Sugar Snap Pea Salad

This Southern-style sugar snap pea salad is WHAT YOU NEED for hot summer day. Perfect for meal prep, a cookout, or potluck, the creamy dressing, salty bacon, and crunchy, snappy peas form the most delicious summer side dish ever. This version is gluten free!

Southern = it has bacon. 

Here's our new favorite summer side dish! We are all about sugar snap peas, and this time of year when they're actually GOOD and we have a chance of finding them locally we have them around all the time. We eat a lot of raw veggies as snacks with hummus or ranch, but turning them into quick side dishes to go with grilled meat or to take to a potluck is another favorite thing to do with peas especially. There are tons of variations of this salad, and I made mine with a combination of classic Southern flavors (bacon, mayo) with some extra brightening flavors from lemon juice and fresh herbs. The combination of creamy/salty with herby freshness is SO good, and of course it goes without saying that while not a perfect superfood, this is a better choice than, say, the exact same salad base with potatoes or pasta instead of a raw veg. 

Raw veggies balance bacon, is my aesthetic. 

How to Make Sugar Snap Pea Salad

The salad comes together super quickly because nothing except for the bacon is cooked. I do take the time to trim the ends off the peas and pull off the strings while the bacon is cooking to get rid of anything tough on the peas. Then the dressing comes together with mayo, sour cream, shallot, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. 

Whisk the dressing together and taste it; it should be lemony but not overly strong. Add a few pinches of salt to your preference. 

When the bacon has cooked, let it cool for a minute, then chop it and halve the peas to bite-sized pieces. Chop any herbs you like - I've used basil, parsley, dill, or a combination and all are delicious, but I really like basil with bacon this time of year so I use that most times that I make this. 

Throw the ingredients in the same bowl with the dressing. 

(ps I like to assemble salads like this in advance and then stir them together right at the last minute if I don't need the dressing to marinate any of the ingredients. I think in this sugar snap pea salad it keeps the ingredients a bit crisper!)

Mix!

Taste, add more salt and pepper. 

This is great served right away, or can be made up to a day in advance. The dressing may absorb somewhat or get overly thick, so if you make this in advance and that happens just add a little more mayo or lemon juice right before serving to wake the salad back up.

Or, do the layering technique like above and stir the sugar snap pea salad together at the last minute!

Let's have a party this weekend so we can make this! Chewy bacon + crunchy peas + zippy dressing is pretty much a party anyway, right?

Enjoy!

(ps, if you need other summery side dish ideas and/or want to make double the bacon, Bacon Basil Panzanella and Skillet Tomatoes and Corn are to.die.for in the warmer months!)

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