Spicy Thai Mango Salad
Spicy Thai Mango Salad featuring fresh flavors of mango, cucumber, carrot and cilantro tossed in a flavorful spicy, sweet and savory dressing!
This Spicy Thai Mango Salad is one of those simple delicious salads that I so enjoy! It’s my kind of easy, and so amazingly fresh, colorful & delicious!
Full of fresh flavors, including mango, cucumber, carrots, tomato, and cilantro, and topped with a simple dressing that is lightly sweet, salty, and spicy, it’s a bit of everything and will leave you feeling light and energized!
This Thai mango salad recipe is inspired by Som Tam salad, a very popular salad in Thailand that uses unripe green papaya. This is my version using ripe mango in place of green papaya, along with cucumber, carrots and tomatoes. And it’s terrific!
The spiciness, saltiness, and sweetness of the dressing stay close to the traditional Som Tam of Thailand. It’s easy to make, comes together beautifully, and is utterly crave-worthy!
Ingredient Notes
- Cucumber – Use regular (American), English (hothouse), or Persian.
- Carrots – We love using regular carrots so we can julieen them into ‘noodles’.
- Mango – Use ripe or unripe. Ripe will add sweetness, while unripe will add tartness.
- Cherry tomatoes – You can opt to use grape tomatoes or chop up regular sized.
- Cashews or peanuts – optional
- Cilantro – Feel free to omit if you don’t care for this herb.
- Lime – Use regular or key limes. Sub with Meyer lemon if limes are not available.
- Tamari – Feel free to substitute with soy sauce, or coconut aminos.
- Coconut sugar – you can use your preferred sugar of choice; pure maple syrup is great, too.
- Garlic – Fresh is preferred, but garlic powder or garlic paste can be used if needed.
- Red pepper flakes – A dash of sriracha can also be used as a substitute.
Typically, unripe mango or papaya is used, but for this recipe, I’ve used firm, ripe mango. If you can find unripe mango or papaya, give it a try in this recipe. It should be just as fantastic, with a little more crunch, and not as sweet due to the fruit’s unripeness.
How To Make Thai Mango Salad
- Start by making the spicy dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together the tamari, sugar, garlic, red pepper flakes, and lime juice.
- In a large mixing or serving bowl, add the prepared mango, carrot, cucumber, tomatoes, and cilantro (shown above). Pour the spicy Thai dressing overtop and toss to coat (shown below).
Now you are ready to serve!
Serve in individual bowls with a squeeze of lime overtop and more red pepper flakes to taste.
Top Tips
- For julienning the cucumber and carrots, I find this Julienne Tool and Mandoline to be handy. If your vegetables are on the thinner side, the julienne tool works great, but if they are on the wider side, the mandoline is a fantastic tool.
- Before adding the dressing to the salad, be sure to give it a good stir to ensure the sugar has dissolved or at least is incorporated into the dressing before pouring. It has a tendency to settle at the bottom of the bowl.
- Add a grain. This easy Cilantro Lime Rice would be a great side to this salad.
Adjusting For Dietary Restrictions
- Nut-Free: Simply omit the cashews or peanuts to keep this recipe nut-free.
- Gluten-Free: For the dressing, use tamari or coconut aminos (no soy sauce) to keep this fruit salad GF.
How To Store Leftovers
This Thai mango salad is best fresh (or within a few hours), but if you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
More Easy Summer Recipes!
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Thai Crunch Salad
- Mango + Avocado Sushi Rolls
- Sesame Ginger Cucumber Soba Salad
If you try this mango salad recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintSPICY THAI MANGO SALAD
A fresh thai salad with mango, cucumber, carrot, tomato, and cilantro in a flavorful dressing.
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Vegan, Asian
Ingredients
- 1 English cucumber, julienned (or your favorite)
- 2 large carrots, julienned
- 1 mango, julienned or sliced
- handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- handful cashews or peanuts, optional
- cilantro, as much as you like, to serve
- 1 – 2 limes, to serve
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons tamari, soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon coconut, pure cane or raw sugar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- juice of one lime
Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together tamari, sugar, garlic, red pepper flakes and juice of lime. Set aside. Mix before adding to the salad, we want the sugar to be as dissolved as possible.
Prepare your vegetables and fruit, place in medium sized bowl, pour the dressing and mix well. Serve in individual bowls with an extra squeeze of lime and nuts overtop.
Serves 2
Notes
You can sub in 3 – 4 Persian cucumbers in place of the English. Both of these types of cucumbers have less seeds making them ideal for being julienned. Regular cucumber works too if needed.
Add in red bell pepper to the mix, those will add a bit of sweetness and crunch.
In place of using sugar, opt for pure maple syrup instead.
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Made this last night, so yummy!
I’ve never tried this before. I’ll have to make this.
Tried it and it’s amazing. I do prefer it dressed a day before – feels slightly like a pickled salad this way
It tastes great, thank you!
I just made this! It tastes great. Great variety of veggies and the mango. Super refreshing too
This is a keeper recipe. Brought this to a dinner party where pad Thai was the main course. Big hit. Thank you.
So delicious! Thank you. I feel like I’m in Thailand :)
Yay, that’s a nice compliment and says a lot! So glad you enjoyed it! Cheers :)
I have tried this today for my dinner with sone herb rice. It’s soooooo good!!! Thank you so much for sharing this :)
We made this last night, and it was AMAZING. We also chopped up and threw in a jalapeno and some scallions, and it was so good we ate the whole thing! I will definitely peruse other recipes on your site.
–Lily
This looks like the most delicious thing ever! <3