Ready within 20 minutes with 12-ish ingredients, this green lentil edamame salad packs the protein and fiber. It’s made with simple ingredients like frozen shelled edamame, green lentils, spices, lemon zest and juice, red onion, parsley, and sliced almonds, and it requires minimal chopping! A homemade spiced lemon dressing with maple syrup, cumin, coriander, and chili really compliments the earthy lentils and pops of edamame. This is the perfect vegan salad for meal prep as it can be mixed up and stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I’ve been increasing my vegan protein intake lately, and edamame has been sneaking into so many of our meals! I love the texture of edamame–they almost pop in your mouth. I typically work them into stir fries or whipped up into a smooth edamame dip. Recently I thought about combining them with another plant-based protein superstar: lentils! The softness of the cooked green lentils and springy edamame is a textural match in heaven for me personally. I had so much fun working on this salad and expanding the lentil recipes repertoire.
I turn to bright lemon and pantry spices in the lentil edamame salad dressing. My favourite trick lately is heating up the avocado oil for a homemade dressing on the stove and then pouring it over spices to bloom the flavour a bit. We do that here and then add lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of salt. The dressing will taste almost too tangy on its own. I promise that it all becomes perfectly balanced in the salad though.
More vegan edamame recipes:
To thaw frozen shelled edamame for this salad, I just run it under hot water in the sink for a couple minutes and then try to blot dry as much as I can. Once you have the lentils cooked (which only takes about 15 minutes), you’re on easy street. Top with crunchy toasted almonds, peppery parsley, sharp red onion, and that deliciously tangy and spiced dressing. So satisfying! Hope you love this edamame lentil salad.
Green Lentil Edamame Salad with Spiced Lemon Dressing
Packed with vegan protein and fiber, this easy green lentil edamame salad comes together in about 20 minutes with a deliciously tangy spiced lemon dressing and toasted almonds for crunch.
Servings 4 -6
Ingredients
Lentils
- 1 cup dry green lentils, rinsed
- pinch sea salt
Spiced Lemon Dressing
- ¾ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground chilies
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (plus extra)
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
- sea salt, to taste
Edamame & Assembly
- 2 cups shelled frozen edamame, thawed
- 1 small red onion, small dice
- ½ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (plus extra)
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup toasted sliced almonds
Notes
- You can substitute French, brown or black beluga lentils here. All will have slightly different cooking times, so just double check the package before proceeding here and adjust as necessary!
- You can use toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds instead of toasted almonds to make this salad nut-free.
- Worcestershire sauce contains wheat. Substitute Tamari to keep this gluten-free.
- This salad keeps up to 5 days in the fridge! I recommend adding the almonds to each serving if you’re doing it this way, just to preserve the crunch.
Instructions
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Place the lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with 3-4 inches of water. Add the pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer until lentils are just tender–you don’t want to overcook them! About 13-15 minutes is good. Once cooked, drain and set aside to cool slightly.
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Make the dressing. In a medium bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, chilies, and black pepper. In a small skillet, heat the avocado oil until it’s just starting to get hot. Then, pour the oil over the spices in the bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so before whisking in the lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup, Worcestershire, and salt. Set aside.
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In a large bowl, combine the cooked lentils, thawed edamame, red onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Pour over the dressing and toss to combine. Serve with toasted almonds on top (plus extra parsley and lemon zest if you like) and enjoy!
