This pea salad is like spring on a plate! It's a bright, fresh celebration of the season, combining sweet peas with creamy goat cheese and crunchy, candied hazelnuts. It's the perfect light and refreshing side dish to brighten any meal.
This pea salad makes a great light lunch on its own but for a complete meal, I'd pair it with this Apricot Glazed Grilled Pork Tenderloin or these Grilled Margarita Shrimp.
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Spring is such a great season for fresh veggies! There are so many options to choose from and it's always a great idea to take advantage of what's fresh and in season. If you make the hazelnuts ahead of time, this salad is ready in less than 30 minutes making this the ultimate fresh weeknight side dish.
This is the perfect recipe to add to your collection of everyday meals for two. Read on to learn more about how to make this English Pea Salad, or jump straight to the recipe to start cooking!
Ingredient Notes
The full list of ingredients and quantities can be found in the recipe card below.
- English peas: Using fresh peas is the key to this recipe. You could substitute frozen but it won't be quite the same so definitely try to find fresh English peas in their pods if possible. If your grocery store doesn't carry them, a local farmer's market would be a good place to check. English peas are just your regular garden variety peas. Unlike snap peas or snow peas, their pods are not edible, so you need to shell them before you eat them.
- Hazelnuts: You want whole hazelnuts, which can usually be found in the bulk food section of most grocery stores. The recipe includes directions for roasting but if you want to save time you can purchase roasted nuts.
- Meyer lemons: In most areas, Meyer lemons are in season from December until April, though I often see them in the grocery store outside of that time frame. When they are not in season you can substitute regular lemon juice but it will change the flavor a bit.
How to make this recipe
This recipe requires a few steps but is pretty simple to pull together. The complete instructions can be found in the recipe card below.
Step 1 | Candy the hazelnuts. Making candied nuts involves mixing nuts and sugar together. Since you need the sugar to stick to the nuts, you'll warm it in a saucepan and make it liquid by adding a bit of water. Then you add the nuts to the pan and stir to coat. Transfer the nuts to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them cool.
Step 2 | Make the vinaigrette. I think the best way to make vinaigrette is to pour the vinegar, honey, lemon juice, zest and olive oil into a mason jar, pop the lid on and shake it until everything is blended. Since you'll be using it right away, leave it out of the refrigerator.
Step 3 | Steam the peas. The best way to steam veggies is using a steam insert in a saucepan. You add a bit of water then bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. It takes about 12 minutes for the peas to steam.
Step 4 | Assemble the salad. Once they are steamed, add the peas to a medium mixing bowl. Add the shallots, salt and pepper, and stir everything up. Add the vinaigrette then toss to coat. Then top the salad with goat cheese, hazelnuts and minced mint leaves. Serve immediately.
Meal Prep Tip: To make this an easy weeknight side dish, add making the hazelnuts to your weekly meal prep plan. Once they are cool, store them in an airtight container. They will keep for about a week. When you are ready to eat just steam the peas, toss the salad and you're ready to go. If you decide to make extra, keep the peas and dressing separate until you are ready to serve.
Recommended tools
OXO Mini Measuring Cup – I love to use this mini-sized measuring cup when making dressings. It makes it really easy to measure out all the liquid ingredients.
Handheld juicer - This is now my favorite juicer! The design allows you to extract the juice from the citrus easily, and it works with both lemons and limes.
If you want to try another great spring side dish recipe, you should make my Green Beans with Hazelnut Butter.
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English Pea Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the vinaigrette:
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 4 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice, about 1 ½ lemons
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the salad:
- ½ cup whole hazelnuts
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 ½ cups fresh shelled English peas
- ½ tablespoon minced shallot
- ½ teaspoon cracked pepper
- dash of salt
- ½ cup crumbled goat cheese
- 4 mint leaves, minced
Instructions
- Heat the oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the nuts on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast for 15 minutes. Let the nuts cool while you make the vinaigrette and then rub the skins off of the hazelnuts.
- Make the viniagrette. Whisk the vinegar, honey, lemon juice and zest together in a small bowl. Add the olive oil and continue whisking until blended.
- Candy the hazelnuts. Add the sugar to a small non-stick saucepan and add 2 teaspoons of water. Heat over medium-high heat and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves. Cook for 2 more minutes and then add the hazelnuts. Continue stirring until the hazelnuts are coated. Remove the nuts from pan and spread them onto parchment paper to cool. Try to separate the nuts so they don't stick together in clumps as the sugar cools.
- Steam the peas. Insert a steamer basket into a medium saucepan filled with about 2" of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the peas and reduce heat to medium. Cover and steam for 12 minutes, until peas are tender.
- Assemble the salad. Remove peas from the pan and place in a medium mixing bowl. Add the shallots, salt and pepper, mix well. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat. Top with goat cheese, hazelnuts and minced mint leaves. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in May 2016. It was updated in March 2025 with some new information and photos. No changes were made to the original recipe.
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes
Are English peas different than regular peas? They look the same! This sounds tasty.. Perfect for spring!
Amanda {Striped Sptaula}
Really love everything about this recipe; the English peas, the goat cheese, mint, and meyer lemon. The hazelnuts must be such a great textural contrast! Delicious.
Amanda Mason
This looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing! And your site is beautiful, as well as your photographs! I'll be making this one for sure!
FoodieGirlChicago
Thanks Amanda - enjoy!!
Amanda | Chew Town
They flavour profile of this sounds incredible, and so harmonious. I'm loving the use of hazelnuts - they are my favourite nut!
FoodieGirlChicago
Thanks Amanda! I'm really loving hazelnuts these days - have been using them in a lot of different things.
Mimi Rippee
Nice! The hazelnuts surprised me!
Kathryn Rudey
Thanks Mimi!