Green Pea Salad - Old Fashioned Salad Recipe

Old-fashioned pea salad is a classic cookout side dish that is easy to make. This cold side is also less common. The bowl of dressed sweet peas will stand out on the picnic table among all the potato and pasta salad offerings.

The cheddar cheese and bacon pea salad is also hearty enough to serve as a quick cold dinner.

Classic Pea Salad with Bacon and Cheese

Sweet peas are one of my mom’s favorite vegetables. She loves putting peas in her macaroni salad, but I thought I’d make a batch of creamy pea salad with bacon in honor of her rather than her old stand by.

It is loaded with plenty of green peas along with sharp cheddar cheese, bacon and red onions in a creamy dressing.

Pea Salad with Mayo

I made this easy yet delicious salad with frozen peas and a simple mayonnaise and sour cream based dressing. Rather than store bought bacon bits, crispy fresh cooked bacon is chopped up and added for better flavor and texture. I think it really steps the salad up a notch. Cubed cheddar is also used rather than shredded cheese, as I feel it stands up better when the salad is out for a while at a picnic or cookout.

Some add chopped hard boiled eggs to their version of the salad. While I didn't here, it is a tasty addition.

Top with chopped green onions or fresh herbs when serving if you like. They are nice additions.

How to serve Green Pea Salad with Bacon

The easy salad makes a fantastic cold side dish to serve with grilled meats, sandwiches or even hot dogs and hamburgers. Of course, you could also enjoy this as a light lunch if you like.  It is pretty hearty.

Try teaming this cold side dish with my Blackened Salmon or Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs in Turmeric Greek Yogurt Marinade. The creamy pea salad will cool the palate while eating these spicy dishes. 

How to Make Pea Salad

This cold salad side dish is easy to make. Here I'll show you how. Printable Recipe Card is below.

Classic Pea Salad Ingredients:

• 4 cups Frozen Peas thawed
• 10 slices bacon, cooked crispy
• ½ Red Onion
• 8 oz Cheddar Cheese

Pea Salad Mayonnaise Dressing

• ¼ cup Mayonnaise
• ¼ cup Sour Cream
• 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground Black Pepper
• ¼ teaspoon Sugar

Preparation of the dish:

Place the thawed frozen peas in large bowl. Thaw under running cold water and drain well if still frozen.

Crumble or chop the bacon into bite sized pieces and add to the bowl.

Dice then add the red onions.

Cut the cheese into quarter inch cubes and also add to the mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients, then gently fold into the larger bowl of ingredients until the peas and rest of the salad is well coated. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve cold.

Variations

As I mentioned above chopped hard boiled egg is a popular addition to this salad. It is a great recipe to get adventurous with. A few more yummy add-ins or swaps are:

• Chopped leftover ham is a great swap for bacon if you have some on hand.
• Add finely chopped fresh herbs such as dill or scallions.
• Swap feta or blue cheese for the cheddar, though I would reduce the quantity to ½ to ⅔ depending on how pungent your choice is.
• For those who don't care for creamy salads, an Italian or Greek vinaigrette could be used as dressing.
• If you have a large crowd, consider extending the recipe by adding cooked macaroni. Simply increase the amount of dressing and mix it in.
• Some swear by wild additions, such as: Fritos, crab, almonds, avocado, apples and green olives.