A cross between the garden pea and mangetout — the entire crisp, sweet pod is eaten whole, including the small, developed peas inside; one of the sweetest raw vegetables and a favourite for snacking and stir-frying.
A 1979 invention
Sugar snap peas are one of the few major vegetables with a documented creator and date of origin. Calvin Lamborn, a plant breeder at Gallatin Valley Seed Company in Twin Falls, Idaho, developed them through multiple generations of crosses between the garden pea (Pisum sativum) and the snow pea (P. sativum var. macrocarpon). His goal was a pod thick enough to hold its shape when eaten whole but sweet enough to eat raw. The Sugar Snap variety was introduced to the public in 1979 and won the All-America Selections award.
Snow pea vs. snap pea
Snow pea (mangetout) — flat, very thin pod with barely formed seeds inside; entirely tender; the pod is the main eating component. Snap pea — thick, rounded pod with fully formed, sweet peas inside; both pod and peas contribute. Snap peas are sweeter; snow peas have a more delicate, clean flavour.
The string
Snap peas have a fibrous string running along the seam of the pod that should be removed before eating (pull from the stem end toward the tip, then back the other way). Young, very fresh snap peas may have minimal string; older pods need more careful stringing.
Maximum sweetness
Like garden peas, snap pea sweetness is highest immediately after harvest because their sugars begin converting to starch. Supermarket snap peas can be noticeably less sweet than freshly picked ones from a garden or farmers’ market.
Find more vegetables by letter
Snap Pea starts with S and ends with A. Browse other vegetables along the same letter.
Vegetables that contain a letter from "Snap Pea":