Homemade Aquafaba – learn how to make the magical egg substitute using chickpea cooking liquid. VEGAN. Gluten Free.
Do you hate procrastinators? Then you should absolutely hate me! Because I have inflicted upon myself these past few days nothing but unprejudiced hatred for having waited almost a year to get started on Aquafaba!
It’s been exactly one year since I found out about the wonder that is Aquafaba. I had it added to my ‘to-do’ list, but as I kept ticking things off that list, the aquafaba stayed on, permanently it seemed, simply because I was too frightened to give it a try.
I did save the aquafaba whenever I cooked chickpeas at home (which considering how much I love the thing was almost every other week!), but it got thrown down the sink every other week just the same, because I was too much of a coward. And oh how I regret it now!
What is Aquafaba?
For those of you who are still wondering what Aquafaba is, here’s a quick lesson.
In Latin, Aqua means water and Faba means beans. One of the most recent and newest culinary discoveries (as recent as 2014), chickpea cooking liquid has been found to be an effective substitute in it’s ability to whip and hold air almost as effectively as an egg. Its uses have astounded everyone so much so that it has its own official site! There you’ll find tips, recipes, answers and more to all your questions (which, trust me, you’ll have a LOT of!).
Yes, I am talking about the liquid that comes along with chickpeas in a can, or the brownish liquid left behind after you’ve cooked chickpeas from scratch!
Last weekend I mustered up the courage to finally take this item off my to-do list, and spent all Friday baking VEGAN Macarons (you’ll see a recipe for it shortly here), an experiment that kept me up till 3 am on Saturday.
Those of you who’ve made macarons will know the joy of watching the ‘feet’ develop. It is nothing compared to the joy I experienced when the 7th batch of my eggless VEGAN Macarons started forming their feet instead of pooling in a puddle as the other batches did.
Homemade Aquafaba
You don’t always have to open up a can of chickpeas to get a little aquafaba. You can cook chickpeas at home yourself and make all the aquafaba you’ll ever need!
Step 1: Soak 1 cup of dried chickpeas overnight. Or here’s a shortcut to get it done in 2-3 hours.
Step 2: Drain out the water in which the chickpeas soaked in, rinse and drain again. Here’s why you should always soak your grains, beans and legumes.
Step 3: Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook the chickpeas. It’s a faster method that uses lesser liquid to cook.
Step 4: Cool completely with the chickpeas still in their cooking liquid. Drain and store the aquafaba in a clean, dry container for upto 2 weeks.
Notes:
- Even though aquafaba looks brownish in color, it whips up to a pure white, just like egg whites do.
- You do not taste the ‘chickpeas’ in the final product, not even slightly.
- If you are not pressure cooking the chickpeas, you might end up with more cooking liquid, in which case, you’ll need to reduce the aquafaba on the stove to a thick, brownish and syrupy consistency. Homemade Aquafaba at it’s proper consistency should ‘feel’ like egg whites.
When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!
Homemade Aquafaba
Ingredients
Method
- Soak chickpeas in water overnight , completely submerged.
- Drain and rinse out the soaked chickpeas. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook until soft. Cool completely.
- Drain out the cooking liquid - it should be a light brown color and slightly viscous. When left at room temperature or cooler, it may coagulate into a semi-solid, it's completely normal.
- Refrigerate for 1-2 weeks in a clean, air-tight container.
tracie renshaw says
I’m making home made aquafaba this morn (trying to)…thanks for all your posts, great and lovely you all are, Notes re viscosity, ick that word is, slime does nothin’ for me…I’m gonna attempt egg like substance.. patiently awaiting homemade slime to cool…I’m hoping to not purchase the egg like substitutes. so I’m gonna commit. Here goes for chick pea brown slime, that can make awesome stuffs. Vegan over a decade, and by gum first attempt to make aquafaba…thank you so much, kind regards Tracie
K says
I’d like to try this but I have a couple of questions
1. I don’t have a pressure cooker, so I’ll have to use the reduction method. I assume you take the chickpeas out first and then reduce? Or can (or perhaps should) you reduce with the chickpeas still inside?
2. I would like to make hummus with the chickpeas, would they still be usable for that after making the aquafaba?
Tina Dawson says
Great questions!
1. If you use the reduction method, do it with just the liquid, no chickpeas. You don’t want to overcook the chickpeas more than they should be.
2. Yes! You can use the chickpeas as you wish – just drain it out of the liquid. The liquid is what becomes aquafaba when reduced.
I hope that helps!
Rachel says
Do you pressure cook on high or low? To cook my means I typically do dry beans on high for 22 minutes… but these are soaked so I’m not sure
Tina Dawson says
Soaking beans before cooking is a much healthier way to consume them, as it removes phytates which prevent nutrient absorption. In the instant pot, I cook them in the beans/chilli setting, which is high pressure for 30 minutes, because I like them cooked soft.
Donna Williams says
I recently started using aquafaba & love it. Have used it in cakes, muffins, & yeast breads. I freeze it in an ice cube tray then empty in a baggie for later use. Each section in the ice cube tray is 1 T. Also, instead of using canned aquafaba I started making my own because of the sodium content in canned garbanzos.
Donna Williams says
I always used the liquid from canned garbanzos until it dawned on me that there’s too much sodium in it. Now I’m cooking my own garbanzos to make aquafaba. I freeze mine in ice cube trays for later use. Works fine.
Salvador says
Hi Tina
Do you really have to throw away the water you soaked the chickpeas in? Isn’t that wasting whatever nutriments leached out into the water. I’m tempted to transfer the whole bowl of chickpeas along with the soaking water into the pressure cooker.
Tina Dawson says
Hi Salvador,
Yes, it is not recommended to use the water chickpeas (or other beans, letils, legumes) soaked in because although nutrient leeching is minimal, phytic acid release is high, and phytic acid prevents nutrients from being absorbed into your bloodstream. I wrote an in-depth post here about it.
Gita dasgupta says
We use chickpeas a lot, in India. And we do discard the water in which it has soaked overnight. However it needn’t be down the drain!! Plants love it!! Also, after you have gained confidence with the aquafaba, there’s no harm in trying to use the same water. You never know, the results may be even better!!
Tina Dawson says
Love the idea of using soaking water for plants. I also use rice rinsing water for plants! Excellent fertilizer!
Gaby says
soak your beans to remove phytic acid, which is toxic for humans.
Valerie ADLER says
You can use the water for our plants!
Sakshi Jethwani says
How much aquafaba will i get with this recipe?
Tina Dawson says
200 ml
kiara says
Hi Tina, I don’t have a pressure cooker would it be ok if I boil them instead?
Tina Dawson says
Absolutely you can!!!
Bernadette says
You would want to use about 3-4 cups of water for boiling 1 c dried chickpeas if not using a pressure cooker. That means your pot liquor (the water left after cooking) will be too thin for immediate use as aquafaba. So Tina recommends cooking that down to a thicker consistency, more syrupy and feels like egg whites.
Brandy says
What if you did not pre-soak beans can you still use the extra liquid in the pressure cooker as aquafaba?
Tina Dawson says
It will definitely work as aquafaba, yes. The pre-soak helps cook the beans faster. Doesn’t really affect the quality of aquafaba, to my knowledge.
Salvador says
Once I didn’t bother (forgot) to soak the chick peas, I thought just a bit of extra cooking time in the pressure cooker would suffice. They turned out tough. That was before I had heard of aquafaba
Tina Dawson says
Here’s a trick to soften chickpeas before cooking, if you missed the overnight soaking. I hope it helps!
Nats says
Hi Tina
Do I necessarily need to reduce the liquid further after pressure cooking the chickpeas? If left to cool it does get to a semi solid state, will that do? I tried reducing it once and refrigerated it but it just wouldn’t whip the next day.
Tina Dawson says
Looks like you might have reduced it too much, and gel-like aquafaba might have trouble whipping as you cannot incorporate air bubbles into gels. I would suggest diluting the congealed gel with a little water till it’s a murky water and then try whipping. Normally, I pressure cook the chickpeas according to the recipe in the post, and let the cooked chickpeas sit in the water till it cools down to room temperature. This extra sitting time infuses the chickpea protein in the liquid, while also thickening it. Filter then use.
Melissa says
Can you freeze it for use later?
Tina Dawson says
I’ve never done it myself, but I’ve heard others say that frozen-then-thawed aquafaba whips just as well as a freshly made one. So give it a try!
Fil says
Are you really using a pressure cooker? It comes out very running
Tina Dawson says
I do reduce just the liquid after the chickpeas are cooked.
Susan says
Hey Tina! Awesome idea. I was wondering if you had any clue whether aquafab would work as an egg white substitute in white cake? I’m planning to try it, but was curious to know if you already had. Thank you!
P.S. Love your blog, the recipes and pics 🙂
Tina Dawson says
Hi Susan, I’ve personally never used aquafaba to make cakes, but looks like you can (http://www.veganbaking.net/articles/guides/how-to-veganize-a-cake-recipe). I have however made a Mini Vegan Chocolate Cake with a ganache frosting (https://loveisinmytummy.com/2017/08/mini-vegan-chocolate-cake.html) without any aquafaba and it was delicious! Happy Baking!
Gayathri says
I have been wanting to make this for long. Will try and tag you.Thank you for sharing.
Tina Dawson says
I hope you like it, Gayathri! I’d love to see pictures!
Ali from Home & Plate says
I have never heard of aquafaba but imagine this is a great substitute for those with egg allergies. Love this idea.
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Ali!
Kelly @ trial and eater says
I’m even more of a procrastinator than you, because it’s been a long time since I’ve heard of aquafaba too and I’ve never tried it! You make it sound super easy though, so I’m definitely pinning yours to refer to when I finally get around to it 😉
Tina Dawson says
When you ever get to it Kelly, you’ll fall head-over-heels in love!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I’ve heard about this, but I’ve never actually tried it. Frankly, I’m leery of that viscous fluid that I ALWAYS rinse away from my garbanzo beans. I guess if you’re vegan, it makes sense to have a suitable substitute, but if you’re not, why not use an egg, you know? I commend your efforts though — and congrats on attaining “feet”
Tina Dawson says
I agree Lisa, but this year I’ve been trying to go VEGAN and it was like a god-send, because I just simply cannot imagine life without macarons!
Beth @ Binky's Culinary Carnival says
I used aquafaba to make a vegan cheesecake on Easter. My recipe needs perfecting because it was very bland. I am definitely going to try it again, though!
Tina Dawson says
Try, try, try again Beth!
Suzy says
What a great post! thanks for sharing.
Tina Dawson says
No problem, Suzy!
Rebecca says
great photos! I’ve been meaning to make/use aquafaba! I’ll have to try this
Tina Dawson says
You’re gonna love it, Rebecca!