Simple Thai Mango Salad (10 Minutes)
My entire family and friends LOVED IT! …Tripled the recipe and took NONE HOME! Have had requests for the recipe at least 7 times! A super super Hit! Donna
Prepare for an explosion of fresh flavors and textures with this simple Thai mango salad recipe. Silky ripe mango, crisp bean sprouts, green onions and peppers in a sweet, spicy, tangy, umami dressing.
What to expect
This easy Thai mango salad is a very popular recipe on our site. Readers rave: “Incredible combination of flavors and textures,” “Easy and delicious,” “Huge hit,” “A keeper,” “Tripled the recipe and took NONE HOME!” It’s always a winner.
The salad delivers fresh, silky textures and bold, vibrant flavors. Best of all, it takes just 10 minutes to make with simple ingredients found at most grocery stores.
Missing an ingredient? No problem. You’ll find plenty of easy substitutions and variations to suit your taste or what you have on hand.
Ingredients – tailored to your taste
Don’t be afraid to use this Asian salad recipe as a guideline and play around until you get the combination and tastes you like.
Mangos: For this recipe, you can use ripe mangos (my preference) or unripe mangos (more traditional in Thai food). My favorites are golden yellow Ataulfo mangos from Mexico. Ripe mangos are slightly soft to the touch and sweet smelling at the stem.
Dressing: sweet chili sauce, lime juice plus zest, fresh ginger, garlic, fish sauce
Add-ins: green onion, bell red pepper, fresh bean sprouts, fresh cilantro
Substitutes
- Mangos: Can’t find fresh ones? Use frozen mango chunks, thawed (look for them in the freezer aisle).
- Sweet chili sauce – Mix honey (or maple syrup), red pepper flakes, garlic, a splash of vinegar, and soy sauce as a quick alternative.
- Bean sprouts: Swap in chopped, seeded cucumber or canned water chestnuts for crunch.
- Cilantro – substitute parsley or basil
- Fish sauce: If you don’t like it or don’t have any, use light soy sauce instead (or just leave it out).
Variations
- Add other chopped fresh herbs like fresh mint or Thai basil
- Sprinkle on toasted unsweetened coconut, toasted cashews or crushed, crunchy peanuts.
- To make a more substantial dish, add diced tofu, cooked chicken or shrimp.
Step by step instructions
What to serve with mango salad
I typically use this mango salad as a side dish or a condiment for chicken, beef, burgers or fish.
Serve it as a side dish with:
- crispy hot honey chicken wings
- Canadian maple cedar plank salmon
- grilled marinated flank steak
- almost-authentic bang bang chicken
- pad Thai
Or as a topping for:
Shortcuts
Keep in mind this mango salad only takes 10 minutes to make! You can, however, shave off a couple of minutes with one or more of these shortcuts.
- Cube the mango instead of slicing it into thin strips
- Use frozen cubes of ginger and garlic. These are excellent substitutes that defrost in the microwave (10 seconds on high) or by sitting on the counter.
- Leave out the bell peppers (less chopping).
- If you’re feeling lazy, just drizzle the mango salad with sweet chili sauce and leave out the other ingredients in the dressing. I would add a squeeze of lime or lemon too.
Mango FAQs
Yes, mangos are available year-round, though they may be harder to find in November and December. With over 500 varieties, availability varies. Ataulfo (or honey) mangos—small, silky, and less fibrous (my favorite) – are in season from March through June. Alphonso mangos are another sweet, juicy favorite.
A ripe mango will yield slightly to gentle pressure—softer mangos are usually sweeter. Don’t rely solely on color, as it varies by variety. That said, ripe mangos often have yellow or red hues, especially near the stem, and give off a sweet, fruity aroma. If it’s green and firm, it’s not ripe yet.
If your mango is not quite ripe enough, keep it on the counter for a few days to soften and ripen naturally. You can speed up this process by putting the mango in a paper bag.
There are several ways to do this, but here’s a good video on how to peel and cut a mango.
Love mangos?
Then try these other easy recipes with mango:
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thanks so much!
Simple Thai Mango Salad (10 Min)
Ingredients
- Recipe can be doubled or tripled
- 1 large ripe mango, peeled and sliced into thin strips, Note 1 (or 2 two smaller ones)
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup sweet bell red pepper, chopped (1/4 of a red bell pepper)
- 1 cup fresh bean sprouts, Note 2
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)
Mango salad dressing
- 2 tablespoon bottled sweet chili sauce, Note 3
- 1/2 lime (lime juice plus zest)
- 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (or 1/8 tsp ground powder ginger)
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 1 small clove
- 1/2 teaspoon -1 tsp fish sauce (or light soy sauce)
Instructions
- MAKE DRESSING: Mix together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- MAKE THAI MANGO SALAD: Put mango, bean sprouts, red bell pepper, cilantro and green onion in a serving bowl. Just before serving, add dressing and toss gently to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. If mangos are on the tarter side, you may want to add a splash of maple syrup, honey, brown sugar or sweet chili sauce. Serve.
Recipe Notes
- Mango: I prefer to use sweet ripe mangoes, but Thai restaurants often use the more traditional unripe mangoes for a green mango salad. They will be crunchier and tarter. Grate or slice thinly.
- Caution about bean sprouts: When eating fresh, uncooked bean sprouts (or mung beans), it’s safest to use a package that says “ready to eat” to avoid E. coli and Salmonella, particularly for pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems. They add a wonderful crunch to the salad.
- Substitutes:
- for mango: if you can’t find good mangos, use frozen mango cubes, thawed (found in most freezer aisles).
- for sweet chili sauce: instead, use 2 tbsp honey or maple syrup and red pepper flakes (start with 1/4 tsp and add more if you like more heat). Plus a touch of vinegar and soy sauce.
- for bean sprouts: try diced, seeded English cucumber or canned water chestnuts. Or just leave them out.
- for fish sauce: use light soy or tamari. Or leave it out.
- Variations:
- Add other chopped fresh herbs like fresh mint or Thai basil
- Sprinkle on toasted unsweetened coconut, toasted cashews or crushed, crunchy peanuts.
- To make a more substantial dish, add diced tofu, cooked chicken or shrimp.
- Make ahead: The mango dressing can be made several days ahead. The mango can be sliced up to a day ahead and kept separately in the fridge in an airtight container (it does wilt a bit, though). Combine all the ingredients just before serving to avoid the salad becoming watery.
Excellent recipe! Served this with the Vietnamese Chicken. Made the recipe as written, absolutely delicious! Everyone raved about this dinner, nothing left on anyone’s plate 🤪
Loving this comment – thank you Nanci! Glad the mango salad was a big hit.
I made shrimp in a curry coconut sauce and the fresh salad complimented it perfectly!
Great paring! Here’s a shrimp curry recipe if anyone needs one 🙂
Easy to make and super delicious.
This looks awesome! I was just looking on my local Thai restaurant’s menu and they had this yummy looking and VERY colorful Thai Mango Salad with Shrimp and chili sauce dressing and I knew I had to go on the hunt LOL. You guys ever SEE an image of something and it gets stuck ik your head like a stock ticker until you make it? Haha. Maybe that’s just a Chef thing!
Recipe looks great, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kristi. Hope you like it. And yes, I definitely get stuck on images that I just HAVE to try 🙂
Tasted fantastic. Love the easy to follow instructions and the notes were very helpful.
Thank you Martha. Just what I love to hear 🙂
Your salad looks lovely but real Thai mango salad is made with green mangoes. Unripe.
Hi Jane, You are right – traditional mango salad is made with unripe green mangos as I mentioned in the post. Too sour for me! I like my mangos ripe- not authentic but pretty yummy I think. Let us know what you decide to use and how it turned out.
Absolutely love this salad
Me too. I am making it tonight for dinner with friends 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment – much appreciated.