This sugar snap peas recipe is one of my go-to side dish recipes when I don’t have a lot of time. It comes together in 10 minutes and can be paired with so many of your favorite entrees.
Do you struggle with making a complete dinner? For many, it's relatively easy to think of the main entree like any of these chicken marinades or these garlic roasted pork chops and maybe even to keep it clean and healthy. But, for some reason, people run out of ideas when it comes to side dishes and so they stick with the classic options that are not always healthy.
You know...fries, mashed potatoes, white rice, pasta, all those usual suspects.
Sound familiar?
While these options may be tasty, they are not always very healthy or nutritious. And, while I still like to enjoy them every now and again, on a regular basis, I prefer healthier and more nutritious side dishes, like this sautéed sugar snap peas recipe.
In This Post You'll Find:
Reasons You'll Love It
- You love to eat fresh, raw snap peas right out of the bag
- Simple, easy, and flavorful recipe 🙂
- Lemon zest is awesome!
- Less than 10 minutes to make, start to finish
- It's healthy, vegan and gluten-free
Watch Me Make Lemon Sugar Snap Peas
Ingredient Notes
Sugar Snap Peas: Snap peas, or sugar snap peas, are a cross between garden peas and snow peas. The whole pod is edible and they have a crunchy flavor and sweet taste.
What to do with snap peas:
- Eat them raw as a snack <---- LOVE!
- Use them to make simple side dishes, like this one.
- Slice them diagonally and toss in a salad for extra crunch.
Lemon: The lemon adds a great flavor to this dish, but you could substitute with orange you prefer that flavor.
Olive Oil: The only other ingredient besides some basic seasoning is olive oil. which is needed for cooking the peas and keeping them from burning. I use Extra Virgin Olive oil.
Trimming Your Sugar Snap Peas
I like to buy snap peas that are already de-stringed because it makes them just that much easier to prepare. And… because I can be a little lazy with things like that. At least I’m honest, right?
However, if you want to learn how to trim sugar snap peas, I can teach you.
How to trim sugar snap peas:
- Start with a snap pea in one hand and a paring knife in the other hand.
- Make sure the inside curve of the pod faces you.
- Sever the top of the snap pea and you’ll see a tough string that runs along the pod.
- Pull that string out.
That’s it. There’s no need to remove the other string but you can do it if you want.
How To Make Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar snap peas are best when they are briefly cooked. Cooking them for too long means ending up with soggy, chewy snap peas. You don’t want that so make sure you don’t overcook them.
Perfectly cooked snap peas are green and maintain a slight crunch. Basically: You want them to -- snap -- when you bite into them.
Here are some cooking options for you:
- Sauté them for 2 or 3 minutes with olive oil. Season them with salt and pepper and enjoy them. Or, if you want more flavors, use my sugar snap peas recipe.
- Grill them for 2 or 3 minutes on each side. Season them with salt and pepper and serve them as a side dish.
- Roast them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. You can season them with lemon zest or parmesan for extra taste.
Step 1: Heat oil over medium-high heat.
Step 2: Add the snap peas and toss to coat. Cook for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Add the lemon zest, salt and pepper and cook 2-5 minutes.
Step 4: Serve.
Sugar Snap Peas Go Well With:
- Pork Chops: Pork is a great healthy entree that can be paired with this dish. You can try any of these pork chop marinades for some new flavors.
- Chicken: I love to eat chicken with this dish, particularly this Honey Mustard Chicken.
- Shrimp: These go great as a meal prep side also, like with this shrimp meal prep recipe.
Other Healthy Side Dishes
This sugar snap peas recipe is proof that side dishes can be healthy and delicious at the same time. Also quick and easy to make. Do I have other similar side dish recommendations? Of course I do. Here they are:
Sugar Snap Peas with Lemon
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb fresh sugar snap peas
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, freshly grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the snap peas and toss to coat. Cook snap peas for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the lemon zest, salt and pepper (and thyme, if you wish) and cook an additional 3-5 minutes, until the snap peas begin to puff up and are crisp, yet tender.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Nutrition
Benefits of Sugar Snap Peas
Ok, snap peas are delicious but what are the snap pea health benefits? I mean...are snap peas healthy?
Snap peas are healthy, yes. And they also have numerous health benefits, like they...
- Are high in fiber, which means they help your digestive system to work properly and they regulate your blood sugar levels.
- Are low in calories. One cup of snap peas contains only 60 calories.
- Are fat-free and they contain folate. Folate helps to lower the levels of amino acids in your body.
- Are high in vitamin C. Vitamin C boots our immune system and prevents cold and flu.
- Contain carotenoid, which promotes eye health.
- Contain calcium, which is good for bone health.
- Contain iron, which can help in combating anemia.
Snap pea nutrition per serving (serving size – 1 cup)
- Calories – 60
- Fat – 0
- Cholesterol – 0
- Potassium – 0
- Carbs – 10.5g
- Dietary fiber – 3g
- Sugars – 4.5g
- Vitamin A – 8% of the recommended daily dose
- Vitamin C – 18% of the recommended daily dose
- Calcium – 6% of the recommended daily dose
- Iron – 13% of the recommended daily dose
As you can see, sugar snap peas are undoubtedly good for you.
Oooohhhhh SNAP! (Had to!)
This post contains affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Linda Hay
Excellent
Donni
Delicious! I squeezed some of the lemon juice over the peas, in addition to the zest. I loved the way the peas weren't mushy, crisp and tender. The peas I had did not require stringing but I always check several before cooking them.
Virginia Jacklin
My daughter made honey lemon chicken for dinner. I had picked up a of sugar peas from Walmart the other day. I grabbed the bag and start to take off the tips and strings when I found out there were no strings. Checked the bag and they were stringless! Delicious recipe. Loved them with the chicken and extra long basmati rice.
Jaime
Okay, somehow I can't find the recipe anywhere. I see the difference between sugar and snap and how to zest a lemon but where is the sugar snap pea with lemon 10 minute recipe?
Lory
If you still haven't found it... At the top of the page is a button that says something like Jump to Recipe. Try that. Good luck!
ROCHELLE FREED
Did you know that Healthy Choice makes a Cafe Steamer frozen meal called Cafe Steamers, sweet Sesame chicken and they include snow peas, but they do Not De=string the pea pods... I almost choked on the strings, and even did hve to pull a couple strings from my throat...
they get too soggy, too, and can slip down someone's throat.. I agree with you that snow peas should be lightly cooked, adn have some Crucn (instead) Meanwhile they all should BE De-Stringed before cooking, as the straings Can be caught in yoru teeth or worse, caught in your throat..
would appreciate it, if you amended your blog/ recipes to Recommend! destringing them if going to cook them! it takes a bit of time and effort but then no one could choke onthe sttrings... thank you...
BTW, when I used to cook them from scratch, I always did de string them!
PS: I AM going to call HC about this issue, too. I think they should be de stringed always. no matter how they are cooked.
Dustin
the kids love these
Lacey Baier
The kids AND me <3!
marla
Great recipe! Linking back to this recipe in an upcoming snap peas post 🙂
Lacey Baier
Woot! Thanks for the link love!!
Lystessa
We just tried these tonight. I only had dried thyme powder, but it came out wonderful! My son requested seconds. 😀
lacey - a sweet pea chef
I'm happy you all enjoyed them. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Tara
We eat snap peas like they're going out of style..can't wait to try your lemon snap peas!! Have a great Christmas Lacey!
lacey - a sweet pea chef
I hope you like them, Tara! Hard to go wrong with snap peas, huh? I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, too.