Air Fryer Frozen Edamame Beans

Ingredients Notes

• Frozen Edamame Beans – it’s important to buy the beans that are still in their pods as this effectively means that the beans themselves steam inside the pods so you get that lovely contrast of crispy outer pod with soft bean inside.  If you use the podded beans, they will still taste fine but they get a wrinkled skin on the outside of the bean (and obviously you will be eating a lot more of the salt so you would need to reduce the salt amount somewhat).
  
• Olive Oil – you can use any oil that you like for this recipe.  I tend to use plain cooking olive oil but sometimes I use extra virgin olive oil (which I keep mainly for salads or dips) or a mixture of olive oil or grapeseed oil and a little toasted sesame oil (don’t use all toasted sesame oil as it will be too strong a flavour).
  
• Salt - remember you are only seasoning the outside of the pods that you don't eat, but you are getting some of the seasoning as you suck the pod to draw out the beans inside. So, flaked salt is best here to get a hit of salty flavour with your beans. If you use smaller grains of salt then you should cut back on the amount as it will be too much.
  
• As for the rest of the ingredients, this is just a basic template with garlic powder and sesame seeds but you can adjust to add whatever flavour profile you want – add chilli flakes, or lemon juice, or spices or use different types of flavoured salts.  It is so adaptable!

Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for full list of ingredients and their quantities.

How To Make This Recipe

Step One - Take the pack of frozen edamame beans out of the freezer and pour them into a big bowl. Pour on the oil and seasoning ingredients.  Then mix well with your hands (or a spatula if you don’t want to get your hands dirty!).

Step Two - Pour the whole mixture into the air fryer and level out.  Then set the air fryer to 10 minutes at 200°C / 400°F. Shake the air fryer basket half way through cooking time to ensure even cooking.

Serve straight from the air fryer!

(This recipe was created in the Philips Essential Air Fryer XL (affiliated link). Different brands of air fryer may have slightly different cooking times.)

This is a summary only. Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page for full instructions.

Tips for Success

There are a few key points to remember when making this recipe.

• Use edamame beans in their pods for best results.
  
• As with all air fryer cooking, try not to overcrowd your air fryer.  So if you have a smaller air fryer than my Philips XL air fryer, maybe reduce the amounts so that your air fryer basket is not too full.  You want a nice even layer of the dressed edamame beans in the basket.  
  
• Always remember to shake the air fryer basket to move the beans about half way through cooking otherwise you may end up with some overcooked and others undercooked.

Serving Suggestions

My favourite way to serve these is in a big bowl in the middle of the table as a snack before the meal.  This prevents the inevitable loading up on crisps that my husband and kids like to gorge on when they’re all bored and hungry waiting for supper!

The key to remember when serving these edamame beans is that you do not eat the pod! So you will need to serve them in a bowl together with a separate empty bowl for the empty pods to go into.

How to eat edamame beans?

If you are unfamiliar with eating edamame beans like this, essentially you put one end of the pod into your mouth and gently bite down and suck so that the bean pops out of the pod into your mouth.  While drawing the empty pod back out of your mouth, you will draw off the seasonings from the outside and they’ll mix deliciously with the beans in your mouth!

Variations 

It is so easy to adapt this recipe to whatever flavour profile you like.  Here are some ideas:

• Spicy - add chili pepper flakes to the mixture or drizzle with your favourite chilli oil after cooking – I love to drizzle this divine crispy garlic chilli oil on top or if you want to stick to the Japanese theme, sprinkle over the classic togarishi seasoning. (affiliated links)
  
• Citrus – add a squeeze of lemon juice before or after cooking (or both!) or I have recently discovered this yuzu powder which is so good sprinkled over these edamame beans (and also over my crispy kale as an alternative to the nutritional yeast!).

Making Ahead & Storage

These delicious edamame beans are best made just before serving.  You could make them ahead and then quickly reheat them if you really want to but you run the risk of overcooking them and having slightly mushy beans.  

Likewise, with re-heating leftovers.  Either eat the whole batch in one or use the leftovers cold in a salad or in stir fries (un-podded).