Tayota: Chayote Recipes and Useful Tips

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We have a complicated relationship with Tayota (chayote), the ubiquitous vegetable in Dominican cuisine. You can find here all our chayote recipes, valuable tips to cook the healthful vegetable in our best-known dishes, and some you may have never heard of before.

By Clara Gonzalez - Reviewed: Jul 27, 2025. Original: Sep 23, 2013

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Tayota or chayote recipes

Here you'll find our traditional tayota recipes, including some you might have never heard of.

Tayota guisada con longaniza

Nothing like the strong flavors of longaniza (Dominican pork sausage) to lift and enhance the mild and humble tayota. Quite a winning combination.

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Tayota (chayote) guisado with rice and tostones

Tayota con huevo

Let's make it simpler, but no less tasty, and make a chayote with egg dish with vegetables and flavors that enhance our beloved tayota.

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Ensalada hervida

This humble Dominican salad has always been one of my favorites, and I even serve it as a light dish. This dish would not be the same without tayota.

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Dulce de tayota

Yes, a tayota dessert! This traditional Dominican chayote dessert is the least known recipe in this list, but if you've never tried it, rest assured, it's worth making.

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Dulce de tayota en almibar (chayote dessert)

Tayota (chayote).

What is tayota?

Tayota is the firm fruit of a vine plant with roughly the size of a pear and fairly tough skin. It has a famously mild taste, and it's used in Dominican cuisine in stews, soups, and mixed with meats or eggs.

Tayota is named christophine or christophene in English, but it's better known by its Mesoamerican name chayote. Its scientific name is Sechium edule, and in Cajun cuisine, it is known as mirliton. It originated in Mesoamerica, where it got the name chayote from the Nahuatl word chayohtli.

It goes by other names in other Latin American countries, including the decidedly non-family-friendly-sounding "chocho".

How to store

Wipe the skin with a dry paper towel, place the uncut tayotas in an airtight container or plastic bag, and store them in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. It should keep for up to a week.

How to cook chayote

Tayota is a mild-tasting vegetable, so it is typically combined with ingredients that have strong flavors, which tayota picks beautifully.

This vegetable has a very mild taste, which gives it a somewhat bad reputation as a food (though we still eat a lot of it). While it can be eaten raw, this is not the case in our country. It is served in salads, with eggs, and for "rendir" our meats (as a filler in meat dishes). It is an excellent source of vitamin C and minerals and very low in calories and carbohydrates, making it an ideal choice for a healthy diet.

What is your favorite tayota dish? Tell me in the comments.

¡Hola 👋! Thanks for visiting.I'm Tía Clara, your Internet 🇩🇴 Auntie and hostess.

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