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.
