If you love peas and crispy bacon this delicious pea salad is for you! It’s a perfect cold side for Spring holidays like Easter or “green” addition for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s also a great salad for summer barbecues or picnics and crowd pleaser for family gatherings. If you’re also tired of the same old potato or macaroni salad and just need a low carb option, this will hit the spot.
I actually wasn’t too familiar with pea salad until a few years ago when I was introduced to it at a friends’ holiday party. It just wasn’t something that was made in my family growing up. I was instantly in love with this creamy side including chopped eggs, onions and crunchy bacon. I realized very quickly after watching other people’s reactions to it that this there is a love or hate reaction to pea salad. I’ve been on the love side since my first bite. This simple recipe will make many pea salad lovers quite happy!
Bacon Bites
If you are a pea salad lover like me, adding bacon just gives it the best flavor! Instead of just cooking the bacon till it’s crispy and then crumble it into the salad, I find that the bacon is nicer chopped into small rectangles before cooking. That way you get chunks of bacon; consistent small bite size pieces throughout the salad. It also makes for a more attractive presentation of the salad. If you prefer just crumbling the bacon though be my guest, it will still taste just as great!
Family Favorite Salad
My kids aren’t the biggest fans of peas, but even they enjoy this creamy bacon pea salad! I try to sneak peas into their pasta or rice dishes often, but at times depending on their mood they pick them out or eat around them. This pea salad somehow has surprisingly become a favorite of theirs now. My kids love the combination of flavors and textures in this recipe with bacon and hard boiled eggs. They wouldn’t even touch my other pea salads I used to make. For this version I used to use dehydrated onion so you still get the nice onion flavor, but not the raw onion bite that some people shy away from. Now that they’re older and their palate is expanding, they like the onion in it. If you have picky eaters though, you can just used onion powder or rehydrate a little onion.
This salad has also quickly become an instant favorite with visiting family members (I use family as guinea pigs of course to try my recipe concoctions). Family members who have sampled this salad can’t get enough of it, asking for the recipe, so here it it! Now you all have it!
What goes well with Pea Salad
This is a great multi-seasonal cold side dish. It’s a great addition to holiday meals or summer picnics. Instead of fries, serve it as a side with burgers, BBQ meats or all beef hot dogs! Since I’ve found it pretty popular with friends and family, it’s a great salad to bring to pot lucks or family reunions! It has that comfort food element to it without the heavy carbs like a pasta or potato salad.
Creamy Pea Salad Ingredients
- Peas– I like to use frozen peas, the sweet organic peas at Costco are perfect for this recipe. Feel free to use fresh peas from the garden if you prefer. You can also used canned peas, but I prefer bright green crunchy peas over mushy pale peas for this recipe. I just think canned peas won’t do this salad justice.
- Bacon– A little salty bacon adds a nice crunch and taste to a classic pea salad. I like to cut it up into bite size pieces to make crunchy bacon bits.
- Eggs– I didn’t realize that hard boiled eggs weren’t common for pea salad, but I think it’s the way to go to make the best pea salad. I believe it’s more of a “Southern” addition to pea salad. It adds more richness to the salad.
- Onion– I like to use sweet white onion here, but if you have “onion picky” people you’re serving you might want to opt for rehydrated dried onion or onion powder instead of raw onion. Also, it helps to soak the sliced onion in water for about 10 minutes to take out some of the harsh bite.
Creamy Dressing
- Mayonnaise– I only use real mayo for this, but you could also use whole milk Greek yogurt in a pinch. If you’re a tad short on either of those, I have used sour cream and it still gives it the great creaminess you’re looking for.
- Apple Cider Vinegar– 1-2 tsp. to add a little acid to balance out the sweetness of the peas. Lemon juice is fine if you do not have ACV on hand.
- Salt– I like to use fine ground sea salt.
- Pepper– Fine ground black pepper
- Garlic– I prefer granulated garlic
- Paprika– I like to use smoked paprika
Optional Pea Salad Additions
- Cheddar Cheese– A lot of people like to add cheddar cheese cubes to pea salad. I’m not the biggest fan of cheese cubes in this salad because I feel it doesn’t need it, especially with the egg in it already, but but go ahead and add it if you want. We almost always have smoked cheese on hand, so I sometimes like to add some shredded smoked cheddar for a nice change and extra YUM!
- Red Onion– red onion has a little more bite, but it does look nice if that’s all you have. I would slice it almost paper thin and soak it for about 10 minutes to mellow out the onion flavor.
- Green Onion– I love green onion or chives in almost every hearty salad. It looks good and tastes great.
- Parsley– some fresh parsley is an herby addition if you want to elevate it even more.
Happy Cooking and Enjoy!
Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon & Hard Boiled Egg
Ingredients
- 16 oz. frozen sweet peas (thawed)
- 4 oz. thick apple-wood smoked bacon (chopped and cut small)
- 3 hard-boiled eggs (peeled and finely chopped)
- 3 Tbsp. real mayonnaise
- 1.5 Tbsp. sweet onion (very thin quarter slices or diced small (soak in water for 10 mins to reduce bite if you like))
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1-2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese ((Optional))
Instructions
- Chop up bacon really small while raw and then cook in a pan till crispy, remove from pan and place atop paper towel lined plate
- Add thawed peas to a medium mixing bowl.
- Make your creamy dressing in a small mixing bowl by combining mayonnaise, salt, garlic, pepper, paprika and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar in a small bowl (you can always add more ACV later if you like). Stir till well combined.
- Add dressing to the bowl with the peas and stir.
- Add chopped hard boiled eggs, bacon and combine (*Optional leave a small amount of chopped egg and bacon out of mixture and sprinkle on top of salad serving bowl for presentation) If you're adding any optional additional ingredients like shredded cheese add them now as well.
- Enjoy immediately or chill in the refrigerator till ready to serve.
- Once ready to serve, adjust ACV, salt and pepper to taste.
Have company coming tonight and am making this cause I KNOW how good it is!
Great! I hope your company enjoys it!
Wow, this looks SO good! Greg & I can’t wait to try it. I bet our girls will grow to love it too. Thanks for sharing!!
Our boys love it and have never been fans of other pea salads, so let me know how it goes!
It is amazingly good!! So glad to see the recipe posted so that I can make it myself!