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Egg prices are at record highs. Here are some egg substitutes that actually work.

Time to tap our vegan friends for some tips to save our grocery bills.

Photo credit: Canva

Eggs have become cost prohibitive.

It's been a rough year for egg lovers and bakers alike, as the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025 have not been kind to our pocketbooks. The price of eggs has always fluctuated, but rarely this much. Thanks in part to the highly infectious H5N1 bird flu wiping out entire flocks of hens, the average retail cost of a dozen eggs was $5.29 in mid-January 2025 compared to $3.50 in February of 2024, according to data from the NIQ consumer research group. Skyrocketing egg prices have even caused Waffle House, a breakfast staple across the American South, to raise their prices by 50 cents per egg.

With no end to rising egg prices in sight, people are looking for alternatives to the kitchen staple, and who better to tap than our vegan and plant-based friends who have mastered the art of egg-free cooking? While it's hard to replace an over-easy or poached egg experience if that's your thing, there are ways to swap out eggs in baking without sacrificing taste or texture, and there are even ways to recreate scrambled eggs with just a few key ingredients.

Upworthy asked nutritionist and plant-based food blogger Rae Aflatooni from Raepublic to share some cost-wise tips for substituting eggs in cooking in baking.

Egg-free substitute for scrambled eggs

Let's start with the toughest thing to substitute—just straight-up cooked eggs. Rae explains how a tofu scramble recipe mimics the look and taste of eggs, as long as you have the right spices.

"Turmeric gives these plant-based scrambles their color," she says. "It's really for aesthetics, so you can 100% skip this ingredient to save money." And the key to getting a real egg-like flavor? Black salt (kala namik), as it contains sulfur compounds.

"If you are making the switch from chicken eggs to an alternative option for the long term, and you like the taste of traditional eggs, then investing in black salt makes sense," Rae says. "This will get you as close in taste as possible."

If you can't stand tofu or don't eat soy, Rae recommends a chickpea scramble as well.

But what about alternatives to eggs in baked goods? Here's what works best for cooking and baking.

Alternatives to eggs in cooked and baked goods

Eggs act as a binder, adding moisture and structure to baked goods. Rae shared with us her favorite egg substitutes for cooking and baking, as well as a cost breakdown per "egg," based on current prices at Safeway. The average single egg costs $0.44 as of mid-January, and likely much more if you're buying cage-free or organic eggs, so compare accordingly.

Flax Egg

(Best in brownies, cookies, pancakes, pies, and muffins.)

One egg = 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal (aka ground flaxseed) and 3 Tbsp water. Whisk together, then let sit for 3-5 minutes.

Cost: Around $0.14 cents

Chia Egg

(Best in muffins, brownies, and quick breads.)

One egg = 1 Tbsp chia seeds and 3 Tbsp water. Mix and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Cost: Around $0.28

Other egg substitutes for muffins, quick breads, and pancakes

Substitute any of the following in muffins, quick breads and pancakes:

One egg = 1/4 cup of mashed banana, which is about 1/2 a banana (Cost: $0.12 cents)

One egg = 1/4 cup applesauce (Cost: $0.33 cents)

Egg substitute for cakes

This one works well in cakes, but can also be used in muffins, quick breads, and pancakes.

One egg = 3 Tbsp aquafaba (the liquid from a can of garbanzo beans, aka chickpeas)

(Cost varies on this one, but considering most people just drain and toss the aquafaba from a can of beans anyway, this could be seen as basically costing nothing.)

For cheesecakes, pies and custards

One egg = 1/4 cup of silken tofu

Cost: Around $.75

(This is the only baking substitute that tends to be more expensive than eggs at current prices.)

Rae also shared some egg substitutes for pumpkin pie, which includes various starches and cashew cream in addition to the alternatives above.

What about ready-made egg substitutes?

For a quick and easy store-bought egg substitute, Rae recommends Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer. "When it comes to a premade, ready-to-use egg replacement, this is the most cost-effective option," she says. "When it comes to other premade options, they're going to be more expensive than just buying traditional eggs. This one 12 oz bag of egg replacer equates to roughly 24 eggs for $6.49, which is about $.27 per egg."

Hopefully egg prices will start to come down sometime this year, but unless or until they do, it might be financially wise to replace eggs at least in some baked goods if nothing else. Vegan recipes have come a long way over the years, and maybe now is a prime opportunity to experiment with some plant-based cooking and baking.

Find plant-based recipes and more at raepublic.com and follow Rae on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube.

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Humor

People are bonding over these supposedly weird food combos

It's way more than pineapple pizza—and a lot of it's down to geography

Photo credit: Canva

A prompt asking for people's favorite "weird" food combos yielded some fascinating results.

It’s become an Internet rite of passage: perplexing strangers with your unusual food takes. Last year, Upworthy stirred up one such conversation on Instagram, asking people to share their "favorite 'weird' food combo." The results ranged from "yeah, we’ve heard that one before" (pineapple on pizza) to "wait…what?"

Granted, I’m a man of somewhat "conventional" food tastes—the most adventurous I get with my burger is adding bacon to it, and I have no interest in startling my palate with peanut butter in this context. That said, I express no judgment toward any of these responses. if anything, I admire the willingness to live one’s truth. Here are the food combos that surprised me the most:

Surprise Seinfeld GIFGiphy

  • Macaroni and cheese with ketchup
  • Tuna fish sandwich with mustard
  • Refried beans and fried plantains
  • Steamed broccoli and mayonnaise
  • Sugar and mustard sandwich
  • Chocolate ice cream and Cool Ranch Doritos
  • Cold dill pickles and cold milk
  • Peanut butter, mayo, and tomato sandwich

It’s fine—take a minute to regroup.

Welcome back! One interesting thing about these food debates is that they make you reassess why certain combos sound "weird" in the first place. It’s might not be because the flavor profiles don't mesh; there's a good chance we just can’t imagine these foods on the same plate. One reason, as illustrated in the Instagram comments, might be geography. The example "French fries dipped in malt vinegar" also struck me as quirky, but other people clarified that it’s a common combo in both the U.K. and Canada. ("Clearly not been to England," one user wrote. Another: "How my Canadian family eats them!")

Someone else suggested "Apple pie with sharp cheddar cheese," but lots of people noted that it’s common where they grew up. "There’s an ice cream shop where I live that makes a cheddar apple pie [flavor] every September," one user wrote. "It’s incredible, and I wait all year for it!" Another called it "a classic [old-fashioned] treat, in New England anyway." Finally: "Growing up in Hawaii, I thought everyone ate apple pie this way. Got mocked for it when we moved to the mainland."

Thanksgiving Eating GIF by BuzzFeedGiphy

It was actually difficult to find any food combos that weirded people out. But one in particular ("corn flakes with orange juice") did rise to the occasion, especially after Upworthy clarified that the OJ is indeed being subbed in for milk. (It’s with no pulp, by the way.) Two favorite responses to culinary confusion: "I’m calling the police" and "I’ve dialed the 9 and the 1…"

Take a look at the full Instagram post and see which combos spark your curiosity. For me, it’s definitely "Louisiana hot sauce on popcorn"—I will definitely be trying this out next time, and I'm a little mad that I hadn't thought of it.

In other Internet food news: Last year, Upworthy rounded up 29 controversial food takes, as initiated by an X thread. Naturally, "pineapple on pizza" made an appearance, but there were also debates centered around sweet potatoes, candy corn, coffee, boneless chicken wings, and staple fast-food restaurants like Burger King, Taco Bell, and McDonald’s.

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Science

Permaculture expert shares how he transformed his average yard into a 'food paradise'

It's amazing how much you can grow on 1/3 of an acre.

Andrew Millison/YouTube

Andrew Millison's yard went from average lawn to abundant garden.

Fifteen years ago, Andrew Millison's yard looked like most average suburban American yards with a row rose bushes, a few trees, and a basic green lawn that had to be mowed and watered—good for running around and picnicking on, but not much else.

Today, it couldn't be more different or more productive. Where there used to be grass, now there's a "multi-layered permaculture food forest" that serves both Millison's family and their neighbors. In a video tour of his property in Oregon's Willamette Valley, the permaculture expert shares the five strategies he used to design his edible landscape.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

But first, what does permaculture mean?

Permaculture refers to sustainable agricultural and design practices that work with nature rather than against it. Permaculture practices include observing and learning from natural ecosystems and creating purposeful systems that emulate them.

For instance, huge fields filled with neat rows of all one kind of crop might make planting and harvesting more efficient, but nothing in nature actually grows that way on its own. Agriculture that goes against nature means having to work hard to keep away pests, manage water distribution carefully, etc. Permaculture aligns human action with the diversity, stability and resilience that make healthy landscapes productive and self-sustaining long-term.

Here are the five strategies Millison used to do that right in his own yard:

1. Create productive edges

Edges of yards and gardens are usually decorative, but Millison's yard edges are almost entirely made of trees and shrubs that produce fruit or other food. From cherries to blackberries to fennel to grapes and more, he created "a solid corridor of food" for him and his community to enjoy. He even has an apple tree that grew out of a crack in the sidewalk. As neighbors walk by, they can partake of the abundance.

Andrew Millison at the edge of his yardThe community benefits from the food growing at the edges of Andrew Millison's sidewalk.Andrew Millison/YouTube

His cherry tree is grafted with four different varieties so they ripen at different times throughout the season. He also has a fig tree that he planted in the south-facing part of the yard to take advantage of the increased heat reflected off the sidewalk.

2. Plant food everywhere

We're used to thinking of a gardens as a distinct part of a yard, not the whole thing, but why? Millison makes use of the land he has by planting food literally everywhere—front yard, side yard, back yard, all of it.

Millison has perennial plants like his artichokes, which means he doesn't have to replant them every year. He also has an annual garden patch, growing things like lettuce, zucchini, broccoli and more, which he harvests from every day during growing season.

flower gardenFood and flowers and native foliage fill the landscape.Andrew Millison/YouTube

3. Diversity of plants

Hyperdiversity is an important strategy, says Millison. Flowers and native plants are a big part of the food-bearing ecosystem, not only attracting pollinators but also supporting insect predator and prey relationships, keeping pests at bay in the garden.

"So I not only have the cultivated ecosystem of exotic food and flowering plants, but I have the ecological matrix of a native, intact system as well," says Millison.


bees on a honeycombMillison's bees help pollinate the whole neighborhood.Andrew Millison/YouTube

Along with the diversity of flowers, Millison also keeps bee hives. The bees pollinate the garden and provide honey (which he puts in his tea he makes with the overabundance of fresh mint he has growing). And because their range is about a mile, the bees from Millison's hives help pollinate his neighbor's gardens as well.

4. Chicken rotation system

Bees aren't the only animal Millison tends to in his permaculture garden. His chickens also play a big role in fertilization, weeding and tilling of the soil, thanks to a rotation system he uses season to season. During the summer, they stay in a paddock where their activity prepares the soil for a winter crop that will be planted there. After the harvest in the fall, they move to the main garden area where they do the same thing, preparing the soil for the next summer's planting.

"Having the chickens move back and forth between these gardens creates a wonderful synergy where the chickens take care of a lot of the important garden work so I don't need to do it," he says.


Chicken paddockChickens take a lot of the work out of soil preparation.Andrew Millison/YouTube

The chickens have a coop that can be accessed from either area and which is also connected to the greenhouse, which is part of Millison's final strategy.

5. Create microclimates

Millison's small lot has about 50 trees planted on it, but it's designed as a "solar bowl" so that all of the plants get the amount of sunlight they need.

A microclimate element familiar to most of us is the greenhouse, and Millison's greenhouse is made from mostly recycled materials. It stays much warmer than the outside, enabling him to keep citrus trees, desert foliage and other plants that don't do well with prolonged below-freezing temperatures. (His greenhouse even has a jade plant from a cutting he got from Jerry Garcia(of The Grateful Dead.)


inside a greenhouseThe chicken nesting boxes open up into the greenhouse.Andrew Millison/YouTube

In an example of the whole permaculture design working together, the chickens' nesting boxes in their coop are attached to and open up into the greenhouse for easy collection.

"You know, your quality of life really goes up when you surround yourself with gardens, with nature," says Millison. "I find my peace in going out here and gardening. It's my hobby. I have a lot of creative energy out here as well. It's a wholesome feeling and it's a secure feeling."

Millison says the garden does help with their grocery bill and there's nothing like eating something fresh that literally just been picked. But it's also about sharing, he says.

"I've got a school down the block. The kids are always walking by, they're eating all the berries and fruits on the sidewalk. I've got neighbors coming over—I'm always sharing my surplus. It's a really good way to build community with your neighbors."

Imagine if everyone's yards were used to grow food this way. You can learn more about Millison's expertise and other permaculture projects around the world on his YouTube channel as well as his website at andrewmillison.com.

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Pop Culture

TikTok star's surprising method for finding good Chinese food blew people's minds

Yelp can be a helpful tool for scoping out food joints, but maybe not in the way you think.

Photo by Debbie Tea on Unsplash

Different cultures view service differently.

Content creator Freddy Wong has a brilliantly easy way to find authentic Chinese food. As he reveals in a mega viral video that’s racked up 9.4 million views on TikTok and 7.7 million views on Twitter, the trick (assuming you live in a major metropolitan area) is to “go on Yelp and look for restaurants with 3.5 stars, and exactly 3.5 stars." Not 3. Not 4. 3.5.

He then backs up his argument with some pretty undeniable photo evidence. First, he pulls up an image of a Yelp page from P.F. Chang’s. With only 2.5 stars, one can tell the food is “obviously bad.” Alternatively, Din Tai Fung—a globally recognized Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant—has four stars.

Sounds good right? Wrong. In this case, “too many stars” means that “too many white people like it,” indicating that the restaurant is being judged on service rather than food quality. According to Wong, if “the service is too good, the food is not as good as it could be.”

He then pulls up the Yelp page for a couple of local Chinese restaurants, both of which have 3.5 stars. The waiters at these establishments might “not pay attention to you,” he admits, adding that they might even be “rude.” But, Wong attests, “it’s going to taste better.”

@rocketjump

Why I only go to Chinese restaurants with 3.5 star ratings

♬ original sound - RocketJump

"The dumplings here are better [than Din Tai Fung's]. I've been here," he says of the 3.5 star Shanghai Dumpling House. Considering his Twitter profile boasts a “James Beard Award winning KBBQ Gourmand'' title, it seems like he knows what he’s talking about.

So, why is this 3.5 rule the “sweet spot”? As Wong explains, it all comes down to different “cultural expectations.”

“In Asia, they’re not as proactive. They’re not going to come up to you, they’re not going to just proactively give you refills, you need to flag down the waiter,” he says, noting the different interpretations of service.

"People on Yelp are insufferable,” he continues, arguing that “they're dinging all these restaurants because the service is bad,” but the food is so good that it balances out the bad service. Hence, a 3.5-star rating. His reasoning is arguably sound—people do often give absurdly scathing reviews that in no way accurately reflect a restaurant’s food quality.

“A good Yelp review doesn’t mean it’s a good restaurant — it simply means the restaurant is good at doing things that won’t hurt their online rating,” Wong said in an interview with Today, adding that “highly rated Yelp restaurants are often those with counter service and limited menus, minimizing potential negative interaction with staff.”

He also added the caveat, “I don’t have anything against those places, but I think people who only eat at the ‘highest rated’ restaurants on online review sites are only eating at the most boring restaurants.”

A ton of people in the comments seem to back Wong’s theory.

best chinese food

100% accurate, some say

TikTok

Plus, the theory seems to not be limited to just Chinese restaurants, further implying that maybe there’s more of a cultural misunderstanding, rather than any real lack of quality.

thai food near me

No drink refills but the food is fire.

TikTok

yelp reviews, yelp

2.8 is the new 5

TikTok

One of the gifts that our modern world provides is the opportunity to truly experience and appreciate other cultures. Since food is easily one of the most accessible (and enjoyable) ways to do that, perhaps we should prioritize seeking authenticity, rather than rely on a flawed and superficial rating system.

As Wong told Today, “I hope it encourages people to go out and eat more food from not only Chinese restaurants, but restaurants representing the whole world of cultural cuisines.”


This article originally appeared three years ago.

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