How to Make Meringue with Vegan Ingredients

4 minutes

You can consume meringue on ins own or in different pastry preparations. Although its main ingredient is eggs, in this article, we suggest a recipe to make meringue with 100% vegetable ingredients.

How to Make Meringue with Vegan Ingredients

Written by Elena Martínez Blasco

Last update: 27 May, 2022

Did you know that it’s possible to make meringue with vegan ingredients? This may surprise you, as vegan recipes don’t contain any animal products. Therefore, you definitely can’t use eggs and any dairy products to make them. However, it is possible to make an egg-free meringue!

In this article, discover how to make meringue with vegan ingredients. We’re sure the secret of this recipe will surprise you. You won’t believe it until you try it!

Vegan diet

A woman thinking about what to cook. — If you don’t consume products of animal origin, you can’t use ingredients such as eggs or dairy products.

The vegan diet excludes all foods of animal origin (meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products). In fact, if it’s a strict diet, even products such as honey and gelatin are excluded.

Many people choose this type of diet temporarily or indefinitely. They do so out of ethical, religious, or health reasons, mostly. However, vegan recipes are also an excellent option for those with intolerances to certain foods, such as lactose or eggs.

Read on to learn more: 7 Things You Should Do Before Adopting a Vegan Diet

Meringue, an irresistible dessert

Meringue is a very popular dessert. It’s made with beaten egg whites and sugar. In some cases, you can also add dyes or nuts to it. You can consume it alone or as a cake filling. Also, you can find it in different types of textures, from soft to hard.

Since the main ingredient is eggs, it seems difficult to imagine how you could make meringue with vegan ingredients. Also, although cream might be very similar, it isn’t a vegan food either. So how do you make it?

Meringues with vegan ingredients

The key to vegan meringue is aquafaba. This is the name for the liquid in chickpeas and other canned or boxed cooked legumes, which people always throw out because they aren’t aware of its potential. Aquafaba is the perfect substitute for eggs.

The exact ratio is 1 egg white to 30 ml aquafaba.

Below, we’ll share this simple and surprising recipe so you can discover how to turn aquafaba into a mouth-watering meringue! It’s a healthy, light, and nutritious food that will surprise all those who try it.

Ingredients

½ cup of aquafaba or liquid from a can of chickpeas (100 ml)
6 tablespoons of sugar (120 g)
½ teaspoon of liquid vanilla extract (3 ml)

You should also read: Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Lemon Meringue Pie

Preparation of meringue with vegan ingredients

Firstly, strain the liquid from the chickpeas well and put the aquafaba in a bowl. Don’t worry if the water has added salt.
For better results, use this liquid cold. Thus, consider refrigerating it for an hour.
After that, beat well with an electric hand mixer. Just like if it were egg whites, you’ll see how the foam increases, becoming increasingly white and thick.
Gradually add the sugar. The aquafaba will peak in about five minutes. However, the consistency will be slightly lighter than with the egg whites.
After that, also incorporate the vanilla extract.
You’ll know that the meringue is ready when it forms peaks when you remove the electric mixer. Now it’s ready for any use you want to give it!

Does it taste like chickpeas?

Even though this recipe uses the liquid from a can of chickpeas, you shouldn’t worry about the taste, since nobody will notice the presence of the legumes! The sugar in it camouflages the taste.

Besides that, this meringue has the same appearance and texture as egg meringue, and both are irresistible! Therefore, below, we share some ideas to get the most out of them.

Other uses of meringue with vegan ingredients

A lemon meringue pie. — Once you finish the meringue, you can use it for numerous preparations, such as pastries or mayonnaise.

Once you finish using the aquafaba to make meringue, you can take advantage of this recipe for other sweet options:

Baked meringue. Some meringue recipes are baked (for example, macarons). You can also make them with this vegan option.
Whipped cream. For example, to add to some strawberries.
Mousse. Chocolate, red berries, banana, coffee, etc.
Pastries. As a substitute for eggs to make cookies and biscuits fluffier.
Mayonnaise. This is the ideal sauce without eggs for those who don’t want to stop enjoying mayonnaise.

Are you going to try these meringue options with vegan ingredients? Enjoy new pastry ideas and surprise your guests with this ingredient that no one will suspect!