Creamy Bacon Pea Salad is the perfect southern summer side dish that is ready in just five minutes! No one else will have this at the BBQ.
This delicious Side Dish will be at home at any cookout or BBQ next to classics like Macaroni Salad, Broccoli Salad, or Potato Salad.
Sabrina’s Cream Bacon Pea Salad Recipe
Once you serve this Creamy Bacon Pea Salad to guests, they will be asking you for the recipe every time! It is a perfect recipe for pot lucks, because it can feed a crowd and is so unique it’s not likely there will be any duplicates.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 2 pounds frozen peas
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese , shredded
- 1/2 cup red onion , chopped
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1 pound bacon , cooked crisp and chopped
Instructions
- Rinse the frozen peas in a colander and let drain for a few seconds while you make the rest of the salad.
- Into a large bowl add the cheese, red onion, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and bacon.
- Top with the peas and stir together until fully combined.
- Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
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Nutrition
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Table of Contents
About this Recipe
Creamy Bacon Pea Salad is a southern staple and an indulgent, easy, craveable crazy-sounding salad that you will go nuts for once you’ve tried it. This salad is so easy it literally comes together in less than five minutes once your ingredients are all ready. It’s the perfect side dish to prepare in advance since it needs to chill at least an hour before serving, and you can allow the flavors to develop in the fridge while you get your other dishes prepared.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
Kitchen Knife: While there is minimal chopping in this recipe, a good kitchen knife is amazing to have for all of your favorite recipes.
Cheese Grater: I suggest using larger shreds for this salad, but you can use the smaller side if you prefer. You can also purchase pre-shredded cheese to save time.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Make this recipe even easier by cooking your bacon in the oven. Lay bacon pieces in a single layer on a wire rack placed on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 18-20 minutes in a 400 degree oven until crispy. Then all you have to do is chop it into pieces and collect your other ingredients and you’re ready to make an amazing salad!
- Some people love the convenience of pre-made bacon bits (made of actual bacon). It doesn’t get easier than that, and with pre-made bacon bits you can have this salad chilling in the fridge in less than 10 minutes.
How to Store
- Serve: Don’t leave this pea salad at room temperature for longer than 2 hours.
- Store: Cover the large bowl or put the Creamy Bacon Pea Salad into another airtight container to store it in the fridge. It will keep well for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: Unfortunately the creamy dressing in this salad recipe won’t stay good in the freezer. It’s better just to make the recipe fresh.
Variations
- Peas: Frozen, thawed peas have a nice crunch, but if you prefer the texture of the canned peas they will also work. Rinse and drain the peas before using them in the salad. In the spring, fresh peas would also be delicious. Simply blanch them in boiling water for 1 minute and rinse with cold water.
- Egg: Hard boil 4 eggs and chop them into small ½ inch dice and combine gently with the rest of the ingredients.
- Layered Pea Salad: You can make a beautiful presentation with this salad by layering the ingredients. First, toss the peas and cheese with the mayonnaise, salt and pepper then add half the peas, half the onions, half the bacon then repeat. Top with a bit more cheese.
Related Recipes
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Mistakes happen the 4 eggs are left out of your written recipe. If I had just scrolled down to the recipe, I would not known the hard boiled eggs were in the pea salad at all.
Oh oh, sorry for the confusion Valerie. The eggs are part of a Variation of this recipe and the instructions are in the blog for the variation that includes eggs. Yikes..hope you enjoyed the recipe.
My brother is allergic to broccoli, so I made this instead of my typical broccoli salad. So easy, and the bacon and cheese made it so tasty!
That’s great!
This bacon pea salad is such a game changer! Never thought that it is this delicious and satisfying! My new-found comfort food!
Thank you! Comfort food is always a good choice 🙂
We had it with Easter dinner.yum! We ate it all!
Looks like a tasty salad. I’m considering a quality ranch dressing in place of mayonnaise and serving in a salad bowl lined with a couple of head lettuce leaves and possibly topped with a cherry tomato. What’s your thoughts on this version of pre-meal salad?
Sounds good!
I’ve never really cared for peas until my husband put them on his salad. What a game changer! I made this recipe this morning and can hardly wait for him to get home and try it. I couldn’t even wait until it chilled before I dove in! Absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!
Just like Mom used to make. Next time I think I will cut back the cheese/mayo/bacon just to cut calories and see how that goes. Thank you!
I ate 1 cup that wouldn’t fit in my container-WOW, I’m giving this 5 Stars even before it had a chance to chill !!!
Thank you for this recipe-It is AWESOME !!!
Yumm!! I didn’t add the pepper, as I don’t like it, but other than that followed as written… delicious! Thanks for sharing
So glad you enjoyed Jennine!
I wonder if you could substitute the frozen peas with lima beans it would be different that’s for sure just wondering if it would actually work
You can experiment with whatever veggies you would like.
Could you use fresh peas??
Sure!
Love this recipe! I like to add cashew pieces and a little curry. Yum!
This is the second time I made this pea salad, it’s delicious. I just added some olives and used ham chunks instead of frying bacon
Do you thaw the peas before making the salad?
Yes 🙂
Hi Sabrina,
I love your recipes, they all look so yummy. I make a salad similar to this pea salad but mine has peanuts in it, it’s really good too. Would you like me to send you the recipe? Have a great day, Ann
Sure 🙂
Ann, I would love to have your recipe with peanuts. My mother used to make a pea salad with peanuts and I have searched for it for years. Could you please send it to me thank you in advance, Karen.
My family loves this salad.
Excellent Pea Salad
I made it for a BBQ and everyone loved it and asked me for the recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it, Linda. Thanks for the 5 stars.
My family and I love this recipe just as it is written!
Thanks, Sandy!
Hey Sabrina, what kind of main dishes do you recommend serving this with? 🙂
I love this for a potluck side dish because you can really pair it with just about anything. If I was adding it to a dinner, I would serve it alongside chicken or pork. I hope you enjoy it!
How far in advance could you make this? If I’m serving it for Thanksgiving, could I put it together Tuesday night?
It will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days, so yes you can make on Tuesday. Hope this helps!
I usually make this using either home made or bottled ranch salad dressing. It was one of the favorites at my old church senior’s group. Adding boiled eggs sounds good too.
I hope you enjoy it Karen
How much bacon bits should I use for this salad? One pound, or less?
Thank you.
I used one pound of cooked bacon to make my bacon bits for this salad. You can adjust to whatever amount you prefer. Enjoy!
Pea salad recipe
haven’t tried this Pea salad yet …made it with lettuce can you add lettuce to the creamy pea salad Ranch mix with sour cream do you have that recipe can’t wait to try to pea salad
Have you ever added chopped boiled eggs? I do that about half the time I make this, and ot’s so delicious both ways.
Sounds delicious! Thanks for the suggestion!
We always add 1 or 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs to our pea salad (depending on how much we’re making)….SO yummy! Also, my mom sometimes adds 1 rib of celery (finely diced) for a bit of crunch. This is always a huge hit at every event!
Sounds amazing!
Do I need to use red onion or can I use sweet white onion as that is all I have currently? Will the taste be the same do you think?
Thank you!
That would work as a substitution. 🙂
Omg. Yum!!!! This is a keeper. Thank you for sharing.
You cheese grater link goes to wrong thing
Thank you for pointing that out. It’s been fixed. 🙂
If i make this today for a potluck tomorrow, will the bacon be soggy?
I didn’t notice a difference but you could always prep it all except for the bacon and then add that in the day of.
This salad is SOOOO good! Do you happen to have the nutrition/calorie information for it?
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Sorry I don’t have the nutritional facts for recipes on the site but I know there are a lot of free resources on the internet from when I’ve cooked for clients with low calorie diets.
So Awesome, to find someone brave enough to not cook the peas first. This looks to be a delicious recipe HOWEVER I want to create the mason jar salad with frozen thawed peas and frozen thawed green beans and you gave me the confidence to do it so thanks.
Can you make this the night before?
Yes, just make sure that it stays refrigerated.
Do you boil the frozen peas? Or just use them thawed out
No need to boil them, you’ll want to use them thawed out. It’ll give you a bit of a crunch to the salad. Plus the salad is served cold, so easy peasy! Enjoy!
Was introduced to pea salad years ago. Didn’t like peas to much then . But love this salad so I eat peas all summer long!
Isn’t it funny how sometimes a specific dish can do that to do?! Enjoy!!
I have been looking for this recipe!! My grandma made a version of this! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Terra! I hope it lives up to your expectation of your Grandma’s version.
I think this would be a perfect side dish for the holidays.
Definitely!
Made this dish for church dinner. Was delicious!
Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you enjoyed it!
Made this for my quilt guild’s potluck and it disappeared in a flash. Very good!!
Sounds like it was a winner then!! Thanks for coming back to let me know Sue!!
Now this is a must take to every BBQ this Summer!
I love peas and anything creamy so this is the perfect combo. The salad looks great!
Thank you!
Peas are probably one of my favorite vegetables. This salad looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it, and with the bacon maybe my husband will finally learn to love peas too 🙂
Bacon is always an amazing way to encourage someone to try a dish, haha!
An absolute staple for summer potlucks!
Pea salad is one of my all-time summer faves. I cannot wait to try your rendition with bacon.
Such a stunning salad! I love peas, so will definitely bring this to some cookouts this year 🙂
Thanks Amanda!
This is such a perfect salad for summer. Love that it has bacon!
When in doubt, add bacon 🙂
How would this recipe change with fresh peas, now that they are coming in season?
I like the texture and flavor from frozen peas but if you want to use fresh peas, blanch them as you would to freeze them and use them after they’ve chilled. Enjoy!