Vegan Meringue (Aquafaba Meringue)
Perfect vegan meringue that keeps its shape and doesn’t go flat! Made with aquafaba, the liquid from canned beans, this egg-free meringue will surprise you. This light and airy aquafaba meringue can be toasted with a kitchen torch, and unlike most vegan meringue recipes, it holds its shape even after days in the fridge!
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If you want to top your pies with truly awesome egg-free meringue, this recipe is for you! I originally created this recipe back in 2018 to top my vegan s’mores pie. I then modified it to create a vegan marshmallow recipe too!
This meringue is perfect to top my vegan lemon meringue pie and vegan cranberry meringue pie too. They come out perfectly every time, and keep in the fridge for days without going flat!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Aquafaba – this is the liquid from a can of chickpeas or white beans. You can use any type of bean cooking liquid, but the clear liquid will give you a beautiful white meringue. To see all of my tips and tricks for using aquafaba see my aquafaba guide.
- Cream of Tartar – this is tartaric acid and it will help the proteins in the aquafaba bind together. You can use 1 teaspoon of lemon juice if you don’t have cream of tartar.
- Vanilla Extract – for flavor.
- Agar agar – this is a key ingredient to making the meringue set. It is a clear flavorless gelling agent made from seaweed. You can find it at most Asian markets, and specialty stores, or order online. (You can make the meringue without it, but it will only last for a few hours before it will start to deflate. If you want a firm vegan meringue that will hold up, you must use agar agar.) If you choose to omit the agar agar, you will also want to omit the water and add the sugar directly to the aquafaba.
- Water – to dissolve the agar agar.
- Sugar – to sweeten the meringue. A light-colored sugar will give you a white meringue. I don’t recommend using maple syrup or any other liquid sweetener.
🔪 Helpful tools
- Electric Mixer – you will need to whip the aquafaba for nearly 10 minutes, so a stand mixer is easiest, but any electric mixer will work. This is not something that you can do with a hand mixer.
🥄 How to make meringue from aquafaba
- Add aquafaba (chickpea liquid) to the bottom of a large mixing bowl with the cream of tartar or lemon juice and beat with a whisk attachment for 7 minutes until it forms stiff peaks of meringue.
- Add 2 tsp of vanilla and beat again for another minute.
- Turn off the beaters and make your syrup.
Make the syrup to set the meringue
- In a small saucepan, add water and agar agar and boil for 3 minutes.
- Then add the sugar and boil for 3 more minutes stirring constantly.
- Then immediately pour the hot syrup slowly into your meringue mixture with the beaters set to medium.
- Beat the syrup and the mixture for about 30 seconds until it is well incorporated, and your meringue looks shiny.
- Quickly top your pie with the meringue spreading it evenly over the top and making peaks by lifting up the spatula. (You must work quickly because the meringue will start to set once it cools).
- Let your pie cool in the fridge for another hour allowing it to set completely.
- Then use a kitchen torch to toast the top of the meringue giving the peeks some golden-brown color. (This is optional and only for aesthetics).
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Reduce your aquafaba. Some brands of chickpeas have a thinner light-colored, watery liquid. If this is the case, you will have better results if you simmer the liquid for a little while to get a more concentrated aquafaba. You read more about how to reduce aquafaba here.
- Measure your agar agar carefully, slight changes in the amount of powder will affect the firmness of your pie.
- Once you mix the syrup into the meringue, work quickly to put it on top of your pie. You will only have about 1-2 minutes before it starts to firm up and set.
🥡 Storage
Refrigerate: Place your meringue pie in the fridge to set. Leave it uncovered for a few hours to allow any steam to escape. Then loosely cover your pie to allow a little air to get to it and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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📋 Vegan meringue recipe
Vegan Meringue
Ingredients
For the aquafaba meringue
- 1/2 cup aquafaba, (the liquid from a can of chickpeas or white beans)
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, or lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the syrup to stabilize the meringue
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 teaspoon agar agar powder
- 3/4 cup vegan sugar
Instructions
Make the aquafaba meringue
- Add 1/2 cup aquafaba (bean liquid) to the bottom of a large mixing bowl with 1/4 tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice. Beat for 7 minutes until it forms a stiff meringue.
- Add 2 tsp of vanilla and beat again for another minute before turning off the beater and making your agar agar syrup.
Make the syrup to stabilize the meringue
- In a small saucepan, add 1/2 cup water and 3/4 tsp agar agar and boil for 3 minutes.
- Then add 3/4 cup sugar to the agar mixture and boil for 3 more minutes stirring constantly.
- Immediately pour the hot syrup slowly into your meringue mixture with the beaters set to medium.
- Beat the syrup into the aquafaba mixture for about 30 seconds until it is well incorporated, and your meringue looks shiny.
- Quickly top your pie with the meringue spreading it evenly over the top and making peaks by lifting up the spatula. (You must work quickly because the meringue will start to set once it cools).
- Let your pie cool in the fridge for another hour, allowing it to set completely.
- Use a kitchen torch to toast the top of the meringue giving the peeks some golden-brown color. (optional)
Notes
- Measure your agar agar carefully, slight changes in the amount of powder will affect the firmness of your pie.
- Work quickly when making the aquafaba meringue. It will set once it cools, so it needs to be added to the pie quickly while it is still warm.
- I don’t recommend toating the top of your pie in the oven. The meringue can become too hot and deflate or melt. A kitchen torch works best.
This is by far the best vegan meringue that I have tried!
Can I brown the meringue in the oven?
Can’t wait to try this. Thank you
I have tested it and it didn’t work very well. You have to get the flame super close to the meringue for it to brown nicely. A kitchen torch is really the best way.