Edamame Salad with Parmesan, Basil & Mint

This edamame salad is almost painfully simple. It’s the epitome of what I love to eat (and make!) for a quick, healthy, filling and straight-up delicious lunch. Because truly, we never give the soy bean the credit that it deserves. Edamame is DELICIOUS, and it’s such a neutral, blank canvas that can really hold onto whatever flavor you give it.

This recipe combines classic Italian flavors with a bit of a fresh new twist. Everything can be adapted to fit what’s in your pantry, and it’s perfect for that end-of-the-week fridge clean out. Plus it can easily be made ahead of time and used as meal prep, or even be made plant-based for an easy vegan side dish. I’m going to be cliche and say the possibilities are endless 😉 Read on for the five minute recipe, or just jump to the recipe box below!

Why edamame for this salad recipe?

I mentioned this a bit in the intro paragraph, but I LOVE edamame. Edamame is a way to treat immature soybeans in the pod, boiling them for consumption. So think of edamame as a soybean before it reaches it’s full growth potential. The preparation of edamame originated in East Asian countries. What I love is now frozen and prepared edamame is so easily available in the US, and it only contains one ingredient – beans.

Edamame is also such a hearty but mild flavor that it works perfectly in a recipe where the flavors are more pronounced and must be absorbed by the base ingredient. Edamame is the perfect base and really holds together the whole structure of the salad. Plus – protein! Just perks, y’know?

Now I know I know, not everyone’s stomach agrees with soy, so if you are trying to avoid soy for any reason, you can totally sub in a canned bean of your choice for this recipe. Just make sure to rinse and dry the beans beforehand, and you should be good to go.

What herbs does this edamame salad need?

Now – you might be shook when I say this, but mint and parmesan are a DREAM together. There’s a perfect mix of salty, fresh and herby when you combine the two. So in this recipe, mint is really the star.

But I also add basil as a sweet, fun-loving sidekick. It’s an extra add-on to the recipe, but I promise you’ll miss her if she’s gone.

Full ingredient list for this 5-minute lunch recipe

Now even though this recipe is super short, it does require a few things from the pantry. Here’s the full list of what to have on hand:

• 1 & 1/2 cup frozen edamame, beans only
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
• 1 slice preserved lemon
• 1 small lemon for zest and juice
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2-3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

How to bring this edamame salad together

No cooking required – because sometimes….you need that <3 Here’s the step-by-step!

• In a large bowl, microwave the edamame until it is thawed, about 1-2 minutes.
• Roll up both the mint and basil to do a chiffonade cut. Dice up the preserved lemon. If you don’t have preserved lemon on hand, no worries! Instead, just double the amount of the fresh lemon measurements that I call for below.
• Toss the herbs and lemon in with the edamame. Add a generous pour of olive oil and toss to coat. Season the salad with a lot of salt, pepper and the juice from 1/2 of the lemon.
• Once the salad is well combined, grate the parmesan over the top. Then grate on some lemon zest. Top with more black pepper and serve!

Looking for other vegetable dishes & salad ideas?

They are probably my favorite recipe to make. Here’s a few popular posts from the blog!

And that’s it for this edamame salad recipe!

If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3