Skip to content
FriendsPantry
Egg (ingredient)

Eggs & dairy · Eggs

Egg

The hen's egg: a kitchen workhorse that binds, leavens, enriches, emulsifies and sets, or stars on its own.

Also called: hen's egg, whole egg, chicken egg

Around the world: yumurta (tr) · anda, अंडा (hi) · huevo (es) · œuf, oeuf (fr) · uovo (it) · tamago, 卵 (ja) · jidan, 鸡蛋 (zh) · gyeran, 계란 (ko) · bayd, بيض (ar)

445 recipes with it

Photo: George Chernilevsky, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-4.0)

What it is

A whole hen's egg in its shell, with a runny white surrounding a yellow-orange yolk. Shell colour (white or brown) depends on the breed of hen and says nothing about taste or quality; yolk colour reflects the hen's feed. Recipes usually assume a medium to large egg of roughly 50–60 g without the shell.

Gallus gallus domesticus (egg)

How it’s used

  • Boiled, fried, poached, scrambled or made into omelettes
  • Binding meatballs, burgers and fritters
  • Leavening and structuring cakes, sponges and soufflés
  • Glazing pastry and bread as an egg wash
  • Coating for breadcrumbed or battered foods

Characteristics

Taste
Mild and rich; the yolk is savoury and buttery, the white neutral.
Texture
Liquid when raw; sets from tender and wobbly to firm and rubbery as heat rises.
When cooked
Whites set first and yolks a little later; overcooking makes whites rubbery and turns hard-boiled yolks grey-green at the edge. Very fresh eggs poach neatly but are hard to peel when boiled.
Sold as
fresh, powder, liquid
Cooking uses
Commonly cooked, Suitable for baking, Suitable for frying, Suitable for boiling, Used for binding, Used for leavening

Kinds in our pantry

Storage

Refrigerated. Keep in the box in the main body of the fridge, pointed end down, away from strong smells. A cracked egg should be used promptly in a fully cooked dish or discarded.

Diet, allergens and safety

Contains Eggs.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free
  • Contains egg, one of the most common allergens; egg also hides in pasta, mayonnaise, glazes and baked goods.
  • Raw and lightly cooked eggs can carry Salmonella. For pregnant people, babies and young children, older adults and anyone immunocompromised, use pasteurised eggs or cook until white and yolk are firm (egg dishes to 71 °C / 160 °F).
  • Wash hands after handling shells and do not use eggs with cracked or dirty shells for raw preparations.

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
143 kcal
Protein
12.56 g
Carbohydrate
0.72 g
Fat
9.51 g
Fibre
0 g
Sugars
0.37 g

USDA FoodData Central: Egg, whole, raw, fresh.

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Flax or chia 'egg' — 1 tbsp ground seed + 3 tbsp water per egg binds muffins and cookies; it does not leaven or set like egg.
  • Yogurt — About 60 g per egg adds moisture in cakes; expect a denser crumb.

Related ingredients

Recipes with egg

See all 445

433 more

More eggs