Get Sweet on Fresh Spring Peas with Our Favorite Recipes (2024)

Brilliantly green, a bowl of peas is a delightful thing. After a pat of butter anda shower of mint, all you really need to enjoy them is a spoon. Since they are so simple to prepare, it's easy to forget that there are more ways to use peas than the reflexive drop-and-boil. To honor the familiar legume, we've collected our best recipes for peas.

Much aswe love frozen peas (they're always in season!), each yearwe wait for spring when fresh peas come into season. Peas have strong qualities in terms of their ingredient game. Their iconic color adds instant vibrance to any dish. Their famed sweetness is a contrast for neutral, tart, or herbal flavors. And their distinctive pea-texture—soft after an initial pop—makes them as good intact as they are smooshed. Finally, they are so easy to prepare: Cooked in minutes, peas come to the rescue when time is tight.

And those are the so-called English peas, whose pods we discard. Fresh sugar snap peas, with their flattened, edible pods and tiny green pearls inside, are another delicacy. Snap peas are a tonic in any dish that needs a quick fix: risotto, pasta, and bruschetta are brought to life by their emerald freshness. And peas have other secrets up their green sleeves: Their edible tendrils and young leaves are a delicious bonus, adding crunch and whimsy wherever they land. If you grow your own, pea shoots are a cut-and-come again pleasure.

If you're ready to enjoy in-season English peas, sugar snaps, snow peas, and even pea shoots, these recipes are where you'll want to start.