With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, this week we’re getting festive with this easy sweet and spicy mango salsa recipe!

I love using fresh, sweet, juicy fruits to shake things up in salsa (like my watermelon salsa). It can add whole new level of sweet and spicy texture and flavor that just makes your taste buds want to sing.

(Even though, yes, I know… A tomato is technically a fruit. But we all know he’s more of an honorary member of the fruit club and probably none of the other fruits take him seriously.)

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The star of the show in this easy mango salsa recipe is, of course, the mango.

Which means you need to be downright choosy about which mangoes you use. You want to make sure you select the perfectly ripe mango. Because an under ripened mango will make you or break you in this mango salsa recipe.

It’s very much like choosing the right avocados for guacamole (if they ain’t ripe, all you have on your hands is a big mess).

When choosing your mango, make sure you give is a squeeze and a sniff to check for ripeness.

A well ripened mango will be soft the the squeeze (but not overly mushy) and should have a sweet fragrance coming from the stem. Avoid overly firm, green mangoes (they will be tough to cut and bitter to the taste inside).

Once you’ve got your perfectly ripe mango, you need to make the right knife cuts to dice it up.

The trick here is to slice off the fleshy half of the mango on either side of the long mango seed in the center of the fruit.

Next, use your knife to make four cuts down the length of the mango half and the four more cuts across.

After that, use your hands to pop the half inside out (like demonstrated in the above photo). Slice the exposed mango flesh away from the skin and you have some lovely cubes of mango.

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My Favorite Salsa Meal Prep Tools

Before we dive right into my easy sweet and spicy mango salsa recipe, here’s a look at a couple of the meal prepping tools for this recipe.

Solid Knives

Where there’s salsa, they’s lots of chopping. And some solid, high-quality knives make that task go oh-so-much-more smoothly.

My husband got me this cutlery set for Christmas and I absolutely LOVE it. Not only do they come in quite a few different colors to brighten up your kitchen, their sub-hilt design is extremely sturdy.

The Pioneer Woman 14-Piece Cutlery Set

Click here to find on Amazon

Also, they’re my favorite color. Can we talk about why more kitchen tools aren’t both pretty and effective? These knives (like my fellow lady cooks) are elegant, effective and surprisingly cheap for a sturdy 14-piece cutlery set.

Quality Knife Sharpener

Even the best of knives need some sharpening upkeep. We got this as a Christmas gift from a relative, and it’s hands down the best knife sharpener ever. It’s compact design doesn’t take up much space and a couple swipes through this baby will have you chopping like a breeze.

Bavarian Edge Kitchen Knife Sharpener

Click here to find on Amazon

Also, this thing is cheap. Like, one of the best $16-ish investments you can make into keeping your cutlery in tip-top, pointy condition.

A Note On Salt

Any good salsa recipe needs a dash a salt. Our family made the switch to less processed salts after doing some research to learn that not all salt is made (or processed) equally. Many brands of refined salt are depleted of much of their mineral and nutritional value.

Furthermore, we learned that 90 percent of common table salts (including sea, lake and rock salts) may contain microplastics (i.e. little bits of plastic).

We’ve made the switch to salt brands known for higher purity with less processing to retain more of their nutritional value. They’re fantastic for all kinds of cooking!

Celtic Sea Salt

(Non-GMO Verified, Vegan, Kosher and Paleo-Friendly)

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Easy Sweet and Spicy Mango Salsa Recipe

Ready to make some mango salsa?

I make this frequently as a side dish for cookouts and casual dinner parties and it’s always a hit. And it’s honestly so easy to throw together last minute that you’ll feel like you’re getting away with a crime when people go bananas over your healthy, homemade salsa. (Side note: it turns out bananas do not work well in salsa. Don’t do it.)

Easy Sweet and Spicy Mango Salsa Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Large tomatoes
• 2 Large mangoes, cubed
• 1 Medium green bell pepper
• 2 Large Limes
• 1 Medium Red onion
• 2 Jalapenos, minced
• 1 Cup fresh cilantro
• 1 Teaspoon Sea salt

DIRECTIONS:

First, we need to chop and prep all of our fruits and veggies.

Finely chop your tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and mango cubes. Mince the cilantro and jalapeno peppers (you can deseed the jalapenos if you want less heat, use about half the seeds for medium heat, or keep all the seeds for more heat).

Combine all of your chopped ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Using a fine grater, grate 1 + 1/2 teaspoons of lime zest into the bowl. Next, cut both limes in half and squeeze all the juice from the limes into the bowl. Mix everything together until all the chopped ingredients are evenly coated in zest, juice and cilantro.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator and sprinkle your Celtic sea salt over the salsa right before serving.

And boom. There you have it. You’re officially a homemade salsa wizard. Go forth. Dip your tortilla chips and snack in victory.

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Other Recipes You May Enjoy

Don’t go away just yet. We’re still getting to know each other! Here are a few more of my summery posts and recipes that I think you’re going to love.

3 Watermelon Recipes to Shake Up Summer

How To Stay Healthy On Vacation

Southwest Black Bean Burger

6 Signs That You’re Dehydrated

Fruit-Infused Water: The Benefits, Myths and 20 Fruit Water Recipes

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All writing and images copyright © 2018 Rachel Elise Weems Woods.

Published 5-4-2018. Updated 3-23-2020.