Edamame Salad with Lentils and Lemon

This edamame salad with lentils is lemony, packed with fresh flavors, and delicious. It's a hearty, quick, and easy side dish or vegetarian main course.

With pre-cooked lentils and pre-shelled edamame, this hearty salad takes just minutes to put together, and leftovers are great too (if you happen to have any). 😉

Beautiful, delicious, and so satisfying, this lemony edamame salad is one you’ll find yourself making all the time. It’s bursting with vibrant flavors and nourishing ingredients — tender lentils, soft greens, and fresh pops of edamame. Everything is tossed with fresh dill and a tangy lemon dressing that brings it to life.

Ingredient Notes

• cooked lentils - Since I wanted this to be a salad that can be made easily and quickly, I use pre-cooked lentils. You can purchase pre-cooked lentils or cook your own a day ahead of time.
• shelled edamame - It's best to get shelled edamame for this recipe. Trader Joe's often carries them in the produce section of the store, and you'll almost always find them in Asian markets.
• lemon - This recipe calls for a generous amount of lemon juice, so using seedless lemons or Meyer lemons is best. Meyer lemons are a touch less tart and a touch sweeter. And with a thinner skin and fewer seeds, they are incredibly juicy.
• red onion - The red onion is cut into a small dice, which adds the perfect amount of crunch to each bite. Substitutions: You can use any onion variety, keeping in mind that red onions are a touch sweeter than the others.
• fresh dill - Always try to choose perky, deep green, fresh herbs. Substitutions: Mint or basil. (Or any combination of all of them.)
• lettuce - I use and recommend mixed baby greens - I love the variety of flavor and color, and the leaves are tender compared to larger lettuces. Substitutions: Use any lettuce you like. It's also delicious with baby spinach.

How to Make it

- Add the cooked lentils, shelled edamame, red onion, fresh dill, lettuce, salt, and pepper to a large serving bowl and mix until everything is well combined.

- Add the lemon juice, avocado olive oil, salt, pepper, and sugar to a small jar with a lid. Put the lid on tightly and gently shake until the dressing is well mixed. (Alternately, you can add everything except the oil to a small bowl, and slowly whisk in the oil.)

- Just before serving, drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss, and serve.

Variations

• Add more protein. Though this salad is already loaded with plant protein, if keeping the salad vegetarian/vegan isn't important to you, it's fantastic with the addition of spicy shrimp, baked salmon, or shredded chicken. (To keep it vegetarian, you can add crumbled or cubed firm tofu.)
• Change up the dressing. The lemon dressing can be made with either lime or orange to change the flavor profile.
• Use chickpeas. If you want to swap the edamame for chickpeas (garbanzo beans), the salad is excellent that way, too.

Making it Ahead

• You can prepare this a day ahead if you do everything except adding the lettuce and dressing, which you can easily do a few minutes before serving.
• Leftovers keep well for a few days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. This is true even with the dressing having wilted the lettuce.

More Must-Try Hearty Vegetarian Salad Recipes

I hope you love this hearty salad as much as my family and I do!