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There’s a darned good reason why this Lao papaya salad is the ultimate partner in crime for all of your Southeast Asian grilling fantasies. Didja know that just about nothing is better for digestion than papaya enzymes? Well, this recipe comes packing and has the most perfectly fine-tuned heat and juicy, sticky tamarind goodness.
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I don’t know if I am pregnant or what’s going on, but something happened this past year. I just snapped and couldn’t get enough tangy green papaya. As a longtime lover of som tam (Thai papaya salad) and achara (the pickled green papaya apsara from the Philippines), I knew I would have to unlock the holy grail that is known as thum mak hoong in Laos.
My body just craves something tangy and salty and fresh as heck to serve with lumpiang Shanghai, vegan spring rolls, or tempe mendoan. And what’s pretty rad about this papaya salad is that it’s completely oil-free, and still easily one of the most flavorful salads you can possibly make!
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🥰Why you’ll adore this Lao papaya salad recipe
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all of my gluten-free vegan recipes, this popular spicy salad from Laos is made without any of the shrimp paste or crab paste that normally plagues Thum Mak Hoong recipes.
⏱️ Quick and Easy: Ready in under twenty minutes, and great for meal prep. This recipe doesn’t require any crazy kitchen gear or hard-to-find ingredients.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan recipes I publish, this delicious green papaya salad has been extensively tested by a massive, diverse team of recipe testers who successfully recreated it around the globe, ensuring you get consistent, delicious results every time.
🌶️ Vegan Papaya Salad Ingredients
Bird’s Eye Chilies
I'm obsessed with these small red Thai chilies, called mak phet in Lao, that bring just the right amount of heat to this Lao papaya salad recipe. I use them in everything from Indonesian mie goreng to Filipino laing, my Malaysian curry laksa recipe, and Vietnamese banh bao.
Can’t find red bird’s eye chilies at your local Asian grocery store? Indian hari mirch green chilies and jalapeños both work well in the recipe too. Not super-into spice? You can skip the chilies altogether if you prefer less heat.
Red Curry Paste
My red curry paste recipe is a convenient way to add 100% vegan flavor and heat. Don’t have any? Tom yum paste or bumbu Bali are also fantastic in this recipe.
Tamarind Concentrate
Tamarind, known as mak kham in Lao, adds a unique sweet and sour profile to the dressing.
This stuff is also essential in making nam prik pao, tamarind date chutney, and rice paper salad. In case you can't find tamarind paste, you can make your own by blending tamarind pulp with boiling water until smooth and about as thick as ketchup.
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
Not everyone uses vegan oyster sauce in their Lao papaya salad recipe, but since my recipe forgoes the dried fish, I turn to it to help provide umami and a little sweetness. Made from mushrooms, it somewhat mimics the flavor of traditional oyster sauce, at least well enough for me to use it in my sushi bake recipe, Korean tofu soup, and tom yum fried rice.
Can’t find vegan oyster sauce? You can substitute with vegan fish sauce, kecap manis, tamari, or hoisin sauce for a similar sweet, umami punch.
Coconut Sugar, Palm Sugar, or Brown Sugar
I think a little sweetener goes a long way in papaya salad. A tiny bit helps add balance to the sourness, but most restaurants in the US serve papaya salad cloyingly sweet, almost like a spicy dessert.
While you can 100% use regular brown sugar or coconut sugar, my fave is palm sugar. This stuff is my ride-or-die sweetener for making Southeast Asian desserts like Vietnamese che khoai mon, Filipino suman malagkit, and Indonesian kolak biji salak.
Green Papaya (Carica papaya)
Green papaya, aka mak hoong, is tart, firm, and rich in vitamins A and C. It’s basically totally unripe papaya, that has seeds that are still tiny, white, and soft to the touch on the inside.
You can find green papaya at most Asian grocery stores. You can also make this recipe using green mango, aka “raw mango”—not the ripe ones, but the kind you would use to make Indian mango pickle or asinan buah. Just peel it and use a mandoline to cut it into thin shreds.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Laotian Papaya Salad with Tamarind Fruit
For a truly traditional twist, add thinly sliced, seeded makok (tamarind fruit) to the salad. This ingredient brings a unique tartness and chewy texture that complements the green papaya perfectly. It's a classic addition in Laos and adds an authentic regional flavor.
Northeastern Thai Papaya Salad with Fried Rice:
In the Isan region, it's common to enjoy papaya salad with a side of sticky rice. But I am 100% here for having Thai versions of this salad with vegan drunken noodles, or khao pad instead, because they pack more flavor, and that’s what I’m a gosh darned sucker for.
Vietnamese Papaya Salad with Mint and Thai Basil:
Stir a generous handful of fresh mint, Vietnamese coriander, and Thai basil leaves into the salad to mimic the way papaya salad gets made in Vietnam. Serve this up with Vietnamese stir fry noodles and an absurdly nourishing warm bowl ca ri chay.
📖 How to make Lao papaya salad
Nail this oil-free, perfectly seasoned Lao papaya salad on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Get the Dressing Together:
In a medium bowl, mix together the minced garlic, sliced chilies, grated ginger, red curry paste, lime juice, tamari, tamarind concentrate, vegetarian oyster sauce, and coconut sugar. Mix with the tines of a fork.
Step Two
Shredder Living Through Chemistry:
Using a mandoline with a julienne blade, a large shredding blade on a food processor, or a hand-held grater, shred the green papaya and carrot.
Discard the seeds and carrot tops.
Step Three
The Great Mix-Up:
Add the shredded papaya, carrot, cut cherry tomatoes, string beans, and chopped peanuts to the bowl with the dressing. Toss everything together until well coated.
Step Four
Serve It Up:
Spoon the salad onto a serving dish and top with crushed roasted peanuts, cilantro leaves, and lime wedges.
💡Serving Ideas
This lovely vegan papaya salad pairs like a dream with tons of Southeast Asian dishes.
Because it’s raw and fresh, the salad makes a great side to balance crispy things like Thai spring rolls, Filipino lumpiang Shanghai, or Indonesian bakwan sayur. It’s even pretty darn slammin’ alongside some vegan fried chicken slathered in Korean BBQ sauce or chili garlic sauce.
Of course, this spicy green papaya salad is also slammin' alongside some rice noodles. My top faves are bihun goreng, vegan pad see ew, and pad woon sen.
Lao papaya salad is also great with curries like ginataang kalabasa, curry laksa, ca ri chay, or my super-popular tom kha soup recipe.
Wash it down with some perfectly seasoned Thai iced tea or some fragrant bandrek, which is my family’s fave spiced pandan and lemongrass tea from Indonesia.
👉Top tips
- Don’t Use Ripe Orange Papayas: Make sure your papaya is green and totally firm. Ripe papaya will be too mushy and will not have the same sour flavor that makes this salad so lovely and refreshing.
- Adjust Spice Levels: The bird’s eye chilies can be very hot. If you prefer a milder salad, start with just one chili and taste the dressing before adding more. Of course, you can always add more heat, but it’s impossible to take it out once it’s in.
- Shred Uniformly: This is one of many reasons I like a mandolin slicer for this. It’s easy to get long, perfectly-even “noodles” that way. But I get it. Mandolins are scary to use, and you just want dinner, not to become a handless person. So if cutting by hand, just try to make the cuts as matchstick thin as you can or otherwise use a grater.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can control the heat by adjusting the number of bird’s eye chilies or using milder chilies if you prefer a less spicy dish. If you want more heat, add a little sriracha, nam prik pao, or chili garlic sauce.
Nope. Sadly, Lao people often make their papaya salad non-vegetarian. This is because of the use of padaek, a traditional Lao fermented fish sauce that adds a pungent, umami depth to the dish. Additionally, the salad may include dried shrimp or grilled chicken, as many Thai recipes, like som tam, do too.
Store thum mak hoong in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one day. If the salad releases extra water as it sits, drain it before serving to maintain the texture and flavor. Nobody wants a swampy old salad.
In place of regular green beans, you can totally use cut long beans instead. Long beans, aka snake beans or sitaw, are used throughout Southeast Asia in famous recipes such as lontong sayur lodeh and sambal goreng tempeh.
Laos papaya salad is also nice with raw sweet potato added to it. Don't freak out. This is the same idea as what folks in Indonesia do with rujak serut. Simply cut the sweet potato into strips and then use a vegetable peeler to shave it into thin ribbons to add to the raw green papaya and other ingredients.
✌️My faves to serve with Lao papaya salad:
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Thum Mak Hoong (Easy Lao Papaya Salad Recipe)
Ingredients
Dressing Ingredients:
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 bird’s eye chilies thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 1 ½ teaspoons red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 ½ teaspoons tamari
- 2 tablespoons tamarind concentrate
- 2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar palm sugar, or brown sugar
Salad Ingredients:
- 5 cups shredded green papaya
- 1 medium size carrot
- 1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup string beans chopped
- ½ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
To serve and garnish:
- ¼ cup crushed roasted peanuts
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine minced garlic cloves, chilies ginger, curry paste, lime juice, tamari, tamarind concentrate, vegetarian oyster sauce, and coconut sugar.
- Peel the papaya with a vegetable peeler, or carefully with a sharp knife, and scoop out and discard the seeds.
- Either using a mandolin with a julienne attachment, or using a large shredding blade on a food processor, or hand held grater, shred the papaya and carrot.
- Mix the papaya, carrot, cherry tomatoes, string beans, and peanuts into the dressing at the bottom of the mixing bowl and mix to combine.
- Transfer the salad to an attractive serving dish and garnish with peanuts, cilantro and lime wedges.
Notes
Use only green, firm papaya for this salad. Ripe papaya will turn mushy and lacks the tangy flavor that makes this dish so refreshing. 🌶️ Spice to Your Taste:
Bird’s eye chilies pack a punch, so if you prefer a milder salad, start with one chili and taste the dressing first. You can always add more heat, but once it’s in, there’s no going back. ✂️ Precision Pays Off:
A mandoline slicer is your best friend for perfect, even “noodles,” but if that’s too intimidating, hand-cutting works too—just aim for thin, matchstick-sized pieces. Or use a grater for an easier option.
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Kathy says
I have always loved green papaya salad, but have a hard time getting one I can eat. In addition to no gluten, no garlic for me. I can easily adjust the recipe to leave the garlic out. Not sure what is more exciting the green papaya salad or the linked recipe for making my own red thai curry paste (yes - I will still leave the garlic out).
Julie Blake Martel says
I'm obsessed. I finally found green papaya in the local Asian market and tried this recipe. This is addictive. I subbed vegan fish sauce for the oyster sauce, and used brown sugar, since that's what I had. I tripled the dressing recipe and have it in a mason jar, just waiting to be dumped over all manner of salads. Simple and absolutely delicious!
Adam Sobel says
So delighted to hear how much you loved this one, Julie. Me too!