A bright and fresh mango salad with bell peppers, red onion and a delicious homemade zesty lime vinaigrette. Enjoy on its own or as a great Summer side dish.
This delicious mango salad combines ripe mango slices with red bell pepper and red onion and is tossed with fresh basil and cilantro. The zesty mango salad dressing combines lime juice and zest with a pinch of sugar and a pinch of heat from red pepper flakes.
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Mangoes – Alphonso mangoes are my favourite mangoes. I love their sweetness, flavour and subtle floral notes. These are the yellow mangoes. If unavailable, use the nicest, ripe mangoes you can find.
Basil – If you don’t have fresh basil to use here, just use more cilantro.
Cilantro – If you don’t like cilantro, substitute flat-leaf parsley. If you don’t have cilantro, more basil or a bit of mint is a nice substitute.
Red Pepper Flakes – The red pepper flakes in the mango salad dressing adds a nice spicy note. Reduce, increase or omit depending on your taste.
Vegetable Oil – Any neutral-tasting oil is fine here. I don’t recommend olive oil, as its flavour is too strong for the delicate mango flavour, in my opinion.
Recipe tips!
- Not sure how to cut a mango? Mangoes can be a little trick to cut. If you’re not sure how to cut them, head on over to the Mango Board and check out this quick “How to Cut a Mango” page.
- Be sure to use perfectly ripe mangoes, for the best salad. Sometimes mangoes are sold quite firm, so just leave them on the counter until they ripen and soften before use.
- Adjust the amount of red pepper flakes in the dressing to your taste.
Serving suggestions
You can enjoy this mango salad on its own or as a side dish. Mango salad is perfect for Summer meals! Mango salad is also great as a topping for fish tacos or spooned on top of BBQ chicken.
Making ahead and storing
You can make both the salad and the dressing several hours ahead of time, but don’t combine the two until just before serving.
Store leftover mango salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
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Ingredients
Mango salad:
- 3 mangoes, ripe, Alphonso recommended, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Mango Salad Dressing:
- Zest of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed (about 2-3 limes)
- 2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, adjust amount to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, or other neutral tasting oil
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the mango salad in a large bowl. Gently stir to combine. *If making ahead, cover and refrigerate now, before adding the salad dressing. The mango salad can be made several hours ahead and refrigerated.
- Prepare the mango salad dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisking well to combine. If making ahead, cover and refrigerate the dressing separately for up to 3 days. To use immediately, drizzle over the salad and gently stir to combine.
Notes
- Not sure how to cut a mango? Mangoes can be a little trick to cut. If you’re not sure how to cut them head on over to the Mango Board and check out this quick “How to Cut a Mango” page.
- Be sure to use perfectly ripe mangoes, for the best mango salad. Sometimes mangoes are sold quite firm, so just leave them on the counter until they ripen and soften before use.
- Leftover mango salad can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
More fruit-filled salad recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Love it, very simple and easy to follow
So glad you enjoyed it, Grace! Thanks so much :)
This was awesome! Added some pistachio and feta and left off the sugar (mango was very ripe)
So glad you enjoyed it, Jamie. Thanks so much!
This recipe was extremely tasty – so fresh tasting that it just felt like “summer” to me. Will definitely be making this again. Especially yummy with fresh basil and cilantro from my garden!
So glad you enjoyed it, Suzanne! Thanks very much :)
Thanks for the recipe. If making it ahead shall I put the dressing or when using it. Thank
Hi Grace, it would depend on how far ahead you are making it. In most cases it would be fine to dress it and refrigerate it, but I would hold back the cilantro and add it in when ready to serve.
Salad was wonderful. The mangos were in season and I took advantage had everything on hand. The lime really ads punch. We enjoy this Sunday afternoon lunch, will be making again.
So glad you enjoyed it Pat! Hope you’re having a great Summer. I’ve been enjoying a lot of mangoes lately, too :)
Going camping and hoping to take this with me… but I need to cut the mangoes, onions, etc. two days ahead of time… has anyone had experience with how long the mangoes will keep?
Hi Carol, I find the mangoes hold up pretty well after cutting stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. They should be fine for the couple of days.
Thanks! :-)
Excellent and easy to make Mango salad that only has ingredients that you will have on hand already or can get easily! Try it you won’t be disappointed.
Thanks so much, Dorothy!
This is my go to summer dish to bring to any party or function. It’s so refreshing and delicious. It’s a hit every time.
Glad to hear, Julianna. Thanks so much!
It’s so yummy!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks :)
Love this recipe it’s the best.
So glad you are enjoying it, Rosslyn :) Thanks!
I’ve made this delicious mango salad several times and it’s always a hit. The tips on cutting mangoes got me past my reluctance to try cutting and peeling them. Thankfully the strips of mango have uniformly come out unscathed. Beautiful salad and the lime dressing is actually lip smacking good. 😋
So glad to hear, Lois :) Thanks so much!
I made this salad as a side with a lamb roast for Christmas lunch today. I substituted mint leaves for the herbs, used white nectarines along with the mango on top of a bed of lettuce, left out the bell pepper and made a red onion pickle in lime juice to use in the salad. I didn’t have chili flakes so used just a drop of Sriracha sauce. This made such a delicious & pretty salad! Yum, I will definitely be making it again. This goes on the top of my list of favourite salads, along with a delish mango calamari salad I’ve been making for over 10 years <3
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much :)
can I substitute frozen mango chunks for the fresh in this recipe?
Hi Kathleen, while I think fresh would give you the best results, this should work with frozen and thawed mango.
This mango salad is amazing. Wonderful texture, colours and full of flavour! It’s a huge hit with everyone I make it for! Delicious!! Thanks for sharing this recipe Jennifer.
So glad you enjoying it, Heidi :) Thanks so much!
Hi there!
Would love to make this but I don’t have red chili flakes, would red chili powder be a good substitute?
Appreciate your thoughts, thanks!
Hi Tess, I think I might just omit the red pepper flakes. Chili powder is a mixture of other spices and might not produce the same flavour/heat profile. You’ll still have a lovely mango salad without the red pepper flakes :)