English Pea Salad

Have you tried an English pea salad?

This is an old fashioned pea salad made with eggs, potatoes, peas, onions and bacon for an easy, budget friendly dish that can feed a crowd.

Perfect for making in advance, this vegetable salad travels well and is ideal for picnics, lunchboxes and get togethers all year round.

It's easy to vary the ingredients as well, so that you can use up the leftovers in the fridge to make a new meal.

Even better, it's child friendly too.

Enjoy!

Jump to:

❤️ Why you will love this recipe
🥘 Ingredients
🍽 Equipment
🔪 Instructions
⏲️ Cooking Time
🥗 Serve with
🥙 Substitutions
📖 Variations
🍣 Storage
🍱 Prepare in Advance
🤔 FAQs
📋 Recipe
💬 Comments

With the supermarkets now full of expensive preprepared salads in pots, it's easy to forget about some of the tasty old dishes, that are so easy to make at home from very basic ingredients.

The great thing about vegetable salads, and this English pea salad in particular, is that you don't need to worry about buying the ingredients at the last minute, like you do often with salad leaves.

It uses frozen peas and other ingredients that have a long shelf life in your cupboard or fridge, so there's no waste.

You can take it on a trek and it won't matter if the container turns upside down, the salad will be fine. Any leftovers don't change texture either, so there's no chance of brown lettuce or limp cucumber!

It's also very versatile, so if you have some leftover chicken or veggies they can easily be added from the fridge to use them up.

❤️ Why you will love this recipe

Budget friendly with simple ingredients.
Great for feeding a crowd all year round.
Easy to make and transport.
Perfect for using up leftovers.
Tasty side dish for barbecues.

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🥘 Ingredients

Peas - frozen peas are perfect for this recipe as they are quick to cook and keep their colour.
Potatoes - new potatoes with skins on.
Salt - flaked sea salt.
Pepper - freshly ground black pepper.
Mustard - Dijon mustard has a mild taste which is much less hot than normal English mustard.
Eggs - free range large eggs if possible.
Bacon - lean smoked bacon lardons.
Onion - red onion for sweetness and crunch.
Yogurt - fat free yogurt.
Mayonnaise - low fat mayonnaise.

The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post.

🍽 Equipment

colander
saucepan
sharp knife
chopping board
mixing bowl
serving dish
frying pan or skillet

🔪 Instructions

Peel the onion and dice.

Cut the potatoes into cubes about 1 centimetre or half an inch.

There's no need to peel them.

💭 Top Tip

There's really no need to peel potatoes, unless you want perfectly smooth mash. It's fine to just scrub the skins first. This saves so much time but, more importantly, potato skins are full of iron, potassium, calcium and vitamins B and C. They are also full of fibre.

⏲️ Cooking Time

Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes.

Add the peas and bring back to the boil for 2 minutes.

Drain into a colander then refresh under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Cook the eggs, cool and slice and chop.

💭 Top Tips

Cover with cold water and place the pan over a medium heat.
Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat so that the water is just simmering constantly.
Cook for 8 minutes then drain and fill the pan with cold water. Drain and repeat.
Leave the eggs for a couple of minutes to cool then remove the shells. Roll them on a hard surface to loosen the shells and they should easily come away.
Slide the shelled eggs back into the water until they are completely cool.

Put the lardons in a frying pan over a medium heat for about 3 minutes, turning regularly until cooked through.

Add the mayonnaise, yogurt and mustard in a mixing bowl and mix.

Add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir until combined.

Transfer to a dish and the English pea salad is ready to serve.

🥗 Serve with

This old fshioned pea salad goes really well with barbecued or pan fried dishes.

It goes particularly well with seafood dishes too.

🥙 Substitutions

New potatoes - use old potatoes instead.
Red onion - use shallots or another sweet onion such as Spanish or Vidalia.
Mayonnaise - use more yogurt or try fat free quark, crème fraiche or sour cream.
Lardons - I've used lean smoked lardons. These are just pieces of bacon cut into small cubes. Use bacon rashed and cut into small pieces.

📖 Variations

This is the perfect time to use up leftovers in the fridge and make this salad a filling meal.

Meat - use cooked chopped ham, corned beef, cooked prawns or leftover cooked chicken, pork or salmon.
Vegetables - use leftover boiled potatoes, roasted vegetables such as onions, mushrooms, sweetcorn or peppers. Use raw chopped mushrooms, peppers or spring onions.
Beans - add a tin a black beans, chick peas, butter beans, kidney beans or lentils for a filling meal.
Vegetarian - replace the bacon with cubes of hard cheese, such as Cheddar.
Herbs - add a couple of tablespoons of some fresh chopped parsley, dill, mint, basil or oregeno
Spices - add a teaspoon of chilli flakes or powder, aparika or your own favourite spices.

🍣 Storage

Refrigerator - store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezer - not suitable for freezing.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

Prepare the salad the day before,cover and refrigerate until needed.

🤔 FAQs

Are green peas and English peas the same?

English peas and garden peas are from the same variety that are grown for their sweet flavour, colour and tender texture.

They are not to be confused with sweet peas, which are grown for their flowers and are not edible.

Other varieties of peas are dried split peas, which are great in soups, such as London particular and traditionally used to make pease pudding.

Marrowfat peas are garden or English peas that have been allowed to dry out before harvesting. They are traditionally used to make mushy peas but I prefer to to make mushy peas with garden peas as they are much tastier.

What to add to peas for flavour?

When you are cooking the peas try adding a vegetable or chicken stock cube to the water.

I like to add a large sprig of fresh mint to the cooking water and the peas really take up the minty flavour.

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📋 Recipe

English Pea Salad

Amanda

Old fashioned pea salad with bacon, potatoes, onions and hard boiled eggs in a light dressing. Perfect for picnics and making in advance for entertaining.

5 from 12 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Course Lunch, Main Course, Salad

Cuisine British

Servings

Calories 179 kcal

Equipment

colander
Saucepan
Sharp knife
Chopping board
Mixing bowl
serving dish
Frying pan or skillet

Ingredients

250 g new potatoes
300 g frozen peas
45 g low fat mayonnaise
155 g smoked bacon lardons
1 red onion
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
150 g fat free yogurt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon flaked sea salt
2 eggs

Instructions

Peel the onion and dice. Cut the potatoes into cubes about 1 centimetre or half an inch.
Put the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the peas and bring back to the boil for 2 minutes. Drain into a colander then refresh under cold water.
Cook the eggs in simmering water for 8 minutes. then cool, peel and slice and chop.
Put the lardons in a frying pan over a medium heat for about 3 minutes, turning regularly until cooked through.
Add the mayonnaise, yogurt and mustard in a mixing bowl and mix. Add all of the ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir until combined.
Transfer to a dish to serve.

Nutrition Facts

English Pea Salad

Amount Per Serving

Calories 179 Calories from Fat 45

% Daily Value*

Fat 5g8%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Trans Fat 0.01g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Cholesterol 69mg23%

Sodium 548mg24%

Potassium 469mg13%

Carbohydrates 21g7%

Fiber 4g17%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 12g24%

Vitamin A 473IU9%

Vitamin C 29mg35%

Calcium 69mg7%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article

Keyword English pea salad, old fashioned pea salad

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Food Safety

Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
Wash hands after touching raw meat.
Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
Never leave cooking food unattended.
Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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English Pea Salad