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Rice and pickle salad with peas

Name: Rice and pickle salad with peas
Yield: 2 lunch portions or 4 sides
Ingredients: 120 g dry long-grain white rice; Water, as directed on the rice packet; 100 g frozen peas; 100 g dill pickles, drained and diced; 1 small red bell pepper, deseeded and diced; 2 spring onions, finely sliced; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

A light rice salad with peas, dill pickles and red pepper, including a clear cooling plan for safely serving cooked rice cold.

By PickleRadio editorialUpdated 18 September 2026

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Long-grain rice salad with peas, diced pickles, red pepper, spring onion and dill.

In this guide5 sections

Plan the cooling before you cook

Yield: 2 lunch portions or 4 sides. Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook time: about 15 minutes, depending on the rice packet; allow additional cooling time.

Use long-grain rice for separate grains that mix easily with small pieces of vegetables. This salad has an oil-and-lemon dressing, so you can see and taste the rice rather than burying it in mayonnaise. Peas bring sweetness, while pickles supply the sharper bites.

Cook the rice close enough to the meal that you can keep track of it. The Food Standards Agency’s rice guidance calls for rapid cooling within one hour, followed by refrigeration and use within 24 hours. The clock starts with the rice, not when you add the dressing.

Prepare the pickles

Dice the drained pickles and red pepper while the rice cooks. Put the dressing ingredients in a bowl ready for the cooled rice, and keep the chopped vegetables in the fridge until needed.

This is a useful destination for the smaller pieces from a jar of refrigerator cucumber pickles. Keep the dice roughly the same size as the peas so the ingredients distribute evenly.

Diced dill pickles on a clean chopping board beside a knife and bowl.

Ingredients

120 g dry long-grain white rice
Water, as directed on the rice packet
100 g frozen peas
100 g dill pickles, drained and diced
1 small red bell pepper, deseeded and diced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Method

Cook rice according to the packet. Cook peas separately according to their packet and drain.
Cook the rice and peas separately according to their packets.
Spread rice in a clean shallow tray to cool rapidly, within 1 hour. Refrigerate once cool; cool and refrigerate the peas too. Do not leave rice cooling in its saucepan.
Spread the rice out for rapid cooling, then refrigerate as directed.
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice and pepper in the serving bowl.
Fold cooled rice and peas through the dressing, then add pickles, red pepper, spring onions and dill.
Add the chopped vegetables after the rice and peas have cooled.
Serve cold, or cover and refrigerate until the meal. Use within 24 hours of cooking the rice.

Take only the portion you need

Portion the salad before carrying it to the table so the remaining lunch portion can stay chilled. A fork is useful for loosening the grains; vigorous stirring with a heavy spoon can turn the salad sticky.

For a grain salad with a nuttier flavour, choose buckwheat and pickle salad. The recipe collection also has warm pickle dishes for days when you would rather eat straight from the pan.