This creamy pea salad with bacon is cool, crunchy, savory, and slightly sweet, with tender green peas, crispy bacon, shredded cheese, red onion, and a simple mayonnaise and sour cream dressing. It’s an easy cold side dish that comes together with just a handful of ingredients.
If you have more frozen peas to use, my How to Cook Frozen Peas is another simple option. For a cookout spread, pair this salad with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or fresh Pineapple Coleslaw, then serve everything with a cold glass of Homemade Lemonade. The Foodie Blog
The peas stay whole rather than being mashed, so every bite has a mix of creamy dressing, sweet peas, salty bacon, cheese, and crisp red onion.
What Is Creamy Pea Salad?
A creamy pea salad is a cold salad made with green peas and a mayonnaise-based dressing.
This version combines thawed frozen peas with shredded cheese, chopped bacon, and diced red onion. The dressing is made with mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, seasoned salt, and black pepper.
The peas give the salad a mild sweetness and firm bite, while bacon and cheese add salty richness. Red onion adds just enough sharpness to keep the creamy dressing from tasting too heavy.
Table of contents
Ingredients
Let’s Make Pea Salad Recipe
- Thaw the frozen peas and drain off any extra moisture. Pat them gently with paper towels if needed.
- Cook the bacon until crisp, then let it cool and chop it into small pieces.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, seasoned salt, and black pepper.
- Stir until the dressing is smooth and creamy.
- Add the thawed peas to the bowl.
- Add the diced red onion, chopped bacon, and shredded cheese.
- Gently fold everything together until the peas are evenly coated in the dressing.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Stir once more before serving and garnish with extra chopped bacon if desired.
How to Keep Creamy Pea Salad Creamy and Crunchy
The main thing is controlling moisture.
Frozen peas naturally release some water as they thaw. If that water goes directly into the dressing, the salad can become loose instead of creamy.
Let the peas thaw, then drain away any visible moisture before combining them with the mayonnaise mixture.
The bacon should also be completely cooked and crisp before chopping.
When everything is combined, fold the ingredients gently instead of aggressively stirring. The peas should remain whole and the bacon should still have some texture.
The final salad should look generously coated in dressing without having excess liquid sitting at the bottom of the bowl.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Cooking the peas instead of simply thawing them: Your recipe specifically uses thawed frozen peas. Overcooked peas can become soft and lose their fresh texture.
Adding wet peas: Drain away any excess moisture first.
Using soft bacon: Crisp bacon gives the salad much better texture.
Cutting the onion too large: A fine dice distributes its sharp flavor more evenly.
Adding extra salt too early: Bacon, cheese, mayonnaise, and seasoned salt already bring saltiness.
Overmixing: Fold the ingredients gently so the peas stay whole.
Changing the dressing ratio: Keep the tested mayonnaise, sour cream, and sugar amounts rather than adding extra liquid.
What to Serve With Creamy Pea Salad
Creamy pea salad works especially well with:
- Grilled chicken
- Burgers
- Barbecue chicken
- Steak
- Hot dogs
- Sandwiches
- Roast chicken
- Grilled fish
- Potato dishes
- Cookout meals
- Potluck spreads
Because the salad is creamy and rich, grilled or roasted mains make especially good pairings.
FAQs
No. Just thaw the peas and drain them well. Cooking them can make them too soft for this salad.
Yes. You can make it a few hours ahead or the night before. For the best bacon texture, save a little bacon to sprinkle on top right before serving.
Drain the thawed peas well and pat them dry before mixing. Also keep the salad chilled until serving.
Sharp cheddar is the classic choice because it adds bold flavor. Mild cheddar, Colby Jack, or Monterey Jack can also work.
Frozen peas are better because they have a fresher texture. Canned peas are softer and can break apart when mixed.
Serve it with grilled chicken, burgers, BBQ ribs, sandwiches, baked potatoes, or holiday mains like ham and roasted turkey.
More Recipes You Will Like :
Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon and Cheese
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Thaw the frozen peas and drain off any extra moisture. Pat dry if needed.
- Cook the bacon until crisp, then let it cool and chop it into small pieces.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, seasoned salt, and black pepper.
- Stir until the dressing is smooth and creamy.
- Add the thawed peas to the bowl.
- Add the diced red onion, chopped bacon, and shredded cheese.
- Gently fold everything together until evenly coated in the dressing.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Stir gently before serving and garnish with extra chopped bacon if desired.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- Thaw and drain the peas well so the dressing does not become watery.
- Cook the bacon until crisp for the best texture.
- Cook the bacon until crisp for the best texture.
- Freshly shredded cheese gives the best texture, but bagged shredded cheese works too.
- For a lighter dressing, replace half of the mayonnaise with plain Greek yogurt.
- Keep the salad chilled until serving.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
