5-Minute Shelled Edamame

This shelled edamame recipe is full of flavor and takes just 5 minutes! An easy side dish, it’s flash sauteed in a hot pan with garlic and soy sauce.

Eating edamame right in the pod is one of our favorite side dishes. That satisfying pop they make as you squeeze them into your mouth can’t be beat! (Right? Please tell us you’re a fan too.) But did you know you can also eat shelled edamame as a healthy side dish? Enter: this 5 minute shelled edamame! It’s flavor packed and savory, flash sauteed in a hot pan with garlic and soy sauce. You will not believe the flavor. I took one bite…and then couldn’t stop eating it. We don’t have many 5-minute recipes, so this one is extra special.

Buy shelled edamame for this recipe

Edamame are soy beans picked when they’re young and green, versus the mature soy used to make tofu. They’re full of plant-based protein, making them a nice addition to vegetarian and vegan diets! You can buy edamame two ways: 

• Frozen in pods. Edamame in pods are the kind served in Japanese restaurants as an appetizer or side. Go to our Easy Edamame or Spicy Edamame.
• Frozen shelled Shelled edamame can be used in salads, fried rice, noodle bowls, poke bowls, etc. You can also serve them shelled as a quick and easy side dish, like this recipe.

Shelled edamame: really a 5-minute side dish recipe!

This shelled edamame really comes together in 5 minutes. Promise! It sounds a little unreal, but here’s the thing. Just like frozen peas, frozen edamame comes to you already cooked (blanched, in fact). So cooking frozen vegetables is really more like reheating them. In fact, we based this edamame recipe off of our very favorite Peas with Lemon recipe, which makes frozen peas taste like 1 million bucks.

Here’s all you have to do to make this shelled edamame recipe:

• Defrost the edamame by running it under water. Place it in a strainer and warm it with warm water for a few seconds.
• Saute for 2 minutes with smashed garlic cloves. Throw that in a pan and saute for about 2 minutes with whole garlic cloves.
• Add soy sauce and stir for 1 minute. Then add a splash of soy sauce and cook until it evaporates. Add salt and you’re ready to serve!

Another way to enjoy edamame? Try Edamame Salad.

Cooking with whole garlic cloves: remove before serving

This shelled edamame recipe uses whole garlic cloves that are thrown right into the pan: no mincing required! Now, this is not just to save the precious minutes you’d spend mincing garlic. Cooking with smashed cloves brings a garlic essence, without too strong of a flavor. You also don’t risk burning the garlic.

Just remember to remove the garlic cloves before serving! They’re large and not meant to be eaten. Even though these photos show the garlic cloves because we like the look: don’t be temped to eat them!

Toasted sesame oil vs sesame oil

There are two types of sesame oil you can buy at the store. Make sure to get toasted sesame oil for this recipe, not plain sesame oil. What’s the difference?

• Toasted sesame oil has a strong, nutty flavor: it’s intended for flavoring foods. It adds a nice nutty essence to the shelled edamame.
• Sesame oil has a neutral flavor and is used for cooking.

Ways to serve this shelled edamame recipe

This shelled edamame recipe is the perfect healthy side dish for all sorts of meals. While edamame is typically served with Japanese and East Asian cuisines, this recipe can stretch outside of that too! The flavor is so savory and irresistible, you might find yourself eating more than you intended. Here are some ways to accessorize this easy side dish:

• Serve with salmon, like Teriyaki Salmon or Oven Baked Salmon
• Serve with shrimp, like Baked Shrimp or Shrimp and Broccoli
• Fried rice, like Vegetable Fried Rice or Quinoa Fried Rice
• Stir fries, like Vegetable Stir Fry or Teriyaki Stir Fry
• Noodles, like Soba Noodle Bowl or Quick Soba Noodles

This shelled edamame recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

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More vegetable side dishes

This shelled edamame recipe is a whole food plant based side dish (WFPB) that compliments just about any meal. Here are some of our other favorite vegetable side dishes:

• Roasted Kale or Sauteed Kale Both make kale taste so good, you’ll forget that it’s good for you.
• Sauteed Rainbow Chard Top this leafy green with Parmesan and toasted pine nuts and it’s outstanding.
• Best Ever Sauteed Mushrooms or Roasted Mushrooms THE perfect sauteed mushrooms with lemon and fresh herbs.
• Sauteed Spinach Guaranteed to make eating your greens taste amazing!
• Perfect Roasted Eggplant Baking eggplant until it’s tender makes for unreal flavor.
• Baked Asparagus or Sauteed Asparagus Both ways pair this green stalk taste lemony zing.
• Roasted Broccoli or Sauteed Broccoli This broccoli comes out as irresistible as fries.