Medical expert of the article
New publications
Pea recipes
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Peas should never be excluded from the diet - this would be a big mistake. It has been proven that peas contain six times more protein than tomatoes. Surprisingly, even young potatoes are inferior to this representative of legumes both in terms of calories and the presence of useful amino acids. Young peas contain a whole complex of vitamins and biologically active substances. Therefore, pea dishes will not only make you beautiful and healthy, but also fill you with vitality and energy.
Recipes for pea dishes are striking in their diversity. Many housewives prefer to cook pea soup with meat as a first course - a hearty and nutritious dish. To prepare it, you need the following ingredients:
- yellow peas (split) - 1 cup,
- pork pulp ‒ 800 g,
- potatoes - 2 pcs.,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- onion - 1-2 heads,
- vegetable oil,
- salt, black pepper - to taste,
- greens (dill, parsley).
The soup is prepared as follows. First, you need to wash the pork pulp, then cut it into strips and fry it thoroughly in a preheated frying pan. At the end of frying the meat, you need to finely chop the onion and add it to the frying pan, salt and pepper everything to taste. Yellow split peas should be thoroughly washed and put in a saucepan for cooking. Fill with cold water, cook over low heat for about an hour and a half, until the peas are completely boiled. In the meantime, you can prepare the vegetables: carrots and potatoes need to be peeled, washed under running water, cut into small pieces, and then put into the boiling base and cook for 15 minutes. The finished potatoes are chopped using a regular blender. Finally, put the cream soup on a plate, and put the fried meat on the side, garnishing it with herbs. The cream of pea soup is ready!
Green pea puree is a very tasty dish, the recipe for which is quite simple, and the preparation will not take much time. First, you need to choose a small saucepan, pour water into it, bring to a boil, then lightly salt and throw in green peas along with garlic cloves. Bring this mixture to a boil and cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes. After this time, drain the water, and make puree from the boiled peas with garlic. For this purpose, you can use a mixer, blender, or a regular masher. Add butter or cream to taste to the finished puree, mix them thoroughly. This side dish should be served with meat and fish dishes.
Pea cutlets are a very tasty and satisfying dish. To prepare them, you need to boil the peas until fully cooked, and separately cook semolina porridge in the remaining pea broth, observing the correct proportion: 100 grams of cereal per 250 ml of broth. The peas must be mashed, thoroughly mixed with hot semolina porridge, and then add salt, ground pepper, flour, and onion fried in vegetable oil to the resulting mixture in the specified proportions. The finished mass should be thick. After this, you should form cutlets, roll them in breadcrumbs and fry in vegetable oil. Finally, the cutlets must be baked in the oven. It is recommended to serve them hot, pouring the vegetable oil remaining after frying on top.
French pea salad is an exquisite dish for culinary gourmets. To prepare such a salad, you need to take the following ingredients:
- peas - 100 g,
- boiled potatoes - 500 g,
- sour cream ‒ 100 g,
- olives - 50 g,
- hard-boiled egg - 1 pc.,
- 2 teaspoons dried tarragon,
- salt, black pepper - to taste,
- one baked beetroot.
Beets should be baked in the oven, peeled and cut into thin slices. Then cut boiled potatoes into small pieces, mix these ingredients and add boiled peas to the resulting mixture, as well as sour cream, 2 teaspoons of tarragon and grated egg yolk. Add salt and pepper to the salad mass, mix it well, and decorate with olives on top. This pea salad is recommended to be served chilled.
To prepare pea jelly, use the following products:
- 0.5 cups of peas (shelled),
- 1 glass of drinking water,
- 2 onion heads,
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
Peas should be dried in a slightly hot frying pan, and then ground in a coffee grinder. Slowly pour the prepared pea flour into salted boiling water and cook for 20 minutes, stirring constantly. The resulting hot mass should be carefully poured into plates, previously greased with butter. After the mass thickens, it should be cut into individual portions. Pea jelly turns out thick and hard, so it can be considered a full-fledged snack, and not a drink.
Absolutely everyone will love these delicious pea pies. To prepare this dish, rinse the peas and then cook them for an hour and a half until they become soft puree. Separately, add yeast, sugar, and butter to warm water, mix all the ingredients thoroughly, then add flour and knead a soft dough. After cooking, put the dough in a warm place for about half an hour, during which time it should double in size. Add fried onions with cracklings to the finished pea puree, and then mold the pies from the dough and filling. First, it is recommended to let them sit for 10-15 minutes, and then fry in hot sunflower oil until fully cooked.
Pea soup
Peas can be used to make a delicious soup with the addition of smoked ribs. For this purpose, you will need the following ingredients:
- peas - 1 cup,
- smoked pork ribs (smoked) - up to 500 grams,
- carrots - 2-3 pcs.,
- onion - 1 pc.,
- salt - 1 teaspoon,
- ground black pepper - 0.5 teaspoon.
Pea soup is prepared as follows. Smoked ribs must be cut,
Place in a saucepan, add water and bring to a boil. Next, pour the washed peas into the saucepan and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes. Then add finely chopped potatoes to the soup and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. At this time, you need to prepare the frying. To prepare it, use finely chopped onions and grated carrots. Add the finished frying to the saucepan and cook for 7-10 minutes. Classic pea soup will be ready! It is recommended to serve it with croutons with fresh herbs. It should be noted that in such a soup the peas will be a little tough, but instead of a mushy broth, a clear soup with whole peas will look more aesthetically pleasing. Instead of smoked ribs, you can use any boiled meat. However, smoked ribs have advantages: they do not require additional heat treatment, and also give the dish a unique taste and aroma.
Green pea soup
Peas can be used in any form to prepare all sorts of dishes. One of these options is young green peas, which retain all the beneficial properties. They contain the most vitamins, amino acids and vegetable proteins.
Green pea soup is quick and easy to make. This medium-calorie dish requires the following ingredients:
- green frozen peas - 50 grams,
- onion - 50 grams,
- potatoes - 100 grams,
- chicken - 150 grams,
- carrots - 30 grams,
- pepper and salt - to taste.
To prepare a hearty, tasty soup with green peas, you should boil the chicken broth, then strain it, cut the meat into small pieces. While the broth is cooking, you need to peel and finely chop the potatoes, onions and carrots. Put the potatoes in the boiling broth and boil them for 10 minutes, then add the onions, carrots and boil the soup for another 10 minutes. After this, you need to add meat and green peas to the soup, cook for 5 minutes. The readiness of the dish is determined by the state of the potatoes. It is recommended to serve green pea soup with croutons or toasted bread. In principle, green peas can be added to any homemade soup. The dish will immediately "sparkle with colors" and acquire a delicious sweetish taste.
Pea soup puree
Peas are most often used to prepare first courses, in particular soups. Pea soup puree is one of the most delicious first courses. To prepare it, you will need the following products:
- 200 grams of peas,
- 2 liters of water,
- carrot,
- bulb,
- smoked ribs (or smoked brisket) - 300 grams,
- dill greens,
- butter,
- loaf,
- salt.
Peas should be thoroughly washed and pre-soaked overnight in cold water before cooking. Boil water in a saucepan, add peas and simmer until done for at least 1 hour. You can cook the soup puree not in water, but in chicken broth - it will give it a richer taste. Remove the finished peas from the saucepan, chop with a blender and return back. Finely chop the peeled onion, grate the carrots on a fine grater, and then lightly fry the vegetables in vegetable oil. Add smoked ribs and vegetables to the saucepan, salt and bring to a boil. The soup should be simmered for at least half an hour. At this time, fry the croutons from the loaf in butter. Pour the finished soup into bowls and sprinkle with finely chopped dill on top.
You can remove smoked meats from the recipe and replace them with pork fat, which must first be boiled for an hour, then fried in vegetable oil and ground. This mass together with vegetables must be placed in a saucepan and cooked as per the recipe described above. After the soup is ready, it must be seasoned with butter or melted butter, sour cream and canned peas.
Peas with mushrooms
Peas combined with mushrooms give a unique taste. In addition to the fact that such a combination is very nutritious, since mushrooms and peas are rich in vegetable protein, it has a special, unique taste. Peas can be prepared with almost any mushrooms: fresh champignons and oyster mushrooms, frozen assorted mushrooms, or dried forest mushrooms.
Peas with mushrooms are used in the preparation of first and second courses. For example, pea porridge with mushrooms is simply irreplaceable during Lent and will be appreciated by family members. To prepare it, you need the following products:
- green or yellow peas - 2 cups,
- mushrooms - 400 grams,
- onions - 3 pcs.,
- water - 4 glasses,
- vegetable oil ‒ 3 tbsp,
- salt.
First, rinse the peas in cold water, then peel the onion, cut it into small pieces and fry it together with the mushrooms in a preheated frying pan for 10 minutes. Place the rinsed peas in a separate bowl and pour cold water over them. Add the mushrooms and onions to the same container. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, cover the pan with a lid and put it in the oven. Cooking time for the porridge is half an hour, the temperature is 200 degrees. After the specified time, remove the pot with porridge from the oven, salt the porridge, mix well and put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes, then turn off the oven, but leave the pot with the finished porridge inside for another half hour. It is recommended to serve such porridge, garnishing it with fried onions.
Pea soup with champignons can be prepared both in summer and winter, because fresh champignons are easy to buy at the market or in the supermarket at almost any time of the year. To prepare this dish you will need:
- dried peas - 1 cup,
- champignons - 100 grams,
- carrots - 1 pc.,
- onion - 1 pc.,
- celery - 50 grams,
- potatoes 2-3 pcs.,
- smoked ribs - 500 grams,
- spices (bay leaf, pepper),
- salt - to taste.
Cook the broth from the smoked ribs: boil water in a saucepan, add the onion and smoked ribs cut into pieces. Cook for half an hour, and after this time, remove the onion from the broth, then put the washed peas in the saucepan, bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and cook until soft for about 1 hour. At this time, you can work on the vegetables and mushrooms: wash and peel the carrots, onions, cut the mushrooms into thin strips or slices. Pour vegetable oil into a roasting pan, heat it up and fry the vegetables, and then the mushrooms (separately). Add chopped potatoes to the boiling soup, and after 10 minutes, put the fried vegetables and mushrooms in it. At the end of cooking, salt the soup to taste and add spices to it. It is advisable to let the ready pea soup with mushrooms sit for half an hour.
Soup with forest mushrooms is very tasty. Such mushrooms are sold frozen in many supermarkets. To prepare the soup, you need the following ingredients:
- frozen forest mushrooms - one package,
- dry peas (shelled) - 1 cup,
- onion - 1 head,
- butter (for frying onions),
- salt and spices (to taste).
The peas need to be sorted, washed and soaked in water for 3 hours. Then drain the water and add 2 liters of fresh water, to which add frozen mushrooms. Next, boil the peas with mushrooms in a saucepan until fully cooked. During this time, chop the onion and fry it in butter. After the peas with mushrooms are cooked, the finished soup needs to be rubbed through a sieve, or turned into a puree using a blender. Then boil the soup again and season with fried onions and spices.
Fried peas
Peas can be used not only as one of the ingredients for the preparation of first and second courses, but also as an independent dish, pre-fried with onions. It should be noted that fried peas are one of the favorite dishes of the Crimean Tatars. To prepare such a dish, you need a minimum number of ingredients: peas, onions, salt, cracklings and spices (to taste).
Before you start frying the peas, you need to sort them out and rinse them with cold running water, then pour warm water over them and leave them to swell for 4 hours. At the same time, you should make sure that the peas do not swell too much, because when frying, the peas can fall apart in half. The swollen peas need to be strained through a colander, and then begin cooking them.
It should be noted that there are at least four ways to fry peas: the first way is dry frying. The peas must be placed on a clean, dry frying pan and fried, stirring constantly, until done. The second way is to fry the peas with vegetable oil. The third way is to fry the peas with the cracklings left over from rendering the beef fat. In the process of such frying, salt and ground black pepper must be added to the frying pan with the peas. The recipe for the fourth way of frying peas consists of the following steps: sauté the onion separately, fry the peas dry, and when everything is ready, mix the onion and peas together and fry.
Peas with meat
Peas are used in cooking to prepare a variety of dishes. Recently, many housewives prefer to cook pea porridge with meat. The following ingredients are used to prepare this dish:
- dry peas, pre-soaked in water - 200 grams,
- beef - 200 grams,
- carrots – 1 pc.,
- 1 onion,
- vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons,
- water - 2 glasses,
- pepper and salt - to taste.
Peas with meat is a self-contained hearty dish that is rich in vitamins and nutrients. Therefore, diversifying your daily diet with such a dish means charging your body with vigor and additional energy. The recipe for cooking peas with meat is quite simple and will not take much time.
The meat should be cut into small pieces and then fried in a saucepan with heated vegetable oil until a caramel crust forms. Then add grated carrots and chopped onions to the saucepan and lightly fry the vegetables. After that, add the peas, pour in water and bring to a boil over low heat. To get the desired result, the porridge should be "simmered" under the lid for 20-30 minutes, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. It is recommended to serve the pea meat porridge with cilantro and parsley.
Salad with peas
Many housewives use peas not only for cooking first courses (soups, stews, broths, etc.), but also for preparing all kinds of salads. An incredibly tasty and light salad with peas is an ideal appetizer that can be prepared in just five minutes. The original and at the same time simple recipe for such a salad uses the following ingredients: green or young peas, bacon, onions, specially prepared sauce, olive oil, nuts, hard cheese.
The bacon needs to be lightly fried in vegetable oil. To prepare the sauce, you need to use olive oil, lemon juice, mustard and wine vinegar - all these ingredients need to be thoroughly mixed and whipped with a blender or a regular masher until smooth. Combine the peas with diagonally sliced green onions, and then season with the prepared sauce. Before serving, add nuts and brisket to the peas. By the way, you can also use various greens, and walnuts or pine nuts can be replaced with cashews (to taste). You can also add a few strips of hard cheese to the salad. Naturally, this recipe can be improved at home, turning it into an unusual dish that will be tastier and tastier each time.
Peas with chicken
Peas with chicken is a very filling and tasty dish, for the preparation of which you need to use the following ingredients:
- peas - 500 grams,
- chicken - one piece (or 4 legs),
- salt - 0.5 teaspoon,
- ketchup - 1 tablespoon,
- garlic - 2 cloves,
- ginger - 1 teaspoon,
- vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons,
- onion - one head,
- tomato (medium size) - 1 pc.,
- brown sugar - 1 tablespoon,
- water - 3/4 cup,
- green onions,
- black pepper,
- fresh thyme - two sprigs,
- lemon (or lime) – 1 pc.,
- vinegar - 3 tablespoons.
To prepare the dish, the peas must be soaked in cold water beforehand. Cut the chicken into portions, put them in a bowl and pour vinegar or lemon juice over them. Mix the pieces, then rinse the chicken under running water. Finely chop the tomatoes, ginger, garlic and onion and add to the chicken, add thyme, salt, ketchup and pepper. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and marinate in the refrigerator, preferably for a couple of hours.
It is best to use a cast iron pan to prepare the dish, as it distributes heat better, and it is much easier to stew meat in such a pan. Heat the sunflower oil over high heat, add sugar and stir until it turns dark brown. Add the entire contents of the pan, i.e. marinated chicken with spices, so that each piece is in caramel. Bring the chicken to a boil, and as soon as it boils, reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid and cook, stirring for 15 minutes. When all the liquid has evaporated from the chicken, add pre-soaked peas and 3/4 cup of water. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat and bring to a boil. Cook the chicken for 12 minutes, stirring it every 4 minutes. At the same time, make sure that all the liquid in the pan has boiled away. Finally, the finished dish must be garnished with finely chopped green onions.
Pea cutlets
Peas can be used to make vegetarian cutlets. These cutlets will be a good option for a Lenten dish. For this recipe, you will need the following ingredients: 500 grams of peas, 3-4 medium-sized potatoes, 3 onions, 2-3 cloves of garlic, fir oil, breadcrumbs or flour, and half a teaspoon of dried coriander.
Pea cutlets are a nutritious and tasty dish that will especially appeal to those who prefer to eat only natural plant foods in their diet. Before preparing the cutlets, it is recommended to soak the peas overnight (for about 8 hours). Then they must be minced together with onions and raw potatoes, garlic and coriander. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the resulting mixture. If the mince turns out dry, you can add fresh carrots grated on a fine grater and a couple more potatoes. From the finished mince, you need to form small cutlets, roll them in flour or breadcrumbs and fry in olive oil until an appetizing golden crust is obtained. Delicious and satisfying pea cutlets are ready!
Moonshine from peas
Peas are used to make moonshine. The recipe does not require careful temperature control. The following recipe is used in cases where it is not possible to create the best conditions for the fermentation process.
So, for the recipe "Moonshine from Peas" you need to prepare the following ingredients:
- shelled peas – 2 kg,
- sour cream ‒ 200 g,
- pressed yeast - 350 g (or dry - 60 g),
- sugar - 7 kg,
- Purified water - 35 liters.
The method for making moonshine from split peas is quite simple: first, you need to heat the water to a temperature of 30 degrees and pour it into a special can with a capacity of 40 liters. Separately, you should dilute the yeast in warm water, mix it and pour it into the can along with the peas. After 20 minutes, add the following components to the can - sugar and sour cream, after which you need to mix everything thoroughly again. It is recommended to use sour cream so that the mash does not spill out of the container due to active foaming, which usually occurs a couple of hours after the start of fermentation.
The can should be tightly closed with a lid, and then wrapped well in an old blanket. It is advisable to maintain the optimal temperature for fermentation - from 22 to 28 ° C. In total, the preparation time of moonshine is 3 days. During the distillation process, it is recommended to collect about seven liters of moonshine, otherwise the drink may become cloudy. To improve the quality of the finished pea moonshine, it should be purified. The optimal result is achieved by purifying the moonshine with charcoal. To do this, it is enough to pass the finished product through a filter made of charcoal.