This Pea Salad recipe is made with uncooked peas, crispy bacon, shredded cheese and red onion. It is coated with a creamy mayonnaise and sour cream based dressing. A touch of honey and sprinkle of cayenne pepper brings a wow factor to this classic summer salad recipe.
I love pea salad served as a side dish to Firemen's Chicken, Chili Cheese Dogs, or my favorite, Honeyb's Slider recipe. It is a great salad for summer barbecues and picnics.
Summer Side Salads add variety to your meals
One of the things I love about barbecuing in the summer is the side salads that go with it. I look forward to picnics and family reunions every summer. I love the experience of trying other's recipes for an abundant amount of summer salad favorites.
This classic pea salad was first encountered at a family reunion years ago. Back then, I wasn't a huge fan of peas. After trying my first bite, I knew this was a recipe I would be making on my own. The lightly sweetened dressing coated the peas with a creaminess and the bacon added crunch and smoky flavor.
Over the years I developed my own version of this salad. Sweetening it lightly with honey and sprinkling a little bit of cayenne pepper into the dressing. This family favorite summer salad recipe is one that fits my favorite sweet heat flavor profile.
Tips for making Pea Salad
- Fresh sweet peas or frozen peas that have been completely thawed are recommended. Canned peas are too mushy to use in this salad and are not recommended.
- Buy a brick of cheddar cheese and shred it yourself, cut into small cheese cubes
- Use pre-cooked bacon or bacon bits to save time.
- Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, cider vinegar, and honey together before tossing it into the salad. This makes for an even distribution of flavor.
Ingredient Substitutions and Additions
- Use a ranch dressing in place of the mayonnaise dressing
- Substitute miracle whip for the mayonnaise. Leave out the honey as miracle whip is sweetened already
- Stir in 2 chopped hard boiled eggs
- Leave out the bacon and add chopped red pepper to make this a veggie salad
- Use your favorite cheese in place of the cheddar cheese
- Substitute 1 tablespoon of sugar for the honey
Items you may find useful in making this pea salad recipe
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Large Mesh Strainer for rinsing and draining the peas.
Kitchen Shears for cutting the bacon into pieces.
Covered serving bowl for easier storage.
Other Summer Salad Recipes you may like
Macaroni Salad with Tuna and Peas is another summer pasta salad classic made with elbow macaroni, tuna fish, and green peas.
Keto Potato Salad is a low carb way to enjoy the flavors and texture of a regular potato salad. Cauliflower stands in for the potatoes here and everyone in my family loves this salad.
Broccoli Salad is another classic summer salad made with raw broccoli in a mayonnaise based dressing. This recipe has a few changes to kick the flavor up a notch as well as to make it low carb.
Red White and Blue Potato Salad is my favorite potato salad recipe. No worries, if you only have white potatoes, you can still make this delicious recipe!
4 Bean Salad is a vinegar based dressing that is lightly sweetened and mixed with 4 different types of beans.
*If you made this Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon, please give it a star rating*
Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon
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Ingredients
- 4 cups frozen peas thawed
- ½ cup shredded Colby Jack Cheese
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 4 slices bacon
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- [mv_schema_meta name="Combine salad ingredients"]In a large bowl, add the peas, shredded cheese, onion, and bacon and toss to combine. [mv_img id="24782"]
- [mv_schema_meta name="Make salad dressing"]In a small bowl, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, honey, and vinegar. Stir until well combined. [mv_img id="24775"]
- [mv_schema_meta name="Pour dressing"]Pour the dressing over top of the pea mixture and toss to coat. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve. [mv_img id="24776"]
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