Aquafaba is going to be the ingredient of 2017, because it’s aquafabulous

Raise your hand if you had no clue that the juice inside of chickpea cans was called “aquafaba?” And if you virtually raised yours, you’re certainly not alone. We’re all used to separating our beans from the liquid, and we’ve been totally doing it wrong — missing out on all of its yummy benefits.

Turns out aquafaba (can we talk about that amazing name, btw) is awesome for our vegan friends, too. Apparently, it’s a butt-kicking binding agent and works perfectly as an egg substitute in all sorts of recipes.

Aquafaba is the magic ingredient in a ton of vegan-friendly desserts, as well!

Because, how else are you supposed to make vegan lemon meringue pie without the light-fluffy stuff on top? You guessed it! By whipping the liquid in a high speed blender, it eventually turns into a puffy cloud of goodness. And, what about eggless chocolate mousse — you ask? Aquafaba helps it turn into a vegan-friendly treat, too.

Basically, anywhere you use eggs, you can use aquafaba.

Yup. That even includes mayonnaise. And marshmallows!

We guess being vegan or going on an eggless diet doesn’t sound so bad after all. We’d still get to partake in a lot of our favorite chocolatey treats that we know and love, and can stay away from farming practices that hurt our chicken friends.

OK, so aquafaba just became our new favorite thing. Baking is magic in itself, but this awesome bean juice just made it that much more exciting.