Bobby Flay Says This Vegetable Is Better Frozen

When the temperature is easily hitting 90 degrees every day, it’s hard to want a hot meal. That’s why we love cooling dinners that don’t require turning on the oven in the summertime. From old-fashioned pasta salads to fresh lettuce wraps, there’s so many options for a nutritious evening meal that will keep you cool.

Another example? Cold soups. They’re easy to make and deliciously refreshing. Tomato gazpacho and cucumber soups are popular bowls, but Bobby Flay just shared his favorite version that’s chilly and flavorful.

Meet the chef’s Chilled Green Pea Soup with Green Chile Pesto, Basil Crema and Crispy Shallots (our mouths are watering, too). Featuring vibrant ingredients, this green soup is very similar to our own warm Pea Soup, but it’s served cold. And topping it off with our Pepita & Cilantro Pesto will mimic the herbaceous taste. While we definitely want to make this soup ASAP, there was something intriguing about a comment made by the restaurateur—and it’s an easy, budget-friendly swap of the featured vegetable. 

If you think the chef is pulling fresh pea pods from his garden to make this soup, that’s where you’re mistaken. In fact, he shared a surprising hot take as to why there are no fresh peas in this recipe.

“Green peas are one of those things where I have to say, 90% of the time, I like frozen peas better than fresh peas,” he admits in the Instagram video. He then goes into more detail about why he prefers it this way:

“Frozen peas are frozen at their very, very peak sweetness. Fresh peas are wonderful, but they get starchy very, very quickly. So if they’re not utilized almost immediately, the starch kind of grows,” Flay explains. “A lot of chefs will tell you that frozen green peas sort of trump fresh peas.”

When our editors saw this video, there was instant agreement with the Food Network star. Here’s why they personally love frozen peas more than fresh.

“Especially living in a place with a short growing season like Vermont, I think frozen peas taste better most of the time,” registered dietitian and EatingWell’s nutrition editor Jessica Ball, M.S., RD says. “Not to mention, it’s really time consuming to shell peas from fresh.”

And our senior editor Megan Ginsberg agrees: “Yes, fresh peas from the garden are absolutely amazing, but you have to pick them, shell them, and use them right away to eat them at their best. With frozen peas, the work is already done for you, and since they’ve been frozen right away, they will taste just as good!”

And frozen peas, like other frozen vegetables, are incredibly versatile. Ginsberg likes adding them to pasta and rice dishes, whereas our associate editorial director Carolyn Malcoun cooks and serves them as a simple side with Crispy Baked Chicken Cutlets.

TLDR: if you see peas in a recipe, save yourself the time and use de-shelled frozen peas. They’re not only easier, but more tasty. Try them in our Quinoa with Peas & Lemon or Pea Pesto Gnocchi with Burrata for a bright forkful.