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    Home » Recipes » Amish Salads

    The Amish Cook's 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    Published: Aug 2, 2021 · Updated: Aug 2, 2021 by Kevin Williams | 10 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is buggy1.jpg

    This article is a part of "The Amish Cook Column", a weekly series of featuring a story & recipe from Gloria Yoder, Amish wife & mother of six from Flat Rock, Illinois

    As a busy mother of six little darlings, if there is one thing I enjoy, that is stepping into my mom’s kitchen. Laughing, I informed her, “You know, it’s just like hungry hormones are released when I step into your kitchen!” Really there is something about it; it doesn’t matter what part of the day I happen to come to her house, I always feel like I could eat!

    Maybe I’ll have to do some blame-shifting here and make the excuse that perhaps it comes from being fed so well every time I’m there.

    Why, recently I popped in with all six little ones and it so happened that she was just ready to head out the door to have a tea party with friends. Now listen to this, she stepped into the kitchen and pulled this most delicious looking dessert from the fridge, and yes, she had planned to take it to the party. No amount of my protests budged her decision. “This is such a rare treat, you sit down and enjoy it with your children,” she declared.

    Going to the cupboard where she keeps her pretty dishes, she chose my favorite set of clear glass bowls and proceeded to fill them with generous servings for each of the children and myself. Relaxing on the sofa next to us she declared that being late to her party won’t hurt a thing.

    Thirty minutes later we had covered a wide range of news, catching up in each other’s lives. Soon six little children and myself were on the pony cart and clipping out the driveway.

    Now not all of you have mothers, and especially not living a mile from where you live, like I do.

    Many times in the 11 years since I got married, I've told myself, “Better enjoy this stage of living close to family, because it may not always be like that.” I have come to treasure our times together. On a deeper note, God’s also been teaching me that all people are to be cared for and loved like family. And guess what? The most special part of that entire picture is that according to Scripture, if we do God’s will, we’re Jesus’ brother and sister! Really now, that is more special than any amount of words that would ever fit into an entire column, or even into the biggest book, for that matter!

    I then wonder and ponder... what I can do today to splash that love on others, that no matter what, they’ll always matter to me and to the One who created life within every one of us? I’d love to hear your input.

    Dear Jeanne, a faithful reader, and friend from Cincinnati Ohio, gave a beautiful example of that today. You can only imagine the scene when Daddy brought a package from Jeanne into the kitchen. From oldest all the way down to baby Joshua, we all crowded around to watch. Daddy carefully cut the tape, the flaps were swiftly pulled back by all, and guess what? There was a stuffed baby deer in memory of the one that passed away in our home and also as a token of God using difficulties in our lives to make us stronger. The children immediately started talking of how they’ll take turns to it sleep with it. Under the fawn was a beautiful book of a baby deer which I just finished reading to the children before putting them down for naps. I read page after page of the baby ‘deer’ and how God had a perfect plan for it; time and again I paused, marveling to the children how this book perfectly explains how God will use them as they grow up for him.

    Now I’ll undoubtedly have to share one of mom’s specialties with you. Recently one evening she called me and asked if we’ll by chance be stopping in since she has some deluxe sugar-free dessert she’d like to share with us. Well, it turned out, that by the time we got there, she had already left for the evening. On the counter was a note telling us to help ourselves to anything we find. My, there was no turning it down. I had little ones clutching my skirts as we ransacked Grandma’s fridge, and yes, we had a party! Besides the dessert, there were burgers, salads, chocolate cake, home-canned peaches, the list goes on. “This is better than a restaurant,” I mused to myself and straight out of Mom’s kitchen at that!

    The following day Dad remarked to me, “You made Grandma’s day stopping in and helping yourself when we weren’t home.” I smiled. What more could I say?


    Meanwhile, I am going to share this recipe for a simple throw-together 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad that we love in our house!

    Editor's Notes and Photos

    This is a really easy pea salad that you can make in, literally, five minutes (with a few caveats). First, the only way you can make this in 5 minutes is to use bacon bits. And it'll taste fine, but I found myself thinking that it'd probably taste super with real bacon. So if you want to fry up and crumble your own bacon for this, have at it. This would still be a super quick salad, but not a 5-minute salad. My wife thought it was a little heavy on the mayo, so adjust as you think you want. I thought it was fine. But if you aren't quite as enamored with mayo as I am, maybe use ¾ a cup. I don't have much to say about the cheese, it was great, but you could mix it up a bit by adding a Colby-Jack cheese. But, man, this was/is a tasty, tasty salad!

    5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    The 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad recipe calls for frozen peas for year-round ease of the everyday cook, but you could use fresh. I am sure you could use store-bought canned peas (drained), it just might be a little mushier.

    5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    I enlisted my 4-year-old to help stir the salad, this is it before she really got the cheeses melded.

    5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    My 7-year-old wanted to take the photos...I would have chosen better lighting, better angles, and removed all the junk from the background, but, oh well...

    I took some 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad outside to photograph so the sun could capture some of the color, it really is a bright, colorful salad.

    Jump to:
    • Editor's Notes and Photos
    • 🥗 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad
    • 📋 Instructions
    • 🥗 More Amish Pea Recipes
    • 🖨️ Full Recipe

    🥗 5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    • 12 oz frozen peas
    • 1 cup mayo
    • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
    • ½ cup bacon bits
    • ¾ teaspoons salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon onion salt

    📋 Instructions

    1. Thaw peas.
    2. Pour thawed peas into a bowl.
    3. Add remaining ingredients.
    4. Stir, chill, and enjoy!

    🥗 More Amish Pea Recipes

    Amish Peas - Wow, these are so good!

    Chicken with Peas and Rice - classic!

    Summer 7-Layer Salad - Lots of peas in this!

    Easy Ham & Pea Salad - Another pork and pea combo!

    🖨️ Full Recipe

    5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    5-Minute Pea and Bacon Salad

    Amish Recipe - easy and delicious!
    5 from 3 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Course Salad
    Cuisine American, Amish

    Ingredients
      

    • 12 oz frozen peas
    • 1 cup mayo
    • 1 cup shredded cheddar
    • ½ cup  bacon bits
    • ¾ teaspoons salt
    • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon onion salt

    Instructions
     

    • Thaw peas.
    • Pour thawed peas into a bowl.
    • Add remaining ingredients.
    • Stir, chill, and enjoy!
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Alma Miller's World's Best Chicken Casserole
    Delicious Beef, Bacon, and Bean Casserole »

    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ann

      August 02, 2021 at 2:33 pm

      5 stars
      I make this only I add lettuce in mine also. We all love it that way.

      Reply
      • Kevin Williams

        August 02, 2021 at 2:55 pm

        Ohh, wow, lettuce, that would add some more bulk and flavor, good idea!

        Reply
        • Linda Toupal

          August 04, 2021 at 9:15 am

          Can you tell me approximately how many servings one recipe serves

        • Kevin Williams

          August 04, 2021 at 11:54 am

          Thanks, Linda, I need to start putting serving size in more often...for this salad you would be able to serve 4 - 6 people comfortably. Hope that helps!

    2. Rhonda Hitchcock

      August 02, 2021 at 3:27 pm

      5 stars
      Don"t be fooled how Simple it is .
      So simple but very delicious!

      Reply
      • Kevin Williams

        August 02, 2021 at 9:08 pm

        Agreed, Rhonda, simple, but good!

        Reply
    3. Lucille D Bloomer

      August 02, 2021 at 3:34 pm

      You can buy real bacon that is cooked and crumbled. If you are in a hurry That works.

      Reply
      • Kevin Williams

        August 02, 2021 at 9:07 pm

        Thanks, Lucille, good advice and good to hear from you, you've been with me a long time, thanks for sticking around!

        Reply
    4. Claudine in Fort Worth TX

      August 02, 2021 at 11:28 pm

      5 stars
      This is very good and so quick. Adding the lettuce and some chopped onion makes it Layered Salad and some people add chopped hard-boiled eggs, too. Any way you make this it is very good and yes, I cheat and use the precooked bacon. Also you mentioned you might could use canned peas, yes you can. That's the way we always had it until using the frozen peas came into vogue. I still use canned peas when I don't have frozen ones. You do have to be careful not to smush them up. I did that years ago when I was "helping" my Mom and of course I quickly learned not to do that again or risk a wack across my backside with a wooden spoon! LOL!

      Reply
      • Kevin Williams

        August 03, 2021 at 12:33 pm

        Thanks, Claudine, good insight and tips....fortunately not smushed peas on this end!

        Reply

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    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

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