BHA & BHT Free Classic Creamed Peas

Total time20 min

Prep time5 min

Cook time15 min

Creamed peas are one of those quietly comforting side dishes that deserve way more attention than they get — silky, subtly sweet, and warming in the best old-fashioned way. The sauce starts with a simple butter-and-flour roux that cooks until pale golden and faintly nutty, then whole milk is whisked in slowly until it thickens into something genuinely luxurious. A pinch of nutmeg and black pepper round out the flavor in a way that feels almost fancy for such an easy weeknight dish. For anyone avoiding synthetic preservatives like BHA and BHT, packaged and processed sauces can be a minefield — those additives show up in everything from shelf-stable gravies to flavored frozen vegetables. This recipe sidesteps all of that by building the cream sauce entirely from scratch with whole, recognizable ingredients. Frozen peas on their own are typically clean, and every other component here — butter, flour, milk, basic spices — is straightforward to source without hidden additives. The result is a side dish that's as reassuring in its ingredient list as it is in taste. Serve it immediately while the peas are still bright green and the sauce is at its creamiest.

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Ingredients

4 servings

2 tbsp unsalted butter
Land O Lakes Whipped Butter Salted - 8 Oz Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter Sticks Kerrygold Butter Pure Irish Unsalted - 8 Oz Kerrygold Pure Irish Unsalted Butter Vital Farms Pasture Raised Sea Salted Alfresco Butter - 8 Oz
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2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 tsp granulated sugar (optional)

Instructions

1
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foamy and just beginning to subside, about 1 minute.
2
Add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture turns pale golden and smells faintly nutty.

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