Papaya Salsa
on Aug 08, 2018, Updated Oct 11, 2020
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Papaya Salsa is a wonderful appetizer or side dish that is perfect for many foods, but especially grilled food and smoker recipes!
I was looking for some papaya recipes to accompany a grilled jerk chicken and I totally hit paydirt with this simple papaya salsa. If you want to mix up your salsa game a bit, then you are in luck!
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Table of Contents
What is Papaya Salsa?
Confession time. This is my first of what I feel certain is going to be many papaya recipes. Holy delicious! You can actually taste the fun in your mouth with this papaya salsa
Serve it with these flour tortilla chips and you have a match made in culinary heaven!
What’s in it?
The base ingredients for this papaya salsa are papaya, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro.
You can add a variety of flavors and spices to this papaya recipe. Simply adjust the amounts to your taste. Some suggestions include.
- Ginger
- Shallots
- Scallions
- Chili Pepper
- Salt and Pepper
How to Papaya Salsa
Use a small bowl and squeeze the juice out of a couple of lime. That tangy goodness is going to help the other ingredients get better acquainted.
Next, chop up everything else except for the papaya and toss those ingredients in with the fresh lime juice. Mascerating the harsher aromatics like the garlic and scallions will take away their sharp edge and replace it with a mellow and pleasing finish.
Most of us have ground cloves in our pantry and you may even have whole cloves sitting there as well. You can use the ground cloves if you’re in a pinch but you’ll get a whole higher element of taste by using freshly crushed cloves instead. How do you crush whole cloves? Enter the rolling pin, into this recipe process!
Slice the papaya in half, scrape out the seeds and then peel the skin off with a pairing knife. Experiment and see if it’s easier for you to skin the papaya before slicing it in half. Doing it as I show in the photo above works best for me. The next thing you’ll do is dice the papaya into chunks, about a half-inch in size.
You’re almost finished at this point which is a good thing because things really take a sharp turn toward the delicious side. Grab a chip or tasting spoon and have a little sample of what’s in the bowl. Need more salt? A few more cloves? A touch more of cilantro? How about a little more ground pepper. As I always say when in the kitchen, “Make it your own!”
Looking for more Papaya Recipes? Here are just a few that I think you might like!
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Papaya Salsa Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 Papaya, Peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2 chunks
- 2 Scallions, fine chop
- 3 Garlic Cloves, fine chop
- 1 Shallot, fine chop
- 2 Limes, for fresh lime juice
- 1 pinch Kosher salt
- Black pepper, to taste
- 3 tbsp Cilantro, fine chop
Instructions
- Squeeze lime juice into a small bowl. then, chop up the cilantro, scallions, shallot, garlic. Add any additional aromatics, herbs, or seasoning that suit your taste. Add them to the lime juice and stir lightly.
- Add Papaya to the lime juice mixture, gently stir while adding salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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We are new to using papaya. Would it be possible to add the cup size or gram weight of this ingredient? Just guessing amounts is hard for us so a starting point provides a much needed set of measurements and then we can better adjust ingredients to our liking.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! I completely understand how tricky it can be to work with a new ingredient like papaya, especially when you’re unsure of the quantity. A good starting point is to use about 2 to 2 1/2 cups (around 350-400 grams) of diced papaya for this salsa recipe. Of course, the beauty of salsa is that you can adjust it to your taste—if you like more fruitiness, feel free to add more papaya, and if you prefer it a little more savory, scale it back.
I’m so glad you’re giving papaya a try! It’s a wonderfully versatile fruit, and I hope you enjoy experimenting with it in this salsa.
The recipe ingredients do not list ginger, cloves, or chili pepper. The recipe instructions tell you to add the cilantro in both steps 1 and 2.
Hi Dan, thanks for this question. We have modified the post and instructions to help clarify the recipe.