How much flax, aquafaba, applesauce, banana or another swap to use for the eggs in a recipe, by egg size, and how many eggs a cup of carton egg substitute equals.
Egg Substitute Calculator - Flax, Aquafaba, Applesauce
How much flax, aquafaba, applesauce, banana or another swap to use for the eggs in a recipe, by egg size, and how many eggs a cup of carton egg substitute equals.
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Out of eggs, or baking without them
Type how many eggs the recipe wants, pick the egg size, the swap and what you are baking, and this egg substitute calculator returns the amount of every ingredient in cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, with milliliters beside them. The amounts per egg come from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension sheet "Egg Substitutes for Baking", which lists eight swaps, and the result also tells you whether the sheet recommends your swap for that kind of bake.
A second mode answers the question printed on the side of every carton of liquid egg substitute, the other way around: how many eggs is the 1/2 cup your recipe asks for? It is 2 large eggs by the carton rule.
Four picks and a number
- What you want to do - replace eggs with a substitute, or turn a measure of liquid egg substitute into eggs.
- Eggs in the recipe - a whole number from 1 to 24.
- Egg size - small, medium, large, extra large or jumbo. US recipes almost always mean large.
- Substitute - banana, applesauce, yogurt, nut butter, flax, chia, the baking powder mix, aquafaba, carbonated water, or a carton of liquid egg substitute.
- What you are baking - used for the check against the sheet's "best for" lists.
Eight bakes, eight answers
Every card below is one set of inputs exactly as typed, with the amounts the calculator prints. Large eggs unless the card says otherwise.
Banana bread, no eggs in the fridge
2 eggs, applesauce, quick bread: 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce (118 ml). Listed for quick breads.
Weekend pancakes
1 egg, flax: 1 tbsp ground flaxseed and 3 tbsp water (15 and 44 ml), rested 5 to 10 minutes. Listed for pancakes.
A box of white cake mix
3 eggs, carbonated water, light and fluffy cake: 3/4 cup (177 ml). Listed for light-textured bakes.
Peanut butter cookies
2 eggs, nut butter: 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (89 ml). Listed for cookies.
Sponge cake with the baking powder mix
2 eggs: 1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 cup water and 2 tbsp oil. Listed for light and fluffy cakes.
Muffins from a recipe written for jumbo eggs
4 jumbo eggs, yogurt: scaled to 5.04 large eggs, so 1 1/4 cups + 1/2 tsp (298 ml). Listed for muffins.
Sandwich bread with banana
1 egg, banana, bread: 1/4 cup (59 ml), with a warning. Banana is not on the bread list; the sheet lists flax and chia for breads.
A carton recipe that says 1 cup
Carton mode, 1 cup: 4 large eggs by the label rule, about 4.9 if you measured beaten whole egg instead.
The swap sheet, one egg at a time
These are the amounts and uses printed on the Extension sheet, with the role each swap is filed under. The calculator multiplies the per-egg column by your number of eggs and converts the total back into kitchen measures, rounded to the nearest 1/2 teaspoon.
| Swap | Per egg | Best for | Filed under |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ripe banana | 1/4 cup mashed | moist cakes, muffins, pancakes | moisture |
| Unsweetened applesauce | 1/4 cup | cakes, muffins, quick breads | moisture |
| Yogurt, dairy or non-dairy | 1/4 cup | muffins, cakes | moisture |
| Nut butter | 3 tbsp | brownies, cookies, dense baked goods | binding |
| Chia or ground flax seeds | 1 tbsp + 3 tbsp water, rest 5 to 10 min | breads, cookies, pancakes | binding |
| Baking powder + water + oil | 2 tsp + 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp | light and fluffy cakes | leavening |
| Aquafaba (chickpea water) | 3 tbsp, whipped | meringues, brownies, cookies | airy textures |
| Carbonated water | 1/4 cup | light-textured baked goods | leavening, airy textures |
Eggs do several jobs at once, and each swap covers mainly one of them. Applesauce keeps a muffin moist but does little for rise, which is why the sheet sends you to the baking powder mix or carbonated water when the cake has to be light. Flax and chia hold a cookie together and add no lift at all.
Why egg size changes the amount
A recipe written for jumbo eggs holds more egg than one written for small eggs, so the calculator scales the swap by egg weight, taking the sheet's amounts as amounts for a large egg. That last step is an assumption: the sheet writes its rules per egg and does not name a size. The weights are USDA FoodData Central figures for a whole raw egg without the shell.
| Egg size | Weight | Large eggs per egg | Applesauce for 3 eggs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 38 g | 0.76 | 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp |
| Medium | 44 g | 0.88 | 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp |
| Large | 50 g | 1 | 3/4 cup |
| Extra large | 56 g | 1.12 | 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp |
| Jumbo | 63 g | 1.26 | 3/4 cup + 3 tbsp + 1/2 tsp |
Liquid egg substitute from a carton
Cartons such as Egg Beaters print their own conversion: 1/4 cup equals one large egg. That is the rule the carton mode uses, so 1/2 cup is 2 eggs and 1/3 cup is 1.33, which you would round to a whole or half egg. Measured as real beaten egg, a cup holds 4.86 large eggs according to USDA, so the same 1/2 cup is about 2.4 eggs. One egg is a bit less than a level quarter cup, and the label rounds it up.
The carton also works as a swap in the other mode, at the same 1/4 cup per egg. Keep in mind what is inside: most of these products are made from egg whites, so they solve "I am out of eggs" or "less fat", not "no eggs at all".
Before you crack open the chickpeas
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