Creamy and crunchy salad with peas, bacon, and pecans - easy side dish that will go with many different kinds of meals!
Not only is it a simple and delicious everyday side dish, this creamy pea salad with bacon and pecans will also make a wonderful holiday salad, looking great on your Thanksgiving or Christmas table.
I happen to love green peas, bacon, and pecans - so this is a perfect combination for me any time of the year, but especially in the winter, when this salad looks cozy and inviting on a dinner table.
To make this salad, combine cooked and chopped bacon, chopped, pecans and cooked garden peas together:
Then, mix everything up with an easy mayo and sour cream based homemade dressing:
Next, add the salad dressing right before serving, so that the salad retains its crunchiness from bacon and pecans.
Creamy Peas with Bacon and Pecans
Ingredients
Salad dressing:
- ¼ cup mayo
- ¼ cup sour cream or unflavored Greek Yogurt, or unflavored Kefir
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey , softened or warmed up
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice , freshly squeezed
- ⅛ teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Cook frozen peas according to cooking instructions (usually, by bringing water to boil, adding peas, reducing heat to medium in cooking in this water for 5 minutes). Drain.
- Combine cooked peas, cooked and chopped bacon, and chopped pecans in a bowl.
- In a small bowl, combine mayo and sour cream (or unflavored Green Yogurt or unflavored Kefir), mustard, honey, lemon or lime juice. Make sure the honey is softened, warm it up if needed, so it mixes in easily. Whisk the salad ingredients together and taste. Add about ⅛ teaspoon of salt, to taste.
- Add salad dressing to the salad gradually (start with half and then add more, to your taste). You don't have to use the whole amount of dressing. Add more mustard or more lemon juice or more salt, if needed.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This sounds delicious, and I can't wait to try it. My old recipe is somewhat similar, but calls for the addition of crab or lobster or linguini, crunchy chow mein noodles, and roasted cashews. The cashews might work well here too!
I want to make this for Thanksgiving, but I know I need to add the pecans last, but what about the bacon?
Hi Tina! You can add bacon when you make the salad or add it last, together with pecans. Either way works!
I think I'd like to try this but company doesn't like pecans or walnuts. Do you think dry roasted, lightly salted peanuts would work?
Roasted peanuts would be delicious - I love this idea!!
I used the portions listed except for adding an extra 5 oz of peas and it was absolutely drowning in dressing. Yuck. I ended up doubling the peas to help (luckily I had extra) and it helped but also threw the portions off. Disappointing
I am very sorry to hear about that! I have updated the recipe to reflect your feedback - thank you!
the recipes clearly says
Add salad dressing to the salad gradually (start with half and then add more, to your taste). You don't have to use the whole amount of dressing. Add more mustard or more lemon juice or more salt, if needed.
Cindi, thank you for chiming in! 🙂 ❤️
Are the calories listed for the whole recipe or per serving. Looks very appealing and will be making it to share with friends tomorrow. Thank you for sharing.
I just made this. The dressing is delicious. It will be a great addition to our Gnocchi tonight.
Susan, so glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Can this salad be made ahead of time? If so how much ahead?
Yes, you can make this ahead - I would say up to 2 days in advance. I would add pecans right before serving so that they remain crunchy!
I like peas, bacon, and pecans so this is right up my alley. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to making it.
Beautiful salad! Can this be made a day in advance?
Yes, you can make it a day in advance. Make sure to keep it in an air-tight container, refrigerated.
Can you use green peas straight from a can? Without needing to cook them??
It's best to use green peas that come frozen in a package.
Is this served warm, chilled, or room temp?
I would serve this at room temperature.