50 Leftover Egg Yolk Recipes

Save this collection of 50 Egg Yolk Recipes for the next time you have leftover egg yolks to use up!

leftover egg yolk recipes collage

Using Up Leftover Egg Yolks

In the Stuff I’ve Googled series, we find ways to use up all those pesky leftover ingredients that tend to sit in our fridge until that dreadful moment when we uncover their moldy remains from behind the yogurt and strawberry jam containers.

Here’s what we’ve covered so far:

Today, we’re tackling Leftover Egg Yolk Recipes!

If you’ve spent any amount of time baking or cooking, I’m sure you’ve experienced this conundrum. You made Peanut Butter Meringue Pie or an Egg White Mushroom Omelet or Almond Joy Cookies, and now you’re left with a bowl full of sunny leftover egg yolks.

In this post we’ll cover how to store and use egg yolks in a variety of recipes, so whether you have one or six egg yolks, you can be certain they’ll be put to good use!

What are egg yolks used for?

Egg yolks are great for adding richness to everything from pasta to ice cream to breads. An extra egg yolk is also the secret ingredient to irresistibly chewy cookies.

Don’t feel like turning on the oven? Use those extra egg yolks to make your own mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce.

I’ve even included a recipe for hair superfood, because, let’s face it, who couldn’t use a little extra shine after these brutal winter days?

Can you refrigerate egg yolks? How long do egg yolks last?

Absolutely. Leftover raw egg yolks can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. If you can avoid breaking the yolk, it’s always nice to store them whole so you can see how many you have. (Pssst- an egg separator can help with this).

Otherwise, be sure to mark how many yolks are in the container before refrigerating.

Unfortunately, egg yolks do not freeze well, so I recommend storing them in the fridge and using them within a few days!

Recipes with Egg Yolks

Recipes Using 1 Egg Yolk

Slice of chocolate bundt cake taken out of cake

The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake from NeighborFood

Recipes Using 2 Egg Yolks

Recipes Using 3 Egg Yolks

pile of homemade amish egg noodles on a plate

Homemade Egg Noodles from NeighborFood

Recipes Using 4 Egg Yolks

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict from Or Whatever You Do

Recipes Using 5 Egg Yolks

Chocolate Tart on a cooling rack

Chocolate Tart on Shortbread Crust from Umami Girl

Recipes Using 6 Egg Yolks

Slice of Margarita Pie

Margarita Pie from Baking Sense

Need to use up leftover egg yolks? I've got over 50 leftover egg yolk recipes to put them to good to use!

29 Comments

  1. I recently baked and I have 2 eggs and 8 yolks to use and since they are mixed I’m wanting to use them but don’t know how exact some of the recipes are since they call for just yolk and mine are mixed together. Any that would be okay with a little bit of whites?

    1. Cookies would be a great recipe to try that in! They can definitely use whites, but benefit from the richness of egg yolks.

  2. Thanks for this compilation, I found my recipe… Just one thing: I’d perhaps leave out the ones where you need both yolk and white, even if used separated.

  3. Thanks a lot for sharing list of cool recipes Courtney! First of all i’ll try Challah Bread, Crepe Suzette Crepe Cake and Greek Lemon Soup with Chicken and Orzo! I’m also gonna pin this post on my Pinterest board my followers will love it.

  4. Courtney, so fun to see that this post of yours brought quite a few people to my blog yesterday! It was great to spend the last couple days with you! You are truly a sweet sweet person! thanks again for the share! Sheila

    1. That’s awesome Sheila! I’m so glad. It was so lovely to meet you. I wish I had more time to chat with you! I was hoping to talk to you more about your experience with adoption. It’s something my husband and I are both passionate about. We’ll have to stay connected online!

  5. Came by for Chocolate and PB Day and this caught my eye – EVERY morning my 12 year son wants 2 eggs – straight up or on a sandwich of some sort – minus the yolks (doesn’t like them) – I feel guilty that I usually throw them away – THIS IS AWESOME! I kept meaning to make a list of uses, in addition to the ones off the top of my head…and you did it for me! Smaaa-oooch!

  6. You’ve totally got our back, girl. I’m always wondering what to do with extra yolks! I’ve got to pin this post so that I always have this list handy. I just read your reply to Danielle’s question – I’m notorious for putting eggs yolks in the fridge and seeing them a week later, all flaky ‘n dried ‘n gross. No more wasted yolks for me!

  7. Thank you for sharing this! I soooo need it ๐Ÿ™‚ Out of curiosity – how long can you keep an egg yolk in the fridge before it goes bad – not that I have one waiting to be used or anything ๐Ÿ˜‰

    1. I was trying to make a baked alaska with meringue but I messed up horribly and I was crying and feeling really bad because I cant make anything this really helped me thankyou.

      1. Wait you cooked Alaska is that what global warming really is? Itโ€™s ok mistakes are ok at least thatโ€™s what my mom told me!

    2. I think you can keep them in there until they spoil not that you needed to know because you donโ€™t have any ๐Ÿ˜‰

  8. LOVE this roundup! Such a great idea (because I always seem to have leftover egg yolks).

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