The good news is that differences in egg sizes are surprisingly small, so unless you are baking, casual substitutions are easy.
When Size Doesn't Matter
If your recipe doesn't depend on the right proportions of eggs to succeed, such as, making a frittata, a strata, or using a beaten egg to coat cutlets, use whatever size egg you have on hand. If that recipe happens to call for large quantities of eggs, you can use the substitution chart below for a little better accuracy.
When Size Does Matter
If your recipe depends on the proportion of eggs to succeed, such as baking a cake or making custard, and you do not have the large eggs the recipe calls for, you will want to measure the volume of your substitute eggs (blend them first), and use the amount equivalent to what the large eggs would have yielded.
- 1 large egg, beaten = 3 ¼ tablespoons
- 2 large eggs, beaten = 6 ½ tablespoons
- 3 large eggs, beaten = 9 2/3 tablespoons
- 4 large eggs, beaten = 12 ¾ tablespoons
- 5 large eggs, beaten = 1 cup
In non-baking recipes, if you are substituting only one, two, or three extra large or medium eggs for large eggs, simply make a one to one direct substitution. Beyond that, use these equivalents
- In place of 4 large eggs, use 4 extra large or 5 medium eggs
- In place of 5 large eggs, use 4 extra large or 6 medium eggs
- In place of 6 large eggs, use 5 extra large or 7 medium eggs
