Sugar Snap Pea Salad

5 from 34 votes

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A pretty, crunchy and fresh sugar snap pea salad that takes only minutes to put together and brightens up any Spring meal.

Sugar snap pea salad on green plate.

This delicious, light sugar snap pea salad also features crunchy cucumbers, a generous amount of fresh dill and mint, and some slivered red onions. If your sugar snaps are super young, small, and fresh, they don’t need to be cooked and you can leave them whole. If they are a little more mature, the natural sweetness and bright green color will be elevated with a quick blanching. I like to cut larger sugar snap peas in half crosswise so each piece is bite-sized.

A snap pea salad is the perfect side dish to welcome in the spring season. It’s so quick and easy to pull together, with just a few ingredients. The zippy dressing is a basic homemade vinaigrette made with balsamic and rice vinegars, Dijon mustard, honey, and shallots.

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I like to tear the herbs for this salad; the larger pieces really provide pops of fresh herb flavor. You can roughly chop them if you prefer. Try serving this with Grilled Salmon, Air Fryer Lemon Garlic Chicken Breasts, or a Grilled Flat Iron Steak.

Sugar Snap Pea Salad in a blue bowl.

Best Sugar Snap Peas for Salad

Good sugar snap peas are sweet and crunchy. Disappointing sugar snap peas are fibrous and can be dull tasting, or even bitter. Look for firm, plump, non-cracked pods with no dry spots, and taste a couple before buying. Sometimes sugar snaps are called mangetout, French for “eat all”, meaning both the peas and the pod are edible.

How to Make Snap Pea Salad

  1. Blanch the sugar snap peas.
  2. Make the dressing: In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, shallot, salt, and pepper.
Woman whisking vinaigrette in glass mixing bowl.
  1. Assemble and serve: Add the sugar snaps, onion, cucumbers, dill, and mint to the dressing in the bowl. Toss to combine. 
Woman pouring vinaigrette and tossing snap pea salad in blue bowl.

What to Serve With Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Cilantro Lime Chicken with a side of sugar snap pea salad and rice on a gray plate.
Cilantro Lime Chicken with Sugar Snap Pea Salad

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5 from 34 votes

Sugar Snap Pea Salad

A pretty, crunchy and fresh sugar snap pea salad that takes only minutes to put together and brightens up any Spring meal.
Prep Time: 1 hour 9 minutes
Cook Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 4 people
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Ingredients 

For the Vinaigrette:

Instructions 

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water. When the water is boiling, drop the sugar snaps into the pot and cook for 1 minute. Drain the sugar snap peas and plunge them into the ice water.
  • While you are waiting for the water to boil, make the vinaigrette: In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, shallot, salt, and pepper.  
  • Drain the cooled sugar snap peas, shake off any excess water, and add them with the onion, cucumbers, dill, and mint to the dressing in the bowl. Toss to combine. Taste, adjust seasonings as needed, and serve.

Notes

Tips and Variations

  • Try other fresh herbs if you like, such as basil. Chervil would also be lovely.
  • If the sugar snaps are more mature, they may have a string running down one or both sides of the bean, where the halves are joined, and that should be removed by peeling it off as you remove the tips. Find a child or helpful guest or family member to help you with this slightly tedious but sometimes necessary task.
  • If your sugar snap peas are young and don’t have a thick string running down the side of them, you can just trim off the tips on both edges, cutting off just the very end to keep as much of the bean intact as possible.

Make-Ahead

You can make this up to 2 days ahead of time and store it well-sealed in the refrigerator. The beans will soften a bit more in the dressing, and their bright green color may fade a bit, but it will still be delicious.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal, Carbohydrates: 17g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 11g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 26mg, Potassium: 399mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 1625IU, Vitamin C: 75mg, Calcium: 80mg, Iron: 3mg
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About Katie Workman

Katie Workman is a cook, a writer, a mother of two, an activist in hunger issues, and an enthusiastic advocate for family meals, which is the inspiration behind her two beloved cookbooks, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.

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5 Comments

  1. Tina says:

    I loved this sugar snap pea salad! It was so easy to make and so fresh!

  2. Kevin Foodie says:

    This is an interesting salad. I am always curious about why they are called “sweet snap peas” and they are not sweet at all. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Janet.lee.martin@gmail.com says:

    Sooooo good! Fresh and easy. Loved it ❤️

  4. Jannine says:

    I agree with Kara, I was so impressed! I added some thinly sliced radish, parmesan, pepperoncini, and chickpea pasta (for protein). It was crunchy and bright.

  5. Kara S says:

    Very bright fresh and tasty!