Fed up with boring green salad? Try this fresh and spicy papaya salad with smoky roasted peanuts and a lime chilli dressing. Fresh, vibrant and healthy.
When it’s treat night we often get a takeout from an Asian place downtown. They serve a great vegan Puffed Tofu in Coconut Curry Sauce. It is delicious and I always order their papaya salad to go with it.
Last time I ate it, Idecided that I wanted to recreate my own version of the salad at home so I could eat it more often!
My version isn’t exactly the same but it is super tasty and brings together similar flavours and textures. I hope that you will enjoy it.
This Spicy Papaya Salad is
zingy
fresh
aromatic
with a bit of heat and a bit of crunch from a sprinkling of sweet & smoky roasted peanuts.
When you are shopping for your papayas make sure you buy nice bright green ones. I know that in most instances ripe fruit is best, but in this salad we want unripe green papaya.
This salad keeps well in the fridge for a few days but I advise that you keep the peanuts separate in a sealed jar until you serve, otherwise they tend to go a bit soggy.
If you love salads that are a bit our of the ordinary then be sure to check out my Minted Watermelon Salad.
Spicy Papaya Salad
Ingredients
- 62g | 1/2 cup of raw peanuts
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (use chilli powder or regular paprika if you don't have this)
- pinch of salt
- 2 green papayas
- 1 - 2 red chillis finely chopped (use as much as you are comfortable with and remove the seeds if you want to limit the heat)
- 1 handful of fresh mint
- 1 handful of fresh cilantro
- juice of 1 large lime
Instructions
- Add the peanuts to a small bowl.
- Add the maple syrup, smoked paprika and a pinch of salt and stir well to coat.
- Heat a small pan over a medium heat.
- Once hot pour in your peanuts and roast over a medium heat for 4 - 5 minutes, shaking them around every minute or two.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Cut your papaya in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
- Shred your papaya into matchstick style pieces or if you have a spiralizer spaghetti type strands are nice.
- Put the papaya pieces in a large bowl.
- Chop your herbs finely and add them to the papaya.
- Add the red chilli.
- Roll the lime hard across the work surface a few times to release the juice a bit before you cut it. Squeeze the lime juice over the salad and stir well to combine.
- Serve with the roasted smoky peanuts sprinkled over the top.
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Luci says
Sorry if this is a stupid question but… green papayas? Are they just the green ones at the shop? :) Thanks!
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Luci, yes just the regular papayas at the shop. They tend to go yellowy when they are really ripe but the green and not ripe ones are what you need for this recipe.
goodiegodmother says
This! I love the flavors and just about everything that comes with a spicy papaya salad. Pinned to make once I find some green papayas.
A Virtual Vegan says
Let me know how you like it when you make it..it’s one of my favourite salads at the moment!