mushy peas

1 4.5

A soft side dish made from peas cooked until thick, often served with fish and chips

noun
/ˈmʌʃi piːz/

: guisantes machacados

After ordering the fish and chips, he eagerly anticipated the mushy peas that came with the meal.

So just French fries, mushy peas and gravy.

Examples

The traditional meal includes mushy peas, which add a unique texture and flavor to the dish.
In England, many people enjoy fish and chips served with mushy peas on the side.
So just French fries, mushy peas and gravy.

First We Feast
You know, I mean, it's not the mushy peas that my mother used to serve us out of the can, right, Which we made what made us all hate vegetables.
I didn't like curry, mushy peas.

Killer Weekend (2004)
To start, followed by the salmon and leek fish cake with mushy peas, chips and chive cream.

A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012)

How Smooth

pea soup

3 1.7

mushy peas

1 4.5

Surface Forms

mushy peas singular

mushy peas plural

Morphology

mushy + pea

The meaning 'peas that are soft and easily mashed' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'mushy' (soft, easily mashed) with 'peas' (the vegetable). This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase describing texture/food and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents, even if they may not know the specific cultural pairing with fish and chips.

Etymology

Mushy peas comes from the simple look and feel of the food: the peas are soaked and boiled until they become mushy ('soft and almost like a thick mash'), and the peas are the vegetable used. So the name just describes this classic British side dish of soft peas often served with fish and chips.