This is an easy green pea dip recipe delicious with crisp flatbreads(video), corn tortilla chips, or spread on some toasted sourdough baguettes.
You can make it with fresh summer peas or use frozen peas all year round. Perfect for breakfast with cured salmon gravlax and soft boiled quail eggs.
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What is it?
Green pea dip is similar to popular snack/dip type dishes like hummus, pesto, salsa and pâté.
It's creamy, yet textured, and the flavour is sweet and vibrant with fresh mint and grassy green olive oil to finish.
Great for spreading onto bread or scooping up like a dip with natural crisps, crackers or vegetable crudités.
Ingredient notes
- Peas - Frozen green peas or very young fresh seasonal peas. Tinned peas won't work and neither will old fresh green peas.
- Feta - I love using creamier traditional greek feta like in this Greek salad instead of crumbly feta. The texture and flavour work better with the sweet peas.
- Herbs - Use fresh herbs only. Dried herbs are too harsh in flavour. Use regular mint instead of spearmint or peppermint.
Instructions
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and blanch the frozen peas for 2 minutes.
- Drain and cool down by running under cold water or submerging in ice water to further stop the peas from cooking.
- Sweat down finely chopped shallots and garlic with thyme leaves in a skillet or pan with some cooking oil until soft and translucent. Do not caramelise. Add the salt at this stage to help it cook without browning. Once cooked set aside to cool.
- Chop the blanched peas roughly. You don't want any whole peas but you don't want it to be puree either. You can chop the peas by hand or pulse them in a food processor.
- Squeeze them in a clean kitchen towel or muslin cloth to get rid of the excess moisture. This will prevent the dip from being too wet.
- Chop the parsley and mint finely.
- Add all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Mix well with a spatula or wooden spoon and taste for seasoning.
- Adjust the consistency if necessary by adding a bit of sour cream if it's too dry. If you didn't remove enough water from the peas you will need to add more peas that is very well squeezed out.
- Plate up your pea dip and finish with some small chunks of feta, small fresh mint tops, more olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
Frequently asked questions
Which peas are best?
Use frozen peas year round for best results. Alternatively, use fresh peas when they are freshly picked and in season. Don't use tinned peas.
How to store it?
Airtight in the fridge for 2 days. Can be frozen for up the 3 months.
What's the difference between frozen peas and tinned peas?
Frozen peas are flash frozen as soon as they are picked. Preserving their sweetness, nutrients and colour.
Tinned peas are cooked and preserved in a sweetened liquid and bare no resemblance to fresh peas apart from the shape. Tinned peas are the worst form of pea available.
Variations
- Herbs - Substitute the parsley for chopped cilantro, chervil, chives, dill, or basil. Keep the mint as it's a classic combo. Everyone knows pea and mint.
- Oil - Most extra virgin oils can be used in place of olive oil. Just be mindful of the intensity and flavour so that it does not overpower the delicate flavours of this recipe.
- Dairy - a Great substitute for feta is chavroux or soft goat's cheese like I use in this pumpkin salad. It also has that nice citrusy tang and creamy consistency. Alternatively, add grated parmesan cheese when processing the peas to turn it into a green pea pesto of sorts.
- Heat - If you like it spicy you could turn up the heat by using chillies or dried chilli flakes.
- Other add-ins - Feel free to add mashed avocado, spinach puree, tahini or chickpea hummus.
- Toppings - Simple roasted nuts and seeds or mixes like dukkah or za'atar.
Serving suggestions
- Side dish - Light and healthy in summer with pan-fried salmon or baked chicken breast.
- As a pasta sauce - Use this pea dip as a sauce with bought or homemade pasta.
- Snack - Place a spoon full of dip onto these parmesan biscuits for a delicious savoury snack.
- As a dip for crudités - Suggestions below.
Best vegetables for crudités
- Celery sticks
- Carrots
- Cauliflower florets
- Broccoli florets
- Cucumber
- Chicory or endive(bitter)
- Asparagus
- Bell peppers
- Radishes
Useful equipment for this recipe
Other recipes you may like
- Leek and potato soup
- Pumpkin cream cheese spread
- Beetroot and feta salad
- Roasted carrot and ricotta salad
- Warm potato salad
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Recipe
Healthy Green Pea Dip With Feta And Mint
Chunky green pea dip perfect to scoop up with some freshly baked sourdough bread or vegetbale crudités.
Servings 5 servings
Ingredients
- 400 g (2 ¾ cups) frozen peas - note 1
- 100 g (½ cups) shallots - finely chopped - note 2
- 10 g (1 ¼ tbsp) garlic - minced
- 20 g (1 ½ tbsp) canola oil - for frying - note 3
- 1 g (1 tsp) thyme leaves - picked from fresh sprigs
- 10 g (2 tbsp) mint - chopped finely
- 2 g (1 tsp) powdered sugar - optional - note 4
- 50 g (⅕ cups) sour cream
- 30 g (2 tbsp) olive oil - extra virgin
- 4 g (1 tbsp) parsley - finely chopped
- 50 g (⅓ cups) feta cheese - creamy - note 5
- 4 g (⅔ tsp) salt
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and blanch the frozen peas for 2 minutes.
- Drain and cool down by running under cold water or submerging in ice water to further stop the peas from cooking.
- Sweat down finely chopped shallots and garlic with thyme leaves in a skillet or pan with some cooking oil until soft and translucent. Do not caramelise. Add the salt at this stage to help it cook without browning. Once cooked set aside to cool.
- Chop the blanched peas roughly. You don't want any whole peas but you don't want it to be puree either. You can chop the peas by hand or pulse them in a food processor.
- Squeeze them in a clean kitchen towel or muslin cloth to get rid of the excess moisture. This will prevent the dip from being too wet.
- Chop the parsley and mint finely.
- Add all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Mix well with a spatula or wooden spoon and taste for seasoning.
- Adjust the consistency if necessary by adding a bit of sour cream if it's too dry. If you didn't remove enough water from the peas you will need to add more peas that is very well squeezed out.
- Plate up and finish with some small chunks of feta, small fresh mint tops, more olive oil and freshly cracked black pepper.
Notes
- Frozen peas work better than fresh peas in most cases as they are picked and frozen straight away preserving their freshness and sweetness. Use fresh peas only when they are young and in season. Tinned peas do not work in this recipe for the simple fact that they are not tasty and lost all their freshness.
- Use regular white onion if you can't find shallots.
- You can use any other oil suitable for frying as long as it's neutral in taste and has a high smoke point. Sunflower, nut oils or olive oil all work.
- Add powdered sugar or your preferred sweetener to balance the taste. Not always necessary as it depends on the sweetness of the peas used.
- Creamy feta is simply a non-crumbly, plain and more traditional version of Greek feta. Easily found in most stores. If you only have crumbly feta then use that.
- Make this recipe vegan by replacing the dairy with vegan alternatives. Easily found in most major stores or health food shops.
- This recipe can be used for more than just a dip. Serve as a side dish with grilled meats, fish and vegetables, or a topping for bruschetta.
- Store airtight in the fridge for 2 days. Can be frozen for longer storage.
Nutrition
Serving: 130g Calories: 197kcal Carbohydrates: 14g Protein: 5g Fat: 15g Saturated Fat: 4g Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g Monounsaturated Fat: 8g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 14mg Sodium: 497mg Potassium: 267mg Fiber: 4g Sugar: 3g Vitamin A: 7865IU Vitamin C: 13mg Calcium: 100mg Iron: 1mg
Keywords:feta, green peas, mint, pea dip, summer
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