This Papaya Salad with mint, cucumbers, avocados, scallions and cilantro and a sweet Asian dressing is a must try! If you haven’t tried a Papaya Salad recipe before, you’re in for a treat! While you can flavor the salad with different dressings, I preferred this inspired Thai Papaya salad over any other. Refreshing, crunchy and so sweet!
You don’t need to be a fan of Asian food to appreciate this Papaya Salad, it’s so so good and goes with any meal you’re making! Imagine pairing it with this Beef Tips And Rice (video recipe), or a Spicy Ramen Bowl or even a Sushi Burrito!
You can even adapt it to this Thai Salad With Lamb And Peanut Dressing or Korean Fried Chicken Strips. So let’s talk about it!
Thai Papaya Salad
The very first time I had Papaya Salad was at my sister in law and she had bought a beautiful ripe papaya for it. At that point we contemplated a papaya salsa like this Chicken Fajita with Mango Salsa. But we thought let’s try something new like an inspired Thai Papaya Salad.
Imagine sweet papaya julienne peeler peel, sliced avocados, mint leaves, cilantro, cucumber sticks, crunchy cashews and a spicy Asian dressing. The truth is I used a sweet papaya rather than a green unripe papaya for this recipe, and I preferred that contrast more.
It’s seriously super simple to make. Let’s start with the dressing.
Papaya Salad Dressing
Ingredients for the dressing are :
- Rice vinegar
- Honey
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Soy Sauce
- Chilli Sauce
- Salt
- Fish sauce (optional)
- Lime juice
Simply mix all together and it’s ready.
How to Make Papaya Salad Recipe
Gather your shredded ingredients.
- shred papaya (green papaya or sweet)
- Thinly slice cucumbers
- Mint leaves
- Cilantro leaves
- Shredded Scallions
- Shredded Cabbage (optional for crunch)
- Cashews (toasted)
- Green beans (optional)
Now you’ll assemble all these ingredients on a plate.
Drizzle with a good hefty salad dressing and toss.
So GOOD!!
Papaya Salad Recipe Tips
- Choose either a green papaya or sweet papaya and use a Julienne shredder or thinly slice.
- Try to thinly slice or julienne all other veggies so the salad looks more appealing.
- Make the dressing ahead of time (up to 3 days) and make extra to store! This dressing is delicious!
- Add crunch to the salad by using cabbage
- Cashews are optional as they can be swapped for peanuts. Toasted is always better than not when it comes to nuts.
- Serve this with a delicious Asian dinner like sticky rice and beans.
- This is a great recipe and probably my go to sweet fruity salad recipe!
Papaya Salad
This Papaya Salad with mint, cucumbers, avocados, scallions and cilantro and a sweet Asian dressing is a must try! If you haven't tried a Papaya Salad recipe before, you're in for a treat!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 370 kcal
Ingredients
Papaya Salad
- 1 papaya peeled, deseeded and cut up julienne into thin slices
- 2 small cucumbers julienned into thin slices
- 2 avocados peeled, cut into thin slices
- 3 scallions sliced thinly into strips the same size as the papaya and cucumbers
- 1 cup mint leaves
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
- 2/3 cup cashews toasted is best
Papaya Salad Dressing
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 Tablespoons chilli sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 Teaspoon Finely minced ginger
Instructions
-
Start by making the dressing.
-
Add all dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix. Set aside.
-
Arrange the salad ingredients.
-
Peel, and slice Julienne all the veggies except the mint and cilantro. It's best to leave them whole leaves.
-
Arrange all the salad ingredients in a large bowl or on a flat plate (I prefer a flat plate as it's more visually appealing for the salad colors to shine).
-
Drizzle the salad dressing over the salad.
-
Sprinkle the cashews.
-
Toss well.
-
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Papaya Salad Recipe Tips
- Choose either a green papaya or sweet papaya and use a Julienne shredder or thinly slice.
- Try to thinly slice or julienne all other veggies so the salad looks more appealing.
- Make the dressing ahead of time (up to 3 days) and make extra to store! This dressing is delicious!
- Add crunch to the salad by using cabbage
- Cashews are optional as they can be swapped for peanuts. Toasted is always better than not when it comes to nuts.
- Serve this with a delicious Asian dinner like sticky rice and beans.
- This is a great recipe and probably my go to sweet fruity salad recipe!
Nutrition Facts
Papaya Salad
Amount Per Serving
Calories 370
Calories from Fat 225
% Daily Value*
Fat 25g38%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
Monounsaturated Fat 15g
Sodium 224mg10%
Potassium 1080mg31%
Carbohydrates 36g12%
Fiber 11g46%
Sugar 17g19%
Protein 8g16%
Vitamin A 1680IU34%
Vitamin C 67mg81%
Calcium 93mg9%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe is delicious. I was unsure if the chili sauce in the dressing should be a chili garlic sauce, a Sriracha sauce, a sweet chili sauce or? I made it with a sweet chili sauce, which was very good
This recipe is so amazing. My hubby and I have it down after a few tries. I prep the veg and he’s on grinding duty! Just wondering if you have a mango salad recipe and whether it’s different from this salad?
Love the sweet flavor of this salad but my favorite part is actually the dressing! Will be making that time and time again!
Such a delicious and simple salad that we just love! I can’t wait to make this again for our family gathering this weekend. Everyone is going to just love this and I can’t wait to share this recipe with them!
Such a great colorful salad. I love the combination of fruit and veggies for this salad. Thanks for the photo tutorial too along with the recipe.
I’ve never had papaya before and this salad was intriguing to try, and I lucked out at the store. Made this salad to go with our dinner and we just loved it, so refreshing and very yummy! I’ll definitely make this salad again!
Such a colourful fresh looking salad. Love the crunch of the cashew nuts.
So colourful and delicious – love it!
I just love this recipe, we are surrounded by papaya trees and never have enough ideas to use it all!