Serve This Easy Mango Salsa With Anything Grilled

It's spiked with fresh ginger, orange juice, and lime juice for a bright, tropical flavor

By
Liz Crain
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Liz Crain
Liz Crain is a longtime writer on Pacific Northwest food and drink. She's authored several books including her most recent cookbook, Dumplings Equal Love, published in 2020 by Sasquatch Books. Her forthcoming cookbook, Fermenter: DIY Fermentation for Vegan Fare, co-authored with Portland chef and restaurateur, Aaron Adams, is due out fall 2023.
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Published on 06/13/23
Tested by
Diana Andrews
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Tested by Diana Andrews
Diana earned her B.A. in Fine Art at Queens College and her culinary certification from the Institute of Culinary Education. Diana has served as head recipe developer and editor for Emmy-nominated PBS series Moveable Feast, food editor and test kitchen manager at Fine Cooking Magazine, and recipe developer, and product tester at Food Network.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
A bowl of mango salsa served with tortilla chips

The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 25 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 25 mins
Servings: 4 to 6 servings
Yield: 2 cups

This salsa is an immediate flavor trip to the tropics and it’s so easy to make. I started making a version of it years ago when I was in Kauai and there were loads of ripe tropical fruits fresh for the picking where I was staying. I’ve been tinkering with the recipe ever since. You can use any medium ripe mango for this recipe, as long as it yields 1.5  to two cups of finely diced fruit.

The Key To This Salsa Recipe

Speaking of finely diced fruit, chopping the mango into very small pieces brings all the flavors together and makes dunking and topping a tortilla chip with it that much easier. Less finely diced, more pico-de-gallo-type mango salsas typically aren’t as well-rounded in flavor, and they’re also hard to get to your mouth from the salsa bowl without a little salsa falling on the table or, worse, in your lap!

How To Use Mango Salsa

This salsa is super flavorful with a good amount of lime plus orange zest and fresh grated ginger. It’s delicious on tacos, especially fish tacos, with a snacky spread, or as a sweet and spicy garnish for grilled meats and seafoods. It’s also really tasty on nachos (did someone say breakfast nachos?!) and as a topper for braised or refried beans. The goal is a good balance of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty, so adjust the flavor accordingly after tasting.

Salsa Swaps

Be sure to pick a nice ripe mango and tomato for this. You can always substitute canned tomato or frozen or canned mango—see below—if one or both isn’t readily available. And, although we like this summery salsa with habanero best, if that’s too hot to trot, you can use a portion of a less spicy chili pepper like a jalapeño or serrano.

Making the Most of Your Mango

Chopping mangoes is fun and easy, but also a little slippery, so be careful. And, don’t forget to suck on the mango stone! There’s often plenty of flavorful flesh close to the stone that you can’t fully slice off but that you can (and should!) still enjoy.

Tips for Making Mango Salsa

  • How to cut a mango — Here are detailed instructions on selecting and cubing fresh mango. To select ripe mangos, look for heavy, slightly fragrant fruit that gives somewhat when you press on it.
  • Ripening a mango — If your mango is unripe, store it at room temperature until it softens and ripens. To speed things up, wrap it up in a paper bag. This can take up to 1 week.
  • For a milder salsa — If you want a less spicy salsa, simply use a quartered or halved jalapeño or serrano.

"This salsa was so refreshing with mango as the primary ingredient. The ripe mango combined well with the citrus elements, the heat level was perfect, and I loved the addition of ginger! I let the salsa sit in the refrig for about 30 minutes before serving to meld the flavors and served it with tortilla chips." —Diana Andrews

Mango Salsa/Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 1 medium (ripe) mango

  • 1 medium tomato, finely diced

  • 2 medium scallions, thinly sliced

  • 1/4 medium habanero, seeded and minced, more to taste

  • 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt, more to taste

  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar, more to taste

  • Freshly grated zest of 1 lime, about 2 teaspoons

  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

  • Freshly grated zest of 1/2 orange, about 2 teaspoons

  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients to make mango salsa

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. To prepare the mango, hold it upright and with your knife slice down and around the stone, curving around the stone as you do so on each side.

    A knife cutting the side of a mango on a cutting board

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. Score both of these sliced off sections lengthwise and crosswise until your knife reaches the peel, then scoop out the cubed mango.

    A cutting board with two slices of mango, with it's flesh scored into squares

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Slice the peel off from around the stone and cut off the remaining mango.

    A cutting board with a peeled mango stone, and pieces of diced mango

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Finely dice all of the cubed mango. You should have 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

    A cutting board with finely diced mango

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Place the mango, tomato, scallions, habanero, ginger, salt, sugar, lime zest and juice, orange zest and juice, and cilantro into a medium bowl and stir well to combine.

    Taste and adjust the habanero, salt, and sugar to your liking. Enjoy with tortilla chips, on tacos, etc. 

    A bowl of mango salsa, made up of mango, tomato, scallions, habanero, ginger, salt, sugar, lime zest and juice, orange zest and juice, and cilantro

    The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

How To Store Mango Salsa

Tightly cover and refrigerate this salsa for up to 3 days.

Feeling Adventurous? Try This:

These easy recipe variations will help you make this dish your own.


  • For a blended salsa — Transfer the salsa (minus the cilantro) to a food processor or blender and puree it in short bursts 15 to 20 times, until the salsa is fairly pureed but still slightly chunky. Stir in the cilantro.
  • Make any tropical fruit salsa — Do you have other ripe tropical fruits on hand? If so, consider adding up to 1/2 cup finely diced to the salsa. Papaya, kiwi, and pineapple are great. Simply adjust the seasoning and citrus to accommodate.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
62 Calories
0g Fat
15g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 62
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 92mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 15g 6%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 51mg 255%
Calcium 21mg 2%
Iron 0mg 2%
Potassium 259mg 6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)