Whipping together deviled eggs without chicken eggs might seem downright impossible, right? Indeed, it’s challenging to mimic the same texture and taste of this timeless dish without, say, eggs. I mean, seriously. How can you make deviled eggs without the eggs, you may wonder? Leave it to vegan chef Tabitha Brown to dream up a plant-based, foolproof recipe to recreate deviled eggs that are so good you won’t even miss a thing about the original recipe.

In an Instagram post with nearly a million views, Brown shares how she came up with the unlikely combo—mushrooms and pickles—that turned out to be the secret recipe to making this deviled egg alternative as delicious as possible. “There are two things I miss being vegan: I miss seafood, and I miss a deviled egg,” Brown says. “I had a dream that I made vegan deviled eggs. In my dream, I had used white mushroom caps and stuffed them with an egg-like mixture.”

Yep, that’s right, Brown is a visionary (even in her sleep) when it comes to turning some of our all-time favorite dishes into delicious vegan lunch ideas. More ahead on how to master these vegan deviled eggs—and be warned, your family members will chase you down for the recipe once they try them too.

What are vegan deviled eggs made of?

A few components are key to making deviled eggs delicious: A hard-boiled egg white exterior houses a dollop of perfectly whipped yolks seasoned with a few flavorful ingredients like mustard and mayonnaise. Of course, making a vegan version might pose one small challenge—namely, finding a replacement for the egg. That said, vegan chef Tabitha Brown doesn’t back down from this challenge. Instead, she discovered that mushrooms, pickle juice, and chickpeas were exactly what she needed to make a vegan version of deviled eggs. And believe us when we say you won’t be able to get enough of ’em.

What is the best vegan egg substitute?

First and foremost, the recipe requires a bit of preparation, so make sure you give yourself ample time to prepare them. The night before you intend on making these non-dairy deviled eggs, Brown recommends starting by soaking white mushroom caps (cleaned and without the stems) in a jar of leftover pickle juice overnight. According to her, this part is essential for achieving the appropriate texture and briny flavor in the “eggs.” BTW, if you’re unsure how to clean mushrooms properly—we’ve got you covered. According to the pros (namely, chefs), one of the simplest ways to clean ‘em is by either wiping them with a mildly damp towel or, better yet, gently brushing them with a pastry brush. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

So, once the shrooms are good to go, Brown gets to work on the filling. To make it, she blends chickpeas and vegan mayonnaise until creamy. Then, the fun part: She transfers the mixture into a bowl and adds loads of delicious flavoring ingredients. This includes black salt (which has an egg-like taste), mustard, and some spices, like dill weed, black salt, sweet relish, and garlic powder.

Although she doesn’t share the exact measurements of the ingredients per se, it’s easy to make when following along as she whips it all together in her video. Thank you, pause button. But of course, as any chef would tell you: taste what you’re making as you go—and adjust the seasoning accordingly, which Brown does several times as she tests the recipe in what she dubs “Tabs Lab.” For her, the key ingredients that make all of the difference in this recipe were the black salt, mustard, and sweet relish.

Are there vegan hard-boiled eggs?

Did someone say best egg substitutes? Of course, we’re big fans of Brown’s mushroom vegan deviled eggs for obvious reasons: They’re downright delicious, and they’re a great way to make the most out of the container of shrooms on the brink of turning into a sad, soggy mess in the fridge. That said, we’ve recently discovered the first-ever hard-boiled “egg” #duuuupe that’ll help take your vegan deviled eggs to the next level. Enter WunderEggs.

From an appearance perspective, the similarity between hard-boiled chicken eggs and WunderEggs is uncanny: It’s nearly impossible to tell them apart. What’s more, the nut-based eggs are delicious and are free of seven of the top eight allergens. They’re also made with wholesome plant-based ingredients like cashews, almonds, and coconuts. Plus, they have the same texture and consistency as a chicken egg—rubbery whites and powdery yolks—that’ll make preparing vegan deviled eggs even easier. Sign us up. 

So, how do these vegan deviled eggs stack up against the OG ones?

When Brown paired pickle juice-infused shrooms with a creamy and savory chickpea filling, even she was shocked at how much it tasted like non-vegan deviled eggs. Indeed, while Brown and her followers have been loving this recipe (just watch the video for the best taste-testing reaction ever), they’re not the only ones. Even celebrity Eva Longoria got in on the fun: “It feels like an egg, it tastes like an egg, and it’s vegan,” Longoria says as she shares her thoughts in this Instagram video. “This changed my life,” she says. If that’s not convincing enough, we don’t know what is.

(Pro tip: If the mushroom caps are floating to the top while marinating in the fridge, Longoria says to turn the jar upside down. Genius.) Try making vegan deviled eggs for yourself using the recipe below and serve them as an appetizer for a vegan sheet pan dinner or on a platter at your next shindig.

Tabitha Brown’s vegan deviled eggs

Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
5 white mushroom caps1 jar of leftover pickle juice2 tsp black salt (divided for the juice and the filling)1 can chickpeas2 Tbsp vegan mayo (adjust to taste)1 Tsp dill weed (adjust to taste)2 Tbsp sweet relish (adjust to taste)1 Tbsp yellow mustard (adjust to taste)1 Tsp garlic powder (adjust to taste)1 Tsp paprika, for garnish

1. Thoroughly clean the white mushrooms and remove their stems. Then, submerge the caps in a jar of leftover pickle juice with a pinch of black salt. If they aren’t fully submerged in the liquid, flip the sealed jar upside down. Refrigerate them overnight to infuse the mushrooms with the briny flavor.

2. Once the mushrooms are ready, begin making the “yolk” mixture to fill them. In a blender, combine the chickpeas and vegan mayonnaise until smooth and creamy.

3. Then, transfer the chickpea mixture to a bowl, and sprinkle with dill weed, sweet relish, mustard, garlic powder, and black salt. Mix the ingredients together and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

4. Remove the mushroom caps from the pickle juice and set them on a plate. If they’re moving around too much on the plate, add a dollop of the chickpea mixture underneath to help hold them in place. Then, using a spoon, fill each cap with a dollop of the chickpea mixture. Lastly, garnish each vegan deviled egg with a sprinkle of paprika.

5. Enjoy immediately, or refrigerate to allow the filling to firm up.

This vegan cheesecake recipe will pair perfectly with a tray of vegan deviled eggs for your next gathering: