Greek Sugar Snap Peas Recipe - Cookin Canuck - Easy Side Dish (2024)

Fresh sautéed sugar snap peas combined with creamy feta cheese, briny olives and zesty garlic make this easy side dish an instant family favorite. 73 calories and 2 Weight Watchers SP

This sugar snap peas recipe is an easy, healthy side dish that deserves to grace your table at least once a week. They’re ridiculously simple to make and the seasonings and add-ins can be switched up to match almost any type of cuisine.

These snap peas are Greek-inspired, complete with oregano, feta cheese and kalamata olives, but you could also easily swap snap peas into this green bean stir-fry to match an Asian-inspired dinner.

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THIS SUGAR SNAP PEAS RECIPE:

These are the main components of this recipe (affiliate links included):

• Snap peas: Look for unblemished, firm snap peas in the produce section of any supermarket.
• Olive oil: For cooking the snap peas.
• Garlic: A couple of fresh cloves of garlic, minced
• Oregano: The recipe calls for dried oregano. If using fresh, use 1 ½ teaspoons chopped leaves.
• Feta cheese: Buy feta pre-crumbled or in a block (then crumble yourself).
• Kalamata olives: Buy pitted olives, then cut in quarters. If you're not an olive fan, you can leave these out.
• Parsley: Finish it off with a couple of tablespoons of minced flat-leaf parsley.

How to de-string snap peas:

• Not everyone agrees that the strings need to be removed from sugar snap peas, but to me it's a no-brainer. If you've ever had difficulties chewing on a stringy snap peas, you know what I mean.
• There are all sorts of tricks out there for removing the strings, including sticking a toothpick between the pod and the string. In my opinion, the easiest method is using a plain ol' paring knife. A well-sharpened blade makes the task easier.
• Snap peas have strings on either side of the pod and I recommend removing both.
• Using the knife, make a small cut to clip off one end of the snap pea, then pull downward to pull off the string. Repeat the same process with the other tip and the remaining string on the opposite side of the pod.

How to cook sugar snap peas:

• There are a few ways to cook snap peas, such as blanching, sautéing and roasting.
• The trick with snap peas is to avoiding overcooking them, as they can turn from tender crisp to overcooked and a little mushy very quickly. Keep an eye on them!
• To blanch, boil water in a large saucepan. Salt the water well, then add the peas. Cook until tender crisp, which just takes 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and immediately plunge the vegetables into a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking further.
• To roast, toss the pods in some olive oil, season with salt and pepper (or any other herbs and spices you prefer) and spread into a single layer on a baking sheet. Pop into a 400 degree F oven until cooked, stirring occasionally, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• To sauté, heat some olive oil in a nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Add the veggies, toss to coat with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the snap peas are tender crisp when pierced with a fork. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes.

What to serve with this snap pea recipe:

If you are a meal-prepper and have shredded poached chicken and frozen quinoa on hand, mix it all together with the sauteed snap peas and some homemade Greek salad dressing. Grilled shrimp would be another tasty mix-in.

Instead of reverting to a regular green salad, serve the snap peas alongside my Greek Turkey Rice Casserole or Grilled Greek Pork Chops.

Other easy snap pea recipes:

{Cookin' Canuck}
{Cookin' Canuck}
Garlic Parmesan Sugar Snap Peas {Diethood}
Pork Stir-Fry with Snap Peas & Cashews {Jessica Gavin}

Printable Recipe

This post was originally published on July 11, 2019 and updated on August 3, 2021.

Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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