Scrumptious little super-food quail eggs are adorably cute and fun to use in the kitchen! You already know they scramble and taste just like chicken eggs but what about other uses? I’ve done all the experimenting to show you all the baked goods I made with the backyard-fresh eggs my Coturnix hens laid. How do quail eggs bake? Just like chicken eggs! And I’ve got the pics to prove it!
How Do Coturnix Quail Eggs Bake
It is true that the egg yolk to albumin (egg white) ratio in quail eggs is slightly different. In quail eggs the ratio is more of a balanced 50/50 while in chicken eggs there is slightly more egg white than egg yolk. Quail eggs are just slightly creamier because of this but I found absolutely no difference in baking textures or time in the oven using quail eggs. It was the exact same, so long as I used enough quail eggs to equal one chicken egg!
How Many Quail Eggs to Replace a Chicken Egg?
The recipes shown in the pictures on this page were made with ONLY Jumbo Celadon eggs and Jumbo Pharaoh eggs. (The celadon eggs are the ones that appear greenish!) I used 3 of the 15-16 gram jumbo quail eggs to replace one chicken egg. The average grocery store chicken egg is around 49 grams or 3 Tablespoons of interior content (yolk + white). Thus 3 quail eggs that are about 16 grams each puts us at 48 grams of total quail yolk + white egg content. This is so close to the average chicken egg content that it will not negatively impact most recipes. You CAN add a tiny amount of water to the quail eggs if needed.
Quail Eggs to Chicken Eggs by Volume
If you simply want to replace a chicken egg by volume, you need 3 Tablespoons of combined quail eggs to equal one grocery store white chicken egg. It is fine to go over and have up to 4 Tablespoons of quail eggs for your recipe. (3.25 Tbsp would be equivalent to a Large Brown egg weighing 56 grams and 4 Tbsp is equal to an Extra Large Brown egg weighing 63 grams.) While grocery store eggs look uniform, they are not all the exact same gram weight and baked goods turn out just fine so long as you are between 3-4 Tablespoons of total quail eggs per chicken egg replaced.
Opt for Jumbo Quail Eggs
I very much encourage keeping Jumbo Coturnix quail because I find their larger eggs are easier to use in the kitchen. Quail egg scissors are an absolute must and larger quail eggs are simply easier to cut and dump out without getting shell pieces everywhere. This can take a little practice so I always pour the quail egg contents into a separate dish so I can spoon out any little shell fragments.
Yes, Quail Eggs Can Fully Replace Chicken Eggs in Baking!
I have tried a number of baking recipes using quail eggs and I simply cannot get the recipe to mess up. My Easy Royal Icing recipe, which calls for a chicken egg white, worked beautifully with the quail egg whites! The cookies all turned out phenomenal, tasting exactly as they should, the quail egg gingerbread cut outs with the quail egg white royal icing tasted divine and my family’s pastry dough recipe worked flawlessly with quail eggs. Nothing I baked with quail eggs messed up at all – everything came out perfectly as if it had been made with chicken eggs!
My Family Could Not Tell the Difference
I did a side-by-side batch of chocolate chip cookies, one made with chicken eggs and one made with quail eggs. I had them labeled in ziplock bags and had my family and some extended family try them. The quail egg chocolate chip cookies were nearly gone before anyone bothered to read what I had written in Sharpie on the bag. For those who did get to do a side-by-side taste test, the quail egg cookies actually won!
The Stuff Dessert Dreams are Made Of
I highly suspect that the slightly higher yolk-to-whites ratio in quail eggs makes desserts just a smidgen better. Cookies tasted decadent, pastries were rich and buttery and boxed cake mixes turned out lovely, cupcakes or otherwise!
Quail Eggs are Kid Approved
Baked goods are hands-down the best way to get your family to try quail eggs for the first time. Quail eggs do not taste gamey and in baked goods they perform just like chicken eggs. It is a wonderful way to introduce a new food to your children if they are at all hesitant.
What Else Have You Tried Baking with Quail Eggs?
Muffins? Check! Egg wash? Check! Fritata? Check! They all turned out delicious and taste just like they were made with chicken eggs. I have not yet found anything that is ruined if I swap quail eggs for chicken eggs. Everything turns out tasting delicious, as expected!
Food Allergy Friendly
There are many people with chicken egg allergies who find they can eat quail eggs without any reaction whatsoever! This can be a pleasant discovery for those who have gone without eating egg-based dishes and most baked goods for years.
Recipe Halving Made Easy
Do you have a recipe that calls for one full chicken egg and wished you could halve it? Quail eggs make that so much easier! Simply use 1.5 Tablespoons of combined quail eggs to equal one half of a chicken egg. Saves time and is less wasteful for when you need a smaller portion!
Are Quail Eggs Easy to Separate?
Separating quail egg yolks from the whites is as simple as using the tip of a spoon and lifting the yolk out of the white once you have poured the entire egg into a shallow dish. I did not have any of the yolks break and was pleasantly surprised the yolk lifted out quite easily.
Quail Eggs Bake Just Like Chicken Eggs!
I hope this article about how quail eggs bake has been encouraging! I promise, quail eggs bake just like chicken eggs. When I lived in my house in the suburbs, I very much wish I had known about Coturnix quail. They are sweet little birds who are truly fun to keep and the supply of fresh eggs from your own backyard (that the HOA is not even aware of) is such a delight! If you have homesteading dreams, seriously consider Coturnix quail keeping!
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