Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

Super sweet and full of flavor, roasted sugar snap peas are like green candy – you won’t be able to leave them alone. Try roasting a batch today!

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (1)

Table of Contents close

  • 1 Know Your Peas
  • 2 About this Recipe
  • 3 Roasting Tip
  • 4 How do you clean and trim snap peas?
  • 5 FAQs
  • 6 How to make them your own
  • 7 Storage and Reheating Tips
  • 8 Want to try roasting more vegetables?
  • 9 Get the Recipe: Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so irresistible!)

After a quick roast at high heat in the oven, naturally sweet sugar snap peas intensify in flavor and sweetness. Oh my goodness, resistance is futile. You’re going to love this easy way to prepare sugar snap peas.

I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to share these roasted sugar snap peas. I mean, duh, I love pretty much every roasted vegetable under the sun. I can’t believe I haven’t been making these for years!

Don’t wait! Fresh sugar snap peas are plentiful in the spring and readily available in grocery stores and farm markets. Maybe you even grow your own. Make these green flavor bombs today!

Know Your Peas

There are three main types of peas:

  • sugar snap peas
  • snow peas
  • garden peas

Garden peas are shelled, i.e. you don’t eat the pods, just the round little peas. The pods are tough and inedible. Sugar snap and snow peas have delicious pods. Snow peas are generally flatter, with smaller peas inside the pods. Sugar snap peas look fatter, and usually taste sweeter than snow peas.

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2)

About this Recipe

The key to roasting any vegetable is getting them dry. I use my salad spinner to get rid of excess moisture after washing the peas and sometimes pat them with a paper towel to make sure they’re good and dry.

Roasting Tip

Wet vegetables steam and get soft; dry vegetables caramelize and get crisp. Remember that mantra and you’ll always have perfectly roasted vegetables.

You’ll want a nice hot oven for these babies. Get the oven preheated to 450°F. If I think of it, I even put the roasting pan in the oven to preheat while I prepare the sugar snap peas.

Toss the peas with olive oil, garlic powder, coarse salt, and freshly ground black pepper (or my all-purpose seasoning). Spread them on the baking sheet and slip the peas into the oven. They’ll be ready in about 10 minutes. The peas should be flecked with browned spots and be just slightly wrinkled.

Enjoy immediately piping hot or at room temperature. Either way is great!

Serve roasted sugar snap peas as a side for most any meal or as an appetizer or healthy snack.

You’ll find the printable recipe card near the end of the post. It has complete instructions, measurements, and nutrition information.

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (3)

How do you clean and trim snap peas?

Rinse snap peas well in a colander under running water. Since you eat the pods of sugar snap peas, you’ll want to remove the inedible stringy part that runs along both sides of the pod. It’s easy to do. You can use a sharp knife or your fingers. If you like, watch this short video to see how it’s done.

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (4)

Identify the stem end of the pod. The stem end is where the pea is attached to the vine and sometimes has a few little leaves on it. The blossom end sometimes has a soft brownish “hair” hanging on it. Snap or slice off the stem end, pulling down the flat side of the pea as you snap it off. A green string will detach itself from the side of the pea. Do the same thing for the curved side of the pea pod. Ordinarily that string will be smaller, or even non-existent.

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (5)

Sounds tricky? It’s really not, it’s one of those things that are easy to do and kind of hard to explain. Trust me, you’ll finish this task in a snap! (ha, pun intended!)

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (6)

FAQs

What is the best way to eat snap peas?

In our opinion, there is no right answer but roasting them yields a delicious result! We also love to sauté them, or thinly slice them and add them to a salad. They’re also wonderful in stir fry recipes like this ginger and basil chicken stir fry.

Are sugar snap peas a healthy snack?

Absolutely! They’re low in starchy carbs and contain vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate. Read more on Healthline.

Can the shell of sugar snap peas be eaten?

Yes, definitely! You could just eat the round peas from the inside, but the outside is absolutely delicious too! We do recommend removing the strings, though.

How to make them your own

This recipe is perfectly simple and delicious as is but here’s a few suggestions if you’d like to jazz it up.

  • I use garlic powder, but to intensify the garlic flavor, use minced garlic. Don’t like garlic? Leave it out. Chopped shallot would be good, too.
  • Mix in shredded or grated Parmesan cheese before roasting the peas. Or sprinkle the peas with Parmesan after roasting, similar to this roasted cauliflower with parmesan.
  • Add cherry or grape tomatoes to the pan and roast them along with peas. Or mix them in afterwards.
  • Add dried Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, or fresh thyme. Try a teaspoon of my homemade all-purpose seasoning stirred into the oil instead of the salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
  • Roast the peas with a heaping teaspoon of black sesame seeds. If you like, stir in a bit of toasted sesame oil.
  • Garnish roasted peas with chopped fresh chives or mint leaves, a squeeze of lemon, or a drizzle of hot honey.
  • Can you use frozen sugar snap peas? You know, I haven’t tried that yet but I did a little research and it appears that frozen vegetables can roasted pretty much the same way. Don’t thaw them first. It may take just a bit longer so add 5 minutes to the roasting time.
  • Rather leave your oven off? A quick sauté will yield yummy results, too. Learn how to saute snap peas.

Storage and Reheating Tips

Roasted sugar snap peas are best eaten right away. Should any happen to survive, leave them on the counter for ten more minutes and I’m sure they’ll disappear. Mine certainly do!

Or wrap them well, and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Reheat in microwave in 20-30 second intervals until warm, or just allow to come to room temp and eat them as a snack.You can also reheat them in the oven or air fryer.

Want to try roasting more vegetables?

I have a fantastic 40+ collection of recipes for roasted vegetables to peruse, or take a look at a sampling here:

  • Spicy sweet roasted butternut squash
  • Roasted green beans with Parmesan and basil
  • Roasted carrots with cumin seeds
  • Roasted carrots with thyme and nutmeg
  • How to roast broccoli – for the best broccoli ever!
  • Lemon roasted broccoli with Parmesan
  • Roasted cauliflower – How to roast cauliflower
  • Crispy roasted potatoes – get them nice and crisp with this method
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with Asiago cheese

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (7)

Recipe

Get the Recipe: Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so irresistible!)

4.54 from 77 votes

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 15 minutes mins

4 servings

Print Rate Recipe

Super sweet and full of flavor, roasted sugar snap peas are like green candy – you won't be able to leave them alone. Try roasting a batch today!

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450ºF.

  • On a rimmed baking sheet, toss snap peas with oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until desired tenderness.

  • Serve immediately as a side dish, or on a salad, or as a yummy snack.

Notes

  • The drier you get the peas before roasting them, the better they will be. A salad spinner works great!

Nutrition Information

Calories: 78kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Sodium: 269mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 5g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© Author: Rachel Gurk

Roasted Sugar Snap Peas (so good!) Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between snap peas and sugar snap peas? ›

Snap peas are also known as sugar snap peas and are a cross between snow peas and garden peas. The whole pod is eaten and has a crunchy texture and very sweet flavor. Snap peas may be eaten raw or cooked.

How healthy are sugar snap peas? ›

Whichever pea you prefer can be a low-calorie, nutritious addition to your diet. Sugar snap peas and snow peas share identical nutritional profiles and are less starchy than a typical shelled pea. They're also low in calories and provide many nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K and folate.

Are sugar snap peas supposed to be cooked? ›

Eat sugar snap peas raw or gently boiled so they don't lose that wonderful crisp crunch – they're great in salads or stir-fries.

What is the healthiest way to eat snap peas? ›

Raw sugar snap peas can add crunch to your salads and make them more nutritious. Cut the pods into smaller segments with a knife so they're easier to mix in with your salad, or you can leave them whole. Pair raw sugar snap peas with dips. Dip them into hummus, guacamole, and other kinds of dip.

Why are my snap peas not sweet? ›

If left on the plant for too long, those sugars are converted into starches so the peas become fibrous and tough with a less sweet flavor. For the cook, this means choosing peas that are recently picked and fresh and young—this is not a time when bigger is better.

Are sugar snap peas better raw or cooked? ›

Snap peas are best eaten raw or briefly cooked, such as in stir-fries or quick sautes. For a simple side dish, steam or blanch snap peas, then season with a bit of butter, salt, and pepper. Although stringless varieties are available, most sugar snap peas need to have the stringy seams removed before eating.

Are sugar snap peas anti inflammatory? ›

Sugarsnap peas have a low Glycemic Index and as a food that is mildly anti-inflammatory, they are a good choice for those following an Anti-Inflammatory Diet. One cup of raw sugarsnap peas is just 41 calories. Even though sugarsnap peas provide mostly carbohydrates (73%) almost half is from fiber.

Is it OK to eat sugar snap peas raw? ›

If you've never tried raw sugar snap peas, you're in for a treat. You can eat the whole pod, with the peas inside, and if you can get them fresh from the farmer's market, they will be so impressively sweet.

Can I eat peas everyday? ›

Constant consumption of green peas can lead to excessive weight gain. Green peas are well known for regulating blood sugar and cholesterol. Fibre facilitates bowel movements and prevents excessive untimely eating. However, the protein and carbohydrates present in peas can also make you gain weight.

Why are my sugar snap peas chewy? ›

Do not overcook. When cooked correctly, snap peas will be bright green, retain some of their 'crunch', and be sweet. When overcooked, snap peas become wrinkly, chewy, and can have a bitter flavor. Be careful to remove your snap peas on time!

What is the white stuff on sugar snap peas? ›

The first sign of peas with powdery mildew is small, round, whitish or gray spots on the top of mature leaves. The powdery stuff is easy to rub off with your fingers. Powdery mildew of peas spreads quickly and may cover entire leaves and stems, often causing the foliage to turn yellow or brown and die.

Do you eat the skin of snap peas? ›

Can You Eat the Skin of Sugar Snap Peas? Yes! The skin on sugar snap peas is crisp and totally edible. If you purchased loose snap peas from the farmers market or grocery store, chances are they're not trimmed, so you may want to remove the stem and pull the string off the side, both of which can be tough.

Can diabetics eat sugar snap peas? ›

Non-starchy vegetables, including sugar snap peas, are especially beneficial. 1 Due to their high phytonutrient content and fiber (which keeps blood sugar stable), sugar snap peas are a wonderful snack for helping to manage diabetes.

What do snap peas do for your body? ›

Snap peas are a good source of vitamin C which helps with immune function and helps heal cuts and wounds. Snap peas also contain iron which helps produce red blood cells. Vitamin K is also in snap peas, which helps with blood clotting and bone health.

Are snap peas and snap beans the same? ›

Peas and beans do look very similar and fall under the general seed family, but they aren't the same. Peas are generally round while beans have a wider variety of shapes. Color also varies considerably with non-pea beans. Peas don't usually vary that much in color – they're mostly green.

Can I eat sugar snap peas raw? ›

If you've never tried raw sugar snap peas, you're in for a treat. You can eat the whole pod, with the peas inside, and if you can get them fresh from the farmer's market, they will be so impressively sweet.

Do you eat snow peas or sugar snap peas raw? ›

Eaten raw or just quickly blanched, both snow peas and sugar snaps need minimal embellishment: their sweet, green pea-taste and super crisp texture are mighty fine on their own. Of course, they also taste great when tossed into a stir-fry, added to a salad or pickled in brine!

What are the best snap peas? ›

8 Best Sugar Snap Pea Varieties and from Where to get their Seeds!
  • Tender sweet.
  • Sugar Daddy.
  • Sugar Ann.
  • Super Sugar Snap Pea.
  • Amish Sugar Snap Pea.
  • Sugar Magnolia.
  • Cascadia Snap Pea.
  • Sugar Bon Snap Pea.
Apr 21, 2023

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