A 10-minute, quickly sautéed fresh sugar snap peas recipe bursting with a unique mint-ginger flavor. These stir-fried snap peas are an easy side dish or a healthy snack.

Sugar Snap Peas and I don’t always get along.

We have had a tumultuous relationship because we don’t seem to understand each other!

Until now?

Originally published on May 29th, 2019 at 3:59pm. Click here to see why this recipe was updated.

Top view of a brown plate filled with cooked sugar snap peas with 3 open pea pods open and a few peas on the side

🛒 Ingredients

  • Mint leaves
  • Extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
  • Ginger
  • Salt (Pink salt or Kosher salt)
  • Lemon Juice
  • Sugar Snap Peas
Top view of an open sugar snap pea pod with peas showing

🪜 Instructions

1. Prepare the Mint Mixture

  • In a small bowl, start by muddling about 5 leaves and salt.
  • Muddle in 5 more mint leaves, plus a little of the oil.
  • Continue the process until all the mint leaves and oil is used up.
  • Add the two pieces of ginger to the mint.
  • Muddle the ginger and add the lime juice
  • Set it aside

Cook Sugar Snap Peas

  • Heat a wok or large skillet on medium heat for 30 seconds, then add the oil and heat for another 30 seconds.
  • Gently put the sugar snap peas in the oil.
  • Saute them on both sides (3 minutes per side).
  • Add the mint mixture and mix well
  • Turn off the heat and let it sit on the stove for about a minute before serving
  • Optional: Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of crushed chia seeds on top for added nutrition.

🍅 Handy Tip: To keep the sugar snap peas crunchy, don’t cook them in water. That means no boiling or steaming them in a pan or cooking them in the microwave.

Overhead view of a brown plate filled with cooked sugar snap peas with 3 open pea pods open and a few peas on the side

Sugar snap peas vs snow peas

The basic difference is the size of the two. Sugar snap peas have thicker and sturdier pods. The pods are “puffy” in shape because they have space inside the pods

The peas inside the sugar snap peas are larger compared to snow peas. They also taste sweeter and can be eaten individually

Snow peas, on the other hand, have teeny tiny peas, and their pods are almost flat in shape. They can’t be split open to remove the peas because it’s just pointless to do so

Snow peas tend to cook faster and are perfect for stir-fry recipes. Check out my stir-fry snow peas with carrots recipe.

It took me forever to realize the difference between sugar snap peas and snow peas! But now, I feel like I am a pro at telling the difference! It took a lot of trips to farmer’s markets, grocery stores, and cooking them repeatedly!

Garden peas are completely different because they are much bigger than both sugar and snow peas.

Growing sugar snap peas is, well, a ‘snap’! 🙂 Check out all the tips and tricks on growing them via Bonnie Plants and Frugal Family Home. Know your frost season, full sun season, aphids, and type of soil to use.

Image of 3 sugar snap peas showing the sides and tip. 2 have been partially trimmed with arrows pointing in the direction of pulling the thread

Trimming sugar snap peas is a “snap”! Hold one pea pod with the curvy part facing you.

Take the stem edge with the thread or tip of the peas and pull along the curved side.

That’s it!

If you can find the trimmed version at your local grocery store, get those because they are huge time savers.

🍅 Handy Tip: For the best taste experience, remove the “thread” from the pea pods (AKA trim sugar snap peas). Hold the stem edge and gently pull down towards the curved part of the snap peas.

❓ Answering Common Questions

Is it safe to eat the pods of the sugar snap peas?

Sugar snap peas can be eaten with the pod itself. The pod is edible and said to have tons of fiber, vitamins, folate, and other nutrients. Source: Live Strong

Can these snap peas be shelled?

Yes, you can shell the pea pods and eat them as they are perfectly delicious without the pod. Stir-fry them lightly in a wok or pan with the mint mixture. Compost the pods or mix with other vegetables to make broth.

Can you freeze sugar snap peas?

Yes, they can be frozen. Don’t cook them, freeze them raw. Wrap them in a paper towel and put them in a Ziploc bag. Write the date and lay the bag flat in the freezer. Use within 6 months of freezing or a week, if you refrigerate them.

What else can I add to these sweet peas?

– Spice it up by adding peppers like jalapeno or black pepper.
– Sprinkle with hemp seeds, flax seeds, or sesame seeds
– Add tofu crumbles for protein
– Shallots or onions
– Mix with buttered radishes
Feta or other crumbly cheese
– Garlic cloves

Can you grow them at home?

They are fairly easy to grow at home. Use grow bags or big planters because they grow on trellis. You will also need a good support structure for the vines.

🧊 Freezing tip: Ideally, you want to eat the snap peas raw, but you can freeze them in freezer-friendly bags. Use it within 6 months.

Muddling the mint

Top view of a brown plate filled with cooked sugar snap peas with 2 open pea pods

The mint is the best part of this recipe because it adds a very unique flavor to the peas. Sweet pods and mint are the perfect combination

But, I muddled the mint because it retains all its flavors. I think muddling mint is better than putting it in the food processor. I don’t know why it tastes better to me, but it does.

I like using this (affiliate link) wooden muddling tool , which does an AMAZING job of muddling mint, basil, sage, and even coriander! Those are the herbs that I have tried muddling, and the results are a huge success!

Start with muddling the mint by itself using the muddling tool and a small bowl. I used about 40 leaves, which I muddled a few at a time. Then, I added 2 small ginger pieces and salt.

Muddle all the ingredients, add lemon juice, and add it to the cooked snap peas. Mix it gently and serve immediately

If you don’t have a muddling tool, use a mortar and pestle. I like using a (Affiliate Link) granite mortar and pestle, which is very cheap at Amazon.

A food processor will work too, just in case you don’t want to use the muddling tool or the mortar.

Overhead view of part of a brown plate filled with cooked sugar snap peas with 2 open pea pods open

🔨 Muddling Tip: To bring out the best flavors of mint, always muddle it.

Try these other peas recipes

💌 Sharing is caring

Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.

Top view of an open sugar snap pea pod with peas showing

Sauteed Sugar Snap Peas Recipe

Rini
Sugar snap peas quickly sauteed and mixed with a light fresh mint mixture. These sugar snap peas are the perfect side dish or a light lunch
5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 8 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 People
Calories 95 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

For the Mint Mixture

  • 40 leaves fresh mint just the leaves, discard the stems
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • small ginger 2 small pieces, each about the size of a quarter
  • 1/2 tsp pink himalayan salt use regular salt if you don't have pink salt
  • 1.5 tsp lemon juice

For the Snap Peas

  • 1.5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or you can sub with avocado oil
  • 16 oz sugar snap peas I bought two 8 oz microwave ready sugar snap peas bags

Instructions
 

Preare the Mint Mixture

  • In a small bowl, start by muddling about 5 leaves and salt
  • Keep the muddled mint in the bowl and add 5 more mint leaves, plus a little of the oil
  • Muddle those and continue the same process until all the leaves and oil is used up
  • Add the two pieces of ginger to the mint
    Top view of a small piece of ginger next to a US Quarter to give an idea of about the size of ginger to use in the recipe
  • Muddle the ginger and add the lime juice
  • Set it aside

Prepare the Sugar Snap Peas

  • Heat a wok on medium heat for 30 seconds
  • Add the oil and heat for another 30 seconds
  • Gently put the sugar snap peas in the oil
  • Saute them on both sides (3 minutes per side)
  • Add the mint mixture and mix well
  • Turn off heat and let it sit on the stove for about a minute
  • Serve immediately

Notes

– To keep the sugar snap peas crunchy, don’t cook them in water. That means no boiling or steaming them
– Remove the “thread” from the pea pods (AKA trim sugar snap peas) for the best taste results. Its a tedious process, but, totally worth it.
– Some grocery stores will sell the trimmed snap peas. If you find those stores, give the workers a huge hug! They deserve it. 🙂
– Personally, I am not a fan of freezing the peas, but, if you have a huge supply that you can’t use up in time, freeze them without cooking.
– Growing sugar snap peas is, well, a ‘snap’! 🙂 Check out all the tips and tricks on growing them via Bonnie Plants and Frugal Family Home

Nutrition

Calories: 95kcal
Keyword how to cook sugar snap peas, How to trim sugar snap peas
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

From time to time, I will go through old recipes to update the content. Sometimes, I update just the images and sometimes, I give the recipe a complete makeover.

This time, the recipe remained the same. What I changed was the text in the blog. I made it easier to read by adding appropriate headlines and breaking up some big sections. Let me know what you think of this new format.

Click here to see the original post.

Top view of sugar snap peas on a brown copper plate. One pea pod is left open next to the copper plate

Similar Posts

5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

4 Comments

  1. I grew up eating sugar snow peas cooked with potatoes (boiled) with drop dumplings on top. I can still taste this! Also ate them raw right in the garden.