How To

Recipes for using up your leftover egg yolks (and how to store spares)

Souffle's, pavlovas and meringues will leave you with a heap of leftover egg yolks. We have the solution.
lemon curd

In the culinary world, there are a number of well known that call for mostly egg whites like sweet meringue stacks or breakfast omelettes.

However, to avoid any food wastage when separating your eggs, it’s important to have a few tricks up your sleeve when dealing with leftover yolks.

How to store them

Any leftover egg yolks should be put in airtight containers and stored in the refrigerator immediately.

To stop your yolks from drying out in the fridge, cover them with a little cold water. Be sure to drain the water before you use them. Make sure you use your yolks within 2-3 days.

Some people like to freeze their yolks, in a similar way to storing egg whites, but this can dry your yolks out – it’s safer to store in the fridge.

Embrace custard desserts

Egg yolks are the key ingredient to creating a beautifully creamy homemade custard, and whether you enjoy it on it’s own, drizzled over a warm apple crumble, or included as a centre for your homemade pies and tarts, custard is an extremely useful cooking skill to nail.

Try using your leftover egg yolks in an authentic French creme brulee recipe,

Homemade custard is the basis for ice-cream, like this passionfruit ice-cream.

Apple blackberry crunch crumble pie

This gorgeous apple crunch pie with vanilla bean custard uses yolks in the custard and crust.

Whip up a pudding

Whether you’re making softer puddings with a custard-like consistency, or something more solid, most pudding recipes will call for either all egg yolks or a mix of both yolk and whole eggs.

Soft-centered puddings like lava or chocolate molten cakes often request egg yolks. And, any excuse for some chocolate-indulgence, we’ll take.

Zesty lemon curd

Whether you enjoy your homemade lemon curd recipe dolloped atop fresh pikelets or used as a filling for your gorgeous little homemade tarts, lemon curd relies on the richness of egg yolks for its thick and creamy consistency.

A basic recipe will call for lemon juice and rind, butter, sugar and egg yolks – things most people can get their hands on easily. So next time you’re baking, try experimenting with a homemade zesty curd.

Lemon Curd

Classic lemon curd is definitely one recipe worth mastering.

Make some mayo

Homemade mayonnaise, with its creamy, smooth texture and tangy flavour is an excellent condiment to have on-hand. It compliments many dishes, whether it’s spread atop burgers or used as a dipping sauce for your salt and pepper squid.

From here, you can flavour your basic mayonnaise recipe with anything you like for a super tasty condiment. Try adding fresh mint or spicy harissa for an extra flavour-punch, or keep it classic with some crushed garlic for a versatile aioli recipe.

Jazz up breakfast time

Egg yolks happen to be the key ingredient in hollandaise sauce, the rich, creamy sauce that goes brilliantly drizzled over eggs and smoked salmon or ham in a traditional Eggs Benedict recipe.

You can also use hollandaise as a dipping sauce for your toast soldiers, or serve it drizzled over delicate smoked salmon, if you like.

Related stories




Fruit flies on an apple
How To

How to get rid of fruit flies

Fruit flies taken up residence in your fruit bowl? We talked to our Test Kitchen team of experts, for their chemical-free solutions for not getting bugged by bugs this summer.

rump steak with fries
How To

How to cook rump steak

Of the many cuts of steak you can cook on the barbecue, rump gets our thumbs up as a good-all-rounder, for its generous flavour and slightly firmer texture, and did we mention it is also a less expensive cut of steak than many other varieties?