Have frozen peas gotten starchier?

April 20, 2024 4:41 PM

I've been cooking with frozen peas for the last twenty years. Lately I find that instead of the sweet, tender peas I'm used to, they're inevitably starchy and tough. This seems to happen whether I just defrost and warm them, or cook them for the ~5 minutes the package suggest, so I don't think it's a matter of over or undercooking. Different brands, too. Has anyone else noticed this? Does anyone know the cause?
posted by umwelt to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

I've noticed this and have switched to buying petite or baby peas when I can find them, which seem more like I expect.

Not sure of the cause. Maybe delays in picking or processing? Tougher varieties for shipping?
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:35 PM on April 20 [7 favorites]

Yes, I've noticed this too. The last frozen batch I got from Aldi were big, tough, bland, and starchy. I've had more consistent positive experiences with the Whole Foods 365 Organic Petite Green Peas.
posted by rachaelfaith at 5:40 PM on April 20

Yes, I have noticed it too. I chalked it up to Everything Being Worse Now. I used to buy store brand and now look for the fanciest brand of petit pois.
posted by HotToddy at 5:53 PM on April 20 [8 favorites]

I've noticed it also, but it's been hit and miss between packages, not consistent, and across several brands.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:02 PM on April 20 [1 favorite]

For me (not in the US) it's specific to one brand, which happens to be the cheapest one and has been that way for at least 5 years; so far the others have been fine. These are regular peas, not petite.
posted by trig at 12:00 AM on April 21

One more vote yes, and it's been since the pandemic. I've always bought the petit pois, but even they seem to be less fresh. Everything Is Worse.
posted by mumimor at 12:17 AM on April 21 [3 favorites]

As an input for the File Drawer Problem: the Fred Meyer Kroger frozen "Green Peas" seem OK still.
posted by away for regrooving at 12:52 AM on April 21

I thought that the peas just tasted a bit strange, so I went to petit pois myself (in the UK). Not sure when this started because I didn't regularly cook with peas in the UK until around 2021.
posted by Ms. Moonlight at 2:59 AM on April 21

Also in the UK, also switched permanently to name brand petits pois a few years ago after noticing that all the larger peas, even premium brands, started to have a horrible mealy texture. Current-day petits pois still seem to have the soft non-grainy texture and skin pop that I remember all peas having when I was a kid.
posted by terretu at 3:29 AM on April 21 [1 favorite]

I‘ve generally only been buying frozen petit pois since I started to buy my own peas and so far they remain sweet and pop. I don’t even feel the need to cook them for some applications like adding them to salads.
posted by koahiatamadl at 3:32 AM on April 21

Cheap generic Australian frozen peas are still good.
posted by flabdablet at 3:36 AM on April 21

Frankly, I think the quality of frozen veggies in general has worsened.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:28 AM on April 21 [2 favorites]