Dairy & Eggs
Aquafaba
The starchy liquid from canned chickpeas; whips like egg whites into vegan meringue, mousse, and mayo, and binds batters without any egg.
Aquafaba is the pale, slightly viscous liquid that drains from a can of chickpeas or remains after simmering dried ones. Cooks treat it as a remarkable stand-in for egg whites because it whips into glossy, stable peaks and emulsifies oil into mayonnaise, performing the structural jobs of eggs in baking, binding, and foaming — entirely by accident of plant chemistry. In a kitchen that cooks from cans, it is essentially a free, secondary ingredient hiding in a by-product.
The whip comes from soluble proteins, residual starch, and saponins released from the chickpea seed coat during cooking. These compounds lower surface tension and stabilize air bubbles much the way ovalbumin does in egg whites, producing a foam with body and bounce.
The same surface-active behavior that holds air also binds meatballs together and turns oil and water into a glossy vegan mayo. With a few caveats — a grease-free bowl, an acid stabilizer, and a longer whipping time than you'd expect from egg whites — it is a reliable, neutral-flavored building block for vegan baking, foams, and emulsions.
- Measured in
- ml
- Storage
- Refrigerated, Sealed; Freeze For Longer Keeping
Find it in
Suits
Types & varieties
The standard; thick, slightly cloudy, neutral-flavored. Salt content varies by brand, which matters for sweets.
Made from simmering dried chickpeas; thinner and sometimes more beany. Best reduced by 20–50% to concentrate before whipping.
From rinsed chickpeas or no-salt-added brands; preferred for delicate meringues, frostings, and anything sweet.
White bean, cannellini, and butter-bean water will foam in a pinch but produce a less stable foam with a more beany taste.
Working with Aquafaba in the Kitchen
Aquafaba behaves like a quiet cousin of egg white: it is more forgiving in some ways and fussier in others. The two rules that govern almost every success are a completely grease-free bowl and a willingness to let the mixer run. Because the foam gets its lift from proteins and saponins rather than the tightly coiled albumen of an egg, it needs more time to organize itself on the whisk. Plan on roughly twice the whipping time you'd give egg whites, and resist the urge to add sugar at the start — early sugar weighs down the foam before it has built structure. The end point arrives suddenly: soft, billowy waves turn to glossy, pipeable peaks in under a minute, so watch the bowl in the final stretch.
- Use a glass or metal bowl and a wire whisk; rinse with vinegar or lemon juice and dry thoroughly to strip any residual fat.
- Bring aquafaba to room temperature before whipping — cold liquid foams slowly and to a smaller volume.
- Add 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (or ½ teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar) per ½ cup aquafaba to stabilize the foam and help it hold its shape.
- Stream in sugar only once soft peaks have formed, a tablespoon at a time, beating well between additions.
- Fold in flavorings, cocoa, or melted chocolate gently at the end with a spatula, in three or four additions, to preserve volume.
Storage, Safety, and Shelf Life
Aquafaba is a cooked, starchy, protein-rich liquid — the kind of environment bacteria enjoy once it sits at room temperature. Treat it the way you would a soft cheese or a custard: refrigerate promptly, use it within a week, and freeze anything you won't reach in time.
- Refrigerate drained aquafaba in a sealed jar for 5–7 days; label with the date because it looks identical when it spoils.
- Freeze in ice-cube trays (about 2 tablespoons per cube) or in ½-cup portions for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge.
- Frozen aquafaba whips like fresh once thawed.
- If the liquid smells sour, looks stringy, or has any pink or slimy film, discard it.
- Whipped aquafaba holds at room temperature for several hours, but cream- or butter-enriched versions should be chilled and used within 24 hours.
Common uses
Tips & pitfalls
- Use a completely grease-free bowl and whisk — even a fingerprint of oil or butter will collapse the foam, just as it does with egg whites.
- Add 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (or a few drops of lemon juice or white vinegar) per ½ cup aquafaba to tighten and stabilize the foam.
- Whip on high and be patient: aquafaba takes 3–6 minutes to peak in a stand mixer and jumps from soft to stiff very quickly at the end.
- Add sugar only after soft peaks form; adding it too early weighs the foam down before the proteins can build structure.
- Reduce home-cooked aquafaba by simmering until it thickens slightly (about 20–50% volume loss) — this concentrates the proteins and saponins and shortens whipping time.
- Use room-temperature aquafaba; cold liquid foams slowly and to a smaller volume.
- If the foam weeps, deflates, or refuses to stiffen, the usual culprits are trace fat (oily bowl, plastic whisk, yolk) or under-whipping — fix the bowl first, then keep beating.
- Frozen aquafaba cubes (about 2 tablespoons each) thaw overnight in the fridge and whip up just like fresh.
Nutrition
Energy
197 kJ · per 100 g
Where the calories come from
Protein
1.8g
4% DV
Carbs
2.8g
1% DV
Fat
3.2g
4% DV
Fiber
0.1g
0% DV
Sugars
0g
of which
Sodium
2mg
0% DV
Source · USDA FoodData Central · Beans, liquid from stewed kidney beans
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Good to know
- What it is
- The viscous cooking liquid from canned or home-cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans).
- Origin of the name
- Coined in 2014–2015 by software engineer Goose Wohlt, who documented its whipping behavior; Latin aqua (water) + faba (bean).
- Egg equivalencies
- 3 tablespoons ≈ 1 whole egg; 2 tablespoons ≈ 1 egg white; 1 tablespoon ≈ 1 egg yolk (binding only).
- Yield per can
- A standard 15 oz (425 g) can yields roughly 1 to 1½ cups (240–360 ml) of aquafaba.
- Functional components
- Soluble proteins, residual starch, and saponins from the seed coat that lower surface tension and stabilize air bubbles.
- pH
- Slightly alkaline; benefits from added acid (cream of tartar) to set and tighten peaks.
- Storage (liquid)
- Refrigerated in a sealed jar: 5–7 days. Frozen in measured portions: up to 3 months.
- Whipping time
- 3–6 minutes on high in a stand mixer — longer than egg whites, with a sudden jump from soft to stiff peaks.
Substitutes
- Egg white (non-vegan) — Equal volume; same foaming power, more neutral flavor, slightly less stable at room temperature.
- Commercial egg replacers (Ener-G, Bob's Red Mill) — Powdered blends for baking — they bind and leaven but will not whip into peaks.
- Silken tofu — Blended smooth for custards, quiches, and creamy dressings; will not foam.
- Flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water) — Binding only; not suitable for meringue or airy foams.
- Chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water) — Binding only; slightly grainier texture than flax.
Pairs with
Also called
chickpea water · bean liquid
