Cheesy Protein Edamame Puffs

Soy-free Option

• Use pea protein crisps (affiliate link) instead of edamame puffs.

These cheesy protein edamame puffs are very exciting for me, because I have made soooo many sweet edamame puff recipes and this is my first ever savory edamame puff recipe! I might be a little biased because I’m obsessed with cheesy snacks, but this is my favorite edamame puff recipe on my site right now, and it might be my favorite overall snack recipe on my site right now. These cheesy edamame puffs have a really good combination of flavors which is what makes them so addictive – they have that umami flavor from the nutritional yeast, saltiness, sweetness from the maple syrup and sharpness from the lactic acid!

Edamame puffs are the main protein source in this recipe. I also use nutritional yeast, which adds a nice cheesy flavor, and also is surprisingly high in protein! You can get the fortified nutritional yeast, which will give you some B12 too! Overall, this snack comes out to almost 40% protein (on a calorie basis), which is better than almost all of the savory protein snacks on the market and, obviously, significantly cheaper too.

Lactic acid is probably the least familiar ingredient in this recipe, but I would highly recommend getting some, because it adds the sharpness that you’ll remember from dairy cheese and without it, the recipe isn’t nearly as special.

You can eat this as a little protein snack on the go (which is what I’ve been mostly doing) or toss them on top of your salads to add some protein, flavor and crunch!

If you’re looking for some other ways to use edamame puffs, I would highly recommend these High Protein “Rice” Crispy Treats or High Protein Chocolate Crunch Bar recipes!

Stuff You’ll Need

• Edamame Puffs (affiliate link) – so far, I’ve only been able to find Edamame Puffs from one brand in the US – SmartforLife. They also sell them directly on their website and offer discounts for buying more than one bag at once. If you live outside of the US, you may know edamame puffs as “soy crispies” or “soy crisps”.
  • If you’re soy-free, you can still make this recipe, because pea protein crispies (affiliate link) exist! You can use them pretty much exactly like you would edamame puffs, but they’re soy-free!
  • Edamame puffs are great for making protein snacks because they’re 80% and they have a pretty neutral flavor.
• Nutritional Yeast. If you’re new to plant-based cooking, you may not know what nutritional yeast is, but it’s used in a lot of recipes to add a savory, umami flavor. Nutritional yeast is also high in protein, and B-vitamins (if you buy fortified). You can buy it at most grocery stores and they also sell it online.
• Coconut Oil – I would recommend using refined coconut oil for this recipe because it has less of a coconut flavor. This ingredient is necessary to the recipe, because it helps the flavor stick to the edamame puffs, but it also helps the edamame puffs stick to each other so that you can eat them in little clusters.

• Maple Syrup – if you don’t have maple syrup, something like agave syrup will work too. The recipe doesn’t use much maple syrup, but it is needed for balancing the flavors.
• Lactic Acid (affiliate link) – this is the brand of lactic acid that I buy. It comes in a large bag and will last you awhile. You might be thinking about skipping or substituting this ingredient, but I really hope you don’t because lactic acid is what adds the sharpness/tangy-ness to this recipe that is going to remind you of dairy cheese. It’s great for adding acidity to any cheesy sauce or recipe. I use it most often in this Fresh Vegan Mozzarella recipe, which is literally my favorite cheese to put on pizzas (and I make it all the time because it takes about 5 minutes)!
• Garlic Powder, Onion Powder – these are the spices I use. I really need to stop taking pictures first thing in the morning, but it’s actually the second time I’ve grabbed two garlic powders instead of an onion powder 🙁
• Salt – adjust to taste.

How to Make it & Pictures

• In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the the coconut oil. Mine melted in 45-60 seconds in the microwave.
• Once the coconut oil is melted, mix in the maple syrup, onion powder, garlic powder, lactic acid and salt so the coconut oil is well flavored.
• Add in the nutritional yeast and mix that in really well. It should look like this.

• Now mix in the edamame puffs until they are very well coated. The puffs should be a little shiny from the coconut oil.
• Dump them onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a pile, then smooth them out like the picture shown below. I used the back of a spatula to press them together tightly so that when they set up can break it up into little clusters (which is significantly easier to eat then the tiny puffs individually).
  • You could also put them in silicone molds so that they’re already portioned out if you’d prefer that.

• Toss them in the fridge for about 10 minutes or until they are set!
• Carefully break them apart into small clusters or whatever size you prefer.
• I store mine in the fridge so that they stay together better until I’m ready to eat them!

Silly Little Haiku

Edamame Puffs

They are so freaking cheesy

My first savory