Crunchy raw chayote is tossed with sweet papaya and mint in a sensational, juicy vinaigrette. This chayote salad only takes 20 minutes to prepare and is loaded with toasted sunflower seeds for a boost of plant protein.
Chayote, also called choko or sayote, is a crisp fruit with a mild flavor that is usually prepared as a vegetable. It grows as a lush and prolific vine in warm climates, and we make sure to grow it year-round for all our favorite raw and cooked chayote recipes.
📋 Ingredients
- Papaya - Choose firm green papayas with only small patches of yellow.
- Chayote - Light to medium green with firm, unblemished skin that's not hard or coarse.
- Calamansi limes - Are orange when ripe and taste like a cross between tangerine and lime.
- Sunflower seeds - Use raw, unseasoned ones so you can fresh roast them.
- Chili powder - Use mild chili powder for zing without overpowering the salad.
🔪 Steps
- Toast sunflower seeds in a dry skillet until golden.
- Spiral cut, julienne, or shred chayote coarsely.
- Slice papaya, vegetables, and mint thinly and chop cilantro.
- Whisk calamansi dressing and combine with salad.
🔪 Firm papaya
Most papayas you find at the market aren't ripe yet. On the other hand, they are often too soft to make a traditional Thai-style green papaya salad.
That’s precisely what is so terrific about this dish. You can use papaya that is firm and sturdy but has ripened a little past the dark green, rock-hard stage.
Look for a papaya that is light green with only small patches of yellow. At this in-between stage, you can cut it with a sharp kitchen knife.
The mild sweetness of the papaya compliments the other ingredients in the chayote salad. The inside flesh should be firm and hold its shape when sliced.
🥒 Subsitutions
Chayote and papaya are essential for this crave-worthy raw chayote salad, and I highly recommend including fresh mint.
From there, you can make the following substitutions if convenient for your recipe. Your chayote salad will still be crunchy, sweet, juicy, and delicious.
- Red peppers - any color of sweet pepper is fine.
- Green onions - sweet Maui yellow onions, as well as Vidalia and Walla Walla, work well.
- Cilantro - if you are like others who dislike cilantro, try substituting Thai basil.
- Sunflower seeds - pumpkin seeds and pinenuts make delicious variations.
- Olive oil - can be substituted with mild-tasting vegetable oil.
- Chili powder - for a less spicy or piquant dressing, use paprika.
- Calamansi lime - mix equal parts tangerine and lime juice if you don't have calamansi.
💭 FAQ
Yes! This raw chayote salad recipe only contains a small amount of oil, so it works well to leave it out if you prefer.
Yes. You can make the chayote salad ahead of time for convenience. Store the tossed salad and dressing separately and add the dressing just before serving. The salad will keep for 3 days in a covered container in the refrigerator.
🍲 More chayote recipes
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📖 Recipe
Crunchy Raw Chayote Salad With Papaya
Ingredients
Topping
- 4 TB raw sunflower seeds
Dressing:
- 2 TB ripe calamansi lime juice
- 4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp. mild chili powder
- ½ tsp. sea salt
Salad
- 2 cups spiral cut chayote, at least ¼ inch thick
- ½ cup julienne sliced red pepper
- 1 cup julienne sliced under-ripe papaya
- ½ cup sliced green onion
- ¼ cup sliced fresh mint
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
Toast sunflower seeds
- Toast sunflower seeds and hold them aside to cool while preparing the chayote salad.
Make dressing
- Whisk dressing ingredients in a small bowl or shake in a jar. Place in the refrigerator while preparing the chayote salad.
Make chayote salad
- Peel chayote and cut it into zoodles with a spiralizer. Choose the blade that makes ¼-inch cuts. Or, use a knife to slice chayote into ¼-inch julienne slices or grate on the largest holes of a box grater.
- Peel and remove seeds from papaya and slice into ¼ inch julienne slices.
- Slice red pepper into ¼ inch julienne slices.
- Thinly slice fresh mint and green onions. Chop cilantro.
Serve
- Plate chayote salad portions and drizzle dressing over the top just before serving. Top with toasted sunflower seeds.
Notes
- Choose firm papaya that is mostly green with just a little yellow showing at the stem end and in patches elsewhere. You want it to hold its shape in the salad but be turning orange inside and lightly sweet.
- Use mild chili powder.
- Red peppers - any color sweet pepper is fine.
- Green onions - sweet Maui yellow onions as well as Vidalia and Walla Walla work well.
- Cilantro - if you are like others who dislike cilantro try substituting Thai basil.
- Sunflower seeds - pumpkin seeds and pinenuts make delicious variations.
- Olive oil - can be substituted with mild-tasting vegetable oil.
- Chili powder - for a less spicy or piquant dressing, use paprika.
- Calamansi lime - mix equal parts tangerine and lime juice if you don't have calamansi.
- Slice or spiral cut chayote ¼ inch thick to prevent the dressing from making chayote soggy.
- Whisk dressing separately and hold aside while tossing salad. Add dressing just before serving.
- If making the salad ahead of time, store dressing and salad separately. Store up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
- Drizzle dressing over individually plated salads just before serving. This keeps the salad ingredients crisp and crunchy.
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