Learn how to make aquafaba, also known as the starchy liquid that results from cooking beans (or from a can of chickpeas), why you would want to, how to use it as an egg replacer, and so much more!
Discover the secret to incredible vegan recipes when you learn how to make and use aquafaba for whipped cream, cookies, muffins, bread, and more!
What Is Aquafaba?
Aquafaba is the starchy liquid that results from cooking beans and legumes. Most commonly, the term is used to refer to the thick, almost milky-looking liquid found when you open up a can of chickpeas. More than just water, the liquid is a culmination of protein, carbs, and other plant solids that result from cooking legumes.
Once leached out of the beans, they migrate into the cooking water, creating a gelatinous texture that is similar to liquid egg whites in appearance.
Is It Just Chickpea Water? Not quite. Aquafaba starts with a base of water. However, as the beans cook, other matter and starch leak into the water, creating a thicker brine.
How to Make Aquafaba
Learning how to make aquafaba from scratch is a fairly time-consuming process. This is because the only way to do it is to cook chickpeas from scratch. This means soaking them, cooking them, and simmering the leftover liquid to create a thick, viscous consistency.
Take a look at how to make aquafaba from scratch below.
- Soak 1 pound of dried chickpeas in water for 12-24 hours to soften. Drain the water, and rinse the chickpeas.
- In a large saucepan or pot, cook 2 cups of the chickpeas with 6 cups of water for roughly 70 minutes or according to the package instructions.
- Once cooked, let the chickpeas cool in the liquid until room temperature (this allows for more protein in the cooking water). Spoon the chickpeas with a clean slotted spoon, reserving the liquid.
- Add the liquid to a pot over medium-low heat, and simmer (reducing the liquid) until it thickens and resembles the consistency of egg whites.
Pro-Tip: To save hours of soaking and cooking beans, opt for pre-made canned chickpeas from the store! For the best results, choose reduced-sodium chickpeas, and drain them from the can, reserving the leftover liquid. If the leftover liquid is too watery and doesn’t have a thick, almost gel-like texture, add it to a saucepan over medium heat, and let it simmer until it thickens.
How to Use It
Whipped aquafaba can be used in place of whipped egg whites in recipes by folding it into the batter. Alternatively, whipped aquafaba can be used in various ways like our homemade whipped cream (recipe below) and fluffy meringue cookies!
Pro-Tip: Substitute 3 tablespoons of aquafaba for every 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of aquafaba for every 1 large egg white.
How to Make Whipped Egg Substitute
Turning plain aquafaba into an egg replacer requires just two ingredients and a few minutes, and it’s ready to use.
Ingredients:
- Aquafaba from canned chickpeas or from scratch
- Cream of tartar or white vinegar
Directions:
- Pour ½ cup to ⅔ cup aquafaba (chickpea brine) into a large mixing bowl. Remember, the consistency should resemble that of egg whites If the aquafaba is too watery, you will need to reduce the liquid down to get a thicker texture.
- Whisk the liquid into a foamy texture with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Then, add the cream of tartar.
- Whip the ingredients again on high speed until your desired fluffiness is reached and the texture is similar to soft egg whites.
Note: Save the leftover chickpeas for recipes like these chickpea blondies!
How to Make Aquafaba Whipped Cream
Looking at the recipe, you’ll notice that making aquafaba whipped cream is nearly identical to creating an aquafaba egg replacement. The only difference is the addition of two ingredients and an extra step to make it super fluffy and perfect for topping, spreading, and eating.
Ingredients:
- Aquafaba
- Cream of tartar or white vinegar
- Castor sugar or powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
Directions:
- Pour the aquafaba (chickpea brine) into a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk the liquid into a foamy texture with a hand or stand mixer. Then, add the cream of tartar.
- Whip the ingredients again on high speed until the mixture becomes fluffy and stiff peaks form.
- Add the vanilla, and turn the mixer on high. While mixing, slowly add in the sugar, whipping until the aquafaba mixture is fluffy and the sugar is completely incorporated.
Pro-Tip: You’ll know your aquafaba whipped cream is ready to use when the peaks are stiff and glossy.
Aquafaba Recipes (Ways to Use it)
- Binder – vegan meatballs
- Emulsifier – egg-free mayo or salad dressing
- Egg Replacer for Baking
- Whipped Egg White Replacer – cookies, macaroons, meringues
Note: Aquafaba will not work as well in certain baked goods such as gluten free breads.
Aquafaba Frequently Asked Questions
No, you only need to whip aquafaba if the recipe calls for whipped egg whites. Otherwise, you can just use the liquid as it is!
If you’re worried about it tasting like beans, don’t worry! It has a very mild texture that takes on the flavor of whatever it is added to. Your guests won’t even notice a difference.
Yes, cream of tartar is necessary, because its acidity prevents the proteins in the bean brine (which is similar to liquid egg whites) from bonding too tightly. As a result, it is easier to trap air bubbles, making the aquafaba fluffy and preventing the peaks from weeping once they are whipped.
Aquafaba can be used to replace egg whites in many recipes. However, it does not work well in recipes like scrambles, quiche, or omelets as a stand-alone egg replacer.
Technically, yes. However, chickpeas yield the best results as their brine is thicker and has more starch than other cooked beans.
In general, 3 tablespoons of aquafaba egg replacer can be used per 1 large egg. Or, use 2 tablespoons to replace every 1 large egg white.
Ways to Use the Leftover Chickpeas
Before you let all those perfectly cooked chickpeas go to waste, try including them in some of our favorite recipes like:
How to Make Aquafaba and Aquafaba Whipped Cream
- Total Time: 10 -15 minutes
- Yield: 2 to 2 ½ cups whipped aquafaba 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make aquafaba, also known as the starchy liquid that results from cooking beans (or from a can of chickpeas), why you would want to, how to use it as an egg replacer, and so much more!
Ingredients
Ingredients for Whipped Aquafaba Egg Replacer
- 15 ounce canned unsalted chickpeas, drained (reserve ¾ cup liquid from the can)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar or white vinegar
- Additional Ingredients for Aquafaba Whipped Cream
- ½ cup – ⅔ cup castor sugar or powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Whipped Aquafaba Egg Whites Replacer
- Drain the chickpeas liquid (brine) from the can (from scratch instructions in blog post) into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Save the chickpeas to enjoy in another recipe (like chickpea blondies!)
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whisk the brine until foamy, about 1 minute. Next add the cream of tartar. Whip aquafaba on high speed until it becomes very fluffy and forms semi-stiff peaks, around 5 to 7 minutes.
- Whipped aquafaba is done once it looks similar to whipped egg whites and the peaks will hold on the whisk.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 1-2 days. However, after 24 hours the aquafaba starts to deflate!
Aquafaba Whipped Cream
- Drain the chickpeas liquid (brine) from the can (aquafaba from scratch instructions in blog post) into a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer or stand, whisk the brine until foamy, about 1 minute.
- Add the cream of tartar and continue to mix for 5 minutes on high until it becomes very fluffy and forms stiff peaks.
- Pour in the vanilla extract and turn the mixer back on high. Slowly add the sugar until the mixture is very fluffy. It should take 5 -7 minutes total to fully incorporate all of the sugar. By the end, the mixture should form stiff peaks and look glossy.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 1-2 days. However, after 24 hours the whipped cream starts to deflate!
Notes
Egg White Replacer– Whipped aquafaba can be used in place of whipped egg whites in recipes by folding it into the batter or mixing ingredients into the whipped batter, such as aquafaba whipped cream
Storage Tips – Whipped aquafaba does not store well long term in the freezer. However, aquafaba brine (liquid) can be frozen in an ice tray for 2 to 3 months.
Cooking Tips- Aquafaba from scratch is more time-consuming but doable. You have to soak dried chickpeas, then cook them. After that, you simmer the cooking liquid down to the consistency of the canned liquid/brine. Consistency is similar to that of liquid egg whites, but yellow/brown.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: n/a
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: whipped, vegan baking, egg replacer, aquafaba recipe, dessert
Do you have questions, feedback, or tips about this recipe? Leave a comment below with any questions or feedback you’d like to share!
wow, the cakes look delicious and very attractive, thank you for sharing the recipe.
★★★★★
This is amazing! Now I can make my favorite recipe again 🙂 I do have a quick question, if I need 90 ml of egg whites how much TBSP of juice is this? I thought about 8 TBSP. Let me know your thoughts!
Ya, I would try beating/whipping 6-8 tbsp. Let me know if that works! I ended up getting 2 cups of aqaufaba whipped when I drained the juice from a can. Not sure if that helps or not? Keep me posted!
This is amazing! I’ve always wanted to try aquafaba in baking!
Yes!! You’d love!
This is so magical. I love stuff like this and want to make it just because haha.
Thanks so much for this – and that video! I’ve been seeing this around but this was my first video that actually showed me how canned chick pea “juice” turned into an egg white sub!
yea, let me know if you try it!
Thanks for introducing us to this new method. I usually use the old flax seed and water trick but sometimes you don’t want that added bulk to your recipe. Book marked as this is a great tool.
Do we have any idea of the nutritional info on it yet? I would be interested to see what protein/fiber it has.
you mean per “egg” replacement?
I alwaaays go to make things with aquafaba whenever I make anything with chickpeas – only to end up throwing it out when it’s been sitting in the fridge for too long. I need to get my act together and try it soon though!
Very cool! Biochemistry at it’s finest right here!
it was my favorite subject!
This has been on my list to try for so long… I only have a hand mixer, so it’s hard to motivate.
There’s this vegan tiki bar and restaurant here that uses it in place of the egg foam in drinks. Coolest thing ever.
P.S. LOVE the video!
you can totally use hand mixer. Just have to hold it for like 10 minutes haha. arm workout done!