[Aim]  To provide guidance and ideas for research on edible insects by means of a bibliometric analysis of the current state, trends, and hot topics in the literature in this field over the past 20 years. [Methods]  Publications on edible insects were retrieved from 2003 to 2022 from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database. These were analyzed with CiteSpace 6.2. R5 (64-bit) Advanced for co-occurrence, clustering, emerging authors, institutions, and keywords. [Results]  A total of 239 Chinese and 2 107 English publications were obtained for analysis. Publications from the CNKI database underwent a slight fluctuation after about 12 years, whereas, those from the WoSCC database have continuously increased since 2014 to 450 publications by 2022. In the CNKI database, Ying Feng’s team from the Research Institute of Resource Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, has published the most papers (6). The WoSCC database has the highest number of publications from Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands (93). The top 10 contributing authors are members of 3 research teams led by Aquilanti Lucia, Choi Yun-Sang, and Tanga Chrysantus M. Domestic research on edible insects mainly focuses on the value of edible insect resources, nutrients and food safety, whereas foreign research focuses on sensory evaluation, consumer preferences, and bioactive compounds, and tends to be more thorough and specific. [Conclusion]  Our bibliometric analysis confirms that research on edible insects is growing around the world. Our results provide insightful references that researchers can use to identify and understand the status and future direction of research in this field.