Alternative to egg for binding?

[iLovee]

Hello! My little boy has an egg allergy and is also obsessed with chicken nuggets at the moment. In an attempt to make them less UPF I would like to make them from scratch. Previously I've used egg to bind the breadcrumbs but obviously can't now (severe reaction to raw egg so not worth the risk!)

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks 😀

Milk?

Milk.

Oh really?! That seems so simple!!

Would it just be a like for like swap or do I need to do anything fancy?

Thanks 🥰

Flour, yogurt, breadcrumbs .

I tried it on pork escalopes when I ran out of eggs, & it worked.
Edit, plain full-fat yogurt.

Out there suggestion maybe but dh can't have dairy so we sometimes use chick pea water (the stuff from tinned chick peas).

I've just started to negotiate an egg allergy. I've tried aqua faba and milk for breadcrumbing. Both work as well as egg.

Mustard and mayonnaise mixed is good, you can't really taste the mustard when it's cooked if your DS finds it hot

Thanks @CurlewKate I had a brain fart and couldn't remember the proper word 😅

I've used flour & milk or water when I've not had any eggs and I've seen people recommend vegan mayo but I've not tried that myself yet. I have got some in the fridge, might give that a go some time .I'm not vegan but was given a free sample & really liked it.

An alternative to breadcrumbs and binder is gram flour if you are going to fry instead of bake.
A layer of flour will stick, just on the moisture of the meat, without any binder, and puffs a little as it fries. Season it well before applying. It gives a lovely coating.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I'll report back his favourite when we've had a chance to try them all 😀

@FestiveAuntFanny Mayonnaise is egg but thank you for the suggestion ☺️

@CurlewKate how are you finding it lovey? It was a minefield for us at first but he's responding reasonably well to the egg ladder so I'm hopeful he will outgrow it at least a little bit 🤞

Ooh this sounds interesting! Do you know if it can be airfryed or just shallow fry?

@iLovee you can get vegan mayo it's not bad actually

@iLovee Bizarrely, the new egg allergy in our family is my middle aged partner! A complete surprise. He is currently in mourning for Yorkshire pudding.....

yoghurt or quark both work well.

Oooh thanks! Would that work the same way as binding as normal mayo? Going to have to do a lot of experimenting!

@CurlewKate blimey your poor partner!

It's a huge adjustment isn't it?! I never realised how much stuff egg is in!!

I've used mayonnaise with a bit of tomato purée stirred in before, works fine and gives a bit of taste (yoghurt or crème freiche would work too)

You can make Yorkies with aquafaba too. Not quite the same but better than missing out completely.

Forgot to say vegan mayo! Heinz one is good

@iLovee I know! And one of my hobbies is baking....😮 He had a life changing injury a couple of years ago, and his consultant said there's new research suggesting that adult trauma can trigger allergies in the following years. How that works I can't begin to imagine!

Try a vegan Yorkshire pudding mix, or you can make them with a mix of chickpea flour and normal flour

@CurlewKate oh I am so, so sorry. What a terrible thing to have happened 😔 sending lots of love to you and your partner 🩷

You've probably come across this already being a keen baker (I'm not at all, can barely turn my oven on 🤪) but I've just bought this book too for inspiration

Air frying is just a hot bake really: the gram flour needs more fat to puff up I'm afraid, so either give it a really good spray before sir frying or shallow fry it.

Egg allergy in the family so we use yogurt which turns out fine. Vegan mayo is also quite good.

@CurlewKate can he tolerate well baked egg? A majority of individuals with egg allergy can tolerate well baked egg in a flour matrix but this should only be explored under medical supervision.

We have had years of egg free baking and can’t use aquafaba. We can still eat most things so I’m happy to give advice if I can.