Pea Salad Recipe
This refreshing pea salad with a savory, tangy dressing deserves its place on your lunch or dinner table. It’s an excellent side on regular weekdays and even on holidays. The bright colors are a feast for the eyes while the fresh veggie flavors play on the taste buds.
Pea salad always reminds me of the holidays with its beautiful colors and exquisite taste. This attractive side dish disappears just as quickly as the crowd-favorite mashed potatoes. You’ll see why as you read along.
Why Peas Work in a Salad
Fresh and frozen baby peas are tender, sweet, and nutritious. Not only that, they add a pop of color that makes an otherwise bland-looking salad attractive to the eyes. Plus, peas are super versatile. They go well with onions, carrots, basil, bacon, ham, and cheese. Have fun playing with the seasonings to personalize your creation.
How to Make a Pea Salad
- Whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream, and Creole seasoning in a small bowl. Add salt to taste. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use. (Photos 1-2)
- Fry the bacon over medium heat for 6-7 minutes or until it’s crispy and browned. Transfer with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Set aside to cool.
- Mix the frozen peas and onion in a salad bowl. Add mayo dressing and mix thoroughly. (Photos 3-4)
- Stir in half of the bacon and the grated cheese. Adjust seasonings to taste with more Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper. (Photos 5-6)
- Serve. Top with the reserved bacon bits and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Tips and Tricks
- Feel free to leave out the bacon and swap the mayo dressing with a vinaigrette for a vegan version.
- Replace the mayo and sour cream with plain Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese for a lower-fat dressing.
- Frozen or freshly cooked corn, chopped hard-boiled eggs, and chopped nuts are nice additions.
Making it Ahead and Leftover Storage
Making it the day before and letting it chill in the fridge allows the flavors to develop. You can store leftover pea salad in the fridge for 3-5 days. However, freezing changes the texture a bit too much.
Perfect Pairings for Pea Salad
The simplicity of this dish makes it a tasty holiday staple. It’s also a great main dish salad. However, grilled beef, chicken, and shrimp are a nice main attraction.
More Easy Main Dish Salad Recipes
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was first published in December 2020 and has been updated with additional tips, tempting photos, and a video.
Pea Salad
Ingredients
The Dressing
- ½ cup (113g) mayonnaise
- ¼ cup (60g) sour cream
- ½-1 teaspoon (2-4g) Creole seasoning (optional, but delicious)
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
The Salad
- 6-8 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 pound (450g) green peas, fresh or frozen and defrosted
- ⅓ cup (50g) diced red onions
- ½ cup (45g) grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, sour cream, and Creole seasoning. Add salt to taste. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.
- Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy-based skillet. Fry the bacon over medium heat for 6-7 minutes or until crispy and browned. Transfer with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, add the peas and onion. Add the prepared mayonnaise dressing and thoroughly mix. Stir in half of the bacon and the grated cheese. Adjust seasonings to taste with more Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Top with reserved bacon and refrigerate until ready to serve, so it has time to develop flavor.
Tips & Notes:
- Frozen green peas have a nicer crunch than canned ones. Also, they were already blanched before they were frozen. So, it saves you a lot of time since you can add them straight into the salad; no extra work is needed.
- You can dice the cheese instead of grating it.
- Several ingredients, especially the cheese and bacon, already have salt, so it’s best to adjust the salt to taste after assembling.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used in the recipe.
Why heat the oil to then fry the bacon in.????
I will skip that step.! Thank you.
Totally optional, just be careful not to burn the bacon. 🙂
Great recipe, I did squeeze 1/2 a lemon over my peas first, no salt used, added black pepper. Very tasty
Yum! Thank you for sharing, Ruth! 🙂
Delicious!
so, so , good I just love this great salad dish
Same here! Happy holidays! 🙂