Making a delicious mango sauce is so easy and you can use it in many different ways! The simple ingredients can be modified to make a sweeter sauce perfect for ice cream or a little spicy if you want a sauce with a little kick.
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This versatile sauce can also be used to baste on grilled chicken, salmon, tuna, or pork chops; and it is the perfect topping for fish or shrimp tacos or for making a mango margarita!
You can easily turn it into a marinade or use it as a mango dipping sauce for fried shrimp and so many other things.
The sauce can be frozen or freeze dried for longer preservation. I took some freeze dried mango sauce with me on a trip and reconstituted it with water and it tasted like I just made it!
Suggested Kitchen Tools Mango Sauce
- Medium Size Saucepan
- Blender, Immersion Blender, or Food Processor
Ingredients & Substitutions
Mangoes
I recommend using the flesh and juice from fresh, ripe mangoes when at all possible.
You can also use frozen mango or even mango puree. Since mangoes are going to have varying levels of sweetness, you will want to adjust the sugar in the recipe based on how sweet your mangoes are. This can be done after the sauce simmers and is blended.
Try to avoid unripe mangoes because they can impart a bitter taste into the sauce.
Onions, Ginger, Garlic, and Lime
These four ingredients work together to create a flavorful mango sauce and I recommend using all three, unless you have an allergy.
Onions: I use a sweet onion in this recipe, but any yellow or white onion will work fine. I don't recommend using red onion because, when it is cooked and blended, it can turn your sauce a different color.
Omit the onions if you want to make a sweet mango sauce for ice cream.
Ginger: The ginger adds a bit of brightness and spice. I don't recommend using powdered ginger in this recipe so, if you don't have fresh ginger, just skip it.
Omit the ginger if you want a sweet mango sauce for ice cream.
Garlic: Whole garlic cloves are preferred for this recipe, but if you want to substitute for minced garlic, use 1-2 teaspoons. You can omit the garlic if needed.
I don't recommend using powdered garlic.
Omit the garlic if you want a sweet mango sauce for ice cream.
Lime: Both the lime zest and lime juice are added at the end to provide a brightness and is the finishing touch to the mango sauce. I would not substitute with lemon and instead just omit the lime and add a little more vinegar if needed.
Vinegar, Sugar, Seasonings
Vinegar: I use apple cider vinegar in this recipe, but you can use white vinegar or rice vinegar as a substitution.
I don't recommend using balsamic or wine vinegars.
Sugar: I use white sugar in this recipe but you could also use brown sugar if you prefer. The only difference will be a slightly darker sauce and the added touch of molasses.
You can also use sugar substitutes if you prefer. I like using Swerve because it is an easy 1:1 substitution.
Feel free to use more or less sugar according to your taste buds and the ripeness of your mangoes.
Chili Pepper Flakes: These are completely optional and can be adjusted based on personal preference.
You can also use fresh chili peppers if preferred but it will change the color of the mango sauce if you blend the sauce with the fresh chili peppers.
For a chili mango sauce, I would cut up fresh red chili peppers into a small dice and add them after blending the sauce so they retain their bright color.
For a spicy sauce, use more of the chili pepper flakes. The recipe as written below is very mild.
How to Make Chili Mango Sauce
How to peel and cut fresh Mangoes
If you haven't had much experience with fresh mangoes, cutting them can be a challenge because there is a pit on the inside that you have to cut around.
First, you want to find the direction that the pit is growing. The pit of a mango is not round, but more oblong so there is going to be more mango flesh on two sides of the pit than there will be on the other two sides.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell where the mango cheeks (the meaty sides of the mango) are, but if you look at the top of the mango, where it's the widest is usually the direction of the pit.
Once you have a good idea of the direction of the pit, slice the top off of the mango and start to peel the skin off with a sharp knife.
Once the mango is peeled, start cutting the cheeks of the mango by sliding a sharp thin knife down the wider side and make as many slices as you can before hitting the pit.
Repeat until you have as much of the mango flesh off the pit as possible.
Quick Tip
If your mango is really ripe and juicy, cut it over a bowl to catch the juice if possible.
You don't have to be precise with this recipe in the dicing of the mango and, instead of using a cutting board like I show below, you may just want to break the mangoes up into a bowl so you don't lose any of the juices.
Preparing the Vegetables
What I love about this recipe is how easy it is to prep the ingredients. Because the sauce will be blended, there is no need to be precise in chopping or slicing the onion or ginger.
- Cut the onion in half and remove the peel and the cut the end off of the side you are using. Chop it into large chunks.
- Peel the cloves of garlic and leave whole or smash them before peeling to make it a little easier.
- For the ginger, I like to use a sharp-sided spoon to peel it, but you can also use a vegetable peeler. Then, I slice it into about ¼" slices.
Simmer the Mango Sauce
Add the mango along with the onion, garlic, ginger, sugar and vinegar to a saucepan and heat on medium-high heat until it starts to lightly boil.
Reduce to a simmer and simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes.
Blend the Mango Sauce
Once the sauce has simmered for about 15 minutes or until the mango chunks break down and the onions are starting to become translucent, transfer the sauce to a blender or food processor. You can also use an immersion blender.
When using a regular blender, let the sauce cool before blending to avoid having the steam build, which can lead to eruptions of hot sauce when you open the blender.
Blend until smooth and return to the saucepan (I usually give the saucepan a quick rinse) if you want to add some red pepper flakes for spiciness. If not, you can add the lime juice and zest while the sauce is in the blender.
Final Touches
Adding red pepper flakes is completely optional, but I like a little mild spice to the sauce so I always add them.
Quick Tip
If you are unsure how spicy you want your mango sauce, start with just a pinch (⅛-¼ teaspoon) of the pepper flakes and let the sauce simmer for a few minutes. Taste it and add more pepper flakes if desired.
To give the pepper flakes time to infuse into the sauce, simmer the sauce for about 5 minutes after adding them.
Zest a lime into a small bowl (I usually do this while the sauce is simmering) and juice half of the lime into a separate bowl.
Add the lime zest to the finished sauce once it is removed from the heat. This will prevent the zest from cooking and it will retain its vibrant green color.
Only add about 1 Tablespoon of lime juice at a time and taste it before adding more. You can add as little or as much lime juice as you like.
Transfer the sauce to a container and refrigerate until cold. It will thicken as it cools.
Storage Instructions
How to Store Leftover Mango
Refrigeration
Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days in the refrigerator.
Freezer
Chill the sauce completely before freezing. You can freeze the sauce in sealable bags or any freezer safe airtight container and it will last at least 3 months.
Quick Tip
If you have a freeze dryer, this sauce is amazing freeze-dried and it reconstitutes beautifully.
Frequently Asked Questions
I would say it is between mild and medium when you use ½ teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
For a mild sauce, decrease the pepper flakes to ⅛-¼ teaspoon. For a spicier sauce, increase to ¾-1 teaspoon.
Remember, you can always add more if it isn't spicy enough, but once you add the pepper flakes the only way to reduce the spice is to make more mango sauce without the pepper flakes and add it to the sauce that is too spicy.
Absolutely. Just increase or decrease the ingredients.
About 1½ cups of mango sauce.
More Homemade Sauces & Condiments
I must admit, I love making my own sauces and I have tons of recipes on my website.
Here are a few that I think you will love!
Easy Mango Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- Blender, Food Processor, or Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe mangoes You will need a total of 1½ cups (400 grams) of flesh and juice from the mangoes.
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½ sweet onion (about 4 ounces by weight)
- 2" ginger root (0.5 ounce by weight)
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup white granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher or fine grind sea salt
- ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional for spiciness
- 1 lime zest and juice used in recipe
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Instructions
Prep for Recipe
- Peel and remove the flesh from the mangoes. Do this over a bowl to catch the juices. You will need 1½ cups of flesh and juice for this recipe.4 large ripe mangoes
- Smash and peel 4 garlic cloves.Peel and roughly chop ½ onion. Peel and slice ginger root.4 garlic cloves, ½ sweet onion, 2" ginger root
Making the Mango Sauce
- Place the cut up mango and juice into a medium size saucepan. Add garlic, onion, ginger, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and salt. Heat over medium high heat until the sauce begins to boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.½ cup apple cider vinegar, ¼ cup white granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher or fine grind sea salt
- Using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender, blend the sauce until it is smooth. *Make sure to let the sauce cool before using a regular blender or food processor to avoid trapped steam and possible eruptions of the sauce.
- Rinse the saucepan and return the blended mango sauce to the saucepan. Add pepper flakes and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add lime zest and 1 Tablespoon of the lime juice. Taste and add more juice if needed. Transfer to a container and chill for 1-2 hours before serving. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
Notes
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Paula Panzino
This was very easy, I made it with frozen mango and the balance of ginger, chili, and lime made the braised cod taste great. I went easier on the ginger and chili this first time around, so if you like it spicy, I would add proportionately.
Louise
I'm so glad you enjoyed it and I bet it was great on Cod!