Mushy Peas substitute

Best substitute

Frozen garden peas, crushed

450 g / 1 lb frozen peas replaces 250 g dried marrowfat peas

Best for fish and chips at short notice

Taste and texture differ

Mushy peas are a starchy side dish, not a sauce, and their job on the plate is to provide soft wet body and a mild sweet earthiness against crisp fried batter and chips. Two swaps cover almost every situation. Frozen garden peas, simmered four minutes and crushed with butter, salt and a pinch of sugar, take ten minutes and taste brighter, greener and sweeter, though they slump on the plate instead of holding a spoon-mark. Dried green split peas swapped weight for weight give a much more accurate thick, sticky texture but taste more savoury and lentil-like, and need 45 to 60 minutes. Tinned processed peas, mashed, are the closest thing to chip-shop mushy peas you can buy. What no other pea gives you is the particular nubbly, faintly gluey quality of marrowfat, so pick your swap based on whether you care more about the texture or the speed.

Other mushy peas substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Dried green split peas
Different taste
Use the same amount by dry weight
The most accurate texture substitute, because split peas break down into the same thick starchy mass.
What changes
The differences are that they go smoother and less lumpy, the colour is a duller yellow-green rather than that chip-shop grey-green, and the flavour is more savoury and closer to dal or split pea soup.
Best for
fish and chips, faggots and peas, pie and liquor, anywhere the thick texture matters most
No soaking needed. Simmer in unsalted water for 45 to 60 minutes with a knob of butter, stirring near the end so they do not catch, then beat with a wooden spoon. Salt only at the end. A pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the water speeds the collapse and greens the colour slightly.
3Tinned processed or marrowfat peas, mashed
Close match
2 x 300 g tins replaces 250 g dried peas
Sold in Britain as processed peas and often the actual base of chip-shop mushy peas.
What changes
Drain, warm through with butter and salt and crush lightly. Very close indeed: a shade softer, greyer and more uniformly green, and already salted, so taste before you add any more.
Best for
fish and chips, the closest ready-made option, pies and pasties, quick weeknight cooking
Look for tins labelled processed peas or marrowfat peas, not garden peas or petits pois, which are a completely different texture. Drain off the tinned liquor but keep a spoonful to loosen the mash if it stiffens.
4Broad beans or fava beans, skinned and mashed
Different taste
Use the same amount by cooked weight
Once double-podded, broad beans mash into a thick pale-green puree with very much the right consistency.
What changes
The flavour is more mineral and slightly bitter, with none of the pea sweetness, so it wants a longer squeeze of lemon and a little more butter to balance.
Best for
serving with grilled fish, on toast, spring lamb, a more Mediterranean plate
You must slip the grey inner skins off or the puree will be gritty, which is fiddly with fresh beans but easy with frozen ones after a minute in boiling water. Dried split fava beans work too and behave much like split peas.
5Yellow split peas
Different taste
Use the same amount by dry weight
Cook down exactly like green split peas and give the same thick texture, but the colour is wrong, coming out the pale gold of pease pudding rather than green, and the flavour is noticeably more like dal.
What changes
In fact pease pudding, the northern English dish, is made this way, so it is a real dish in its own right.
Best for
pease pudding, serving with ham or gammon, faggots, when texture matters and colour does not
Simmer 45 to 60 minutes with a bay leaf, then beat hard. If the green colour matters, a handful of frozen peas blitzed in at the end will tint it without changing the body much.
6Frozen edamame, mashed
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by cooked weight
Gives the strongest green colour of any option and a good hearty body, but the skins stay firm even after long cooking, so the mash is chunkier and slightly chewy rather than soft.
What changes
The flavour is distinctly beany and grassy.
Best for
colour-forward plating, serving with fish, when nothing else is in the freezer
Blitz rather than hand-mash to break the skins down, and push it through a sieve if you want it smooth. Add butter generously, since edamame is much leaner-tasting than peas.

What is Mushy Peas?

Mushy Peas is a thick, coarse pale-green puree of dried marrowfat peas soaked with bicarbonate of soda and simmered until they collapse, served in British chip shops beside fish and chips, where its job is to add soft, sweet, starchy body against crisp fried batter.

Cooking tips

If you do have marrowfat peas, soak them overnight in plenty of cold water with the bicarbonate of soda tablet that comes in the packet, or a rounded teaspoon of bicarb per 250 g. It softens the skins so they break down instead of staying leathery, and it is the difference between mushy peas and a bowl of tough peas.
Never salt dried peas at the start of cooking. Salt firms the skins and they can refuse to collapse no matter how long you simmer them. Salt generously at the very end instead.
Mushy peas should be thick enough to hold the mark of a spoon and not run into your chips. If yours are loose, keep the pan on a low heat and stir for a few more minutes rather than adding thickener.
Malt vinegar and white pepper are the traditional chip-shop finish, and a spoonful of mint sauce or a little chopped fresh mint is the pub version. Both cut through the starchiness in a way salt alone does not.
They thicken a lot as they cool and set almost solid in the fridge, so make them slightly looser than you want to serve them and loosen leftovers with a splash of boiling water when reheating.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the mushy peas out?

Yes, they are a side dish, not a component of anything, so fish and chips without them is simply fish and chips. If you want something in that slot, buttered peas, a lemony green salad or tartare sauce all do a similar job of cutting through the fried food, which is really what the peas are there for.

Are mushy peas the same as smashed peas?

No, though they are often confused. Mushy peas are made from dried marrowfat peas cooked until they disintegrate, so they are starchy, thick and mild. Smashed or crushed peas are fresh or frozen garden peas roughly mashed, so they are sweeter, brighter green and much looser. Both are good, but a chip shop serves the first.

What are marrowfat peas and can I use ordinary dried peas?

Marrowfat peas are garden peas left on the plant to mature and dry, which makes them large, starchy and floury, exactly the properties that let them collapse into a puree. Ordinary whole dried green peas behave similarly but are smaller and slower, and split peas are the easiest widely available stand-in.

Do I have to use bicarbonate of soda?

Not for split peas or frozen peas. For marrowfat peas it is close to essential, because the skins are tough and bicarb softens them so the peas break down. Without it you may simmer for two hours and still have distinct peas. Use about a teaspoon per 250 g in the soaking water and rinse before cooking.

Can I use tinned garden peas instead of marrowfat?

You can, but they mash into something thin and sweet rather than thick and starchy, because they are picked young. Drain them well, mash and cook the water off over a low heat, and add a spoonful of instant mash or a boiled potato to give the body they lack.

Related substitutes

More legumes substitutes

Mushy Peas substitute

Other mushy peas substitutes

2Dried green split peas

3Tinned processed or marrowfat peas, mashed

4Broad beans or fava beans, skinned and mashed

5Yellow split peas

6Frozen edamame, mashed