Edamame Hummus

Nutty and creamy edamame hummus that everyone will love. Easy to prepare and versatile, this buttery edamame recipe is perfect for entertaining or family snacks. Ready just in 10 minutes!

Edamame Hummus

Hummus is vegan friendly, easy to make and naturally gluten free. But if you’re like me, and you’re constantly reaching for hummus, it’s good to mix it up now and again.

Whether you buy your hummus from the shop or make it fresh at home, everyone needs a bit of variety in their hummus. That's where the idea of this edamame hummus came from. It’s drawn from two of my favourite healthy snacks – edamame and hummus.

Being Japanese, edamame has been a favourite of mine for most of my life. My mother used to give us edamame as an appetizer or snack when I was growing up. And when I started going to bars, izakayas and restaurants it was the perfect accompaniment to a cold drink in summer.

So, after making extra creamy hummus with chickpeas, I thought why not make it with edamame! Read on for the recipe!

What is edamame?

Edamame is young soybeans. Eda means branch, and mame means bean in Japanese. They are harvested before they are fully ripe and hardened, while they are green. This is what edamame is made of. Rich in protein, edamame is the perfect ingredient for a vegan friendly diet. Fresh edamame pods are typically found at grocery shops during the summer.

While I love taking edamame out of the pods one by one at restaurants, I thought, there’s also another way to eat it, and hummus style is the answer. Think creamy smooth edamame with pita bread, rice crackers, corn chips or fresh vegetables! Yum!

Why is this Edamame Hummus so Special?

1. Appetizing colours

I love the fresh and vibrant green colour, which is an instant appetizer on the dinner table (your kids won’t even know it’s healthy!). The secret ingredients for making this colour are salt and baking soda.

2. Fluffy, light and silky smooth

I've found when icy cold water is added to tahini, the texture becomes extra fluffy and smooth. You can also control your desired consistency by adding little more.

3. No chickpeas

Hummus is translated as chickpea in Arabic language. This edamame recipe does not use chickpeas. It's just like hummus, but it's made with edamame beans.

4. Edamame hummus without tahini

Tahini acts as a binding agent to help bind the blended edamame beans together. But if you don’t fancy tahini, no problem! You can add little more olive oil or use avocado oil instead.

When tahini is short in our pantry, I add sesame paste or peanut butter. They have a stronger taste than edamame. So add one teaspoon at a time and taste.

Ingredients for Edamame Hummus Recipe

The only thing you really need to do for this edamame hummus recipe is to find edamame.

Where to get edamame

This is a quick and easy frozen edamame bean recipe. Shelled frozen edamame is available at major supermarkets like Costco. Or you can find frozen edamame with pods.

If you prefer fresh edamame with pods as I do, they are often found at the Asian or Japanese grocery stores during the summer. Check out how to cook edamame like a Japanese restaurant.

Lemon juice: Buy lemons and use freshly squeezed lemon juice. Your edamame hummus becomes fresh and delicious! I throw minced garlic in the lemon juice and rest it for a few minutes before putting it all in a food processor. This softens the garlic taste a bit.

Sea salt: Edamame is cooked with sea salt in Japan. You can use any other good quality salt, but my recommendation is sea salt.

Ground cumin adds a bit of kick to the flavor and really brings it alive.

How to Make Edamame Hummus

Preparing edamame hummus is super easy.  It’s basically just throwing ingredients in a food processor. Here’s the few basic steps:

How to cook frozen edamame

Shelled frozen edamame beans are the best for this quick and easy edamame recipe! They are pretty widely available at supermarkets these days.

Defrost frozen edamame beans. Just leave them at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. Of course, it's dependent on the season and the room temperature. You don’t need to cook them as they're already cooked. If you boil or steam them again, the texture becomes too soft. So just make sure that they are thawed.

What to do with the skins

I remove the skin of each edamame bean one by one. This makes it smooth and creamy. If you need to save time, you can omit this process, but it will change the texture.

OK. Now just put everything into a food processor and process it.

That's it! Garnish and serve!

Garnish edamame hummus

Simply add or sprinkle:

• Sesame seeds
• Olive oil
• Herbs such as parsley, Japanese shiso or rosemary
• Black pepper
• Edamame beans

Let me know how you garnish. Enjoy!

Tips for Edamame Hummus

How long does homemade edamame hummus last?

Transfer the leftover edamame hummus into an airtight container as soon as possible. Leave it in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can keep the edamame hummus in the freezer for one month. If you freeze it in small amounts, it's easier to defrost and be ready quickly!

How to serve edamame hummus

Basically, anything you can use hummus for, you can use this edamame hummus for. Impress your family and friends with this variation on hummus!

Edamame dip -  It’s perfect for a snack with crackers, fresh vegetables or corn chips. My favourite is to scoop it up with corn chips.

Sauces - I like a creamy vegan edamame pasta. Or adding it to salad.

Wrapping - with pitta bread, tortillas or tacos!

More recipes with edamame

Spicy Garlic Edamame

How to make Edamame like Japanese Restaurants