How to Cut a Mango

Learning how to cut a mango is easy, and essential if you want to get the most out of this incredibly delicious, tropical fruit!

Mangoes are one of the most delicious fruits available, and they can't be cut and sliced the way most fruits can be because the pit is flat, and almost as wide as the fruit.

About Mangoes

• Mangoes originated in India over 4,000 years ago and are considered to be a sacred fruit.
• According to Melissa's Produce, mangoes are the number one most popular fruit in the world.
• In the United States, they're approximately number thirteen.
• There are many varieties of mangoes including Ataulfo or Honey (pictured below), Keitt, Haden, Francis, Kent, Tommy Atkins, and Palmer. These are just a handful of many more. Each type of mango has a unique flavor and texture.
• Some people liken the general flavor of mangoes to a cross between pineapples and oranges, with a hint of peach. Sometimes they're a bit tart and they're almost always sweet and fragrant with floral notes.
  

Why is it tricky to cut a mango?

Mangoes have a big, flat pit in the center, which means they need to be cut differently than many other fruits with round pits.

There's nothing quite like a perfect (and perfectly prepared) mango!

How to Cut a Mango

- Hold the mango in place and cut just off the center line, lengthwise, where this pit is. Imagine the side surface of your knife almost brushing the side of the pit.

- Repeat this process on the mango’s other side.

- To cut the mango into slices, use a paring knife to make lengthwise cuts into the mango flesh — touching the inside of the skin, but not cutting through it.

- To dice the mango, use a paring knife to make lengthwise cuts into the mango flesh, — touching the inside of the skin, but not cutting through it. Then make the same size slices horizontally — again, not cutting through the skin.

- Use a large metal spoon to gently scoop out the sliced or diced mango.

- You can make the dice any size you like, and if you don’t scoop the fruit with a spoon, you can almost turn the skin inside out for this pretty presentation.

- To get the mango flesh from around the pit, lay the center piece flat, and use a paring knife to cut the fruit off the pit, towards the edges.

Of course, you can also just bite the fruit off of the pit.

A few delicious recipes with mangoes:

• Mango Avocado Chipotle Salsa
• Pesto Mango Avocado Stack
• Chipotle Mango Quesadilla
• Baked Coconut Mango Chicken

How to Cut a Mango

Valentina K. Wein

Learning how to cut a mango is easy, and essential if you want to get the most out of this incredibly delicious, tropical fruit!

Print

Prep Time 1 min

Course Snack

Cuisine Indian

Servings 1

Calories 200 kcal

Equipment

• paring knife

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 whole mango

Instructions

 

• Hold the mango in place on a cutting board, and cut just off the center line, lengthwise. (Remember, the pit is flat. It’s a similar in shape to the mango.) Imagine the side surface of your knife almost brushing the side of the pit.

  Repeat this process on the mango’s other side. You’ll have two halves, and a flat center portion of the mango that includes the pit.
• To cut the mango into slices, use a paring knife to make lengthwise cuts into the mango flesh — touching the inside of the skin, but not cutting through it.
• To dice the mango, use a paring knife to make lengthwise cuts into the mango flesh, — touching the inside of the skin, but not cutting through it. Then make the same size slices horizontally — again, not cutting through the skin.

  Use a large metal spoon to gently scoop out the sliced or diced mango.
• You can make the dice any size you like, and if you don’t scoop the fruit with a spoon, you can almost turn the skin inside out for this pretty presentation.
• To get the mango flesh from around the pit, lay the center piece flat, and use a paring knife to cut the fruit off the pit, towards the edges.

Notes

Calorie count is only an estimate.

Keywords exotic fruits

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