‘Alive, fruity and with a soft texture’: the best supermarket frozen peas, tasted and rated

The sweetness of a pea is more than just a desirable taste; it’s an indication of a pea picked at the perfect moment. As the sugars convert into starch, peas lose their sweetness rapidly after picking, leading to a less sweet, more fibrous and lower-quality product.

That’s why high-quality peas are picked, blanched and frozen as quickly as possible, usually all within two and a half hours. That said, other factors such as soil, seed quality, transportation and a stable freezer temperature all affect a frozen pea’s quality.

All the peas scored well for taste, but their texture was rather more varied. To measure the sweetness of the peas, I used a Brix refractometer, a tool designed for measuring the sugar content of fruit and veg. I awarded an extra point to peas with a Brix rating of 10 or more. I also scored them on cost, country of origin and organic status.

The best supermarket frozen peas

Best overall:
M&S British garden peas

★★★★☆

Bright green peas with a firm texture, a sweet, floral flavour and the grower (East Coast Viners) clearly labelled on the packet. Packed and frozen within 90 minutes, which contributes to their superb texture and 10.7 Brix sweetness.

Best bargain:
Asda garden peas

★★★★☆

A sweet, bright green British pea with a well-balanced, quintessentially pea-y flavour – alive, fruity and with a soft texture. Very small to medium in size and well frozen; at 10.8, among the highest Brix ratings in this test, too.

And the rest …

Sainsbury’s garden peas

★★★★☆

Small to medium-sized, sweet, ripe British peas. In good condition, plump and with only a few splits. Taut, fresh-looking skins once cooked, and al dente with a distinct, aromatic, fresh flavour and a strong 10.5 Brix score.

Co-op British garden peas

★★★★☆

A perfect batch of small to medium-sized frozen peas, all ripe, plump and in great condition. A clean, firm bite, a sweet but rounded flavour, and a decent 10.5 Brix score.

Essential Waitrose garden peas

★★★★☆

Perfectly frozen, small to large plump British peas. Nicely taut skins, a firm bite, a balanced, classic sweet pea flavour and a good Brix score of 10.5.

The Grower’s Harvest garden peas

★★★☆☆

Earthy, minerally, dense peas with a tender texture. Satisfying, too, but a little let down by a low-ish Brix score of 9.5. Perfectly frozen and uniform in size. No obvious country of origin.

Freshona British garden peas

★★☆☆☆

A firm, fatty texture with an underlying sweetness and a 9.7 Brix score. Uniform, medium-sized peas with a touch of freezer burn, but a good product for the price.

Morrisons British garden peas

★★☆☆☆

Perfectly frozen, uniform and plump medium-large peas. A touch mealy, but a nice, firm texture and a Brix of 9.7. Cooked evenly with taut skins.

Four Seasons British garden peas

★☆☆☆☆

Very small to medium-sized peas. The bag was a bit bashed up and icy, but the contents tasted bright and flavourful. A very low Brix score of 7.1, though that was possibly affected by freezer damage, which also gave the peas a soft, watery texture.

Birds Eye garden peas

☆☆☆☆☆

Frostbitten, slightly bashed-up and overpriced small peas. Soft in texture, too, and with a starchy and low Brix score of 8.

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