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Green Papaya Salad - this healthy vegan salad is great for appetizers!
4.67 from 18 votes
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Servings: 6
Author: Lisa Lin

Green Papaya Salad (Vegan)

This salad is great for making ahead. It will keep for 1 to 2 days in the fridge. Wait until you are ready to serve the salad to mix in the chopped mint and toasted sunflower seeds. Recipe adapted from the Green Papaya Salad in Cameron Stauch's Vegetarian Viet Nam.
Prep Time25 minutes
Total Time25 minutes

Ingredients

Dressing

  • 1/3 cup rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped shallots, optional
  • 1 to 2 bird's eye chili pepper, Thai chili pepper, sliced (see note 1)

Salad

  • 1 medium green papaya, you'll need about 4 1/2 cups shredded green papaya
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
  • 1 to 2 persian cucumbers, julienned
  • 1/3 cup loosely packed mint leaves, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

Instructions

  • Prepare the dressing: Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and set aside.
  • Prepare the papaya: Slice off the ends of the green papaya. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the outer skin. Hold the peeled papaya with one hand and tap the papaya with a sharp knife with the other other. You should see shallow knife marks on the papaya. Carefully slice off a layer of the papaya (where you have been tapping), creating green papaya shreds. Watch this video for the technique. If this method seems a bit dangerous or tiring to you, see the notes above for an alternative shredding method. You only need about 4 1/2 cups of shredded green papaya.
  • Toss the salad: In a large bowl, mix the green papaya, carrots, cucumber, mint and sunflower seeds. Pour in the dressing that's been marinating and toss to coat the vegetables with the dressing. Serve immediately.

Notes

  1. These chiles are quite spicy, so 1 is usually good enough for me. Feel free to go for 2 if you love the spice!
  2. You'll probably have a lot of dressing settling at the bottom of the mixing bowl. I usually drain the dressing and save it for another salad.
  3. You can also add other vegetables to this dressing, such as tomatoes and bell peppers.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 110kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.3g | Protein: 2.6g | Fat: 3.6g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 489mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10.7g
Did you make this recipe?Tag @hellolisalin or leave a star rating and comment on the blog!
Cuisine: Asian
Category: Appetizer