This light refreshing salsa is full of the bright tropical flavors of papaya and mango with a bit of tartness from green apples and just the right amount of heat and tang from some jalapeño and fresh lime juice. It is perfect over a nice piece of fish or some barbecue chicken or even with some Greek yogurt for breakfast, so the next time you see a beautiful papaya at the market, bring it home with you and make this fabulously sweet, tart and spicy salsa. You are going to love it!
Let’s get it started…
To get started, you will need 1 small papaya (a ripe, orange papaya), 1 mango, 1 Granny Smith apple, 1 small jalapeño, some red onion, fresh cilantro, a few limes and some honey. If you can’t find a smaller papaya, use half of a big one and use the other half for a smoothie (thats what I did!).
If you have never worked with a papaya before, do not be intimidated! They are really easy to work with. Simply cut the papaya in half longwise (photo above) and scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Now, cut each half into thirds longwise…
Slide a sharp knife between the flesh and the skin and then dice up your papaya.
There are many ways to dice a mango, but understanding where the white, fibrous pit is will help things start off smoothly. Slide your knife down until you feel resistance and then guide the knife around the pit. These slices are called mango “cheeks”, how cute is that? Now to dice the mango, you can either cut the skin off and dice the mango on a cutting board or your can cut shallow cross marks into each cheek and then scoop the cubes out with a spoon.
Now that your papaya and mango are diced, place them into a large bowl along with a diced Granny Smith apple, 1/4 cup of diced red onion, a small handful of finely chopped fresh cilantro and finely diced jalapeño. If you want your salsa spicy, dice the whole jalapeño, but if you only want a bit of spice, remove the seeds and the light colored membrane inside of the jalapeño before you dice it up.
Before you toss everything together, squeeze 3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice over the bowl, drizzle about 1 teaspoon of honey, add a big pinch of salt, a little pinch of black pepper and then toss everything together.
This salsa is simply fantastic. Perfectly sweet, juicy and refreshing with great texture from the apples and red onion and so many layers of flavor. The sweetness of the mango is well balanced by the tart apple and heat from the jalapeño. The papaya has a light melon-like flavor that is classically paired with fresh lime juice and once you taste all of this together, you will know exactly why. It is just perfect.
There are so many ways to use this papaya, mango and green apple salsa! My first recommendation would definitely be with this sweet chili lime salmon, but I also love it over fish tacos, steak tacos, chickpea tacos… ok any tacos and its also great with barbecue. There is something wonderful about combining these tropical flavors with a tangy barbecue chicken or ribs. Refreshing and satisfying. What more could you ask for from a beautiful bowl of salsa?
So, grab some papaya and mango and make this salsa. You’ll be so glad that you did…
Papaya, Mango & Green Apple Salsa
Ingredients
- 1 small papaya, peeled, diced
- 1 mango, peeled, diced
- 1 Granny Smith apple, diced
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced
- 1 small jalapeño, seeds removed, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- a pinch of salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the diced papaya, mango, green apple, red onion, jalapeño and finely chopped cilantro in a large bowl
- Add 3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, 1 teaspoon of honey and a pinch of salt and black pepper
- Toss to combine
- Taste and add additional salt or black pepper, if necessary
- Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and chill until ready to serve
