The Best Method For Cooking Sugar Snap Peas Is In A Hot Skillet

If you haven't tried sugar snap peas yet, you're in for a treat. These crunchy little guys are the perfect blend of sweet and savory, making them a vibrantly hued hit in any dish. Packed with vitamins C and K, fiber, and antioxidants, sugar snap peas are as healthy as they are delicious.

Technically, snap peas are a cross between snow peas and garden peas; the result is a distinctly sweeter pea variety. Sugar snap peas are also edible raw — including the pods and outer shell — unlike their doppleganger, edamame, which has a hard-to-digest outer pods. Though they can be eaten raw, cooking the snap peas brings out their sweetness and enhances their natural flavor. When cooked properly, they can add wonderful green flavor and crunchy texture to stir-fry recipes, or they can be eaten on their own as a tasty, healthy side dish.

Snap peas are sometimes sold in microwavable steam bags, and they can also be boiled. However, the best (and fastest) way to cook these green gems is in a piping hot skillet. A sugar snap pea's most defining feature is its crunch. Unlike regular cooked peas, which are fairly mushy, these unique veggies can remain nice and snappy when cooked correctly, but they can wilt and become bitter if overcooked.

It is possible to cook snap peas in a microwave or in boiling water, but adding too much water to the equation can leave you with overly-soggy pea pods that become chewy or stringy when eaten. To keep them good and crunchy, pull out your skillet. You'll want high heat for these veggies, so a stainless steel pan or cast iron pan are your best options since they retain heat so well, and that heat can even help caramelize the natural sugars in snap peas.

Heat up your favorite oil in a skillet over high heat  — you don't need any fancy oils for stir-fry or for snap peas. Vegetable oil, olive oil, or even a small pat of butter can work here. When the oil is hot, add your snap peas and stir constantly so that each pod makes contact with the heat and so that you don't risk overcooking. When they're just barely tender but still crisp, they are done — this should take only about three minutes or so! Remove them from the heat and sprinkle on your seasonings. Salt and pepper are always great to start with, but the earthy, sweet flavors of sugar snap peas can pair really nicely with garlic and lemon as well.