If you grew up in Southern California – or you’ve ever made the pilgrimage to Buena Park for a plate of fried chicken and a slice of boysenberry pie – you already know that Knott’s Berry Farm is about a lot more than roller coasters. Long before it was a theme park, it was literally a berry farm, and the chicken dinners Mrs. Knott started serving on her wedding china during the Great Depression are still the stuff of Southern California legend. This pea salad is also the stuff of legends. Cool, creamy, a little sweet, a little tangy, and loaded with good stuff, it’s the kind of thing people make a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm for. But it’s also the thing you can bring to the potluck that disappears first! Here’s how you make it.

The History of Knott’s Berry Farm and Their Food

Walter and Cordelia Knott started out selling berries and pies from a roadside stand near Buena Park back in the early 1920s. In 1932, Walter got his hands on a strange, floppy hybrid berry from a farmer named Rudolph Boysen, a cross between a blackberry, raspberry, and loganberry, and started growing it himself. He named it the boysenberry, and it’s still Knott’s signature crop today. Then, in 1934, to help the family get through the Great Depression, Cordelia started serving fried chicken dinners on her own wedding china for sixty-five cents a plate. People loved it. By 1940, the Knotts were serving 4,000 chicken dinners a single Sunday, and Walter started building little Old West displays to entertain the crowds waiting in line. That “little display” eventually became the whole theme park. (Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant is still open today, if you’re ever in the area… it’s worth the wait!)

What Ingredients Do You Need for Knott’s Berry Farm Pea Salad?

For the salad, you’ll need:

• Frozen peas.
• Sweet pickles.
• Red onion.
• Celery.
• Mild cheddar cheese.
• Red bell pepper.
• Hard-boiled eggs.

And for that dreamy dressing:

• Mayonnaise (yes, all three cups — this salad feeds a crowd!)
• White sugar.
• Sweet pickles and their juice.
• Minced bell pepper.

How Do You Make Knott’s Berry Farm Pea Salad?

Start by rinsing your frozen peas under hot water right in a colander. This thaws them quickly and keeps them from turning your whole salad into a soupy mess later. Drain them well.

From there, it’s all assembly. Toss the peas into a big serving bowl along with your chopped pickles, onion, celery, cheese cubes, bell pepper, and hard-boiled eggs. (I like to use a bowl bigger than I think I need — this recipe makes a lot, which is exactly what you want for a potluck or a backyard barbecue.)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dressing: mayonnaise, sugar, pickle juice, your minced pickles and bell pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour that dressing right over the salad and toss until everything’s coated and glossy.

Cover it and pop it in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, longer if you can manage it. The flavors only get better as they mingle, I promise. Enjoy!