Thai Salad Recipe

Today’s Thai salad allows you to experience the mesmerizing food culture of Thai people without the hustle and bustle.

Our chefs pound raw papaya, snappy green beans, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and other aromatics in a large bowl. To liven the taste of this salad, we drizzle a mixture of lime juice and fish sauce all over the vegetables, then toss them evenly. This home cooked-friendly recipe takes only 15 minutes to prepare and requires no prior cooking skills.

What Does Thai Salad Taste Like?

It’s not an overstatement to say Thai salad carries tons of flavor—tartness, saltiness, spiciness, and sweetness.

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Taking just one bite, the zestiness of the citrus juice will brighten your palate. Once the tang has mellowed, the sweet and slightly salty taste becomes more pronounced. You will also notice the moderate heat from the red jalapeño and the bird’s eye chili.

If you enjoy a bold-flavor salad, you won’t want to miss out on this Thai specialty.

Is This Recipe Healthy?

Our Thai salad offers a bulk of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.

In each 3 oz serving of papayas, you will gain approximately 52.2 mg of vitamin C and 40.1 µg of vitamin A. High vitamin A and C intake helps prevent vision issues, strengthen your immune system, and are necessary for the growth, development, and repair of all body tissues.

Cherry tomatoes, carrots, green beans, and peanuts also add an impressive amount of antioxidants to the nutrition profile of this salad. Specifically, Lycopene, extracted from ripe tomatoes, has been proven to bring various health benefits.

This low-calorie (134 calories per serving) and cholesterol-free salad will fit perfectly into your healthy meal plan.

Ingredients You Will Need

Here is the list of ingredients for a quick-and-easy Thai salad.

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• Green papaya: Strips of slightly translucent papaya add more texture to our dish. Unlike the intense sweetness of ripe papaya, a raw papaya possesses a cucumber-like flavor, allowing the seasonings you have prepared with it to shine.
• Long green beans: Also known as snake beans or Chinese green beans, these have a distinct earthy flavor that works well in salads, stews, stir-fries, and steamed dishes.
• Cherry tomatoes: A burst of umami flavor from the ripe tomatoes helps balance out the tanginess of the lime juice.
• Carrots: The earthiness and mild sweetness of julienned carrots works harmoniously with the other ingredients.
• Red jalapeño: Red jalapeño, which has a higher content of capsaicin than green jalapeño, spices up our Thai salad with its noticeable heat.
• Bird’s eye chili: This fruity, peppery chili has an intense spiciness that may be intimidating for beginners. However, once you get used to the spicy punch, you will fall in love with its excellent flavor.
• Dressing: The charm of Thai cuisine lies in the combination of fish sauce and lemon juice—the acidity of citrus mixed with the sweet and sour taste of the fish sauce.

What Else Can I Add to This Salad?

If you fancy some meat in your Thai salad, why not add some slices of chicken breast or ground beef chunks? This provides you with a plentiful amount of high-quality protein.

Other additions to your salad could be julienned green mangoes and purple onions for a hint of sourness and sweetness.

Replacing peanuts with your favorite nuts (cashews, almonds, etc.) is a great idea too.

How to Store the Leftovers

We don’t recommend freezing a tossed salad as the acidic dressing will turn your veggies mushy during the thawing process.

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Instead, place your leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the fridge. You can refrigerate your Thai salad for 2 to 3 days.

How to Make Thai Salad

5 from 1 vote

Today's fuss-free Thai salad with a vibrant color palette and a bold flavor profile will be a showstopper for many Asian food lovers.

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• prep TIME 15 mins
• total TIME 15 mins

• COURSE Side Dish
• CUISINE Thai
• SERVINGS
  4

  servings
• CALORIES 134 kcal

INGREDIENTS

1x2x3x

• 12 oz green papaya (peeled, deseeded, julienned)
• 4 oz long green beans (tips trimmed, cut into 3-inch pieces)
• 4 oz cherry tomatoes (halved)
• 2 oz carrots (peeled, julienned)
• 4 garlic cloves (peeled)
• 1 oz peanuts (roasted, crushed)
• 0.5 oz red jalapeño (diagonally sliced)
• 1/4 cup cilantro (roughly chopped)
• 1 bird’s eye chili
• 1 fl oz lime juice
• 2 tsp Thai fish sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

Prep:

1

Peel the skin from the green papaya. Cut the papaya in half lengthwise. Use a metal spoon to scrape out the seeds and discard them. Julienne each half of the papaya with a julienne peeler.

2

Trim off the tips of the long green beans, then slice them into 3-inch pieces.

3

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half lengthwise.

4

Chop off the top and the root end part of the carrot. Peel off and discard the skin. Cut the carrot in half—crosswise, then slice those in half again—lengthwise. Julienne the carrot.

5

Remove the skin from the garlic cloves.

6

Air-fry peanuts at 350°F for 5 minutes, then crush them roughly.

7

Chop off and discard the red jalapeño stem. Slice it diagonally.

8

Roughly chop the cilantro.

Cook:

1

Pound the aromatics, red jalapeño, and chili: In a large mixing bowl, add the 4 peeled garlic cloves, 0.5 oz red jalapeño, 1 bird’s eye chili, and 2 tbsp sugar. Crush them finely until they reach the consistency of a paste.

2

Combine tomatoes and green beans: Continue by adding 4 oz cherry tomatoes and 4 oz long green beans into the bowl. Crush the tomatoes and green beans until slightly bruised.

3

Incorporate other ingredients: Add 12 oz julienned green papaya, 2 oz julienned carrot, 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro, 1 fl oz lime juice, and 2 tsp Thai fish sauce. Gently crush and toss until all the ingredients are well mixed.

4

Garnish and serve: Transfer your desired portion onto a platter and sprinkle on the crushed peanuts. Enjoy.

NUTRITION

Nutrition Facts

How to Make Thai Salad

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 134Calories from Fat 35

% Daily Value*

Fat 3.9g

6%

Saturated Fat 0.6g

4%

Sodium 269mg

12%

Potassium 415mg

12%

Carbohydrate 23g

8%

Fiber 4g

17%

Sugar 15g

17%

Protein 4g

8%

Vitamin A 3624IU

72%

Vitamin C 73mg

88%

Calcium 51mg

5%

Iron 1mg

6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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