Vegetable Dishes
Mushy Peas
Proper chip-shop mushy peas: dried marrowfat peas soaked overnight with bicarbonate of soda, then simmered until they collapse into a thick, savoury purée, finished with butter, a little mint and lemon.
- Serves 6
- Soak overnight (12 hours)
- Simmer 30–40 min
- Vegetarian
- Freezes well
- British
Method
Put the peas (250 g) in a large bowl, stir in the bicarbonate of soda (2 tsp) and pour over 1 litre of boiling water. The peas will double in size, so the bowl needs room. Leave to soak overnight, or for at least 12 hours.
Drain and rinse the peas well, then tip into a pan and cover with fresh cold water by about 2 cm. Bring to the boil and skim off any foam.
Simmer gently, uncovered, for 30–40 minutes, stirring more often towards the end, until the peas have broken down into a thick, soft mush. Add a splash of water if they catch.
Beat in the butter (25 g) and season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the mint (a little) and lemon juice (1 tbsp) if using, and serve hot with fish and chips or a pie.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- Bicarbonate of soda softens the skins of the peas so they break down fully. Rinse well after soaking or they can taste soapy.
- Packs of dried marrowfat peas often come with a soaking tablet, which can be used instead of the bicarbonate.
- Home-made mushy peas are a soft olive green; the bright green of tinned ones comes from added colouring.
- Quick version: simmer 500 g frozen peas for 3 minutes, then mash with butter, 2 tbsp double cream and mint. It is a different, sweeter dish.
A chip-shop tradition
Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas soaked overnight with bicarbonate of soda, then boiled until they collapse. They are a traditional accompaniment to fish and chips throughout England and Scotland, and in northern England are eaten with a meat pie as “pie and peas”.
In Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and parts of Lincolnshire they are also eaten as a snack on their own; in Nottinghamshire they are traditionally served with mint sauce at fairs, and they are sometimes called “Yorkshire caviar”.
Sources for these notes
For the history above.
How this recipe was developed
We compared Esther Clark’s easy mushy peas on BBC Good Food, made with dried marrowfat peas, with the frozen-pea version on Allrecipes.
- Dried marrowfat peas. BBC Good Food (4.2/5 from 10 ratings) soaks 250 g dried marrowfat peas with 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda; we follow that.
- Butter, mint and lemon. Esther Clark finishes with salted butter, mint and lemon juice; we make the mint and lemon optional for traditionalists.
- Frozen-pea shortcut. Allrecipes’ Mushy Peas (4.5/5 from 94 ratings) mashes frozen peas with cream and butter; we give it as a quick alternative in the notes.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Esther Clark): Easy mushy peas (4.2/5, 10 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Stella): Mushy Peas (4.5/5, 94 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.