Creamy Pea Salad

This easy Creamy Pea Salad Recipe is one of our favorite side dishes. It combines sweet peas, crispy bacon, red onion, and cheddar cheese cubes in a creamy dressing. The slight crunch and saltiness from the bacon adds texture and flavor to this salad. This tasty salad comes together in less than ten minutes, and it is a favorite at family reunions, potlucks, barbecues, and picnics.  

The Best Ever Pea Salad Recipe

Looking for the perfect dish to bring to a potluck or picnic? This delicious pea salad recipe is sure to impress with its combination of fresh peas, bacon, and creamy dressing. Follow our step-by-step instructions for a crowd-pleasing and easy-to-make dish. This salad is a nice change from potato salad or pasta salad. The only thing you need to do in advance is to defrost the peas. You don’t have to cook them, as frozen peas are already blanched to kill any enzymes.

Pea Salad Ingredients

For the dressing, you need sour cream, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper for the dressing.

For the pea salad, you need frozen baby peas, red onion, cheddar cheese, and cooked bacon.

How to Make Pea Salad

Whisk together the mayo, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Next, add the thawed peas, red onion, cheddar cheese, and crisp bacon. Stir gently to combine. Finally, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe Tips

• Mix the dressing up to 3 days in advance and store in the fridge in an airtight container.
• Substitute hard-boiled eggs for the bacon, or better yet, add them. I have found that the best way to hard-boil eggs is to steam them. The water should boil, and the steam should be present before adding the eggs. Steam 15 minutes for large eggs and plunge into ice-cold water.
• Use frozen peas for this recipe. Canned peas do not hold well. Frozen peas have already been blanched. All you need to do is thaw them for a salad. The easiest way to do this is in the fridge for about 24 hours, but if you have forgotten, use the shower option on the kitchen sink and spray the frozen peas with cool water in a colander, letting the excess water drain down the sink.
•  Mix this pea salad up to 2 days in advance. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Reserve cooking and add the bacon until ready to serve so it stays crisp.

Recipe variations

• Use shredded cheddar or a shredded cheese blend instead of the cubed cheese.
• Add 1-2 cloves of minced garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• If you’re in a hurry, skip the dressing and add about 1/2 cup of your favorite ranch dressing.
• Add a little finely chopped red bell pepper or pimentos for extra color and flavor.
• Substitute finely chopped ham, turkey bacon, or Canadian bacon instead of the bacon.
• Add slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, or chopped walnuts for more texture and crunch.
• Try chopped fresh herbs like chives, dill, parsley, or mint.

Storage

This salad will stay fresh for up to three days when stored in an airtight container in the fridge. If stored properly in the fridge, this dish can be prepared up to two days in advance. Reserve cooking and adding the bacon until right before serving. This will help ensure that the bacon stays crisp and tasty.

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