Marinated Vegetable Salad with Shoepeg Corn

This old-fashioned marinated vegetable salad is full of peas, green beans, crunchy vegetables, and pimentos tossed in a tangy marinade.

Marinated Vegetable Salad with Shoepeg Corn

I’ve heard people call this recipe Shoepeg Salad, and on my mother’s handwritten recipe, she simply calls it Christmas Salad.

That always made sense to me, not just because of the red and green colors, but because it was one of the side dishes we had every Christmas Day.

We also always had Jalapeño Cheddar Grits, and let me tell you, this marinated vegetable salad alongside those grits is an unbeatable combination.

Even though I grew up eating this salad during the holidays, it really is a great year-round side dish. With the peas and all the fresh crunch, it actually feels a little bit like spring to me.

I love these old-fashioned classic recipes. This one probably came from a Junior League cookbook.

I know it was a staple at potlucks and parties for years, and for good reason! It comes together easily and only gets better as it sits.

Recipe Notes

If you’re looking at the photo of my mother’s original handwritten recipe, this version is not exactly the same. I’ve made several changes, including the addition of the shoepeg corn.

I also found that the original recipe made too much marinade.

In fact, for Christmas, my mom triples the vegetables but keeps the marinade amounts the same. For a single batch, I reduced the amount of marinade and cut back on the sugar.

I almost always use Le Sueur very small peas for this salad, but when I was preparing to photograph the recipe I went shopping for ingredients right before an Arkansas snowstorm and the store was surprisingly low on peas!

The recipe worked just fine with a different brand.

Ingredients:

• 1 can French style green beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can Le Sueur very small peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can shoepeg corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 jar pimentos, drained and rinsed
• 1 small onion, finely diced (or 1/2 of a large onion)
• 3-4 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 1 tsp dry mustard

How to Make Marinated Vegetable Salad

• Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, peas, green beans, corn, and pimentos to a large bowl.
• In a smaller bowl, whisk together the salt, sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil, celery seed, and dry mustard.
• Pour the marinade over the vegetables and toss to coat. Refrigerate and allow the flavors to come together. This salad only gets better with time.

This classic marinated vegetable salad is a perfect make-ahead side dish for holidays, potlucks, and summer gatherings.

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for stopping by.