds with water. You can use whole seeds or chia powder (my favorite).
Don’t like chia? Or can’t find them? Ground flax works too. In the whole flax egg vs chia egg debate, I’m pretty neutral. I use them interchangeably and have great success with both.
Replacing Eggs in Baked Goods
Replacing eggs with chia seeds does require a little finesse. For example, chicken eggs are an important binder for many baked goods. You can usually substitute a chia seed egg in the following:
- Cookies
- Muffins
- Gluten-free vegan cakes. Because gluten is such a powerful binder, I don’t often use an egg replacer (such as this Vegan Vanilla Cake recipe). However, vegan + gluten-free means you’ll want to add an egg replacer such as a chia seed egg.
If you don’t get it right, don’t cry over crumbly cake. Make Vegan Cake Pops instead!
Quick Fix Tip
You don’t always have to soak chia in water first. In some recipes, you can simply add chia seeds to the wet part of the batter and allow it to sit in that mixture before combining it with dry ingredients.
The good news about a chia seed egg replacement is that it’s relatively neutral in flavor profile so it won’t impact the flavor of your baked goods like a flax egg.
Chia Egg Ratio: One tablespoon of chia eggs combined with water will replace 1 chicken egg in a recipe. I don’t recommend using more than 2 chia seed eggs in a recipe. See more on that below.
When to not use Chia Eggs
There are some situations where a chia seed egg will not work.
- Multiple Eggs. When a recipe calls for 3 to 4 eggs, the eggs are doing more than binding, they’re adding texture, too. I recommend finding a vegan recipe for the dish you’re trying to make.
- Meringue. You can’t whip chia seeds like egg whites in meringue. They don’t have the level of starches provided in egg whites. However, if you want a vegan meringue, I’ve got you covered.
- Scrambled Eggs. You can’t scramble chia seeds. But this Tofu Scramble works nicely.
What is a chia egg?
A chia seed egg is a combination of chia seeds and water that creates a gelatinous mixture that can be used as a plant-based egg replacer. It works best to bind baked goods, like cakes, pancakes, cookies, and more.
Do chia seeds need to be ground up before using?
Whether to grind the chia seeds before using is up to personal preference. Some don’t like the small seeds showing up in baked goods. If so, feel free to grind the chia seeds before adding the water.
Can you replace flax egg with chia egg?
A flax egg and a chia seed egg are pretty much interchangeable when using them to replace eggs in baked goods like cakes, cookies, muffins, and more.
Chia Benefits
For the number of calories involved, the chia seed provides a lot of nutrients. Interestingly enough, it falls in the mint family of plants. Two tablespoons of chia seeds have 11 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. You’ll also get omega-3 fats, magnesium, calcium, and some of those healthy B vitamins too!
If you’re watching carbs, you’ll be interested to know that chia seeds have 12 grams of carbs per 2 tablespoons. But because most of those carbs are in fiber form, it’s only 1 gram of net carbs.
Ways to use a Chia Egg
Here are some great recipes where you can use chia seeds:
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Chia Seed Egg
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add chia seeds to a bowl.
- Add water, stir, and set aside for a minute or two to let the chia seeds soak.
- Add this chia seed egg as an egg replacer in your favorite baked goods, such as cornbread, cookies, muffins, cakes, etc.
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The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I’m picking up 1 Kg Chia seeds tomorrow and will sure try to substitute eggs in baking with this method and see how it differs. Well done indeed
Thanks, Daniel! I love using the chia as a substitute for eggs. But you can also use it to make delicious chia pudding! Let me know how your chia egg experiments work!
I’m Marly, the author of this recipe, and I’m pleased to say it’s easy to make and a great egg substitute in my favorite vegan baked goods.