Spicy Garlic Edamame Recipe

Edamame is a classic veggie treat served up at Japanese and pan-Asian restaurants. These small beans contain loads of health benefits — they're high in protein and filled with vitamins and minerals, according to Healthline. Served in a small dish, edamame is often paired with a punchy salt topping that accentuates the mellow, earthy flavor.

After being introduced to edamame by her daughter at a Japanese restaurant, recipe developer Miriam Hahn started finding ways to make it at home. As a wellness coach, Hahn finds ways to make healthy recipes as delicious as possible. This spicy garlic edamame recipe is no different. With sauteed garlic, spicy chili paste, and salty soy sauce, Hahn's edamame is a dish you'll want to eat over and over again. "My favorite thing about it is that it's so flavorful and spicy!" she shares. "You can modify the chili sauce if you want it milder, and you can add sriracha to it if you want it to have even more of a kick." 

Before you can start making your spicy garlic edamame, you'll need to gather your ingredients. For this recipe, you will need one 10-ounce bag of frozen edamame in their shells, a cup of water, two teaspoons of sesame oil, three cloves of mined garlic, 1 tablespoon of chili paste (Hahn uses Sambal Oelek, but any chili paste is fine), two teaspoons of soy sauce, and half a teaspoon of salt (only if your edamame doesn't have it added. Some do, so check the package to make sure you won't be adding too much salt).

Now that you've gathered the ingredients for your spicy garlic edamame, it's time to heat up the edamame. Add one cup water and the frozen edamame shells to a small pot. Heat the water to a boil, and cook the shells for 3 to 5 minutes until they are no longer frozen. Using a colander, drain the water from the edamame shells. This is all the cooking you will do for the shells, so by this point, they should be hot and a nice, soft texture.

Now that the edamame is cooked, you can get to work seasoning it. The first step in making the edamame sauce is to cook the garlic. To do this, mince the garlic into small pieces. Next, put the sesame oil and garlic in a small frying pan, sauteeing on medium heat for two minutes. Make sure you are stirring constantly, as the mixture can burn easily. Once the garlic has been nicely toasted but not browned, it's ready to be combined with the other ingredients for the sauce.

At this point, you've done all the stovetop cooking you are going to need for this recipe. All that's left is to make the spicy garlic sauce to flavor the edamame.

Remove the garlic from the pan and put it in a small bowl. Additionally, put your chili paste, soy sauce, and salt (if using) in the small bowl. Stir the mixture until combined, and taste to make sure the chili/soy sauce ratio is to your liking. 

Now that you've made your delicious sauce, all that's left to do is combine it with the edamame and serve. Simply pour the sauce over the top of the warm shells and plate to serve. Feel free to mix the shells and sauce in a mixing bowl if you want a more even distribution. As far as serving suggestions, Hahn suggests pairing this edamame with any Asian dish. "I make a lot of stir fries, and this goes so great with that!" she says. Additionally, she says it "makes a great healthy snack."