If you’re a regular baker, you’ve likely run into a very common tight spot: you’re out of eggs. It’s an easy enough mistake to make, but one that you might not be able to fix. If you don’t have the ability to rush to the store to pick up a fresh carton, what will you be left to do?
You look in the fridge and ponder your options of egg substitutes. In there, you spot a familiar jar of mayonnaise. It is made from eggs, after all. Would it work? Can you substitute mayonnaise for eggs?
As it happens, you can substitute mayonnaise for eggs in some recipes. The key is to keep the proportions correct. When using mayo as an alternative to eggs, use three spoonfuls of it for everyone one egg needed.
Substituting Mayonnaise For Eggs
Eggs in a recipe, especially a baked one, are meant to add structure to the dough or batter. They’re also used as a binder, something nice and sticky that will keep everything together.
Mayo is made from emulsified egg yolks, oil, and sometimes vinegar or another acid like lemon juice. It’s usually pale white or a creamy yellow color, and different brands may be sweeter or more savory than others.
When using mayonnaise as a substitute for eggs, use three spoonfuls of mayo for each egg. These can be your average sized spoons, but try not to make them too heaping. If you want a more exact measurement, a loose tablespoon will do the job.
Oil Content
While most people know mayonnaise is made of egg yolks, it is actually more than that. The recipe for regular mayo is about 80% oil, and 50% in low fat varieties. Egg whites in mayonnaise are used as a leavening agent that helps the different fats emulsify. Being that it’s so high in it, mayo is more of an oil product than an egg one.
Because of this, when you substitute mayonnaise for egg, make sure you’re adjusting the other components of the bake accordingly. For example, you should use less oil or butter in a cake recipe that calls for it, because the mayo is already bringing in more of that fat.
If your recipe winds up with too much oil in it, the cake could become greasy or too dense. That’s the reason that mayonnaise can also be used as a substitute for butter, as well.
Egg Content
Just like in mayo, eggs in baking products are leavening agents. Eggs also supply proteins, fats, flavor, and texture to some baked goods. When you eat a nice, moist cake, some of that moisture came from the egg.
Specifically, those are things that you’d get from the yellow yolk of the egg. Mayonnaise is made with egg whites, but that doesn’t mean it can’t step in for the whole thing.
Where mayonnaise can help is in that it does have some of the things that you’d find in the yolk. Fats come from the oil and other additives. Moisture will come from the water content and egg white that you find in mayo.
Nutrition Content
Bear in mind, mayonnaise is much more calorically dense than eggs. It is higher in saturated fats, calories, and sodIum. It usually sports 10g of fat and about 94 calories per tablespoon. This is going to change the nutritional makeup of your dish.
If you’re trying to go for a healthier bake, mayonnaise might not be the best substitute for you. It also doesn’t have nearly as much protein as an egg does, meaning it won’t keep you full as long.
Instead, try a different egg substitute that will still provide fat, protein, and moisture, like mashed avocados.
Can You Use Miracle Whip As A Substitute For Egg?
Miracle Whip is not legally defined as mayonnaise. Because of the process used to make it, and the overall chemical composition, it is marketed as a salad dressing.
Most people, however, see it as an imitation of mayonnaise, and rightly so; that is what it was originally marketed as in the 1930s. Because of this, you might wonder if you can use Miracle Whip in place of eggs in a recipe.
You’re welcome to do so, but bear in mind that it has a completely different composition than mayonnaise. It does still have eggs, oil, and salt. However, it also contains mustard flour and dried garlic. This means it has a slightly more rustic, sulfuric, savory taste than mayonnaise.
This might have a negative impact on dishes that are delicately flavored, such as chiffon cakes. Just as with mayonnaise, be careful when you’re subbing this in. It has a higher oil content, meaning you should adjust your other fats accordingly.
Conclusion
If you’re trying to bake and found that you’re out of eggs, but you do have mayonnaise, you’ll wonder if it would be wise to swap it in. Can you substitute mayonnaise for eggs?
You can, in most cases. In baked goods, a few spoons of mayonnaise will act as a decent substitute for eggs. It will have the leavening and binding agents you need to make the recipe work. It might lightly change the flavor, but it will keep it moist.
Make sure you adjust the amount of other oils or butter that you’re adding in to the recipe. If you add too much oil, the end result will be very dense.
