Peas are one of the first garden goodies of the year to start appearing on Amish menus and they enjoy them through the year because of their bounty and home-canning. Peas often show up at Amish gatherings, usually in the form of a salad, like this Easy Amish Pea Salad
Unlike broccoli and cauliflower which can sometimes be difficult for older people to chew, peas are something that pretty much anyone can handle. And there so many flavorful ways to add color, texture, and taste to peas. So, yes, peas are popular. I mean, gosh, I don't like to just eat a bowl of peas, but you mix in some stuff, they can really form the basis for a decent salad or side dish.
And often if you have a gathering to go and want something quick, few things are easier to throw together than a pea salad, which will perk up any picnic. The Amish are famous for their throw-together pea salads that they bring to after-church gatherings. You can use frozen, fresh, or canned for this recipe.
This particular pea salad would be a great addition to any Fourth of July picnic with its splash of flavors. A couple of tips when making this: I "cheated" and use canned peas and store-bought barbecue sauce.
I used the Kroger store-brand "simple truth" barbecue sauce and it is really good, but use your favorite or make your own. Also, all we had on hand was veggie bacon, so I used that. Veggie bacon or real is fine. You'd get, in my opinion, a better taste and crumble using real bacon. The veggie bacon doesn't crumble quite as well.
I like my bacon in large chunks in a salad, but you can crumble it so it is more like bacon bits or do what I did and throw it in in strips. Also, this recipe is good for about 3 - 4 people. If you are attending a picnic or other gathering, you can easily double or triple this without messing up the proportions. Enjoy! (Oh, and if you want some more Amish pea recipes or an Amish barbecue sauce recipe, scroll to below the recipe)
🥗 Easy Amish Pea Salad Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can of peas
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tablespoon of mustard
- 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 4 strips of bacon, shredded or crumbled
📋 Instructions
- Dump peas into a big bowl.
- Add shredded cheese.
- In a separate bowl mix mustard, mayonnaise, honey, and barbecue sauce until well blended.
- Then chop and added the egg to the sauce.
- Mix until egg is well coated.
- Add shredded or crumbled bacon to the pea and cheese mixture.
- Then add sauce and stir until peas are coated and the sauce is evenly distributed. Refrigerator one hour.
🥗 More Amish Pea Recipes
Homemade Oklahoma Amish Barbecue Sauce (great for adding to the pea salad)
🖨️ Full Recipe
Amish Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can of peas
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
- 1 hard-boiled egg
- 4 strips bacon, shredded or crumbled
Instructions
- Dump peas into a big bowl.
- Add shredded cheese.
- In a separate bowl mix mustard, mayonnaise, honey, and barbecue sauce until well blended
- . Then chop and added the egg to the sauce.
- Mix until egg is well coated.
- Add shredded or crumbled bacon to the pea and cheese mixture.
- Then add sauce and stir until peas are coated and the sauce is evenly distributed
- Refrigerate for one hour.
Nana
I love pea salad although my version is a little different so I will give this variation a try. I prefer frozen peas to canned and they take little more than defrosting them. if you feel they are too firm a quick microwave zap is all they need and I don't even add liquid. I noticed the other day when you published the corn fritters you mentioned you used a can of drained corn. Again I would use frozen corn as it almost tastes like fresh to me. Another advantage for me is that with the frozen I can pour out a single serving as I live alone and not have half a can left to do something with.
Kevin
You should write a "Cooking for One" cookbook, I think you always offer some good advice for small quantity servings...and I agree with preferring frozen to canned, I just didn't have any on hand