What is it and what do you do with it?
When you open a can of beans, you see a bunch of strange looking, sticky liquid surrounding the beans. You know, the stuff you usually strain-off and dump down the drain? Well, guess what?! That is aquafaba!
Who in the world discovered Aquafaba?
In 2014, a vegan musician from France, Joël Roessel was doing research on finding egg substitutes. During his investigation, he discovered that the water from canned beans (and other vegetables) was a foamy substance similar to the gelatinous ground flaxseed and water mixture often used as an egg substitute. He wrote an article about his findings on his website.[1]
During the same time period, United States vegan foodie, Goose Wohlt found that by mixing sugar with the bean liquid, he could create an egg-free meringue! The term “Aquafaba” was coined by Wohlt in 2015. Aquafaba actually translates from Latin as “bean water”.[2]
There are scientific reasons why this particular substance does what it does. It has to do with the unique combination of the starches and the proteins in the bean water. But, since I’m no scientist, it’s better if you read more about that here, if you’re interested: Aquafaba, what is its chemical composition?
What can you make with Aquafaba?
My experience in cooking with aquafaba is fairly limited, but I found recipes out there for a whole bunch of ways you can use it. When you beat this stuff with an electric mixer, it looks and acts just like whipped egg whites! Bonus–it doesn’t taste like beans at all in the finished products!
- brownies
- butter
- cupcakes
- frosting/buttercream
- ice cream
- macarons
- marshmallow fluff
- marzipan
- mayo
- meringues/pavlova*
- mousse*
- muffins
- pancakes & waffles
- vegan cheese
Not all of the linked recipes are oil-free or necessarily very healthy, they just looked interesting or sounded tasty. Let me know in the comments below if you try these or other recipes and would recommend them!
*tested recipes 😊
RECIPE HERE
Does one have to get Aquafaba from canned products?
Nope! Although, it is a bit trickier to get just the right consistency, you can make your own aquafaba when you cook beans. One benefit is you know for sure the only ingredients are the beans and the water.
Aquafaba Recipe:
1 lb. dried garbanzo beans (or other beans)
5 cups water
- Rinse and pick through the beans to remove any funky beans or little rocks.
- Place beans in a soup pot and cover with 5 cups of water.
- Soak beans overnight.
- Don’t rinse or change the water, you will cook the beans in the soaking water (a necessary step to create the aquafaba). Bring to a boil and simmer for approximately 1 hour until the beans are tender.
- Drain the beans and water through a colander or strainer, collecting all the water in another pot or bowl.
- Pour the bean water into a measuring cup. You should have 1 ½ cups of liquid. If you have more, it will need to be reduced a bit by boiling it in a small saucepan until you have the desired amount.
Recipe notes:
- Aquafaba will keep in the refrigerator for several days. You can also freeze it for future use.
- 3 Tablespoons Aquafaba = 1 egg (as a substitute in baking)
- If a recipe calls for whipped aquafaba, refrigerate it overnight or until really cold. Otherwise, it will take forever to fluff-up! Putting the beaters and bowl in the fridge or freezer ahead of time will also help speed up the whipping process.
Interested in learning more?
If you’re interested in learning more about aquafaba, sharing recipes, and ideas, you might consider joining the over 104k member Aquafaba Facebook group!
To finish it up
For those who are allergic or cannot eat eggs, aquafaba has been a truly wonderful discovery! And for those of us who choose not to eat eggs, it makes creating fancy, fluffy desserts another new adventure in our plant-based lifestyle.
Still looking for more info on the history of aquafaba? Check out this website!
The next time you open a can of garbanzo beans, consider saving the liquid and giving this aquafaba thing a try! If you do, please share your experiences and recipes in the comments below. I would love to hear the results!
