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 dressing 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.
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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.
Defrosting Frozen 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 1 pound peas are fully defrosted and drain any liquid.
- Mix together the 4 Tablespoon Miracle Whip, ⅓ cup sour cream, ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
- Add the peas, ¼ cup bacon and ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Stir to cobmine.
- Adjust your salt and pepper to your liking and refrigerate until ready to serve
- That’s it! So easy and so good!
Notes
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Great spring salad
Thank you!
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.
We love hard boiled eggs. I need to try it that way too!
Hi Carlee, my first reaction was oOooO not keen on mayonnaise, and was pleasantly surprised to read you use yogurt and not mayonnaise. The cheese and ham would complement the sweetness of the peas nicely. I can see this going down well at a barbecue for sure!….. I love the sound of smoked grilled cheese! Now that wouldn't last two minutes around here.
xx
Ha! Cheese of most any kind doesn't stand much of a chance around here 😉
That looks delicious. I love the idea of adding ham.
Thanks for sharing at Funtastic Friday.
Thanks, Kimm! This is one of my spring time favorites!
I love pea's so much! Definitely a great salad to kick off spring!
Me too! As a kid I hated them, but I think I only really knew canned peas (which I still wouldn't touch!) but then I tried a fresh pea and that changed my mind. Now I love frozen peas too!
Carlee, we are a "pea salad family" — at least one of my maternal cousins puts cheese in hers, but I never do. Not that I don't like that version, it's just that after a lifetime of a strictly vegetable version, it doesn't occur to me. (Besides, I'm a cheese addict, and I don't need one more excuse to eat more cheese!) I like how you've lightened it up with yogurt. My mother used mayonnaise, and I usually use a homemade vinegar and oil.
I'll have to try it with vinegar and oil! Now I am curious what all you put in yours!
Pea salad is one of my favorites! I grew up eating this classic dish.
Isn't it delicious?
This looks delish. Pinning to my salad board for when it warms up. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you!! It is definitely one of our favorites!
My grandmother made pea salad (with mayo of course). She used the tiny tiny peas and she cut her ham and cheese into "pea size" pieces. She could cut up tiny things for hours and she never used a food processor. Thanks for sharing.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Oh my goodness! It is definitely worth it, but that is some dedication. I like to think I am keeping the pieces easily forkable 😉
I was just thinking the other day, a nice chilled pea salad sounded good. Going to try this recipe very very soon!!
Great minds think alike! We really like this version and hope you do too!