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This classic cheddar bacon green pea salad is definitely a classic retro favorite! This vibrant and crispy salad is bursting with flavor thanks to the delicious combo of green peas, bacon, and cheddar smothered in a creamy mayonnaise dressing!
Honestly, just thinking about it makes me hungry, as I can’t eat my classic broccoli salad due to allergies, this is as close as I can get!
Green Pea Salad
This salad is the real side salad deal! It’s packed full of protein and the dressing is just incredible. It’s also super easy to make and looks great once it all comes together, which makes it the perfect dish to take along to BBQs or picnics and potlucks! It works well on its own but will pretty much go with any main as a side also!
How Should You Cook The Bacon?
You have a few options when you’re cooking the bacon for this salad. You can fry it on the stove, which will take about 10-15 minutes (make sure to keep flipping it until it’s nice and crisp on both sides). Or you can cook it in the microwave if you prefer. I rarely cook bacon in the microwave, to be honest, but it’s easy enough to do. Just place the slices in between two paper towels and cook for around a minute per slice (set to high).
If you’re cooking thinner slices it won’t take as long so keep an eye on them. Remember, you can always cook a little longer if they’re undercooked but you can’t “uncook” them if they’re overcooked!
Can You Prep This Pea Salad in Advance?
I personally think this pea salad is best eaten on the day it’s made, but you can make it a day ahead if you wish. Just don’t add the bacon until you’re serving because it’ll get soggy if you leave it overnight.
How to Make a Green Pea Salad
- Add all of the salad ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.
- To prepare the dressing, mix the mayonnaise, vinegar, and sugar together until smooth. Add salt and pepper if desired.
- Stir the dressing into the salad mix.
- Place all of the salad ingredients into a medium-sized bowl.
- Cover the bowl and leave to chill.
- Serve cold.
How To Make Your Pea Salad Even Healthier
This salad is a bit heavy on the mayo, so if you want to cut calories you can always use Greek yogurt instead. Using less cheese will also make it a bit healthier, and that’s pretty easy to do – just go for shredded cheese instead of chunks.
Some Tasty Variations To Try
This cheddar bacon green pea salad is super versatile! You can add in some of your other favorite veggies like bell peppers or swap in some leftover ham instead of the bacon, or even use one of your preferred cheeses if cheddar isn’t your thing (what’s in a name, right?!).
More Salad Recipes
This is similar to my cauliflower salad. All of these salads are crunchy, fresh vegetable based with the creamy mayo dressing. I also have recipes for a classic Cobb salad, antipasto salad or a Caesar salad!
Enjoy!
Love,
Karlynn
Classic Cheddar Bacon Green Pea Salad
Ingredients
- 8 cups green peas fresh or frozen that has been defrosted
- 1/2 cup red onion finely diced
- 1 cup cheddar cheese in small cubes
- 1/2 pound bacon cooked and then crumbled into small pieces
Sweet Mayonnaise Dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4-1/3 cup white sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons white vinegar
- ground black pepper and salt
Instructions
- Place all of the salad ingredients into a medium sized bowl.
- Prepare the dressing by mixing the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar together until smooth. Adjust to your tastes, and add salt and pepper if desired.
- Stir the dressing into the salad ingredients.
- Cover the bowl and let the salad chill.
- Serve cold.
Recipe Notes
- You can adjust the sugar and vinegar in the dressing to your liking!
- Crispy bacon will soften slightly in the refrigeration time, which is perfect for in this salad.
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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Jehnet M Carlson says
I have made a similar salad and always used cashews, but saw one where they added smoked almonds, Looking forward to trying that. But like the idea of substituting greek yougert
KK says
Excellent “topping” to save room in the fridge intending to add torn lettuce topped with a bit of mayo to make a quick version of 7 layer salad.