This spicy mango salsa with jalapeño is so easy and takes just 5 minutes to prepare thanks to frozen mango. Enjoy as a fresh snack or make dinner a little more interesting by using as a topping to fish or chicken.
This is not a travel-inspired recipe. It’s a freezer aisle-inspired recipe.
During the first couple months of lockdown, we remembered the value proposition of frozen food. And so did everyone else. We would often arrive at the supermarket to find bare freezers with little left besides one or two bags of stuff no one wanted. So anytime we’d spot something somewhat interesting or healthy, we’d snatch it up.
Thus how we ended up with a large box of frozen mango even though we never eat mango.
Unlike some juicy berries, frozen mango didn’t sound super appealing to put in our Yogurt Breakfast Bowl*. Mango smoothies did sound super appealing… but we didn’t have a blender. So we did what we do best and turned something sweet into something spicy: mango jalapeño salsa.
*A small bowl with a few spoonfuls of plain yogurt in it.
Ingredients
Like most good salsa recipes, our spicy mango salsa only has a few ingredients.
We use frozen mango because we had it. It was so easy and the end result tasted just as tasty as fresh. So unless we stumbled on a box of free mangoes, we’d be hard pressed to not make this with frozen mangoes moving forward. That said, this spicy mango salsa does need at least an hour to hang out and thaw and meld in the fridge. So if you must eat your salsa immediately after prepping it, buy fresh.
Jalapeño is the next key ingredient. We remove the seeds, but keep in some of the ribs which gives it some extra heat. If you don’t like things that spicy, cut those out too.
Most mango salsa recipes we read used red onions, but we think they can get too overpowering. So ours gets some green onions instead.
For the dressing we like a mix of lime juice and apple cider vinegar and add cumin for earthiness and smokiness.
Last, we like to top with a fresh herb. We only do this after it has sat in the fridge for at least an hour, right before serving. Otherwise, the herb will lose its flavor. Cilantro is most appropriate, but if we’re being honest, sometimes we don’t like it, in which case we sub parsley.
Serving suggestions
We ate our mango jalapeño salsa as the sweet, spicy accompaniment to vegetarian tacos. It was tasty, as it would also be as a dip. Or you could try it as a topping to on a mild white fish or chicken breast.
Eet smakelijk!
Spicy Mango Salsa
This spicy mango salsa with jalapeño is so easy and takes just 5 minutes to prepare thanks to frozen mango. Enjoy as a fresh snack or make dinner a little more interesting by using as a topping to fish or chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen mango pieces
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 green onion
- 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Fresh cilantro or parsley, to taste
Instructions
- Chop the mango while it's still frozen (it's easier to chop as small as you want it this way, although your fingers might get a little cold).
- De-seed your jalapeño and mince it. We like to leave some of the ribs in there for extra heat.
- Slice the green end of your green onion. Once you reach the stiffer, light green/white part, slice it down the middle lengthwise and cut it into tiny half-moons.
- Mix the veg and the rest of the ingredients except the fresh herbs in a bowl.
- Put in the fridge for at least an hour to let the mango fully defrost and the flavors to come together.
- Sprinkle with a fresh herb of your choice (sometimes we like cilantro, sometimes we don't!) before serving.
Notes
You can absolutely use fresh mango for this recipe instead of frozen. Depending on how big they are, you'll need 1-2 mangoes to substitute for 2 cups of frozen.
