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Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon is a popular southern dish that is filled with crunchy peas, crispy bacon, chopped red onions, and cheddar cheese. This is an easy to make side dish that is perfect for your next potluck!
For more delicious potluck side dish ideas be sure to try California Spaghetti Salad, Ambrosia Salad, or Pistachio Salad.
Creamy Pea Salad
Peas. You either love them or hate them right? I love peas. One of the only veggies I actually like to eat. Even if you don’t like peas, this creamy pea salad is a potluck staple. I have been making some classics here on the blog lately. Ones that I have grown up with and are always at a potluck or family gathering. This creamy pea salad is one of them. It is a southern favorite and really popular. And filled with bacon, it makes it even better!
I love this pea salad because it is so simple to make. I am usually in a hurry to make something quick for a BBQ and that is why I love to make this dish. You just have to add in some thawed peas, bacon, cubed cheese, and red onion and toss it in a creamy mixture. It is ready to go out the door in no time at all.
How do you make pea salad?
- To start, add the peas, cooked bacon, red onion, cubed cheese and chopped parsley to a large bowl.
- Make your creamy dressing by adding sour cream, mayonnaise, cider vinegar, and sugar. Pour on top of the pea mixture and toss until it is coated.
- Let chill in the fridge for about 3o minutes before serving.
Is it safe to eat frozen peas?
A commonly asked question and yes. When you cook frozen peas, you really are just warming them up. No vegetables or fruit are bad for you when eating them raw.
Why is this pea salad the best?
This pea salad is perfected in the creamy mixture. I have had many pea salads in my day, and come to perfect the creaminess in this pea salad. With added sour cream, a little bit of cider vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar, you will quickly agree this one is the best!
Can I substitute shredded cheese for cubed?
Absolutely! You can substitute shredded cheese or cubed. I just prefer to cube my cheese in my pea salad.
This dish is perfect for featuring a veggie at your next gathering. Tossed with bacon and cheese in a creamy mixture, this is sure to be a huge hit! I know your family is going to love this recipe just as much as we do!
Creamy Pea Salad with Bacon
Ingredients
- 2 pounds peas thawed
- 1/2 cup red onion chopped
- 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese cubed
- 8 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- 3 Tablespoons parsley chopped
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the peas, red onion, cheddar cheese, bacon and parsley.
- In a small bowl whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, cider vinegar, and sugar.
- Pour the creamy mixture in the large bowl over the peas. Toss until the peas are fully coated. Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Serves:
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
OMG!! I made a double batch for my first try and WOW!! When I got to the point of mixing everything together, in my head – I wasn’t liking this salad. But first spoonful won me over! This is THE BEST pea salad…ever!
really good… making it for easter dinner….
Can u use plain yogurt in place of sour cream? Have a large container of plain yogurt I need to use.
Yes, that will work. It may alter the taste and texture but you can use it.
Can you use fresh peas or do they have to be thawed frozen peas?
Yes, fresh peas will taste even better!
Very good, I haven’t had pea salad for some time so I looked at several recipes. The only thing lacking from this was the hard boiled eggs.
Thank you! You can definitely add hard boiled eggs if you would like.
Oooh my…. I’m 70 and during my last move ( I was in the hospital in and out for a year ) my children packed up the house. Well my cook books are somewhere… don’t know where but I don’t have hem haa. Maybe the storage man has been cooking great lately. This recipe I had written in the margins of my old beautiful
blue and white checked (only it was sorta gray and cream with age) first cook book.
I had such a craving for this and then
WALLAAH•• there it was . I’m now wheelchair bound ~ but know I can handle this easily. My dad absolutely loved loved this but he liked lots of black pepper.
Thanks for pulling this out of the cobwebs,
Oh PS make sure it’s nice and cold.. even better the next day
I brought the salad to a potluck yesterday and it was a big success. Easy to follow recipe. The bacon was perfect with it but the cheese seemed like an odd ingredient to add. It did not seem to go very well with the other ingredients. I will leave it out next time. Otherwise this was a very good recipe. Thanks for posting it.
Personally I’ve made it several times and use packaged 4 cheeses and it’s very delicious. I think it would miss something without the cheese. I don’t usually use bacon or parsley but it’s a nice change.
I can’t seem to find how many servings this recipe makes. Can you let me know? Thanks!
This makes about 10 to 12 servings.
Is this recipe good with mild or sharp cheddar cheese.I’m making 3 batches for a party.
Hi, I LOVE pea salad, but I prefer that the peas, are just a tiny bit frozen. Also I have used several different flavors of cheese, in my salad. I happen to Love onion cheese, so that’s what I use. I also always, make up two different batches, of the creamy mixture. I put the first batch in the salad, and put the other batch in a container over night. We found that after the salad sits over night, it doesn’t seem as creamy. Some times, we dump the whole second batch in, and other times, just part of it.
I hope this helps you out.
Try it with a little dried dill. By the way, NEVER eat poke salad raw…
how many calories does a cup have and how mush carbs and can i substitute stevia for the sugar?
I am in the process of adding nutritional facts to each of my recipes at this time. In the meantime you are welcome to use myfitnesspal.com for any questions you may have.
I dont use the vinager or sour cream but i do double the amount of peas and add a red pepper for color.
I have also made it with Italian dressing instead of the mayonnaise dressing.
can i use egg noodles in the pea salad instead elbow macroni
Yes, that sounds great!
I didn’t see anything about elbow macaroni – did I miss something? Making this today – peas thawing!!
Many, many years ago when I was in high school I had dinner at my friend’s house and her mother made a pea salad only she used canned peas, Velveeta cheese, Miracle Whip and no bacon. My grandmother and mother both made varied meals often trying different recipes but I had never even seen this pea salad until that night. I remember I even liked that version but I’ve not ever had it again. I think I will try it again very soon.
Yes, please do try this one! It is a popular salad and always a classic at most potlucks or a great side dish for dinners. Let me know how you like it!
Great pea salad. Very quick and easy to make.
A new family favorite!
Can left over pea salad be frozen ?
Yes, it can be. That sounds great! XOXO
Truly the best pea salad I have ever made! Thank you!
OOh, I love peas. Unfortunately my husband passed his distaste for them to my children… I guess I’ll be making this for myself then because it looks SO GOOD!!
Try raw cauliflower in place of the peas!!!
This recipe was in my email today, Sounded good so bought the ingredients and mad.e for my supper. Loved it Used Colby instead of Cheddar although it is a form of Cheddar. The only thing it needs is some black pepper.
Can’t wait to try these recipes
Can’t wait to try these recipes. I’m new to this site.
Oh, this was a specialty of my mother’s. I miss her so; I should make this in hommage.
BTW, can’t eat raw potatoes or cassava. Of course, there’s an exception to every rule. I love raw peas.