Green Papaya substitute

Best substitute

Kohlrabi, peeled and coarsely grated

Same weight, in long ragged shreds

Best for som tam thai

Close match

Coarsely grated kohlrabi or peeled chayote is the closest match, because both are hard, pale and nearly flavourless and stay crunchy after being pounded with the dressing. Shredded green cabbage is the cheapest and most available stand-in, and unripe green mango gives you the crunch plus a built-in sourness, in which case cut the lime in the dressing by about a third.

Other green papaya substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Chayote (christophine), peeled and shredded
Close match
Same weight
A pale green squash with firm, bland, crisp flesh.
What changes
Best for
som tam, Latin American and Asian groceries where it is cheap, large batches
Very close to green papaya on both counts that matter: it is nearly flavourless and it stays crunchy. The one quirk is that the cut surface is slightly slippery, so rinse the shreds in cold water and pat them dry before dressing them. Some people find raw chayote sap irritates the skin, so peel it under running water or wear a glove if you are shredding a lot.
3Green (unripe) mango, julienned
Different taste
Same weight, with the lime in the dressing cut by about a third
A hard, sour, unripe mango cut into matchsticks.
What changes
Best for
som tam mamuang, the mango version of the salad, when you want the salad to taste sour and fruity, Asian groceries in mango season
Crunchy in the right way and properly sour, which means it brings a big flavour that green papaya deliberately does not. Cut back the lime or the salad will be aggressively acidic. What you get is genuinely delicious and it is a real Thai dish in its own right, so think of it as a different salad rather than a compromise.
4Shredded green cabbage
Taste and texture differ
Same volume, cut into fine ribbons
The cheapest, most available option, and the one most people end up using.
What changes
Best for
no Asian grocer nearby, feeding a crowd, salads eaten immediately
The crunch is layered and leafy rather than solid and juicy, and cabbage brings a mild sulfurous brassica flavour that papaya does not have. It also wilts faster once the salt and lime hit it, so bruise it only lightly in the mortar, three or four presses, and dress it right before serving rather than half an hour ahead.
5Carrot and cucumber, half and half
Taste and texture differ
Same total volume
Two very available vegetables balancing each other out.
What changes
Best for
supermarket-only shopping, a colourful salad, quick weeknight version
Carrot on its own is far too sweet and turns the salad orange, and cucumber on its own goes soft and floods the bowl with water. Together they work: the carrot supplies structure and the cucumber supplies coolness. Seed the cucumber, salt both for 10 minutes and squeeze them dry in a towel first, or the dressing will end up diluted and thin.
6Daikon or jicama matchsticks
Different taste
Same volume
Two crisp white roots that hold their texture indefinitely.
What changes
Best for
salads made in advance, extra crunch, jicama for sweetness, daikon for bite
Jicama is the crunchiest thing on this list and never softens, but it is distinctly apple-sweet, which blunts the savoury, funky edge that makes som tam what it is. Daikon has more character, a clean peppery bite, but it is very watery and can turn slightly sulfurous once dressed, so salt it for 10 minutes and wring it out first and eat the salad the same day.

What is Green Papaya?

Green Papaya is a fully unripe papaya, called malakor in Thai, with hard pale flesh, no sweetness and none of the perfume of the ripe fruit, used in dishes such as som tam as a crunchy, almost flavourless shred that soaks up the dressing rather than as a fruit.

Cooking tips

Buy the hardest, greenest papaya in the box. If it gives at all under your thumb or shows any orange near the skin or in the flesh, it has started to ripen and will turn to mush in the mortar. Latin American groceries often sell green papaya for cooking too, sometimes cheaper than Asian markets.
Aim for long ragged shreds, not neat knife-cut sticks. A julienne peeler or the coarse side of a box grater gives you the rough edges that hold the dressing, and that is the entire point of the texture. Traditionally it is chopped with rapid knife cuts into a rotating half papaya, which produces the same ragged effect.
Pound, do not puree. Eight to ten gentle bruises with a pestle cracks the shreds so the fish sauce, lime, palm sugar and chili soak in. Firm swaps like kohlrabi and chayote can take a few more presses; cabbage needs noticeably fewer.
Salt and squeeze any watery swap. A pinch of salt over shredded daikon, cucumber or chayote for 10 minutes, then a hard wring in a clean towel, keeps the dressing from being diluted into nothing.
Green papaya does not freeze well but keeps a day shredded and submerged in cold water in the fridge, which also crisps it further. Drain it thoroughly and pat it dry before it meets the dressing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use ripe papaya instead of green papaya?

No. This is the one swap that genuinely does not work. Ripe papaya is soft, sweet and musky, it collapses the moment it meets a pestle, and the salad ends up tasting like fruit in fish sauce. They are the same fruit at completely different stages, doing completely different jobs, and the recipe depends on the unripe one being hard and bland.

Can I just leave the green papaya out?

Not really, because in som tam it is the salad rather than an ingredient in it. What you can do instead is keep the dressing and build it over something else: shredded cabbage, cucumber, or blanched long beans with tomato, peanuts and dried shrimp all make excellent Thai salads. You will have a good dish, just not som tam malakor.

Does green papaya taste like anything?

Barely, and that is the point. It is faintly grassy and a little cucumber-like, with no sweetness and none of the ripe fruit's musky perfume. Its job in the bowl is crunch and surface area for the dressing, which is why almost-flavourless vegetables like kohlrabi and chayote work so well as substitutes.

Where do I find green papaya?

Asian groceries carry it year round, usually whole or halved and wrapped, and many Latin American markets sell it as papaya verde. Some Asian stores also sell it pre-shredded in bags in the chilled section, which saves real work; use it the same day because it dries out fast.

Is green papaya the same as som tam papaya or malakor?

Yes, all the same thing. Malakor is the Thai word for papaya, som tam papaya just means the papaya used for the salad, and unripe papaya, green papaya and papaya verde all describe the same fruit picked before it sweetens.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Green Papaya substitute

Other green papaya substitutes

2Chayote (christophine), peeled and shredded

3Green (unripe) mango, julienned

4Shredded green cabbage

5Carrot and cucumber, half and half

6Daikon or jicama matchsticks