The Freezer Meal Frenzy staff is split when it comes to edamame. Some of us prefer the convenience of pre-shelled edamame, while other staffers like the more authentic, restaurant-style experience of soybeans in a salted pod. If you fall into the latter category, the Trader Joe’s Lightly Salted Edamame is the perfect snack for you.
This salted treat doesn’t actually need to be cooked at all. You can just transfer it from the freezer to the fridge and let it thaw overnight. If you’re like us, and you’re not great at planning ahead, you can heat up your edamame in the microwave. We’d advise against doing what we did and cooking an entire bag at once. Heating everything evenly was a bit of a struggle, since our first go at heating it up resulted in a few icy pieces left in the middle. We gave this an extra 30 seconds and our edamame turned out pretty tasty.
We were unsure about this initially. As you can tell from the image above, some of our soybean pods looked a little iffy when they came out of the microwave. Thankfully, the odd aesthetics didn’t have any real impact on the flavor of the edamame. We were actually surprised by how tasty it was.
The pods are salted pretty heavily, and a lot of that salt is transferred over to the edamame itself. You could dip these in soy sauce, but we’d say that they’re better plain. This is a pretty healthy snack — although it is a little high in sodium — and it’d make a great side dish or appetizer for an Asian-inspired dish.
Trader Joe’s Lightly Salted Edamame makes a great treat for anyone that thinks edamame should stay in its shell. Even if you prefer edamame out of the pod, you may find this to be a pretty tasty snack. Whether you remember to defrost it in the fridge or toss it in the microwave at the last minute like us, this is a simple and healthy way to enjoy the great taste of edamame.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for this Trader Joe’s frozen edamame, check out our package scan below.
