This delicious spring pea salad is perfect for a picnic, or Easter or any time. It is super easy to throw together and tastes great using either fresh or defrosted frozen peas. The bacon, cheese and creamy tie it all together in a side dish that will keep you coming back for more.
This super simple side dish is always a hit. It is a great way to highlight fresh peas or you can use frozen peas to make it even easier.
Bits of crumbled bacon and cheese highlight the savory side of this pea salad and a simple creamy dressing ties it all together. It is perfect with grilled meat, ham and more.
It also makes a great lunch if you want to make a meal out of it. Make some for a picnic, a potluck or Easter and it is sure to be gobbled right up!
It is a great make ahead dish too. You can make it several hours or even a day or two in advance.
That makes it perfect for a carry-in or holiday meal. All you have to do when it’s time is pull it out of the fridge and give it a stir.
Sometimes simple sides like this really are the way to go. With spring upon us again, I couldn’t wait to make another batch of this spring pea salad.
We were making baby back ribs and cheesy potatoes with bacon. I thought a simple and fresh side like this would be a perfect accompaniment.
I only made one batch because I knew he was going to make a ton of ribs and he was doing a smoked macaroni and cheese too. In hindsight I should have made two as the pea salad disappeared rather quickly.
This pea salad is a perfect side dish with anything on the grill. Though you don’t have to fire up the grill to enjoy a serving, I could also eat it by itself for lunch!
Optional Add-ins:
We like to keep our pea salad on the simple side. The whole family loves it this way and adding too much more is likely to turn somebody off.
However, there are a lot of great options to add if you like more variety in your salad. Here are a few ideas:
- Chopped hard boiled eggs
- Diced red onion
- Chopped green onions
- Swap diced ham for some or all of the bacon
- You can also try different cheeses, sometimes we use small cubes instead of shredded
For a lighter dressing you can swap plain yogurt for some or all of the sour cream and salad dressing.
If you love pea salad, you also need to try making a batch of creamy pasta salad with peas and bacon. It is a perfect mix of this salad and a macaroni salad.
What is the best way to quickly defrost the peas?
You can put a bag of frozen peas in the refrigerator overnight to defrost them. If you forgot, just empty a bag of frozen peas into a colander and run cold water over them until they are most of the way defrosted.
Spring Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 pound peas fresh or defrosted
- 4 Tablespoon Miracle Whip or similar
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup bacon cooked and crumbled
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Make sure peas are fully defrosted and drain any liquid.1 pound peas
- Mix all the ingredients together4 Tablespoon Miracle Whip, ⅓ cup sour cream, ¼ cup bacon, ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese, ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Adjust your salt and pepper to your liking and refrigerate until ready to serve
- That’s it! So easy and so good!
Alexandra Cook
Sunday 24th of March 2019
I love anything with peas! This sounds so good. Hope you've had a lovely weekend! :) Alex @ It's Not Complicated Recipes
Jan
Sunday 13th of May 2018
My brother loves pea salad! I do not have fond memories of it from childhood! lol, but this would be fun to make for him at our summer reunion!
Carlee
Sunday 20th of May 2018
Oh no! I love it and it would be perfect reunion food!
Joanne
Friday 30th of March 2018
I have never heard of a pea salad either but my husband LOVES peas. I bet he'd love this. Thanks for sharing. We'll have to try it soon. Pinned.
Carlee
Wednesday 4th of April 2018
You should definitely try it! I hope you love it!
Carol @Comfort Spring Station
Thursday 22nd of March 2018
Great spring salad
Carlee
Sunday 25th of March 2018
Thank you!
Virginia Moore
Monday 27th of March 2017
Pea Salad is an old family favorite and thanks for reminding me to make it again soon. My old recipe is slightly different in that it does use mayo and instead of chopped ham, it uses chopped hard-boiled eggs. They add some protein, make it pretty and tasty, too.
Carlee
Monday 27th of March 2017
We love hard boiled eggs. I need to try it that way too!