What Are Dried eggs and How Can I Use Them?
Wondering what to do with dried eggs? This guide covers how to pick them, cook them, store them, and swap them, plus 1 recipe to put them to work.
Key Points
- Dried eggs are whole pasteurized eggs, yolk included, dehydrated into a shelf-stable powder.
- About 2 tablespoons powder plus 2 tablespoons warm water rehydrates one large egg.
- A real one-for-one swap for fresh eggs in scrambles, baking, and binding, not just foam.
- It will not whip into a tall foam; use fresh whites when a recipe needs lift.
- Sealed it keeps for years; refrigerate an opened can and use within a few months.
What are dried eggs?
Dried eggs are whole eggs, white and yolk together, pasteurized and dehydrated into a pale yellow powder. Add water back and you have something close to a beaten whole egg, ready to scramble or stir into batter.
Unlike powdered white, this is the full egg, so it carries the yolk's fat and color and rich flavor. That makes it a real one-for-one stand-in for fresh eggs in cooking and baking, not just a foaming agent.
The draw is shelf life and convenience. A sealed can keeps for years without refrigeration, which is why dried eggs are a staple for camping, backpacking, emergency stores, and military rations.
For everything about fresh eggs, see the /recipes/eggs hub.
Reconstituting and Cooking
The standard ratio is about 2 tablespoons of egg powder whisked into 2 tablespoons of warm water to rehydrate one large egg. Let it stand a minute so the powder absorbs evenly, then use it as you would a cracked egg.
For baking, you can skip the rehydrating step. Whisk the dry powder into the flour and add its share of water to the wet ingredients, which is how it folds into a batter like this Steamed Brownie Cake.
Reconstituted, it scrambles, binds meatloaf, and enriches pancakes. On the trail, a few tablespoons of powder plus water gives you scrambled eggs with nothing to keep cold.
What to Expect
Dried whole egg does not whip into a tall foam the way fresh whites do, since the yolk fat in the mix interferes with the foam. Use fresh whites when a recipe depends on lift.
Reconstituted eggs can taste faintly sulfurous or flat next to fresh, more noticeable in a plain scramble than buried in a cake. Cooking with butter and seasoning covers most of the difference.
The usual mistake is lumps. Sprinkle the powder over the water and whisk, rather than dumping water on a mound, or you get gritty pockets that never dissolve.
Substitutes
Fresh whole eggs are the obvious swap, one large egg for each reconstituted one, whenever refrigeration is not the issue.
For binding in a bake without any egg, a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax in 3 tablespoons water) or ¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce stands in, though neither sets or scrambles like real egg.
Buying and Storing
Look for dried whole egg with camping and emergency-food supplies or from baking suppliers, sold in cans and pouches.
Sealed and stored cool and dry, an unopened can keeps for several years, with nitrogen-flushed cans rated the longest.
Once opened, reseal it airtight and keep it away from heat and humidity. Many makers suggest refrigerating an opened can and using it within a few months. Any reconstituted egg is perishable, so cook it promptly and refrigerate leftovers.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 干蛋
- British (UK) term
- Dried eggs
- en français
- œufs en poudre
- en español
- huevos secos
Recipes using dried eggs
There are 1 recipe that contain this ingredient.
Steamed Brownie Cake
A fudgy chocolate brownie cake steamed in a pot-within-a-pot using shelf-stable ingredients like dried eggs and buttermilk powder. Ideal for camping, off-grid baking, or when you don't have an oven.
