Classic Pea Salad Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is pea salad made of? ›

Pea salad is a classic American side dish that's as colorful as it is delicious! It's packed with bright green peas, red onion, cheddar cheese, and bacon. Then, all of those ingredients are tossed with a dressing made from sour cream, mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and a little pinch of sugar.

Makes 4 servings of about ½ cup each. Double or triple ingredient amounts for larger gatherings. Per ½ cup serving: 144 calories; 6.8g total fat (3.1g saturated, 0.1g polyunsaturated, 0.0g monounsaturated); 277mg sodium; 11.9mg cholesterol; 11.6g carbohydrate; 4.0g fiber; 4.1g sugars; 10g protein; 237.4mg potassium.

To Make Pea Salad – Just Thaw or Cook and Cool

If you are concerned, cook the peas through according to the package directions then put the peas in a big bowl of ice water to cool them down quickly.

Their delicate flavor pairs well with simple seasonings: a good drizzle of quality olive and a dash of salt and pepper will do the trick. When it comes to the pods, you can go ahead and eat fresh, tender young peas raw, including the pod, either by themselves or dipped into hummus.

Pea greens, the young and tender pea vines you may find piled high in tangled bundles at the farmers' market, can be eaten cooked or raw.

Keep portion sizes reasonable: About 1/3 cup (53 grams) to 1/2 cup (80 grams) of green peas at a time is enough for most people. They are more likely to cause problems when consumed in high amounts.

Pea Salad (1 cup) contains 21.5g total carbs, 14.6g net carbs, 42.5g fat, 10.5g protein, and 503 calories.

Pea shoots are a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, E and A, and potassium. Glycosylated quercetin derivatives were the main flavonoid compounds of pea shoots. The nutritional value was generally stable during storage.

Don't Eat the Frozen Peas (unless they were cooked first!)

Frozen peas are cooked before freezing so they don't need to be cooked! Serve – Done and ready to serve! Pour into a bowl or put straight onto dinner plates. Delicious to eat as is – I challenge you to stop at one spoonful – but suggestions for dressing up are below!

Why do peas become soft after thawing? ›

When you freeze fruits and vegetables you actually are freezing the water in the plant cells. When the water freezes, it expands and the ice crystals cause the cell walls to rupture. So the texture of thawed produce is much softer than when it was raw.

Raw green peas are 79% water, 14% carbohydrates, 5% protein, and contain negligible fat (table).

Without overcomplicating things and getting too hung up on semantics, let's focus on the main overarching difference between beans and peas. One of their most identifiable differentiating factors is their stem—a pea has a hollowed-out stem, whereas a bean has a more solid stem.

Young pea greens have a flavor that's similar to pea shoots: They are sweet and pealike. Tender pea greens make a wonderful salad green. We find it best to pair them with delicate vinaigrettes instead of rich and creamy dressings, which mute their flavor and weigh them down.

Peas are generally round while beans have a wider variety of shapes. Color also varies considerably with non-pea beans. Peas don't usually vary that much in color – they're mostly green. The stem of a pea plant is typically hollow, while beans have a solid stem structure.