By now, most of us realize that including more plant-based food in our diets doesn’t mean we have to forgo our favorite breakfast meals — even those that are classically heavy on meat and eggs. Not only can you find vegan breakfast sausage in stores, it’s also easy to make your own at home using plant-based proteins like seitan. You can make plant-based varieties of bacon like Tempeh Bacon, Carrot Bacon, Mushroom Bacon, Rice Paper Bacon, and others. For eggs, you can recreate classics like scrambled eggs using tofu, and omelets can be made using chickpea flour.

But one chef has taken plant-based eggs to the next level. Doug McNish, the man in the above video, is the author of the award-winning cookbook Vegan Everyday: 500 Delicious Recipes and the owner and Executive Chef at Toronto-based vegan restaurant Public Kitchen. He realized that while most traditional egg dishes are easily made vegan, there was one in particular that he wanted to replicate: the runny egg yolk that’s typically served on breakfast classics such as eggs Benedict or its variation, eggs Florentine. By using a molecular gastronomy process that he refers to as “spherificaion” he was able to make it happen.

To make the runny egg yolk served on top of the Vegan Benedict at Public Kitchen, McNish blended nutritional yeast with black salt, an ingredient that gives egg-free dishes an eggy flavor. We’re not gonna lie, McNish’s vegan egg yolk is a little scarily realistic, but it’s a culinary experience that we would be down for.

You can make vegan eggs at home!

You may not be able to practice molecular gastronomy in your own home, but you can make these Sunny Side Up Fried “Eggs” made from mashed potatoes, nutritional yeast, black salt, and powdered egg replacer. Or, try these plant-based Hardboiled “Eggs” or these Deviled Veggs. For even more ideas on how to veganize your favorite egg dishes, check out 15 Delicious Egg Recipes That are Are Better Without Eggs and these vegan egg recipes.

We also highly recommend you download our Food Monster App, which is available for both Android and iPhone, and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. The app has more than 8,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to ten new recipes per day. Check it out!

Lead image source: Mercy For Animals/Facebook