Now it's possible to make all of your favorite dishes using silky sweet Italian meringue without even cracking an egg! This recipe is vegan-friendly, egg-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free! This meringue is made from a clever ingredient - aquafaba.
What is Italian meringue?
Italian meringue involves whisking your protein, aquafaba, to stiff peaks. Then hot sugar syrup is added to the mixture, which is the main difference between Italian and French meringue, which is made by whisking in regular sugar granules. The sugar syrup is heated to 240°F and then added to the whipped aquafaba to create a stable and viscous meringue that holds its shape and is perfect as a topping for many desserts.
What is aquafaba?
Aquafaba is the viscous liquid leftover from cooking chickpeas or other white legumes. Sounds yucky? I thought so too, but honestly, you won't be able to taste it at all! The flavor is completely neutral once whipped up and the substance will take on the flavor and sweetness of the sugar you're using.
Aquafaba is an innovative alternative to using egg whites which are traditionally used for meringue recipes. It can be used to make cakes and brownies, marshmallows, meringues, and many other vegan-friendly versions of classic desserts and treats!
Ingredients overview
- Aquafaba: This is the egg white replacer and the main ingredient for the vegan Italian meringue. It becomes light and foamy when air is incorporated, just like egg whites.
- Caster sugar: The white sugar creates a beautiful light fluffy meringue. If you're based in the US, it's important to note that not all white sugar is vegan-friendly due to how it is processed. It is sometimes filtered using animal bone char. Look for vegan-friendly brands or organic sugar which doesn't use this method of processing.
- Cream of tartar: This is a form of tartaric acid, otherwise known as potassium bitartrate. It's actually a by-product of winemaking and is used widely in baking. This acid works as a stabilizer for the whipped aquafaba - giving a more stable and stiff end result.
- You'll also need some water (which I don't usually list as an ingredient but it's an integral part of the recipe!)
How to make vegan Italian meringue (with step-by-step images)
(Full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post)
Prepare the aquafaba
First, you'll want to reduce the aquafaba to increase its potency. This step is not always necessary, although I do recommend it as reducing the aquafaba increases its potency and makes the consistency a closer match to egg whites. If your aquafaba is already thick, you can skip the following step and use half the amount of aquafaba (chickpea brine) listed in the recipe.
Take a large clean bowl, making sure it's completely dry and free of grease. Add the aquafaba and cream of tartar to a large bowl and whisk on high speed for 10 minutes until soft peaks form.
Make the sugar syrup
Add the caster sugar and water to a saucepan and gently stir. Allow the mixture to sit for a minute until the sugar dissolves into a paste. If you aren't using a candy thermometer, take a glass and fill it halfway with water, set it aside for testing the sugar syrup later.
Place the saucepan on medium-high heat and allow the mixture to come to a simmer and bubble. DO NOT STIR the mixture throughout the entire process, just don't be tempted - it will ruin the mix! You can use a wet pastry brush to brush down the edges of the sugar sticking to the side of the pan - personally, I haven't found this necessary, as long as you have combined the sugar and water well before heating you should be good.
Place your candy thermometer into the syrup and continue to simmer until the mixture reaches 116°C (240°F) - about 10-12 minutes.
Combine the sugar syrup and aquafaba
Once the sugar syrup has reached the correct temperature begin to add it to the whipped aquafaba and continue to whisk until the mixture is incorporated. Whisk the aquafaba mixture for another 5 minutes before transferring it to a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of choice.
Expert tips
Use a candy thermometer
Using a candy thermometer will ensure that you get the exact temperature required to make the perfect meringue. Although it's possible to make Italian meringue without a thermometer, it's much easier to do it with one! You can pick up a candy thermometer for relatively cheap online.
Softball stage
If you don't have a candy thermometer and are happy to dive in and get to making your meringue (whilst keeping a watchful eye on it), you can use something called the softball method. It involves testing a small amount of the sugar syrup by adding it to cold water.
The syrup should roll into a malleable ball between your fingers but you should still be able to squeeze it out of shape. The amount of time the sugar syrup takes to reach this point varies, but I would generally start testing periodically after 7 minutes, although it could take 10-15 minutes to reach this stage so you'll need to be careful.
Frequently asked questions
This is a common concern, as many of us have learned how to make and create using eggs as the protein source, it's natural to be apprehensive about new alternatives. In short, the answer is no! It just takes a little bit of practice to become familiar with aquafaba and how it performs - and even better there are hundreds, even thousands of recipes on the internet now that have already done all of the hard work of figuring it out for you. In fact, I recently visited my old college where I had studied culinary arts, and my past lecturer from there was excited to tell me that she now uses aquafaba in place of egg whites when teaching students how to make meringue.
Why use aquafaba and not egg whites?
It's safer to eat than eggs!
Some meringues aren't fully cooked and therefore any pathogens that are naturally present in eggs aren't killed off during the cooking process. Aquafaba is safe to eat without cooking it first!
It's easier to work with!
Aquafaba is much more forgiving to work with than egg whites, in that it's almost impossible to over whisk it - unlike eggs which will separate and curdle if you overdo it.
But I usually use eggs to make meringue, so why should I use aquafaba instead?
Above all else, here is the main reason why I don't use eggs.
"Domesticated hens have been selectively bred to lay between 260 to 300 eggs a year. As a result of being genetically manipulated to produce an unnaturally large number of unnaturally large eggs, laying hens suffer from a host of crippling disorders of the reproductive tract, many of which can be fatal." - Exert taken from peacefulprairie.org's article "What's Wrong with Backyard Eggs?" which I would highly recommend reading if you'd like to learn more about the global egg industry, including backyard hens.
Ways to use eggless Italian meringue
Honestly, the ways in which to use this vegan Italian meringue recipe are endless. But here are some of my favorite uses for it. a topping for brownies, baked Alaska, and other desserts.
- As a topping for vegan meringue pie such as lemon meringue pie.
- As a topping for smores brownies like these caramel marshmallow brownies.
- To top lemon meringue cheesecake.
- For vegan baked Alaska.
- As the base for Vegan Italian meringue buttercream.
- To make homemade vegan marshmallows.
More meringue-based desserts
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Italian Meringue
Equipment
- Electric whisk or stand mixer
- Candy thermometer
Ingredients
- 234 g (1 cup) aquafaba *see notes
- 200 g (1 cups) caster sugar
- 60 ml (0.25 cups) water
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- Start by reducing the aquafaba, add it to a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer until it has reduced to half a cup in volume. After 5 minutes of simmering, check the volume by pouring the liquid into a measuring cup. If there's more than half a cup of liquid continue to simmer until it reduces to the required half cup. Pour the reduced aquafaba into a jar and refrigerate. This can be done the night before or at least one hour in advance of making the recipe.
- Take a large clean bowl, making sure it's completely dry and free of grease. Add the aquafaba and cream of tartar to a large bowl and whisk on high speed for 10 minutes until soft peaks form.
- Add the caster sugar and water to a saucepan, gently stir and allow the mixture to sit for a minute until the sugar dissolves into a paste.
- Place the saucepan on medium-high heat and allow the mixture to come to a simmer and bubble. DO NOT STIR throughout the entire process. Place your candy thermometer into the syrup and continue to simmer until the mixture reaches 116°C (240°F) - about 10-12 minutes.
- Once the sugar syrup has reached the correct temperature begin to add it to the whipped aquafaba. Slowly drizzle in a little at a time and continue to whisk until the mixture is incorporated.
- Whisk the aquafaba mixture for another 5 minutes before transferring it to a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of choice.
- Use the Italian meringue as a topping for brownies, baked Alaska, and other desserts.
- You can store this meringue in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours before use.
Notes
- Aquafaba: Drain a can of unsalted chickpeas, use only the liquid part.
- I highly recommend reducing the aquafaba to thicken it as you want it to have a similar viscosity to egg whites, refer to step 1 of the recipe. If your aquafaba is already thick, you can skip this step and use half the amount (118g).
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Superb. I dare anyone to tell the difference between this and meringue made with egg white. Recipe is generous enough to frost a two-layer cake, too.
Hi Catherine,
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback!
It worked on the first attempt!
hi! love your site! I never have any luck getting aquafaba to stay in stuff peaks for long. It seems to always deflate quickly. I thought I'd try yours since I never added melted sugar in this way before. I followed the recipe to the T, but the same thing happened...the peaks were a bit more glossy than I've ever been able to achieve but my mixture did not look like your bowl photo of the whipped mixture. yours looks almost like frosting- sooo fluffy and stiff! I know it's impossible for you to know what I did wrong...but do you have any ideas? I thought maybe I translated "caster" sugar into white sugar and it was supposed to be powdered sugar, but I am pretty sure you mean white granulated sugar which is what I used? I did reduce the aquafaba too ...
Hi Cat,
Thank you so much, and thanks for trying the recipe. I'm glad you had more success with it than you had in the past!
Aquafaba /meringue is very sensitive to the environment, so I wonder if that could be the issue seeing as this is often the case when you try it. Do you happen to live in a quite hot/humid climate?
Another key thing that can cause aquafaba to deflate it grease. Even if there is the slightest amount present in your bowl or utensils, it can prevent it from whipping properly. To solve this, I recommend wiping out the equipment with a little lemon juice or vinegar before getting started!
Lastly, with this recipe, adding the sugar syrup to the mixture is *key* to keeping its volume. If the syrup goes in too quickly, it will cause it to deflate.
I hope this helps, but if you have any more questions feel free to shout them below!
Thanks Christina! Appreciate the response. I am in PA where it is 20 degrees! I am pretty sure the bowls were clean just out of dishwasher and dried well, but I might have rushed the pour-in of the sugar...even though I thought I was going slowly. I will try again! I also want to try your buttercream and maybe the addition of the butter will get the consistency I want. I did put most of the meringue into a large ziplock baggie and into the fridge after I topped a small pie...the meringue on the little pie is really holding up well! but the meringue in the baggie separated with a little liquid at the bottom of the bag. I haven't tried piping that to see if it's usable even though it separated. I really want to get my meringue to look like yours in the photos- it looks sooooo fluffy and thick and yum
Hi Cat, Don't worry - we will get to the bottom of it! Just to confirm, are you using regular granulated white sugar? Also, once all of the sugar syrup has been added, are you continuing to whisk until the mixture is completely cooled? For the buttercream, absolutely, the butter will help to stabilize the mixture. Have you also tried using different brands of chickpeas when you test meringue, and are they unsalted?
Hi Christina! I wanted to tell you that that first batch that separated after 2 days (which I think is normal if you don't use it right?). Well I wanted to see if it would re-whip-and it did and it was nicer than my first try! It was glossier and seemed to whip a bit firmer. Such great suggestions...my chick peas are usually salted- could that be it? I do buy different brands but haven't found one that makes me keep buying the same one. Also, I am not 100% sure I whipped until the mixture totally cooled down...I thought I did but possibly not. and for the sugar, I am using organic white sugar. Have you ever used aquafaba powder?
Hi Christina, due to a chickpea allergy (and egg, which is how I found myself on your beautiful website), I can’t use aquafaba. Would subbing in another white bean canning liquid work? I’ve done it once for a meringue buttercream with decent results and wondered if it might work here too. Any advice?
Hi Elise,
Thank you for being here! And yes, you are absolutely right, you can use brine from any white beans (cannellini, butter beans etc) and it will work 🙂
I just made it and wow!
All of my sugar syrup ended on the sides of the whisking bowl 🙁
Hi Tanja,
Oh, I haven't heard this happen before. It sounds like the syrup might have been added too quickly? The syrup incorporates into the aquafaba when added slowly. I hope this helps for next time.
Do you think it would be possible to make the recipe with a store bought sugar syrup? I'm a confident cook, but not so much a confident baker.
Also I am hoping to make a vegan eggnog pie and have this as the topping rather than whipped cream (not a huge cream fan). Could this meringue be torched to brown after?
Hi Lydia,
This recipe won't work with store bought syrup, it needs to be a very particular temperature and consistency in order to help the merignue get the right consistency. It works beautifully on top of pies, and you can also blow torch it before serving.
Hi!
I was thinking about doing this meringue tonight (it looks beautiful!) and then storing it in the fridge to decorate a pie that I'm taking to work tomorrow morning. So would you say that it keeps well in the fridge overnight? Maybe if I store it in an airtight container or a sealed piping bag?
Hi Beatrice,
Ah it would be lovely on a pie. Yes storing it like you suggested should work fine!
Thank you for this very detailed recipe! I wonder... Why did you choose to reduce the aquafaba for the meringue buttercream and not for the "simple" meringue?
Hi Daniela,
I reduced the aquafaba for the buttercream version as I found that it made the mixture more stable for when the fat was introduced. I personally haven't found it necessary to reduce the aquafaba for the regular meringue so I thought it would be one less step 🙂
Will the meringue deflate if you add sugar syrup > 116 degrees? I’m asking as I want to make nougat and have not succeeded so far. I could try to let the syrup cool down to 116 degrees if that does the trick. Tried to cool down to 99 but then the sugar becomes too solid.
Hi Sophie,
I haven't tried heating the syrup past 116 degrees to make meringue so I can't advise on this, but I wouldn't recommend straying away from that temperature as it's important the recipe is followed precisely in order to get the correct result, sugar syrup can be finicky to work with.
Hi Christina,
How much buttercream does this recipe make? Would it be enough to frost a two layer 8 inch cake?
Thank you for the recipe! 😊
Hi Luz,
Oh lovely! 🙂 The buttercream recipe makes enough to frost 9-10 cupcakes, generously. It would definitely be enough for a two layer 8 inch. This particular recipe is for Italian meringue, here is the buttercream recipe https://addictedtodates.com/vegan-italian-meringue-buttercream/
for whisking the aquafaba you say to whisk on 'high heat' is this high setting of whisk, or does bowl need to be over hot water? or on stove? I am puzzled!
Hi Julia,
Yes it is indeed supposed to say "high speed" not "heat", I've amended the recipe. Thanks so much for calling this out!
Thnx for the recipe. I've made it today the chickpeafluid became very fluffy but when i added the sugarsirop it became very runny. What did i do wrong?
My pleasure 🙂
Did you use a candy thermometer to measure the temperature before adding the sugar syrup? And was the sugar syrup added to the meringue slowly? It's normal for the consistency to become a little less viscous once the syrup is added but it should thicken as you continue to whisk it and the mixture cools down