What Is Aquafaba? My favorite Vegan Egg Substitute

What is aquafaba? It’s a vegan egg substitute that is found in the liquid of canned chickpeas and other legumes. Those who are egg free rely on this egg replacement, and I’m explaining everything there is to know about it.

Aquafaba is just a fancy name for chickpea liquid. It’s the plant based “juice” that you find in the can with your legumes–such as chickpeas or garbanzo beans.

For those of you who live an egg free life you probably already know that aquafaba makes a great egg replacement, especially in baked goods like this baked oatmeal.

I’ve recently removed eggs from my diet after experimenting and noticing that they make my migraines worse. After removing eggs and meat from my daily diet, my migraines have gone from 5-6 per week to 1-2 per week, on average.

Learning about food:

Lately I’ve been trying to share some more information and insights about food and nutrition. Baking and cooking with aquafaba has added benefits along with the convenience of using it in a pinch when there’s no eggs in the refrigerator.

How do I use aquafaba?

If you have a recipe that calls for eggs you can most likely use aquafaba as a vegan egg replacer. Some vegan recipes will just call for aquafaba instead of other commercial egg replacement options which is nice.

About 2 tablespoons can replace one egg in the recipes you are creating! You may have heard that using mashed bananas to replace eggs works great and it does, but it also gives whatever you are cooking or baking a banana flavor.

Aquafaba is a vegan egg substitute that you can add to just about anything without having to worry about the flavor.

A few more tips about aquafaba:

• Aquafaba can be used to replace eggs in recipes.
• Aquafaba or any other egg replacement doesn’t test well in the Instant Pot, it tends to cause the burn warning. If I use egg substitutes in the electric pressure cooker, I always use the pot in pot method.
• Many people use aquafaba as an oil replacement. Just use the same amount of aquafaba as you’d use oil.
• You can use aquafaba to make vegan mayonnaise

Is this a gluten free egg substitute?

Yes! Aquafaba is a gluten free egg substitute so if you have multiple food allergies or sensitivities this is a great choice for your cooking and baking recipes.

Can I make this from dried chickpeas?

If you are making aquafaba at home you can do so by cooking the chickpeas as you normally would, and allowing them cool in the pan once they are tender. Then, save the liquid when you remove the beans from the pan.

The juice from canned chickpeas works as well, but if you happen to be cooking dried ones at home you can absolutely use the cooking liquid.

Can I make whipped desserts with an egg substitute?

Here is one of the best parts about using aquafaba as a vegan egg substitute: you can whip them! Most egg replacement choices like bottled egg whites do NOT whip so you can’t use them for meringues, marshmallows, macaroons, etc.

You can easily and quickly whip aquafaba in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Adding a bit of cream of tartar or baking powder can help form stiff peaks a little more quickly.

Like with eggs, if you whip the mixture too long it can deflate so be sure to stop once you have reached stiff peaks. The finished product looks and feels just like egg whites.

Can I freeze aquafaba?

The liquid from the chickpeas will keep in the refrigerator for about a week with no issues. If you won’t use it all in that time you can easily freeze it for later use.

One smart way to freeze it is in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to a glass jar or container so you can pull out just the amount you need quickly.

What does the chickpea juice taste like?

In my experience the juice doesn’t really have much flavor when you are adding it to most recipes. When baking with this vegan egg substitute, you might find that it has a very mild bean smell, but the taste has never been detectable for my recipes.

If you are worried about the smell or the flavor you can make your own bean juice at home by cooking dried beans. The homemade aquafaba is more mild for cooking and baking.

What kinds of recipes can use an egg substitute?

Aquafaba is pretty awesome in the fact that it holds up well in pretty much all scenarios. You can make everything from vegan mayonnaise to chocolate cupcakes! I have also been known to make a delicious vegan black bean brownie using aquafaba.

As I mentioned above, chickpea cooking liquid also works for whipped treats like meringue, marshmallows, and macaroons!

Are there other Vegan egg replacements?

There are so many. If you’re looking to make a simple egg replacement, here are some types that might work for you:

• Flax Egg: Made with 1 tbsp flaxseed meal and 2.5 tbsp water.
• Silken Tofu: I actually use this in my dairy free egg bites, but to replace the cottage cheese and Greek yogurt instead of the egg.
• Chia egg: Simply 1 tbsp chia seeds and 2.5 tablespoons of water.
• Potato starch egg: 2 tbsp potato starch and water

For egg replacements that you can find in grocery stores, see my Amazon pantry list.