Spring Pea Salad with Lemony Mint Vinaigrette
Every year around mid-March, when I can finally step outside and not immediately start shivering, I start craving all things green and crisp and crunchy. Enter: this spring pea salad. Bright, fresh and bursting with sweet peas, creamy avocado, crispy radish, salty feta, and a mint vinaigrette that’s basically springtime in a jar.
- 1 Erica’s Thoughts
- 2 What You’ll Need to Make Spring Pea Salad
- 3 Variation Ideas
- 4 How to Make this Spring Pea Salad Recipe:
- 5 Expert Tips:
- 6 FAQs
- 7 How to Serve Spring Pea Salad
- 8 Have leftover spring produce? Here are some recipe ideas for how to use everything up!
- 9 Spring Pea Salad with Lemony Mint Vinaigrette
Erica’s Thoughts
This is not your average sad desk salad. It’s a texture dream. A flavor party. A totally customizable celebration of spring vegetables. Whether you’re making it for Easter, a brunch spread, or just to eat outside in the sunshine with a fork and a lemonade, it’s one of those dishes that feels like spring in a bowl. Also, it’s wildly pretty. Like, “bring this to the brunch table and soak in the compliments” kind of pretty. So, make it for an easy dinner or impress your friends with a dinner party spread. Either way, it’s a win.
Things I’m loving about it:
- Peas + mint is a flavor combo I can never get enough of and the main inspiration behind this recipe. It is so refreshing and light!
- An impressive ‘meal salad’ on its own but if you’re a protein girlie like me I love this with thinly sliced and marinated flat iron steak or my sweet chili salmon.
- As a registered dietitian, I’m all about celebrating seasonal and nutritious produce! Fresh peas, radishes, gem lettuce and mint are not only the most delicious this time of year, they’re also the most nutritious.
- Perfect texture and the best flavor. You’ve got the sweetness of the peas with the bite from fresh radishes, tangy lemon, zesty mint, salty feta, creamy avocado, crisp salad greens and a final crunch from pistachios.
- This recipe does require a lil chopping but it comes together in a snap and gives you a huge flavor bang for your chopping buck.
What a GREAT way to eat our veggies! Spring salad on repeat, all day, err’y day.
What You’ll Need to Make Spring Pea Salad
Gem lettuce: tender and crisp, perfect as the base. You can tear it or leave the leaves mostly whole.
Radishes: thinly sliced for a peppery crunch and pop of color.
Persian cucumbers: crisp and fresh, I like the smaller-sized cucumbers because they’re not as seedy/watery, but you can use any variety.
Peas: I use a combo of snap peas and green peas. You could use fresh English peas or frozen peas. Feel free to throw some snow peas, pea shoots or pea tendrils in too!
Avocado: full of heart-healthy fats and the perfect texture contrast with all the crisp veggies.
Carrot: peeled into long ribbons for a fun texture moment.
Feta cheese: you know that I’ll always tell you to use block feta for the best flavor. Fresh goat cheese would also be delish!
Pistachios: adds a great crunch. You could also use pine nuts or slivered almonds.
Fresh herbs: don’t sleep on herbs, they add amazing flavor (and nutrition!) Fresh mint leaves, parsley and basil is a great combo.
Mint dressing: this creamy dressing features lots of fresh mint, extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic, honey and dijon mustard. Throw all the ingredients in a blender and boom you’re done.
Variation Ideas
- Salad greens: use arugula, baby spinach, baby kale or butter lettuce instead of or in addition to gem lettuce.
- Cheese: try goat cheese, mini mozzarella balls or shaved parmesan cheese.
- Protein: serve this salad with sweet chili salmon, balsamic chicken breast or grilled steak.
- Grains: throw in cooked qunoa, farro or wild rice to bulk it up and make it a little heartier. This is a great way to add substance and protein to keep it a vegetarian meal.
How to Make this Spring Pea Salad Recipe:
Combine mint dressing ingredients in a small food processor or the blender cup of a high-powered blender and blitz until creamy. Pour into a small bowl or jar.
Use a vegetable peeler to ribbon the carrot, cube the avocado and give it a spritz of lemon juice and a pinch of salt to keep it from browning. Chiffonade the herbs by stacking the leaves, rolling them like a little cigar, and slicing them into thin ribbons with a sharp knife. Roughly chop the pistachios and cube the feta.
Assemble it all by layering the gem lettuce on a platter or in a large bowl. I usually chop a little bit of the lettuce but leave most leaves whole for texture. Top with radishes, cucumbers, snap peas, tender peas, avocado, carrot, feta, pistachios, mint, and basil.
Drizzle the whole thing with the mint dressing and gently toss. Finish with fresh cracked black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Expert Tips:
- If using fresh peas, give them a quick blanch by placing them in boiling water for 1 minute and then using a slotted spoon to place them in a bowl of ice cold water. Drain and pat dry.
- If using frozen peas, steam on the stove or in the microwave according to package instructions. I usually just run mine under hot water until thawed because I don’t like them getting ‘shriveled’ in the microwave. Technically to be ‘food safe’ you’re supposed to ‘cook’ them but… I’ve never had a problem so… 🤷🏻♀️
- If you’re planning on having leftovers, dress each serving of salad individually instead of dressing the entire salad. It’ll keep better that way.
- Slice all the veggies thin/uniform size for the best bite.
FAQs
You can prep all the components in advance and assemble just before serving. Or this makes a fantastic mason jar salad. Layer in this order from bottom to top: mint dressing, cucumbers, radishes, snap peas, peas, carrot, avocado, feta, pistachios, lettuce.
Yes. I thaw and rinse under warm water before adding to the salad.
Grilled chicken, steak, or salmon would be amazing. For a vegetarian option, add white beans, chickpeas or a hard-boiled or poached egg.
Lemon vinaigrette, white balsamic vinaigrette or parmesan vinaigrette would all be lovely!
How to Serve Spring Pea Salad
- As the star of your spring or Easter table
- With roasted salmon, grilled chicken or grilled steak (pictured)
- Layered into mason jars for weekday lunches
- Alongside a light soup or quiche
- With crusty garlic bread, pasta and a chilled glass of wine
Have leftover spring produce? Here are some recipe ideas for how to use everything up!
Tell me you don’t want to dive in headfirst.
If you try and like this recipe please don’t forget to leave a comment and star rating down below! If you love more lifestyle, behind the scenes and ‘eating in real life’ type of content come find me over on Instagram, @itsaflavorfullife, I love connecting with you all there!
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Spring Pea Salad with Lemony Mint Vinaigrette
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: N/A
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Chop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Vibrant spring pea salad features crisp veggies, fresh herbs, feta, and a zesty mint dressing for the ultimate springtime dish. Simple, versatile and so flavorful!
Ingredients
- 8oz gem lettuce
- 4 radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 4oz snap peas, ends snapped off
- 4oz (about 2/3 cup) English peas, blanched or steamed
- 1 avocado, cubed and spritzed with lemon juice
- 1 carrot, thinly sliced
- 4oz feta cheese, cubed
- 2oz pistachios, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh mint, chiffonade
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade
- fresh mint dressing
- black pepper, lemon slices
Instructions
- Prep: Blitz together the mint dressing. Chop the veggies. You can slice some of the snap peas in half lengthwise to reveal the peas inside the pod if you’re aesthetic like that. Cube avocado and spritz it with lemon to prevent browning. Season it with a pinch of salt. Use a vegetable peeler to peel long strips of carrot. Cube the feta and give the pistachios a rough chop. Stack basil leaves on top of each other, roll like a cigar and use a sharp chef’s knife to slice them into thin ribbons (this is called chiffonade!) Do the same with the mint.
- Assembly: arrange gem lettuce on a large platter or serving bowl. I chop up a bit of the lettuce but mostly leave the leaves intact. Add radishes, cucumbers, snap peas, English peas, avocado, carrot, feta, pistachios, mint and basil. Drizzle everything with about two-thirds of the dressing and gently toss. Serve with black pepper, a squeeze of lemon and an extra drizzle of dressing.
Spring has SPRUNG. This is so good.
Notes
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. If you plan to have leftovers, dress individual portions of the salad instead of dressing the entire thing.
Refer to the above blog post for variation ideas, expert tips and answers to frequently asked questions.
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Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cups salad + 2 tablespoons dressing
- Calories: 383
- Sugar: 6.7 g
- Sodium: 298.1 mg
- Fat: 32.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 17.5 g
- Fiber: 7.2 g
- Protein: 10.4 g
- Cholesterol: 25.2 mg
Another recipe I have on my queue from your blog. Your expert tips are always gold. 🙂
Aw thank you so much Rosalba! 🫶🏼
So fresh! Will be making this again asap!
heck yah! Happy to hear, thanks for trying Allie!