Sugar Snap Peas (2024)

Try these sweet, tender vegetables in a salad, a side dish, or a stir-fry, or eat them raw as a snack.

What Are They?

A cross between snow peas and English (regular) peas, sugar snaps have a pod that contains small peas. The entire pea is edible, including the pod.

What to Look For

Sugar snap peas have a thicker shell than snow peas, and they are also plumper. The pods should be bright green and crisp (when broken in half, they should make a snapping sound, similar to green beans). They can be refrigerated for two or three days.

How to Cook Them

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. You can usually use your fingers to do the job, but a paring knife works well on stubborn strings.

How to Remove the Strings

Snap off tough end with your fingers. Pull string along length of pod, then repeat to remove string from other side.

Sugar Snap Peas (2024)

FAQs

Am I supposed to eat the whole sugar snap pea? ›

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.

Are sugar snap peas healthy for you? ›

Due to their vitamin C, vitamin K and fiber content, both sugar snap and snow peas may offer various health benefits, including reduced heart disease risk, improved blood pressure control, gut health and weight loss.

What happened to sugar snap peas? ›

In short, there has been a decline commercially of stains of 'sugar snap' peas. The reason is that many of the seed lots have been producing approximately 30 percent garden peas and 70 percent snow peas. Not the normal sugar snap peas.

What is the best fertilizer for snap peas? ›

To get the most out of your sugar snap peas, it is important to use the right fertilizer. A balanced fertilizer with a ratio of 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 is ideal. This will provide the plants with the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium they need to grow strong and produce plenty of peas.

What is the best way to eat sugar snap peas? ›

You can eat the entire pod raw or cooked, though some people prefer to trim off the ends and pull of the string that runs down the middle of the pods. For best results, rinse the snap peas, trim the ends, and let your imagination run wild. You'll find that cooking with snap peas is, well, a snap!

Are snap peas a superfood? ›

Snap peas are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin K, iron, fiber, and vitamin A. They can be prepared many different ways and used in many different recipes. University of Nebraska.

Do sugar snap peas spike blood sugar? ›

Sugar snap peas are actually a non-starchy vegetable. These plump pea pods are easy to grow, nutritious, and lots of fun to eat. With a good balance of fiber and protein, sugar snap peas won't cause spikes in blood sugar levels.

How many sugar snap peas per day? ›

Three heaped tablespoons of raw or cooked sugar snap peas count as one of your 5-a-day (one portion of veg or fruit is 80g raw weight). They're a good source of vitamin C and manganese.

What do Americans call sugar snap peas? ›

snap peas : aka. sugar snap peas; available fresh in the spring and sometimes late fall. Sold as whole pods with large peas in them (sometimes so large they start flattening each other); you eat the whole thing (mange tout)

What is the white stuff on sugar snap peas? ›

Powdery mildew on peas. Symptoms of powdery mildew begin with white powdery spots that occur first on the upper surface of the oldest leaves and stipules and then on stems and pods. Warm dry weather accompanied by cool nights with dews is conducive to the spread of this disease.

Is Miracle-Gro good for peas? ›

You can also feed plants with Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition no more than once a month for an extra boost of nutrition. Withhold water slightly during the early growing phase to encourage deeper rooting (peas tend to be shallowly rooted).

What not to plant with sugar snap peas? ›

Avoid planting peas near onions, garlic, and potatoes. These plants can compete for nutrients, space, or even release substances that inhibit pea growth.

Do snap peas like sun or shade? ›

While sugar snap peas can grow in partial shade, they'll be sweeter and more productive when grown in full sun. Sugar snap peas prefer well drained soil so raised beds and pot works brilliantly.

Do you eat sugar snap peas hole? ›

The entire pod is edible and can be used in various recipes. Sugar snap peas are a good source of vitamins C and E, zinc, and other antioxidants that strengthen your immune system.

Do you eat the casing on sugar snap peas? ›

If you've never tried raw sugar snap peas, you're in for a treat. You can eat the whole pod, with the peas inside, and if you can get them fresh from the farmer's market, they will be so impressively sweet.

Can you eat the husk of sugar snap peas? ›

Eat the whole pod.

Don't worry about removing the round peas inside. The pods on sugar snap peas are crunchy and sweet.

Do you need to pinch out sugar snap peas? ›

If you want more flowers and more fruit, pinch off vines at any juncture so that the vine will split into two vines.

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