Chayote is pear like fruit which as we will see today however, is mostly used in recipes as a vegetable. It is also as juicy as an apple though its taste can be placed somewhere in between a potato and a cucumber.
There are many reasons as to why you want to give them a try not least because of the health contents of chayote.
The fruit carries antioxidants and vitamins for instance which are good for the body immune system. It is also rich in fiber, a food nutrient that is good for digestion.
In this guide, we will explore several chayote recipes so you can look forward to them. Similarly, I will share quick preparation steps for those interested.
Remember to choose the best chayote when shopping as it makes the difference too in how the eventual meal tastes. For this, go for (firm but not hardened) fruit.
20 Amazing Chayote Recipes
1. Creamy Chayote Soup
This recipe has Mexican origins which explains its other name (Sopa de chayote) which should be a reason for you to try it already if you are as explorative as myself.
The ingredients include; potato, chicken broth, butter, and white onion. You may also replace chicken broth with vegetable broth instead.
To prepare the recipe, start by sautéing onions in olive oil and garlic until the onions soften. Now pour chayote, chili flakes, and potatoes. Cover and cook for thirty minutes.
Pour the mixture in a blender then, blend (in bits) until they smoothen. Return to the cooking pot and add broth and simmer. Stir, then lower the heat. Simmer for twenty or so minutes.
Creamy chayote soup serves well with fresh chives.
2. Chayote in Spiced Syrup
This cuisine is perfect to serve as desert in summer. Try it and let me know how it works. The ingredients are; cinnamon sticks, chayote, brown sugar, cloves etc.
To prepare the recipe, you will need a sharp knife. With it, cut the chayote into thin slices. Now mix them together with the rest of the ingredients and then pour water therein.
Next, heat over medium temperature. It is likely foam will form on top, skim it off if it does. After fifteen minutes of this process, turn off the heat. Remove the sticks and cloves though can leave them if you like.
To serve, wait until the syrup lastly add chili. This desert can be stored in a lidded jar for up to a week and it will remain intact.
3. Spicy Baked Stuffed Chayote
Use green chayote for this recipe though you can use the ones that are pale. Other ingredients include; salt, cheddar cheese, pepper, turmeric, ginger, etc. the cheese here can be substituted with Mozzarella if that works best for you.
Start by slicing the chayote and removing seeds. Boil and simmer for twenty minutes next. Now scoop the chayote flesh next and to it add the spices and cook once more.
Separately, fry onions then add the rest of the things that were just being cooked to them. Top with cheese then bake.
The spicy baked stuffed chayote can become vegan once the cheese is omitted. Also, it can be kept for up to two months in an air tight container.
4. Vietnamese Chayote Squash with Beef
Also known as su su xao thit bo in the place where it originates, this dish is a great way of keeping vegetables within your diet yet at the same time not having to make with flat meals.
The necessary ingredients are among others; fish sauce, oyster sauce, chayote, and cooking oil.
Marinade thinly sliced beef to begin, then season it with fish sauce and pepper. Now heat some oil, and add the beef then cook at high heat.
Separately, sauté the vegetables, add onions and salt and heat for five minutes. The last steps include add water to the greens and then allowing to evaporate before adding the beef.
This recipe is great when served with rice and noodles.
5. Cinnamon Chayote Pie
This recipe is a great substitute for apple pie if you have been looking for one. Moreover, chayote comes with an added advantage of carrying significantly lower levels of carbohydrates.
The ingredients include; maple syrup, vanilla, lemon zest, apple juice, and chayote of course.
To prepare, start by peeling the chayote, slicing it, and then removing the seeds. Boil for five minutes. Now mix with cinnamon sauce which you would have separately prepared then fill the pie top.
The apple pie can be baked in different forms dependent upon what it is that you wish. Examples here are mock apple crisp as well as double crust pie.
You can eat these pies on their own though a great complement would be ice cream.
6. Beef Picadillo de Chayote
Be sure to ask for this meal once you visit Costa Rica, it is very much present in the small restaurants there.
You do not have to wait till you have visited the country though to enjoy it. The necessary ingredients are; Yellow onions, chicken bouillon, butter, ground beef etc.
For substitution, chicken stock can work just well in the case of bouillon and so will ground turkey instead of beef.
Preparation steps are rather easy. Begin by melting butter in a pan then add garlic and onions. After a short while, add chayote and monitor till it is tender.
Separately, mix bouillon and water properly then add beef and salt. Heat. Just before the beef is ready, add cilantro.
7. Creamy Chayote Gratin
You will have to brace yourself if you are going to pull this one off (it takes a whole one hour and thirty minutes). It is worth it though.
The ingredients you will need include; shallots, thyme, breadcrumbs, chayote, and milk.
To prepare, pray vegetable spray over a couple of ramekins, add gratin and top with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake until the crumbs are toasted.
Separately, boil chayote in water then reduce water and allow simmering for at least thirty minutes. Find another saucepan, sauté shallots in butter then sprinkle flour and wait for a minute. Add milk, hold on a bit then finally the béchamel sauce.
8. Pickled Chayote Salad with Apple and Radishes
One unique thing about this salad is that it will taste great whether served warm or cold. The ingredients include; vinegar, cilantro, oregano, chayote, cheese, and red onion.
To start off, boiling chayote in water until it is tender. Separately, add oregano, some sugar, vinegar, pepper, and salt to a bowl. Slowly add oil therein while whisking it.
Allow the components to marinate for at ten minutes. Now add the chayote to the said mixture (vinaigrette) albeit having sliced it and removed the seeds inside. Add the onions too and toss. Finally, add feta and toss again.
The vinaigrette can be prepared four to five days to the day of intended consumption and then the rest of the rest of ingredients added on the D-day.
9. Low Carb Keto Apple Pie with Chayote Squash
A whole lot of ingredients go into making this recipe so you need to be good at what you do if you are going to prepare it.
They include; baking powder, lemon juice, cinnamon, chayote, eggs, and cheese.
Start to prepare this recipe by making the pie crust. Blend almond flour, coconut nut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, and salt for a short while then add eggs and cheese. Blend again, then place the dough in a fridge. After an hour, it will be ready for rolling.
Now we turn to the chayote. Boil it as suggested elsewhere then after add to it to lemon juice, xanthan gum, cinnamon, apple flavoring, and vanilla.
Cook for some three minutes after which it should be right to make the pie.
10. Sautéed Chayote Squash
This dish can work just fine on its own though it would also be even more delicious when served with parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, or even bacon that is crumbled.
The ingredients include; butter, shallots, kosher salt, and chives.
To prepare the meal, cut the chayote open and then remove the seeds. Place it on a cutting board and cutout thin slices. Separately, melt butter in a skillet and to it, add shallots.
Continue to heat until the shallots are tender. Add garlic next, and then chayote. Sauté though you should toss as you do for the next five or so minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Additions to this recipe can be ham and tasso depending on your preference.
11. Keto Mock Apple Crumble
The ingredients to this recipe include; pecans, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice xanthan gum, brown swerve etc. The gum serves to thicken the juice though you can still omit it and still have a great delicacy all round.
With everything in place, start by heating butter in a skillet. Once it has melted, add chayote and wait for at least ten minutes.
Now add the rest of the filling, stir to combine then cook for another ten minutes. Remove from heat. Separately, mix flour, apple pie spice, and pecans then pour melted butter into them to form crumbles. These will then aid you in topping the filling ingredients. Once you are finished with topping go ahead and bake.
12. Sayur Lodeh
Do not worry about the seemingly bizzare name, what this dish is really is vegetables blended with coconut milk. The name is Indonesian. The requisite ingredients are; chicken broth, baby corn, carrot, turmeric powder, shallots, garlic etc.
Make sure you have a large pot for this one. Once you do, heat oil, then add candlenuts, shallots and cloves. Sauté for five minutes then add broth.
Hold on still then add vegetable except for the baby corn. Simmer until the veggies soften. Now add baby corn and coconut milk. Wait for five minutes then remove from heat.
Sayur Lodeh should not be served on its own but rather along a main dish. As for the vegetables, you can always add your favorite along.
13. Fiesta Veggie Enchiladas
The ingredients for this recipe include; corn kernels, white onion, jalapeño pepper, zucchini, and kosher salt.
To make fiesta veggie enchiladas, start by oil over medium heat then add chayote and onion when it gets hot. When the onion softens, add bell pepper, zucchini, and corn then stir. Remove from heat then add cheese, jalapeño, and cilantro and stir.
Now turn to the tortillas. Place them on a baking sheet and spray them with oil then bake them for say three minutes.
Get the tortillas back and fill them with the vegetable mixture made before. Put them back to the oven. Bake at three hundred and seventy five degrees for about twenty minutes.
14. Roasted Chayote Squash with Parmesan
Chayote is a multi-cultural vegetable. This cuisine is mindful of this fact to the extent that it blends Mediterranean Latin aspects of cooking chayote.
The ingredients include, za’ atar, black pepper, salt, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. Be sure to taste the amount of za’ atar, salt, as well as pepper once applied. Any one of them can make or spoil things.
Add oil, za’ atar, olive oil, pepper, and salt to slices of chayote. Toss and then bake them for half an hour. Add parmesan cheese then bake for more ten minutes.
The chayote should turn golden. Proceed to serve depending on your favorite dinner meal. One option that you could consider for spectacular results however is yoghurt.
15. Jicama Chayote Mango Salad
The ingredients for this salad might not be ones that you are already acquainted with if you hail in the west however you will still be able to find them at the grocery.
They include; ataulfo mango, lime, jicama, Himalayan salt, pumpkin seeds, and red pearl. Any other roasted seeds will work in the place of pumpkin seeds.
Preparation is quite very simple (no need to cook). Slice, chop etc. all the ingredients shared and then add them to a container. Add cilantro next and then lime.
Toss (not hastily though as you might pour the contents). Add salt and pepper. Finally, sprinkle pepitas.
This recipe is for you if you have been getting bored of regular salads.
16. Chayote Tuna Salad Recipe
Here we go with another salad. The necessary ingredients include; cilantro, pepper, tuna, and olive oil. Again, there is no need for cooking here too.
Prepare by cutting up the chayote to begin with. Next chop more ingredients and them to the chayote (cilantro, tomatoes, green bell pepper, and red onions).
Add drained tuna next. Now make vinaigrette by mixing pepper, oregano, olive oil, lime. Finally, mix the vegetables and vinaigrette and refrigerate for thirty minutes.
Should you prepare more than you can eat in one meal, then pour the remainder in a container and tightly seal it. You can then refrigerate it. The salad will still be fine after three days.
Other Amazing Chayote Recipes
17. Chinese Stir-Fried Chayote
The ingredients include; cloves, scallions, vegetable oil, ginger, garnish, chayote, sesame seeds, and shrimp.
18. Ginisang Sayote
The ingredients include; Garlic, onion, ground pork, annatto powder, chayote, and fish sauce.
19. Jamaican Chocho
The ingredients include; coconut oil, garlic, thyme, all spice, curry powder, salt, ginger, and scotch bonnet pepper.
20. Chayote Chili Salad
The ingredients include; cilantro, salt, sesame oil, Korean chili flakes, clove garlic, and julienned.