Roasted Sugar Snap Peas Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to cook sugar snaps? ›

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the snap peas and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly until the peas are bright green in color and barely fork tender (we prefer them to still have a little crunch). Remove from the heat and season with salt, pepper, and lemon zest (optional).

Snap peas are best eaten raw or briefly cooked, such as in stir-fries or quick sautes. For a simple side dish, steam or blanch snap peas, then season with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper. Although stringless varieties are available, most sugar snap peas need to have the stringy seams removed before eating.

Snap peas are also known as sugar snap peas and are a cross between snow peas and garden peas. The whole pod is eaten and has a crunchy texture and very sweet flavor. Snap peas may be eaten raw or cooked.

Good growing temperatures are between 55°F and 65°F. Peas need less fertilizer than other crops.

Sugar snap peas become stringy and tough if left too long, so pick as soon as they start to plump up and make a satisfying snap when bent. Hold the stem as you remove each pod to reduce the risk of damage to the plant.

Do not overcook. When cooked correctly, snap peas will be bright green, retain some of their 'crunch', and be sweet. When overcooked, snap peas become wrinkly, chewy, and can have a bitter flavor. Be careful to remove your snap peas on time!

Peas are very frost tolerant. Peas are cool weather plants, hardy down to 20 degrees (28 degrees F when flowering).

Plants that grow too quickly may end up with a bitter or bland taste. One trick is to plant in a spot where it will get some shade during the hottest part of the day. Or try planting a little earlier in the spring, if possible, or plant a midsummer crop for fall harvest.

Sugar snap peas are a cross between snow and garden peas. The pods of snow peas are flatter with small, premature peas, whereas sugar snap peas are more rounded. Both have an identical nutritional profile and very similar flavors. Still, sugar snap peas tend to be sweeter and more flavorful.

Raw sugar snap peas can add crunch to your salads and make them more nutritious. Cut the pods into smaller segments with a knife so they're easier to mix in with your salad, or you can leave them whole. Pair raw sugar snap peas with dips. Dip them into hummus, guacamole, and other kinds of dip.

How many sugar snap peas should I eat? ›

Sugar snap peas are a non-starchy vegetable that can help with weight loss. To feel full and get adequate nutrition while losing weight, experts suggest loading more than half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables like sugar snap peas. 6 Cooked or fresh, sugar snap peas are useful for healthy weight maintenance.

Peas are good for your bones: Sugar snap peas are a great source of vitamin K, which has been shown to not only aid in the creation of new bone cells, but also helps prevent fractures and even some forms of bone cancer.

Sugar snap peas CAN be eaten raw or cooked briefly. Think stir-fries or simple sautés such as this one. Even though stringless snap peas are available, the ones you normally find have stringy seams that need to be removed before cooking/eating.

Can You Eat the Skin of Sugar Snap Peas? Yes! The skin on sugar snap peas is crisp and totally edible. If you purchased loose snap peas from the farmers market or grocery store, chances are they're not trimmed, so you may want to remove the stem and pull the string off the side, both of which can be tough.

Bring salted water to boil; there should be enough to cover peas when added. Add peas. When water returns to a boil, cook about 3 minutes. Do not overcook.