This fresh papaya salad is bright, crunchy, and packed with flavor. Lightly sautéed green beans, crisp cucumbers, sweet red peppers, and juicy papaya are all tossed together in a savory, slightly sweet larb-style dressing. It’s the perfect balance of textures and flavors, and it pairs beautifully with salmon, rice, or lettuce wraps for a complete meal.

Chef Tips

• Use mid-ripe papaya – Look for a papaya that’s orange and fragrant but still slightly firm to the touch. It should have a little sweetness but enough structure to hold up once tossed with the dressing. Fully ripe papaya will be too soft and fall apart easily in the salad.
• Don’t overcook the green beans – You want them vibrant and slightly crisp, not soft.
• Add dressing gradually – Start with a little dressing and add more as you toss to avoid a soggy salad.
• Top right before serving – Add crispy shallots just before serving so they stay crunchy.

Ingredient notes

• Papaya – Use a mid-ripe papaya: one that’s turning orange but still firm when pressed. It should be sweet but hold its shape in the salad. Avoid using fully ripe, soft papaya, which can turn mushy when tossed.
• Red Pepper – Adds sweetness and crunch. Feel free to mix up the colors.
• Green Beans – Quickly sautéed for a little bite and color.
• Persian Cucumbers – Crisp and mild, perfect for salads.
• Crispy Shallots – For crunch and savory depth. You can sub with fried onions.
• Larb Sauce – A mix of fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, water, garlic, and ginger that ties everything together.

Step by Step Instructions:

Step 1: Thinly slice the papaya and red pepper, cut the green beans into 2” pieces and half moon the persian cucumbers.

Step 3: Prepare the larb sauce – mix together the fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, water, minced garlic, and ginger. You can also blend this together in a food processor if you have.

Step 4 Heat a pan on medium high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of neutral oil and the chopped green beans. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then move this to a mixing bowl with the papaya.

Step 5: In a mixing bowl, combine the sliced papaya, red peppers, green beans, and cucumbers. Add a few tablespoons of the dressing and toss together. Taste, add more of the larb sauce as desired, then top with crispy shallots and serve alongside the salmon, rice, the little gem lettuce leaves, and mint.

Substitutions or modifications

Papaya Salad:

• ripe papaya – can sub mango
• red pepper – can skip or sub green, orange, or yellow pepper
• green beans – can skip or sub snap peas
• persian cucumbers – can sub English cucumber or Japanese cucumber
• crispy shallots – can skip or sub fried onions

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