Homemade mango salsa is so quick and easy to make with just a few healthy ingredients. It combines sweet, sour and spicy flavours into a delicious and colourful salsa full of freshness. It can be served as a dip, salad or side dish with various proteins.
Mango is a fruit that lends itself perfectly well when combining with various types of food. Its sweet flavour pairs really well with fish and chicken which makes it a great side dish or salad to eat in summer when mangoes are at their best. Mixing it with savoury ingredients works really well because it brings everything in balance with just the right amount of acidity. The result is a colourful salad or salsa that almost looks too beautiful to dig into. But believe me, once you have made this mango salad/salsa recipe, you will make it over and over again.
Mango salsa ingredients
Note: All the exact quantities of the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Mango: Make sure to use a ripe and juicy mango for a nice fresh and sweet flavour.
- Onion: Use either a sweet onion, red onion or spring onion. They have a nice and mild aroma and are not as strong as the standard onions which will overpower the salsa with their pungent taste.
- Cucumber: I use an English cucumber with the peel. The green colour brightens up the salsa and adds some extra crunch. I do remove the seeds in order for the salsa not to become too watery.
- Tomato: The best is to use a nice ripe, firm and fleshy tomato. Remove the seeds if necessary to avoid too much liquid in the salsa.
- Red bell pepper: Adding a red bell pepper adds colour, sweetness and crunch to this mango salsa. I use a red bell pepper because it’s sweeter, but feel free to use any other colour that you like or have at home.
- Lime juice: Adding some lime juice brings out the freshness, brings balance and cuts through the sweetness of the other ingredients of this mango salsa.
- Cilantro: Cilantro does not only bring a beautiful green colour to this salad but adds the necessary punch and citrus.
- Apple cider vinegar: A dash of apple cider vinegar adds to the acidity in combination with the lime juice. However, if you are not a fan of too much acidity you can leave this out and just use lime juice.
- Jalapeño pepper: If you like some heat, add a jalapeño pepper, if not, you can leave it out or just add a little bit.
- Olive oil (when serving as a salad): Olive oil is not often used in mango salsa, but when serving this dish as a salad it brings together and completes this dish.
How to make mango salsa
This fresh mango salsa is so easy and quick to make with just a few ingredients. Once you have collected the best and the most fresh fruit and veggies, this recipe comes together in very little time.
- Chop the ingredients: Cut all the ingredients (mango, tomato, cucumber, red bell pepper, jalapeño and onions) in to small cubes. The best flavours are obtained when all the ingredients are chopped in similar sizes. Since the mango is softer in flavour and texture, you can cut the mango in slightly larger chunks and the onion and jalapeño into smaller pieces. If you don’t know how to cut a mango, check out this useful video. Chop the fresh cilantro.
- Combine the ingredients: Combine the prepared fruit, cilantro and veggies into a medium size mixing bowl.
- Add seasoning: Drizzle lime juice, vinegar, salt, pepper and if you like it hot some cayenne pepper and toss well so everything is properly coated.
- Resting time: (optional) You can serve the mango salsa immediately, or opt to make it ahead of time and to let it rest in the fridge for up to a full day before serving so the flavours can come together even better.
- Before serving: Taste before serving to see if you need to add more seasoning then sprinkle with roughly chopped fresh cilantro. Don’t add the cilantro before resting time because the cilantro leaves will become soggy and won’t look fresh and tasty anymore.
How to use this mango salsa recipe
Mango salsa is a very versatile dip and goes well with lots of different foods, dishes and proteins. It is also great as a dip for nachos or tortilla chips. Just put a bowl of this salsa out at a dinner party and your guests will be really happy with its freshness.
It’s also great to serve as a topping for some Mexican dishes, like burritos, fish tacos, quesadillas or beef nachos.
I often serve this recipe as a side dish in the form of a mango salad. It works really well with fresh fish like salmon and tuna. Or what about this summer salad with grilled chicken skewers, rosemary grilled potatoes or chicken pita? When serving this salsa as a salad, I recommend to add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Useful tips
Yes, you can make this mango salsa up to one day in advance. When making it in advance, I would recommend not to use the tomatoes and to add the tomatoes just before serving. They can get very soggy when standing too long and will make the salsa very liquid. Also make sure to add the fresh cilantro just before serving. Cover the salsa or put it in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge.
Yes you can. But again, I would leave the tomatoes out if you are planning to freeze this salsa. Frozen tomatoes become very mushy when thawed. Keep in mind that this salsa will not be as fresh anymore when thawed. So you can freeze it but I recommend to try to finish it the same day or maximum the next day.
I would not keep the salsa in the fridge for longer than 24 hours. The longer the salsa sits in the fridge, the more soggy the mango will become and will taste very soft in texture and not as fresh anymore.
Homemade mango salsa
Ingredients
- 1 ripe mango peeled, pitted and diced
- ¼ cup sweet or red onion diced
- ¼ cup english cucumber diced
- ¼ cup red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1 tomato diced
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Optional
- ½ jalapeño pepper seeded and diced
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- In a serving bowl, mix together the mango, red bell pepper, onion, tomato, cilantro and cucumber. Drizzle with lime juice and vinegar and toss well to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Optionally add jalapeño or cayenne pepper.
- Chill for at least 10 minutes before serving. Add more fresh cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste just before serving.
Notes
- When serving it as a delicious mango side dish or salad, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to bring the flavours and ingredients of this dish together even better.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment with rating below and share a picture with the hashtag #thetastychilli and tag me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
Inspired to prepare this recipe? Don’t forget to pin it to your Pinterest boards for later:
Love it! Is some sort of “pico de gallo”. Have you tried with pineapple? Is also pretty good!