• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Plant-Based Cooking
  • Start Here
    • Introduction
    • What is a Plant-Based Diet?
    • Freebies
    • 12 Tips for Starting
    • Got Questions?
    • Meal Planning Myths
    • Nutrition Needs
    • Plant-Based Myths
    • Stock Your Pantry
    • Tools, Tips and Freebies
    • Uncommon Ingredients
    • What to Expect
    • Why Eat Plants?
  • Recipes
    • 12 Most Popular
    • Appetizers
    • Beverages
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Gluten-Free
    • Holiday Recipes
    • Main Dishes
    • Plantricious
    • Recipe Roundups
    • Salads & Dressings
    • Sandwiches
    • Sauces & Condiments
    • Side Dishes
    • Snacks
    • Soups & Stews
  • Articles
    • All Articles
    • Cooking Tips
    • Food Facts
    • Getting Started
    • Interviews
    • Meal Planning
    • Nutrition
    • Reader Questions
    • Staying Motivated
    • Success Stories
  • Resources
    • Complete List
    • Freebies
    • Freebie Login
  • Shop
    • Books
    • Cookbooks/Recipes
    • Kitchen Essentials
    • Meal Delivery
    • Pantry Essentials
  • About
    • About PB Cooking
    • About Diane
    • Coffee Klatch
    • Diane’s Health Journey
    • Subscribe
    • Contact
  • Cookbook
Home » Aquafaba: The Hottest Ingredient

Aquafaba: The Hottest Ingredient

May 17, 2018 By Diane Smith 3 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Pin
Share
Yum
Tweet
aquafaba in glass bowl with whisk next to wooden bowl of chickpeas

Are you a vegan foodie who stays up to date with the latest and greatest in plant-based trends? Well, whether that describes you or not, if you’re at all into the plant-based lifestyle I want to make sure you’re in the loop when it comes to aquafaba, which according to Bon Appetit magazine is today’s “hottest ingredient.”

Aquafaba

Aquafaba, you ask? What in the world is that, you may be wondering? (And no, it’s not yet another new brand of toothpaste, laundry detergent or dishwashing liquid!)

While it may sound a bit like a household item or personal care product, “aquafaba” is actually a newfangled name for the oh-so-ordinary, otherwise seemingly insignificant liquid created when chickpeas or white beans are cooked.

You know that slightly-foamy, viscous fluid you usually pour down the drain without so much as a second thought when you open a can of beans? Well, that gooey stuff that canned beans are sitting in, yup, that would be it. Welcome to aquafaba, the best things to happen to plant-based vegans since, well, hummus and chips.

A Brave New Egg-Free World

At long last, after years of putting up with sub-optimal egg replacers such as applesauce, tofu, flax and chia seeds, bananas and additive-laden, highly-processed commercial egg replacement products, we’ve finally got not only the perfect solution when it comes to whole eggs, but an effective replacement for the that elusive, crucially-important non-vegan ingredient, the egg white. Aquafaba combines some of the essential components of both yolks and whites and can be used as a thickener, binder, emulsifier, foaming agent and other purposes.

And thanks to the Norwegian Food Research Institute, we now know that aquafaba is composed primarily of starches and proteins. These compounds migrate from the beans to the water during the cooking process, to the tune of about 5 percent of the dry beany material in the aquafaba.

A whole new universe of plant-based baking and cooking has opened up – go ahead and let your mouth water as you think of your favorite flavor meringue, creamy vegan mayo on your favorite sandwich. (And while it’s true that the cooking liquid from a variety of beans can be used as egg replacers, the cooking liquid from chickpeas and white beans, such as great northern beans, seems to work best.)

The name “aquafaba” comes from the Latin words for water, “aqua,” and beans, “faba,”and coined by United States-based software engineer Goose Wohlt. Wohlt is the creator of Goose’s Vegan Cookery website and is the person credited with the discovery that chickpea liquid is an ideal vegan egg replacer.

The name “aquafaba” was in turn adopted by the international community of vegan fans and explorers who gather together to confer online, sharing recipes, successes, suggestions, and failures in the Facebook group, “Aquafaba (Vegan Meringue – Hits and Misses!).” The rather active group currently has more than 85,000 members. If you’re curious about aquafaba recipes, you might want to consider joining yourself.

How It All Went Down

While Wohlt is credited with discovering aquafaba, he was in actuality building, directly and indirectly, on the vegan cooking experiments and discoveries of a number of intrepid plant-based egg-replacement pioneers who came before him, such as French tenor Joel Roessel. In December, 2014, after a series of intentional food experiments, Roessel discovers that the cooking liquid from legumes and hearts of palm could be made into a cooking foam.

Roessel’s foam, however, wasn’t stable in and of itself and necessitated the use of gums and stabilizers which are beyond the capacities and inclinations of many basic home vegan cooks. (For a complete timeline related to the discovery of aquafaba, visit http://aquafaba.com/history.html.)

In 2015, a few months after Roessel’s discovery in what appeared to be an unrelated event, a couple of French foodie guys demonstrated in an online video, “Le Defi FUDA,” how you could whip chickpea cooking liquid into foam and mix it with chocolate ganache (whipped chocolate and cream) for an authentically fabulous French chilled dessert.

The issue here was that their chilled chocolate ganache didn’t involve the use of added sugar or baking, both integral parts of many dessert preparations. And that’s where Wohlt comes in.

aquafaba in glass bowl with whisk next to wooden bowl of chickpeas

After seeing the vegan French ganache video, Wohlt set out to see how the foam could be deployed in the creation of a stable baked vegan meringue, complete with added sugar. To his surprise, he found that plain chickpea cooking liquid when properly prepared and without any added gums or stabilizers, was by itself a perfect substitute for egg whites.

Easy to Come By and Easy to Use

You can source aquafaba from canned or home-cooked chickpeas or white beans. If the liquid seems too thin off the bat, reduce the aquafaba until it’s the same consistency as egg whites by boiling just the liquid without the beans in a saucepan.

The general rule of thumb for substitutions is three tablespoons of aquafaba for one whole egg, two tablespoons for egg yolks, and one tablespoon for egg whites.

If you’re baking something fluffy such as a cake, remember to whisk the aquafaba first until it’s foamy and white, and then spoon fold it into the cake batter with a metal spoon to prevent the bubbles from popping.

Whipped Aquafaba Recipe

  • 2⁄3 cup aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  1. In a medium bowl, combine aquafaba, cream of tartar, maple syrup, and vanilla. Using either a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat on high speed for about 10 minutes for soft peaks. For stiff peaks, beat for about 15 minutes.
  2. Check for sweetness and add more maple syrup to your liking. Be careful because the aquafaba will deflate if overbeaten.

For mouth-watering aquafaba recipes, check out The Vegan Society, Michelin Guide or Self, to name just a few websites. You’ll soon see that the internet has loads of aquafaba recipes that you can access with a simple search. Do some aqua-surfing and see what strikes your fancy!

Well, there you have it! Welcome to the brave new world of vegan plant-based living where you never have to feel deprived again!

Bon appetit!


Want more of Plant-Based Cooking?
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Pin
Share
Yum
Tweet

Filed Under: Articles, Cooking Tips, Food Facts Tagged With: aquafaba, egg substitute

Previous Post: « Plant-Based Vegan Cinco de Mayo Roundup
Next Post: Plant-Based Vegan Memorial Day Roundup »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. narf7

    May 17, 2018 at 7:06 pm

    Aquafaba was invented by a French man not Goose, who points that out on his website.

    Reply
    • Diane Smith

      May 17, 2018 at 7:27 pm

      Well, that’s interesting! I’ll have to update that in the article. Thanks for the heads up! Update: The French man is mentioned in the article, but what he invented required some kind of stabilizers, and what Goose discovered was that plain chickpea cooking liquid worked fine on its own. I hope that clears things up.

      Reply
  2. Olwyn

    August 6, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    Thanks for this Diane – I have wanted to begin using it. And thank you for the cornbread / strawberry desert recipe! I am making it ASAP!
    Olwyn

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Get Social

            Plant Based Cooking on YouTube
Top 50 Vegan Blogs Of 2021

Meet Diane

Meet Diane

I help you discover the steps, tools and actions you need to eat a plant-based diet for disease reversal, weight loss and renewed vitality with recipes, health tips and inspiration to make the journey easier.

Join me on Facebook

Plant-Based Cooking on Facebook Like Sign Up Plant-Based CoOoking on Facebook

Food over Medicine

Graduate Badge

Sign up intro

Join my list and get your free checklist, “8 Plant-Based Meal Planning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them” plus a helpful bonus meal planning worksheet.

Leadpages signup button

 

Popular Posts

girl sitting with bowl of fresh greens

Tips to Handle Every Plant-Based Diet Challenge With Ease

Aquafaba

Aquafaba: The Hottest Ingredient

Top 30 Super Foods

Top 30 Superfoods

Footer

Instagram

Pinterest

            Plant Based Cooking on YouTube

Disclosure and Privacy Policy

Recent Articles

20 Vegan Plant-Based Casserole Recipes

Plant-Based Vegan Casserole Recipes

Chickpea Bowl

12 Common Mistakes Plant-Based Beginners Make and How to Fix Them

Healthy Carbs

Reader Question: Will All These Carbs Make Me Gain Weight?

Contact: diane@plantbasedcooking.com

Copyright © 2021 Plant Based Cooking