In defense of frozen peas

Now that the weather is warmer and the sun is finally out for longer, I’ve been whipping up some of my favorite springtime meals. That includes honey and butter-glazed seared pork chops, a five-ingredient creamy pea soup, pea and mint risotto and a colorful, protein-packed seasonal salad. As you may have noticed, each recipe features the humble pea, one of the most quintessential spring vegetables.

Whenever I’m cooking with peas, I always prefer frozen over fresh. In fact, I’m an ardent believer that frozen peas are superior to their fresh counterparts. It’s simply more convenient to have a bag of shelled peas ready to use rather than doing the hard work yourself. Frozen peas are also more vibrant in color than fresh peas. And they are sweeter and more crisp in texture — I’ve found that fresh peas are often quite starchy and mushy once cooked.

I’m not alone in my love for frozen peas. Bobby Flay prefers frozen over fresh. “Frozen peas are frozen at their very, very peak sweetness,” he shared in a collaboration with Misfits Market on Instagram. “Green peas are one of those things where I have to say, 90% of the time, I like frozen peas better than fresh peas.” Same with Nigella Lawson, who championed frozen peas in the first episode of her show, “Nigella Bites.” “I think the snobbery against them is ridiculous, because unless you’ve got peas in your own garden, there’s no advantage in using fresh, because by the time you buy them, they’ve all gone to starch anyway — so really, I think it’s best to use frozen ones,” she said.

Barbara Rich, lead chef-instructor of Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education’s New York City campus and a fellow frozen peas stan echoed similar sentiments, explaining that frozen peas "are picked at the peak of ripeness and then flash frozen, so you're always going to get quality."

“For me as a chef, as much as I like to say that there’s fresh peas in the spring, they do run the risk of being very starchy," she said.

That's because once fresh peas are harvested, their sugars immediately turn into starch. Frozen peas, however, are processed and frozen immediately after harvest, which preserves their natural sweetness and makes them easier to prepare. Because they are flash-steamed before they're frozen, the peas are already ready to eat and require a very short cooking time — usually no more than four minutes. My favorite way to cook frozen peas is sautéing them in a hot pan alongside butter, minced garlic, finely chopped onions and lemon juice. The peas can also be steamed over a pot of boiling water or in the microwave.

Peas can be eaten on their own or as a side dish, but they’re best enjoyed in pastas and soups. Rich recommended making a pea, mint and crème fraîche soup. The soup base can also be incorporated with heavy cream to make a decadent, spring-themed pasta sauce that pairs well with seafood, like grilled salmon or pan seared shrimp.

As for specific brands of frozen peas, Rich’s favorites are Cascadian Farm’s Organic Garden Peas along with Trader Joe’s Petite Peas.

“I really like using frozen peas in things like stir fry or fried rice,” she added. “Most chefs, you’ll find, won’t actually just put peas on the plate because they kind of just roll around.”

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Frozen vegetables are often given a bad rep for being “worse” or cheaper in quality than their fresh alternatives, but that’s far from the truth. They’re a popular option amongst restaurants. According to a 2023 report by Chef’s Store, a significant majority of restaurants (83 percent) said they use frozen vegetables as a common ingredient.

“To me, it’s better to use good-quality frozen ingredients rather than mediocre fresh ingredients,” said Le Bernardin chef and cookbook author Eric Ripert in an interview with Taste. “So, let’s suppose you want to do a pea soup, and all the peas are very starchy, and it’s too late in the season. Well, go buy some good-quality peas that are tiny, have no starch, and you’re going to have a delicious soup. Why bother peeling the peas, you know?”

He continued, “To me, what makes sense is to use the best ingredients available. And today, technology allows us to freeze, and there’s basically almost no difference between the fresh and the frozen.”

That’s all to say that frozen vegetables, namely peas, are amazing. They’re available year-round, easy to prepare and incredibly tasty. While fresh peas do have a certain romantic quality to them, frozen peas are both practical and reliable.

So to that I say, yes, peas!