Easy and Versatile Mango Sauce

Easy mango sauce recipe in a bowl on a plate with chicken

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 6 to 8 servings
Yield: 1 1/2 to 2 cups

This mango sauce or dip is easy to make. The bright color and amazing flavor will wow any guests. A little coconut milk helps enhance the mango and gives the sauce a rich tropical flavor. A touch of fresh lime juice keeps it bright. The combination results in a tropical mixture of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. It's especially good with Thai food.

Use the sauce as a dip for cooked shrimp (like coconut shrimp), calamari, spring rolls, fresh rolls, or whatever appetizers you happen to be serving. You can also use this mango sauce in stir-fries, such as a mango chicken or shrimp stir-fry. It also works well as a dipping sauce for grilled chicken, pork, tofu, or shrimp, or any protein skewers.

Be sure to buy the ripest mango you can find. A ripe mango should feel heavy for its size and give a little if you gently squeeze it. Mango is a stone fruit, which means it has a pit in the center. The mango's pit is big and long and can be tricky to find since it isn't always in the center of the fruit, so it may take a few times until you feel you've got it down. Simply cut around it, removing the flesh and leaving the tough pit behind.

Ingredients

  • 2 large ripe mangoes

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/4 cup thick coconut milk

  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce, or 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce

  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed chile pepper

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for mango sauce
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  2. Peel and chop the mangoes and place the fruit in a food processor, blender, or large chopper.

    Chopped mangoes in a food processor
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga
  3. Add the garlic, coconut milk, fish sauce, sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, chile, and turmeric to the blender.

  4. Process well but avoid overprocessing. You want the sauce to be smooth but not too runny. If you prefer chunks of mango in your sauce, just pulse to create the sauce until you're happy with the consistency. Taste the sauce for seasoning. Serve or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

    Mango sauce in a blender
    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Tips

  • Taste the final sauce before serving. Depending on the ripeness and sweetness of your mango, you may have to add a little more sugar. Add more fish sauce for more flavor, more chile for more heat, or more lime juice to add some sourness. What you want is a balance of sweet, salty, sour, and spicy.
  • Use as a marinade or sauce for chicken, pork, fish, or seafood. The sauce is also a delicious dip for nearly any finger food. 

How to Store and Freeze Easy and Versatile Mango Sauce

You can make this sauce a day or two ahead of time before you want to serve it; just keep it in the refrigerator. Any leftover sauce should be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

You can also freeze this sauce in a small container with a lid. It's also helpful to freeze it in an ice cube tray. Once the cubes are frozen, transfer to a zip-close bag and freeze for up six months

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
87 Calories
2g Fat
18g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 8
Amount per serving
Calories 87
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g 2%
Saturated Fat 1g 7%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 181mg 8%
Total Carbohydrate 18g 7%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Total Sugars 15g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 35mg 173%
Calcium 20mg 2%
Iron 1mg 3%
Potassium 202mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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