Mango Cucumber Salad

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Sweet mangos, cool cucumbers, and a hint of spicy red pepper make this mango cucumber salad the perfect light accompaniment at summer picnics and BBQs.

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💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe
🥣 Ingredients and Notes
👩🏻‍🍳 How to Make Mango Cucumber Salad
❓ Recipe FAQS
🍴 How to Serve
📝 Expert Tips
📋 Variations
🫙 How to Store
😋 More Mango Recipes!
🛠 Serving Size
🎥 Video
Recipe

The sun is shining, the leaves are finally budging on the trees, and summer picnics have taken over my daydreams.

When mangos are ripe and in season, I can’t get enough of this sweet and luscious fruit. I usually enjoy mangos plain and straightforward, but today I had six mangos on hand that were all ripe and ready to eat!

So I decided to do something more unique and developed this Mango Cucumber Salad. It’s sweet and crunchy, with a hint of spice. I left out the red pepper flakes on the kids’ servings, and they gobbled it up! It’s a unique take on a fruit salad, an excellent picnic side dish, or served with tortilla chips as a sweet salsa.

💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Sweet and Spicy
Nice crunch from the cucumbers
Enjoy as a side salad
Top on greens
Make as a topping for tropical burgers
Scoop with tortilla chips
Bring to a picnic
Serve alongside your BBQ
Vegan and Vegetarian
Gluten-Free
Dairy-Free
Oil-Free
Whole food plant-based

🥣 Ingredients and Notes

Diced mango, diced cucumber, diced red onion, diced red pepper, lime, white vinegar, and red pepper flakes.

Mangos: Be sure your mangos are ripe and have a bit of a give when you give them a gentle squeeze. Dice them and set aside.

Cucumber: I prefer to use an English cucumber, or Persian cucumbers as they have fewer seeds, and the skin is not tough.

Red Onion: Adds a bit of a bite to the salad. Add more or less depending on how much you like raw onions.

Red Bell Pepper: The red bell pepper is a bit sweet and compliments the mango. You could also use a yellow pepper, or an orange bell pepper.

Lime Juice: The simple dressing for this salad includes the tangy juice of one lime.

White Vinegar: Use white vinegar as opposed to other types of vinegar for the dressing because it will not discolor the fruits and vegetables in the salad.

Red Pepper Flakes: For a touch spice add the red pepper flakes, or leave them out if you don’t like your food spicy.

👩🏻‍🍳 How to Make Mango Cucumber Salad

Peel and dice mangoes. Chop cucumber into small chunks. Finely dice onion and red pepper. Add to a large bowl.
Squeeze the juice of one lime over the top of the salad. Add white wine vinegar and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.
Serve cold. Enjoy!

Note: If you have the time refrigerate and allow to marinate for 1 hour before serving. This helps meld all the flavors together.

❓ Recipe FAQS

What type of cucumber should I use?

I recommend using an English cucumber. It has fewer seeds in the center, and the skin is less tough than a traditional cucumber. You do not have to spend extra time peeling or removing the seeds using an English cucumber.
If you don’t have an English cucumber on hand, you can use a regular cucumber, but be sure to remove the skin and seeds.

Is this salad spicy?

It’s got a kick, but it’s not too spicy. Although I’ve been told I have a higher spice tolerance than others. If you’re not into spicy, you can leave the red pepper flakes out altogether or reduce the amount you use. Since my kids are not fans of anything spicy, I scoop out a portion for the two of them before adding the red pepper flakes.

What if I don’t have white wine vinegar?

If you don’t have white wine vinegar, use a bit more lime juice. The white wine vinegar is used to add more acidity to the salad. It also helps it keep for a more extended period. You can also use white vinegar, rice wine, or apple cider vinegar instead. Do not use red wine vinegar, as it will discolor the salad.

🍴 How to Serve

This salad is great because it is so versatile. You can enjoy it as a light lunch or on top of greens. You can serve it as a topping on burgers or enjoy it as a salsa with chips.

It packs and keeps well in the summer heat, so bring it along for a side dish at your next picnic or BBQ.

overhead close up mango salad in blue bowl

📝 Expert Tips

Be sure mangoes are ripe. They will be soft to the touch and fragrant.
Chop mango and cucumber into similar size cubes for uniformity.
Finely dice the onion and red pepper into smaller pieces.
Use fresh lime juice.
If you have time before serving, allow the salad to marinate for an hour to absorb the flavors and spices.

📋 Variations

No English Cucumber-Use a regular cucumber, remove the peel and remove the seeds.

No White Wine Vinegar-Use a little extra lime juice or sub-white vinegar, rice vinegar, or apple cider vinegar.

Additions-Add cubed avocado for extra creaminess.

🫙 How to Store

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It’s best made and enjoyed fresh, however, the vinegar helps it keep for longer.

mango cucumber salad in blue bowel next to yellow towel

😋 More Mango Recipes!

🛠 Serving Size

This salad makes 6 large servings. Double the recipe for a large picnic or potluck.

🎥 Video

If you made this recipe, please comment below and leave a ⭐️ rating. You can also follow me on Instagram , Pinterest, and Facebook for more family-friendly vegan recipes!

Recipe