Spring is here, and farmers’ markets are filling up with colorful flowers and fresh produce, including one of our favorite early-season veggies: peas!
Sure, peas are available year-round in the freezer aisle, but spring is the time when fresh peas truly shine. Now is the time you can find English peas in the pods, and sugar snap peas and snow peas are at their crisp, sweet best at both farmers’ markets and grocery stores.
To help you make the most of the season, we tapped chefs and food pros for their favorite ways to cook with fresh peas. Plus, the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen shares guidance for shopping and prepping this starchy green vegetable.
First, a quick guide to the varieties you’ll find this time of year:
Types of peas
How our pros cook with fresh peas
We asked some of our favorite chefs and food personalities to share insights (and recipes!) for making the most of this spring staple.
Meera Sodha
Lean into their sweetness: Cookbook author Meera Sodha shows how peas’ natural sweetness pairs beautifully with bold flavors like wasabi.
“I love peas for their freshness, Kermit the Frog pop of green color, and sweetness. In my Wasabi Pea Dip, sweet peas are the hero, dialing down the potency of the wasabi and blending into a silky, delicious dip that can be eaten with things like crudités, crackers, and chips.”
Try this, too: Skip boiling peas and instead fry them with salt, lemon, and extra virgin olive oil.
Ayesha Nurdjaja
Mix and match varieties: Why choose just one type? Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja, embraces all three for a true spring celebration. Her recipe proves that the more together, the better.
“My vibrant Pea Party Salad features three pea varieties—sweet English peas, tender sugar snap peas, and crispy snow peas—alongside radishes and red onion. Everything gets dressed in a cilantro vinaigrette. I named it ‘Pea Party’ because it’s so fun, bright, and full of texture. I always have this on my menu to celebrate the arrival of spring.”
Try this, too: Toss with olive oil and salt, then grill English peas in their pod (2 minutes on each side). Toss with lemon juice and mint—and serve like edamame.
Hailee Catalano
Play with texture. Mushy peas are a thing for a reason! Food influencer Hailee Catalano helps us have a little fun with peas crisp or creamy.
“I must have been the only kid who loved peas. Today, my love has only grown! Anywhere I can throw some in, I do—like in my Mushy Pea Pasta Salad, which is half pasta and half peas. The peas are pulsed in a food processor, giving them a ‘mushy’ texture similar to those in the classic English dish so they can coat the pasta completely.”
Try this, too: Throw them into egg salad with a bunch of fresh herbs.
How to prep peas
Before you dive into cooking, a little prep goes a long way. Here are the best Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen-approved tips for prepping peas of all types.
For sugar and snap peas: The pods are edible, but remove the fibrous string along the seam first.
For English peas: These require a little more heavy lifting, since the pods aren’t edible—but the sweet payoff is worth it. Here’s what to do:
1.
Pinch off the stem end of the pod, and pull the string down the side.
2.
Working over a colander, open the pod like a book and run your finger along the inside to pop out the peas.
3.
Rinse the peas under cold water to clean.
Some recipes require you to cook English peas before using them. Here’s how:
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and fill a bowl with ice water. Add enough salt to the boiling water so the water tastes salty (1/4 cup for every 2 qts water). Working in batches, add peas (about 2 cups at a time), and gently boil until just tender, 2 to 4 min. (If blending into a dip, cook until very tender, 2 to 3 min. more.)
2. Using a spider or a slotted spoon, immediately transfer the peas to the prepared ice bath (this stops the cooking and preserves the color) until cool, about 2 min.; drain.
