Name: Jicama Salad with Apples and Honey Lime Dressing
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 3 tbsp (44ml) fresh lime juice; 1 tbsp (10g) diced shallot; 1 tbsp (21g) honey; 2 tsp mayonnaise; 2 tbsp (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil; 3/4 lb (453g) jicama; 2 medium to large green apples (about 3/4 lb); 8 - 10 radishes; 1 small to medium jalapeño; 1/4 cup (4g) chopped fresh cilantro; Salt and ground black pepper

Jump to Recipe

This jicama salad with apples is light, crisp, tart, and refreshing. It's quick and easy to make and packed with nutrition. It's the kind of thing you can make quickly for a light lunch or in large quantities for a summer cookout.

The salad includes sliced jicama, green apples, and radishes with a touch of jalapeño and fresh cilantro all tossed together in a light honey lime dressing. And it stays crisp and fresh for hours.

A bowl filled with jicama and apple salad with honey lime dressing.

Jicama Salad with Apples, Radishes, Jalapeño and Honey Lime dressing

This is the kind of salad I love to serve alongside hearty, spicy dishes like Crispy Chile Rellenos smothered in Green Chili. It's crisp, light, and refreshing and provides a delicious balance to fried or spicy dishes.

This jicama salad recipe couldn't be easier. Start by gathering the ingredients:

A couple of limes or a bottle of good quality lime juice, preferably not from concentrate.
A shallot.
Honey. To make this salad vegan, use agave syrup, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, or date syrup.
Mayonnaise. This recipe calls for just 2 teaspoons of mayo which helps emulsify the honey lime dressing. If you're not a mayo fan, you can leave it out. If you want to make it vegan, use vegan mayo or skip it.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Jicama. Choose a jicama that's firm if you squeeze it. The skin should be dry and not look wrinkled or shriveled.
A couple of green apples, preferably Granny Smith.
Radishes.
A jalapeño. A minced jalapeño gives this salad a nice kick without making it very spicy. If you're sensitive to heat, start by adding half the jalapeño and then add more later if you like.
Fresh cilantro.
Salt and ground black pepper.

What is jicama?

Jicama is a root vegetable that's native to Mexico, where they've been eaten for hundreds of years. The Spanish introduced the to the Philippines sometime during the 16th century. From there they spread through West Africa and Asia, making their way into North America in the 17th century.

Even though the jicama has been around for a while, many people in the US have never tried it, let alone cooked with it. To be fair... it doesn't look like much. It looks a little like a turnip with the skin of a potato. Inside, it's just white. Just white flesh covered in brown skin.

But, looks can be deceptive. Jicama are nutrient dense and full of fiber. They are sweet and crunchy, with a consistency that's something like a cross between an apple and a potato.

A bowl on a wood serving platter filled with jicama salad with apples.

Jicama's mild flavor and satisfying crunch make it well suited to a myriad of culinary uses. One of the best things about it is that it doesn't become brown or soggy after slicing, so you can prepare it in advance.

My favorite way to eat it is raw, sliced into batons for crudité platters, in salads, and even in sushi rolls. But you can also throw it on a hot grill or sautéed in a hot pan with a touch of oil.

Want to know something really unexpected about Jicama?

Jicama are in the bean family. Jicama plants are vines, growing much like pole beans.

The root - the part we eat - takes three to six months to grow and can't grown in most of North America. Most of the jicama sold in the US was grown in Mexico, Central or South America.

How to Make Jicama Salad

#1. Make the dressing.

Add lime juice, a minced shallot, honey, and 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise in a bowl and stir to mix. Then whisk in a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and let the dressing sit while you chop the vegetables.

Why does this recipe include a tiny amount of mayonnaise? The tiny amount of mayonnaise in this dressing to help the dressing emulsify, binding the lime juice and oil into a smooth cohesive dressing. If you're not a fan of mayo, I promise you won't be able to taste it. But you can also leave it out. And, if you want to make a vegan jicama salad, use vegan mayo.

Using a fork to whisk honey lime dressing in a white bowl.

#2. Chop the vegetables.

Slice up some jicama, green apples, and radishes. Peel the jicama and the apples and cut them both into strips that resemble very thick matchsticks - about ¼ to ½-inch thick. Slice the radishes very thin using a sharp knife or a mandoline.

Then, toss in some minced jalapeño and chopped fresh cilantro.

A bowl filled with all the ingredients needed to make jicama salad with apples, radishes, jalapeños, and honey lime dressing.

#3. Toss the veggies with the dressing and let it rest for a bit.

Pour the dressing over the vegetables, toss everything around to coat, and let the salad sit for about 30 minutes. This short resting time will help the jicama and apple absorb the flavors of the dressing.

It will also soften the sharp spiciness of the jalapeño and allow the vegetables to soften ever so slightly into a crisp-tender texture.

Pouring honey lime dressing over vegetables to make jicama salad.

What Goes Best with Jicama Salad?

This simple Jicama apple salad is the perfect side dish for pretty much any kind of tacos. I especially love to serve it with these pulled pork camping tacos, tequila lime cauliflower tacos, and adobo fish tacos.

This salad is also a light, refreshing side to serve with cheese enchilada casserole, crispy chili rellenos, black bean enchiladas, and chicken enchiladas verdes.

This jicama recipe is also a great side dish for cookouts and backyard BBQs no matter what else is on the menu. Serve it with grilled meat, hamburgers and brats, or any other favorite summer cookout meal.

Pin this recipe for later!

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to rate this recipe and leave a comment for me, or take a picture and tag it @alittleandalot on Instagram.

📖 Recipe

Yield: 4 servings