Spicy Garlic Edamame is an easy and delicious snack or appetizer. Just four ingredients and 10 minutes is all it takes to make this spicy edamame recipes that you'll find yourself craving again and again.
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Listen, I don’t know how your snacking game is, but we’re about to kick things up a notch.
Do you like savory snacks? Me too. Hand me a bowl of crispy Roasted Chickpeas and I am all over it. Potato Wedges? Yes please! How about some Crispy Tofu Nuggets?!
A fancy looking but easy making appy to get the night started? This is that!
When I first tested this recipe for Spicy Garlic Edamame, my husband walked in the door and said, “it smells amazing in here!” I could hardly keep him away from it long enough to take pictures. As soon as I was done we all gathered around the bowl and before I knew it we were left with nothing but a puddle of garlic butter and a mountain of empty edamame bean pods.
These are *that* good, my friends. And stupidly simple to make, so let’s get to work!
What do I need to make Spicy Garlic Edamame?
Just a bag of frozen edamame and a few pantry staples is all you need to make this tasty recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Edamame –-> frozen edamame in the shell is what you’re after.
- Butter –-> Mmmhmm.
- Garlic –-> That one should be pretty obvious, right?
- Chili flakes –-> to spice things up.
- Flaky sea salt –->I like Maldon.
Do I need any special equipment?
Not particularly. You’ll need a pot for cooking the edamame, a colander for draining it, and a large heavy-bottomed pan for making the spicy garlic butter.
I like to use a garlic crusher rather than mincing the garlic, because a) it’s easier, and b) I think you get better distribution of the garlic this way.
How to make Spicy Edamame
Step 1: Cook the edamame beans.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil, and salt generously.
Add the frozen edamame to the boiling water, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the edamame in a colander, and set aside.
Step 2: Make the spicy garlic butter.
Place a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt.
Add the crushed garlic and chili flakes to the butter, and swirl around in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the garlic is just barely taking on a golden colour but is not yet brown. Remove from the heat.
Step 3: Add the drained edamame beans to the spicy garlic butter and swirl to coat well.
Transfer to a large bowl or serving platter, and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
That’s it! You’re done!
How do you eat edamame?
Good question! If you've never eaten edamame before or seen it served at a Japanese restaurant it might be confusing as to how to tackle this pile of beans, especially ones that are doused in spicy garlic butter.
Here's how to eat edamame.
Step 1: Pick up a bean and hold it by the stem end.
Step 2: Put the bean in your mouth, and with a firm grip on the stem end, gently clamp your teeth down around the edamame pod.
Step 3: Pull the stem away from your face so that the edamame beans pop out of the pods and into your mouth, along with most of that glorious garlic butter.
Step 4: Repeat with remaining beans!
Step 5: Discard the empty pods. They can go into your compost, if you have one, green waste, or into the garbage.
Can this dish be made vegan?
It sure can. Just replace the butter with a vegan butter substitute such as Earth Balance, or use olive oil in place of the butter.
Can I make this recipe in advance?
You can defo prep the garlic butter in advance and then re-heat and toss with the edamame at the last minute
We re-heated leftover spicy edamame for just a few minutes in a pan over medium heat, and it was almost just as delightful as when freshly made.
Want to make it more or less spicy?
I kept a pretty light hand with the chili flakes as we were sharing this dish with our kids, but you can certainly dial up the heat if you want to.
You can also leave the chili out altogether if you’re sensitive to heat, and just have delightful garlic butter edamame.
IS SOY HEALTHY?
When we’re talking about whole food, protein and fiber rich green soy beans like edamame, you bet it is.
Soy has a bad rap but that’s mostly due to the highly processed nature of soy foods in our food system. Whole foods like edamame, and fermented soy foods such as tempeh and miso are healthy and delicious.
We take a deep dive into the whole soy situation in this post: is soy healthy, which is a guest post by the wonderful Kellie, a cancer nutrition educator, from the blog Food to Glow.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
Roasted Garbanzo Beans
Crispy Potato Wedges
Chickpea Fries
Olive Oil Braised Chickpeas
Vegetarian Poutine
Tofu Nuggets
Buffalo Tofu
Spicy Garlic Edamame
Ingredients
- 1 lb frozen edamame you want edamame still in the pod
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon flaky salt I prefer Maldon
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Salt generously, and add the frozen edamame.
- Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, or according to package directions.
- Drain the edamame and set aside.
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter, and allow to melt.
- Add the crushed garlic clove and chili flakes to the melted butter. Swirl around in the pan.
- Cook the garlic butter for 3-5 minutes, until the garlic is just beginning to turn golden, but not brown. Remove from the heat.
- Add the drained edamame to the garlic butter, and toss to coat.
- Transfer the spicy garlic edamame to a serving dish, and sprinkle with flaky salt.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- This recipe can be made vegan by replacing the butter with vegan butter such as earth balance, or olive oil.
Gemma
These sound delicious! I’m looking for healthier snacks for the evenings when watching TV and I get a chip craving. These would be a much better option 🙂 xo
Katie Trant
I do love a good potato chip, but these are a fun snack to switch out now and then.
Anonymous
When you said you were left with a pile of bean pods, that was my clue that you peel off the skin and only eat the soy beans. Are they easy to peel? So then my question is the part that was cooked in all the spices you don't eat so does the flavor seep into the inside onto the beans?
I know this is such a dumb question. Please don't publish my name I am so embarrassed but I really don't know
Katie Trant
Hey! I changed your name to anonymous, but I want you to know it's really not a dumb question! My bad for leaving it out of the post, and I've updated with instructions for how to eat edamame. If you've never had them before, you wouldn't know! Basically you pop a bean into your mouth and then gently clamp down with your teeth while you pull the pod back out. The beans slip out of the pod and you're left with them and the delicious garlic butter in your mouth, and toss the empty pod away. Hope that helps!