Admittedly, the first thing about VeganEgg that got me so jazzed was that the product actually comes in an egg carton. This led me to assume that VeganEggs actually looked like real eggs with a shell and everything. And come on, that would be so cool! For days as I waited patiently for the samples to arrive, my husband had to listen to me repeat things like, “HOW do they do it?! HOW do they make a SHELL? That you actually CRACK OPEN?! I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT!” Of course, everyone knows what happens when you assume. When my VeganEgg finally arrived, I tore the package open with a sense of wonder and anticipation not unlike Charlie Bucket unwrapping a Willy Wonka chocolate bar. But instead of a golden ticket, I got this: No eggs. Just a bag filled with powder. I was crestfallen, but then I decided that just because VeganEgg couldn’t be cracked open like an actual egg didn’t mean that it might not still be delicious. So I spooned 4 tablespoons of VeganEgg into a bowl, like this: The yellow color, which came from nutritional yeast, was encouraging. So was the smell and taste, which, thanks to the addition of black salt, were both faintly reminiscent of actual cooked eggs. To make the equivalent of two eggs, I followed the instructions to add 1 cup of ice-cold water and whisk until smooth. The mixture had the consistency of pancake batter. MORE: The Best Fake Packaged Cheeses Ranked I added my two VeganEggs to a hot oiled skillet, where the mixture immediately started to bubble. It kind of reminded me of pizza crust. The package instructions said that VeganEgg needed to cook for 6-8 minutes. I did as I was told, frequently stirring the mixture with a spatula. Soon, the mixture started to break into curds, similar to real scrambled eggs. The eggs seemed done after about 7 minutes, so I slid them onto my plate. They looked pretty similar to eggs! But they smelled like something else—something that, even as a writer, I have no idea how to describe. It wasn’t awful, it just wasn’t like eggs. The texture was sort of chewy and slippery. And the taste was kind of just…nothing. Perhaps I’ll try again, adding veggies like sauteed onions and bell peppers to the mix. Or I’ll save this product for baking, when cooking a filling breakfast isn’t on my morning agenda. Because there’s only 1 g of protein per egg, VeganEggs don’t really serve the same nutritional purpose as chicken eggs. (They do have 4 g of fiber per egg, which is nice! But a vegan who needs more fiber is kind of like a Wall Streeter who needs more money…)
