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Pea Salad topped with bacon bits and shredded cheese, in a shallow bowl
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Pea Salad

Cold creamy pea salad is a beautiful myriad of flavors and textures that please the palate and transform meals into tasty treats in no time flat.
Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword creamy salad, green peas
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 287kcal
Author Kathleen

Ingredients

  • 4 slices bacon
  • 16 ounces frozen petite peas thawed and drained
  • 1/3 cup red onion finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup prepared ranch dressing
  • 1/2 cup cheddar cheese cubed or shredded
  • 2 hard-boiled eggs cooled and chopped

Instructions

  • In a 12-inch skillet, cook bacon (4 slices) until crispy. Remove cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Crumble and set aside.
  • In a large pot, bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Blanche the peas (16 ounces) for 1 minute, drain them into a colander, and run cold water over them to stop the cooking process. Drain well.
  • In a salad bowl, add bacon, onion (1/3 cup), cheddar (1/2 cup), and ranch dressing (1/2 cup). Toss well to evenly coat all ingredients. Add peas and chopped eggs and gently fold into the mixture, so they don't get mushy. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes minimum up to overnight. Serve.

Notes

  1. Peas – The overall flavor and integrity of this salad with bacon really depend on the type of peas you use. Canned peas can be…well – mushy. Not an attractive quality in peas salad.
    • What you really want for this dish is frozen petite peas. First off, they’re sweeter than their mature counterparts and the skins aren’t as tough. Plus, they’re typically frozen at the peak of freshness and they’re cost-effective. What’s not to love?
  2. CheeseSharp cheddar is my favorite cheese for this dish. It adds some cheesy flavor without competing with the ranch dressing. Mild or Longhorn varieties also work well. Feel free to experiment with other firm cheeses, though, and use whatever you like.
    • I add it either shredded or cubed, frankly depending on my mood at the time!
    • I think shredded cheese gets distributed throughout the salad better, though, so that’s what I use, and I prefer to grate mine by hand. Pre-shredded cheese usually has some anti-caking agents that put a thin powdery coating on each shred, so I prefer not to use that in cold dishes (though it’s definitely a great time saver for warm melty-cheese things).
  3. Onions: There are so many onion varieties, but red works great in this dish mainly for color but also for flavor. Red onions are one of the mildest varieties, but you can always rinse chopped onions in cold water first if they’re particularly strong. Sweet onions like Vidalia are a great substitute.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the recipe | Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 88mg | Sodium: 399mg | Potassium: 269mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 759IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 2mg