Delicious Mango Salad with Zesty Lime Dressing

The possibilities when it comes to making a salad are endless. You can do greens, fruits, herbs, grains, a combination of all – honestly whatever you prefer! I love adding fruits to mine for a touch of sweetness and colour. One of my favourites are this mango salad paired with a zesty lime dressing. It’s such a great one to enjoy on its own, on the side of your meal, or as a slaw in tacos.

What’s in this salad?

• Mangoes – I like using Haden mangoes because there’s so much mangoes on them and it’s easier to cut than the ataulfo ones. Here’s a website that discusses the type of mangoes and what you can use them for!
• Sliced Vegetables – I used red onion and red bell peppers. You can also add some carrots and cabbage.
• Fresh Herbs – I used a combination of cilantro and mint. I love the freshness you achieve from herbs, such a great touch!
• Nuts – this is optional but I love adding some crushed peanuts or cashews for the perfect crunch and topping. I really like toasting the nuts first to give it more depths of flavour. This is super easy to do in the oven or air fryer!

The dressing

The dressing has a lovely combination or sweet, zesty, and a hint of spice. It’s made from simple pantry staples that compliment the produce base beautifully:

• Limes and lime zest – the perfect zest and freshness
• Olive oil – a good olive oil is a must for majority of dressings
• Minced garlic – a delicious flavour with a kick
• Maple syrup – a rich sweetness
• Chilli flakes – a touch of heat to balance out the sweetness
• Salt – brings it all together

Mix all the ingredients together and adjust to your preferences. This is such a versatile dressing – it can be used in many different dishes! You can even make a bigger batch and keep it stored in the fridge for quick use during the week!

How to cut the produce

What really makes this dish is the beautifully chopped produce. I love how everything is uniformed and thinly sliced. That way each bite has a variety of flavours and colours. A few tips/methods I’ve used are:

• Making sure the produce is fresh and crisp. This is so vital for the success of your salad. Mangoes are easy to detect if they’re ripe. When you hold one and it gives a little it usually indicates that it’s ripe. Try finding one that’s firm to touch! Firmer ones are easier to cut and make slices with.
• Using a sharp chef’s knife for straight cuts
• Using a mandolin slicer – this makes a more finer slaw

Tips

Try using an unripe mango for this salad. If you don’t have happen to have an unripe one you can add a sweet one but try adding some more lime juice to offset the sweetness from the fruit.

If you don’t know how to cut a mango, here’s a website that shows you how.

If you’re making this recipe a day ahead, please keep the dressing and salad covered and separate in the fridge until time of serving. Upon serving, use the dressing and mix well. Finally, garnish and serve. Please taste to see if you need more chilli flakes, lime or salt.

Substitutions

Mango substitutions: I haven’t tried it with a papaya, but you could replace the mango strips for papaya ones! I find that papayas are found unripe and it would go nicely in this recipe as well. You could also make this an apple salad with a green apple!

Adding more vegetables: If you want to bulk up this dish, you can also add slices of cucumbers. You could also add chopped spinach to this recipe if you want a bit more greens! You could even add bean sprouts – a perfect crunch and adds more color to the recipe!

Herb substitutions: If you don’t have mint or cilantro you can try using basil. I find mint and cilantro a must have for this recipe though! If you think cilantro tastes and smells like soap then use flat leaf parsley instead!

Onion substitutions: You can try using shallots here instead but the taste and texture may change slightly.

Nuts: honestly anything goes but peanuts are my favourite. You can try pine nuts, pecans or cashews. I think cashews would be my next favourite after peanuts!

Maple syrup: the only vegan sweetener I can think of instead of maple syrup would be agave syrup. I haven’t tried it. If you’re not vegan you can try honey.

Garnishes

Here are some garnishes you can try with this recipe other than the ones mentioned above:

• pomegranates
• spring onions/chives
• sliced jalapeños
• added protein like tofu

Other similar recipes to try

Autumn Nourish Salad with Pumpkin and Kale

Delicious Strawberry Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans

Thanks so much for coming by! If you’ve tried this recipe or any of my others, please leave a comment below! Or if you want to say hi – come by on social media @sculptedkitchen