English Pea Salad is a delightfully simple side dish with tender sweet peas, ham, cubes of cheese, and red onion in a creamy dressing of mayonnaise and ranch dressing.
Perfect side dish salad for a baby shower, picnics, potlucks, and last-minute family gatherings.
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This classic pea salad is one of those old fashioned recipes that stands the test of time — and for good reason. It’s easy, delicious, and you don’t even really need a recipe for it! Just start with peas, cheese, ham, and mayo, then let your imagination take it from there.
I kept this classic salad pretty simple -- it's just frozen peas, ham, cheese, and red onion in a tangy dressing of mayo and ranch. But feel free to add hard boiled eggs, bacon bits, fresh dill, green onion, sliced radishes, bell pepper … there are a million ways you could take this.
It’s a delicious and hearty side dish for a summer barbecue, church picnic, and lazy days when you just want to make something simple and delicious.
This recipe is an excellent way to use up leftover ham.
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You’re Going to Love This
Ham, peas, cheese, mayo, and ranch — what’s not to love?
Easy cold salad for when you don't feel like cooking during the hot summer months.
Leftover ham? Sounds like a great reason to make English Pea Salad to me!
Great make-ahead salad that’s even more delicious the next day.
Ingredients
Frozen peas. Frozen petite green peas are sweet and tender and perfect for this green pea salad.
In the grocery store, you may also see them called sweet peas, baby peas, or baby sweet peas. Because they’re so tiny, they just need a minute under cold water to defrost them — there’s no need to cook them.
Ham. Great way to use leftover ham. You can also use bacon. Or ham AND bacon!
Cheese. Any type of cheddar cheese will work really well in this English pea salad recipe. I used cheddar-jack, but sharp cheddar cheese is also delicious. Use any of your favorite cheeses!
Mayonnaise. Mayo, Miracle Whip, either is fine here.
Ranch dressing. I made this creamy English pea salad with ranch dressing for a little buttermilk-herb flavor, but blue cheese dressing would also be awesome!
Red onion. Red onion has a sweet and mild onion flavor without being too overpowering.
Step-by-step instructions
Step 1
Defrost the frozen peas. Place them in a colander and run cold water over them to defrost.
Step 2
Cut the ham and cheese into ¼” to ½” cubes. Dice the red onion.
Step 3
In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and ranch dressing.
Step 4
Add the peas, ham, cheese, onion and a little salt and black pepper. Gently toss until completely coated.
Storage
Store English Pea Salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Expert Tips
Frozen petite peas have a bright green color, sweet flavor, and tender skins. Just give them a quick rinse under cold water to defrost.
Use whatever cheese you please. I like to use sharp cheddar or cheddar-jack.
Add your favorite flavors by tossing in some bacon, hard-boiled eggs, sliced radishes, or blue cheese.
Recipe FAQs
No. Frozen peas are just fresh peas that have been quickly blanched before frozen, so you can quickly defrost them and toss them into salads just the way they are.
Frozen sweet peas are the best option for making this cold pea salad, but you can use canned. I recommend using ones labeled “sweet peas” or “very young small sweet peas.” They’ll be the sweetest and tenderest. Canned peas are softer than frozen peas and may smush a little, so be careful stirring. They’re also not as bright green, so your salad won’t have the same vivid green color.
Store English Pea Salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
English peas are really just regular old garden peas, also sometimes called sweet peas. They're the ones that come in a pod that is inedible, so they need to be shelled before eating.
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📖 Recipe
English Pea Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 oz. frozen petite peas
- 8 oz. cheddar cheese, cubed colby-cheddar and sharp cheddar are both excellent!
- 1 cup ham, cubed
- ¼ cup red onion, diced
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup ranch dressing
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Defrost the frozen peas. Place the frozen peas in a colander and run them under cold water to defrost them.
- Cut the ham and cheese into ¼” to ½” cubes. Dice the red onion.
- In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise and ranch dressing.
- Add the peas, ham, cheese, and onion and gently toss until completely coated.
- Store English Pea Salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I made this salad as written and it's definitely a keeper! I just have to give a big nope and yuck to Miracle Whip. I know this will stir up a major controversy, perhaps surpassing the results of the recent election, but I stand firm on Mayonnaise, all the way. And a chicken in every pot as well.
Hi, Joyce, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, Miracle Whip is one of those divisive ingredients, lol, and I'm pretty sure the version of this salad I grew up on was made with Miracle Whip. Like you, I also prefer it, as written, with mayonnaise, but for those who love the sweet tangy flavor of Miracle Whip (noted: not you, haha), it certainly is a suitable substitute. Thanks for trying the recipe and leaving the fun note! Cara