Classic pea salad is packed with flavors, loaded with bacon and cheese, and dressed in a creamy flavorful mayonnaise dressing. Enjoy this salad all year long using fresh or frozen peas.
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What we love about this English pea salad recipe
- It’s packed with flavors.
- It has a creamy dressing, salty bacon, crunchy onion, and cheese. Hard to resist!
- It’s super easy to make and comes together in 5 minutes or less.
- You can use fresh peas or frozen peas. Enjoy this salad throughout the year.
- This salad with bacon is most popularly made during summer using fresh green peas, but a salad so easy to make and so delicious needs love all year round.
- The salad pairs well with any meal. BBQ chicken, grilled meat even with pasta.
- This salad is great for making ahead. It’s one of those salads that days better the next day. Make and chill it in the fridge to enjoy the next day.
- A salad to be carried for every potluck or picnic or gathering!
- There’s something about the sweet and savory combination of this salad that makes it irresistible!
- Are you a peas hater?! Try this salad, most probably it will convert you!
Ingredients you’ll need
Here’s what you’ll need-
- 16oz frozen peas
- 8 strips bacon
- ½ cup cheddar cheese
- ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup diced red onion
- 2 tablespoon radish (optional)
- 1 ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Ingredients notes:
- Pea – frozen or fresh peas can be used.
- Bacon – cook bacon in the oven or stovetop until it begins to crisp. Crumble into smaller bites and use in the salad. The sweetness from green peas and salty bacon together will be a wonderful combination.
- Cheese – you can use Cheddar cheese alone or use a mix of cheese. I like sharp cheddar and mozzarella cheese in the salad.
- Onion – you need a crunch element in this creamy salad. Red onion is a wonderful addition to a salad.
- Radish – if you like radish add it. It also adds a crunch texture to the salad. Feel free to skip radish if you aren’t a fan or don’t have radish.
- Mayonnaise – use the best quality mayonnaise for the salad. Your salad tastes as good as the ingredients.
- Salt & Pepper – use according to taste.
Additions & Substitutions
Substitutions-
- You can use canned peas too to make this salad. Drain it completely and then use it.
- Feel free to use a mix of cheddar and Parmesan.
- Change things up by using cheddar cheese cubes instead of grated cheese. Buy a block of sharp cheddar cheese and cut into small cubes. Makes it look and taste great.
- Replace mayonnaise with sour cream or Greek yogurt.
- Add ranch dressing in place of mayonnaise.
- Radish is optional. I love it in my salad. If you are not a fan use minimal or skip it entirely.
Additions-
Feel free to add diced hard boiled eggs to the salad to make it more nutritious and tasty.
You can also add boiled baby potatoes (cut into halves) for the salad.
You can add 1 ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to mayonnaise for the dressing. Sour cream can be added too.
How to make English pea salad
This is simply one of the easiest salads to make. This classic salad recipe uses simple ingredients and is very easy to customize according to YOUR taste and preference!
- Thaw frozen green peas and drain well. If not drained well, the dressing may thin down making salad liquid.
- Add well-drained green peas into a salad mixing bowl. Add the ingredients – bacon, red onion, radish, and mayonnaise to the bowl. Toss salad gently.
- Add both cheddar and Mozzarella cheese to the salad.
- Toss everything together.
- Cover and chill the salad for at least 4 hours.
- This salad is best served chilled.
Fresh or frozen peas
You can use fresh peas or frozen peas. Fresh green peas when in season are best tasting. The crisp fresh peas are wonderful to be used in the salad.
You can use canned peas during the rest of the year. However, I prefer frozen peas over canned peas when pea is not in season.
If using canned peas or frozen peas, make sure you drain them well before use. Any liquids in the peas will make turn dressing watery and thin diluting the taste of the salad.
How to serve pea salad
This salad tastes great when served chilled. Like most summer salads this salad too tastes best the next day as the flavors have time to come out and mingle while resting in the fridge.
Tips & suggestions
- You can use canned peas too to make this salad. Drain it completely and then use it.
- To change things up, consider using cheddar cheese cubes instead of grated cheese. Buy a block of sharp cheddar cheese and cut into small cubes to the size of peas. Makes it look and taste great with a bite of cheddar.
- Replace mayonnaise with sour cream or Greek yogurt.
- Add ranch dressing in place of mayonnaise.
- Radish is optional. I love it in my salad. If you are not a radish fan use minimal or skip it entirely.
- Feel free to add diced hard boiled eggs to the salad to make it more nutritious and tasty.
- You can also add boiled baby potatoes (cut into halves) for the salad.
Common questions
You can use fresh peas when in season. The crisp fresh peas are wonderful to be used in the salad.
Both work great. If using canned peas make sure you drain them well before use. Any liquids in the peas will make turn dressing watery and thin diluting the taste of the salad.
If using frozen peas thaw them completely in the refrigerator, drain excess liquids before use.
Feel free to add diced hard-boiled eggs to the salad to make it more nutritious and tasty.
You can also add boiled baby potatoes (cut into halves) to the salad.
You can add 1 ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to mayonnaise for the dressing. Sour cream can be added too.
Storage
This is one of those salads that tastes even better when made a day ahead. Resting it for a day in the refrigerator gives the salad time for the flavors to come out and mingle together making it taste the BEST next day, especially chilled.
You can make this salad 2 days ahead and store refrigerated.
It can keep good for up to 3 days refrigerated.
Can I freeze pea salad?
NO. I do not recommend you to freeze the salad.
The dressing will not hold up if frozen. Salad may get to mushy when you try to reheat frozen salad.
BE SURE TO TRY OUR OTHER SUMMER FAVORITE RECIPES TOO!
- Classic Egg Salad
- Watermelon FETA Salad
- Easy Potato Salad (Vegan)
- Deviled Eggs With Bacon
- Greek Pasta Salad
- 3 Bean Salad
- Israeli Couscous Salad
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📋Classic Pea Salad With Bacon And Cheese
Ingredients
- 16 ounce frozen peas thawed and drained well
- 8 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
- ½ cup sharp cheddar cheese grated or cut into small cubes (size of peas)
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese grated
- ½ cup red onion diced
- 2 tablespoon radish optional, diced
- 1 ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Thaw frozen green peas and drain well. If not drained well, the dressing may thin down making salad liquid-y.
- Add well drained green peas into a salad mixing bowl. Add the ingredients – bacon, red onion, radish, mayonnaise to the bowl. Toss salad gently.
- Add both cheddar and Mozzarella cheese to the salad.
- Toss everything until it comes together.
- Chill salad cover in a bowl for atleast 4 hours.
- This pea salad is best served chilled.
Video
Notes
-
- You can use canned peas too to make this salad. Drain it completely and then use it.
-
- To change things up, consider using cheddar cheese cubes instead of grated cheese. Buy a block of sharp cheddar cheese and cut into small cubes to the size of peas. Makes it look and taste great with a bite of cheddar.
-
- Substitute mayonnaise with sour cream or Greek yogurt. Or add ranch dressing as a replacement for mayonnaise.
-
- Radish is optional. I love it in my salad. If you are not a radish fan use minimal or skip it entirely.
-
- Feel free to add diced hard-boiled eggs to the salad to make it more nutritious and tasty. You can also add boiled baby potatoes (cut into halves) to the salad.
Nutrition
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
Thank you for stopping by.
I’m Jyothi Rajesh (Jo for short) and i’m the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail where I share my culinary Adventures. I live in Bangalore, India. I’m a mom of two beautiful kids. My passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. I have been blogging since 2007 and many of my recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Mary says
I love peas I got to try this pea salad very soon
Mama Maggie's Kitchen says
It looks incredibly delicious. I wish this Pea Salad is in front of me right now!
Alex says
It’s just ridiculous that I’ve never tried pea salad! Especially now that I see that it’s so easy. Totally saving this for the summer!
Erin says
I love that you can use frozen peas in this! I am all about frozen veggies. I’m excited for it to get warmer so I can make this for the next picnic (for my family of three ;)) Thanks for sharing!
Loreto Nardelli says
I never would have thought pea salad. It sounds amazing! Love the combination of flavors and texture. Bacon, cheddar, mozzarella all in a creamy dressing. Totally yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Kushigalu says
Love the combination of ingredient in thos pea salad. So creamy and flavorful. I will soon try this recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Adriana says
Yummy, making this salad for Easter. Gret idea as I have never included this choice in the menu. Thanks for the inspiration.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Hope you enjoy it!
Amy Liu Dong says
I have never tried to have a pea salad before, but this one looks really delicious. I’ll be making it this weekend.
Jyothi Rajesh says
Hope you like it Amy!
Kate says
This pea salad tasted great. I love it that I can use frozen peas. I have this bookmarked, definitely making this salad again!
Natalie says
What an interesting salad. Sounds so delicious with all this added cheese. Yum! I can’t wait to make this for my family. Lovely recipe. A keeper!
Jyothi Rajesh says
So glad to hear you loved the recipe!