Southern Marinated Vegetable Salad
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
Southern Marinated Vegetable Salad Recipe – Put together this tangy, delicious, and refreshing side dish in just 20 minutes! It’s perfect to make ahead and keeps well in the fridge for at least a week.
Why We Love This Recipe
This tried-and-true Southern Marinated Vegetables Salad recipe was passed on to me from a friend who grew up deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It came from his sister, a notable southern cook, and is a truly unique salad dish I have never tasted before.
It includes a great combination of fresh, canned, and frozen vegetables. My rendition of her recipe has only two slight variations (in case you want to make the original shoepeg corn and pea salad.) I reduced the sugar and the marinade by half, and then added a little bit of garlic powder for depth of flavor.
This is a great make-ahead dish for summer parties and potlucks. It can be made several days in advance, and because the marinade is made with sugar and vinegar, can keep for up to 10+ days!
Ingredients You Need
For the Marinade –
- Apple cider vinegar (white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar)
- Granulated sugar
- Olive oil
- Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper
For the Vegetable Salad –
- Frozen or canned petit peas
- Canned shoepeg corn
- Chopped pimentos
- Sweet onion (or red onion)
- Celery
- Bell pepper (green, yellow, or red bell pepper)
How to Make Marinated Vegetable Salad
Set a small sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the apple cider vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, stir and remove from heat. Allow the marinade to cool as you prepare the salad ingredients.
Drain the petite peas, shoepeg corn, and pimentos. Finely dice one cup each of onion, celery, and bell pepper.
Set out a large bowl. Combine the canned and fresh vegetables in the bowl. Pour the cooled marinade over the top.
Mix well to combine.
Get the Complete (Printable) Southern Marinated Vegetable Salad Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least six hours, or overnight if you can.
Serving Suggestions for Marinated Vegetables
To serve, you can either drain off the marinade before serving, or serve it with a slotted spoon and allow people to spoon up as much marinade as desired to dunk with bread.
It is a great addition to the table at potluck, picnics, and cookouts! Enjoy the marinated vegetables as a side with summertime favorite main dishes like simple Grilled Chicken or BBQ Chicken, Hamburgers and hotdogs, or other crowd-pleasing proteins.
The fresh and crunchy veggies are also a tasty balance for other Southern side dishes. Serve with Corn Spoon Bread, Cheesy Hominy Casserole, or Stewed Okra and Tomatoes for a true comfort food meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely, you can, and you should! The veggies get infused with more and more flavor the longer everything sits in the marinade. I like to put the veg salad together at least a day or so before planning to serve.
This salad is terrific as-is, with no extra goodies necessary! However, if you like you can sprinkle on fresh chopped herbs like parsley right before serving.
This salad will keep well in the fridge for up to 10 days! Store it in a sealed container or cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and keep it chilled until ready to serve.
Sure you can! Finely diced carrots, cauliflower, chopped green beans, or broccoli florets are all good options.
Looking for More Southern Side Dish Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Retro Cornbread Salad
- Cool and Creamy Grape Salad
- Fresh Corn Succotash
- Perky English Pea Salad
- Southern Coleslaw Recipe
Southern Marinated Vegetable Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Marinade –
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
For the Vegetable Salad –
- 12 ounces petite peas frozen or canned
- 11 ounce can shoepeg corn
- 4 ounce jar chopped pimentos
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced bell pepper
Instructions
- Set a small sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the apple cider vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Mix well. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling stir and remove from heat. Allow the marinade to cool as you prepare the salad ingredients.
- Drain the petite peas, shoepeg corn, and pimentos. Finely dice one cup each of onion, celery, and bell pepper.
- Set out a large mixing bowl. Combine the canned and fresh vegetables in the bowl. Pour the cooled marinade over the top. Mix well.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least six hours, or overnight.
- To serve, drain off the marinade and serve as a side salad. Or serve the marinated vegetables in the marinade and allow people to spoon up extra marinade with the vegetables as a sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Making this recipe? Follow us on Instagram and tag @ASpicyPerspective so we can share what you’re cooking!
Made this up last night & it turned out delicious! In fact, my daughter is enjoying some right now & ask me if we can make it up again. That is a true testament to success! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
The US Dept. of Agriculture says that frozen vegetables must be cooked to 165° to avoid the risk of listeria.
From this website, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/news-events/news-press-releases/preparing-frozen-food, this is the recommendation:
“Even if you are preparing a cold salad, frozen produce must be cooked first.” You may want to make a note on preparing the frozen peas in this recipe. Just FWIW. :)
In all my 50 + years of cooking I have never heard of this. I’ve never done it, I’ve never known of anyone to do it, I’ve never heard of anyone getting “sick” from it, & I’ve never seen it in a recipe, not a single one – online, on TV or in a cookbook. I read between 4 to 8 recipes per day, so I have read thousands over the years. Not to mention all the cooking shows.
Does that make me an expert? Of course not! But I think if it was a serious issue we would have been alerted by now. Besides, cooking your vegetables for a cold salad would end up mushy. And who wants that?
As for her making a side note about the veggies; it’s not her duty or responsibility to do so. It’s not like she is jeopardizing your health by telling you to consume raw ground beef.
Whenever you make a recipe, a diy project, a makeover or whatever else tickles your fancy; do your research, use common sense, use good judgement & be responsible.
This southern marinated vegetable salad is awesome! A great way to use peas and corn. And the marinade tastes great! Nice side dish.
I love pairing this Southern marinated vegetable salad with any BBQ recipe. It is incredibly delicious and satisfying. I’m impressed!
Wow, this salad is incredible! Love the tangy flavors in it and how easy it was to prepare, thank you!