Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Grey Peas with Bacon
Nutty grey peas simmered soft and tossed with crisp bacon and fried onion, Latvia's unofficial national dish.
Latvian · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 60 min
~257 cal · 8g protein · 7g carbs · 22g fat · 1g fiber · 3g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Pelekie zirni ar speki, grey peas with bacon, is often called Latvia's national dish, and it carries a piece of folklore with it: tradition says you must finish every last pea in the bowl, because any you leave behind will turn into tears. It is plain food taken seriously, a marker of Latvian identity as much as a supper.
At its centre are the grey peas themselves, a large, earthy Baltic relative of the field pea with a distinctive nutty flavour, boiled until tender. They are married to onions and bacon fried golden, the smoky fat coating the peas, and often served with a bowl of soured milk or kefir alongside.
It is winter food and Christmas food above all, the kind of simple, filling dish that sustained families through long, dark Baltic seasons. Humble as it looks, grey peas with bacon is enough of a fixture that Latvians will tell you no festive table is quite complete without it.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups grey peas (or dried marrowfat peas), soaked overnight
8 oz smoked bacon or speck, diced
2 large onions, chopped
to taste black pepper
a splash buttermilk or kefir, to serve (optional)
Instructions
1
Simmer the soaked peas in unsalted water for about 45 minutes until tender but not falling apart; drain.
2
Fry the diced bacon (or smoked mushrooms) until the fat renders and it crisps.
3
Add the onions to the pan and cook until soft and golden.
4
Fold the drained peas into the bacon and onion and warm through, seasoning with plenty of pepper.
5
Serve hot, traditionally with a glass of cold kefir on the side.
Riga winter tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Riga. Riga is devoted to grey peas with smoked bacon and onion, a dish so tied to Latvian identity it is eaten at midwinter. Rye bread, sour cream, dill, cold beet soup, and smoked fish from the Baltic define the everyday table.
🗺️
Latvia. Midsummer has its own cheese. Janu siers is fresh curd heated with milk, butter, eggs and a handful of caraway, pressed into a round yellow wheel that stands for the sun, and it is eaten with beer through the shortest night of the year. It holds EU Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status, as do a Latvian rye bread and the carrot buns called sklandrausi.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Latvia
Sklandrausis (Rye Carrot Tart)Little hand-raised rye pastry cases filled with potato and sweet spiced carrot purees, baked until set, an ancient Livonian specialty.
Frikadeļu ZupaA light, clear broth with tender meatballs and vegetables, a homey Latvian everyday soup.
Rupjmaizes KārtojumsA layered trifle of toasted rye breadcrumbs, tart cranberry, and whipped cream, a uniquely Latvian dessert.
Browse all Latvia recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Latvia meal
Rupjmaizes KārtojumsDessert
Frikadeļu ZupaLunch
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Grey Peas with Bacon?
Nutty grey peas simmered soft and tossed with crisp bacon and fried onion, Latvia's unofficial national dish.
Where does Grey Peas with Bacon come from?
Grey Peas with Bacon is a Latvian dish from Riga, Latvia.
Can Grey Peas with Bacon be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Grey Peas with Bacon recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Grey Peas with Bacon safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Grey Peas with Bacon take to make?
About 70 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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