Fresh and Healthy Cucumber Mango Salad

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This vibrant and flavorful Cucumber Mango Salad is loaded with fresh ingredients such as ripe mango, crisp and crunchy cucumbers, bell pepper, bright herbs, and a sweet and tangy dressing. Made in just 10 minutes, the whole family will fall in love with this perfect summer salad, and it’s a unique dish to bring to summer barbeques and gatherings!

Summer is the perfect time of year for a great salad that is an easy recipe and packed with healthy ingredients. This mango salad recipe has fresh cucumber slices and fresh lime juice that will make it one of your go-to healthy summer salads! It is delicious by itself, serves with tortilla chips, and on top of grilled salmon… really the options are endless.

Ingredients

• Mangoes
• Red Bell Pepper
• English Cucumber
• Shallot
• Mint & Basil
• Lime Juice
• Honey
• Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Cayenne Pepper

This salad is colorful and bursting with flavor, but there are also substitutions that can be made to make it your perfect cucumber mango salad. We all have different kinds of things we love or hate, so have fun with them and substitute anything you don’t love. Here are some tips.

Ingredient Substitutions

Mangoes – Any type of mango can be used in this recipe. At most local grocery stores throughout the year, you will typically find either Honey, Kent, Tommy Adkins, or Keitt mangoes. Ataulfo mangoes, also called champagne mangoes, are the smaller, yellow variety that can be found during certain times of the year. These mangoes can be used but you will likely need 4 mangoes to ensure you have enough flesh to use in the salad. 

Red Bell Pepper – An orange or yellow bell pepper will also work for this purpose. Green bell peppers are not quite sweet enough to work with the flavors in this recipe.

English cucumber – English cucumbers are less watery, not as bitter, and have a thinner skin than the standard variety of cucumbers. You can use a regular cucumber in this recipe but peel it and scoop out the seeds before chopping. Aim for about 1 ½ cups of chopped cucumber for this salad. English cucumbers can grow to be very long. If using a very large cucumber you may not need to include the whole thing.

Shallot – Shallots taste like a cross between onion and garlic. If you can’t find a shallot, ¼ of a red onion makes an appropriate substitute. It will be a little sharper and less sweet, but still tasty!

Mint & Basil – The mint and basil in this salad make it so fresh and flavorful. When measuring the herbs, measure chopped but do not pack them tightly into measuring cups. You will need about a handful of each herb, but you can adjust to your own preferences. If you do not enjoy one of the herbs used, feel free to reduce the quantity or omit it entirely.

Lime Juice – If you can’t find fresh limes, lemon juice will also work! If need to use store-bought lime juice instead of fresh, look for a high-quality alternative like Santa Cruz Organics which tastes fresher and more flavorful.

Honey – I love the flavor of raw, unfiltered honey in this mango salad. If you need to substitute this ingredient, try using pure maple syrup or light agave. Granulated sweeteners can be used but you will need to work a little harder to dissolve it into the dressing before it is added to the salad.

Olive Oil – Avocado oil or another neutral-flavored cooking oil can be used in this recipe as a substitute for olive oil.

Sea Salt – If using regular table salt, use a little bit less than ½ teaspoon because sea salt is less salty than regular salt. My favorite salt is from Redmond’s Real Salt. You can learn more about the benefits of it here.

Cayenne Pepper – Cayenne pepper adds a hint of spice to the otherwise sweet and fresh flavors. If you do not like spice feel free to omit this ingredient. 

How to Make Fresh and Healthy Cucumber Mango Salad

1. Begin by preparing the mangoes. Peel the mangoes and remove the flesh. Slice the mangoes into about ½-inch cubes and place them in a large bowl. (Directions on how to cut the mango are below)
2. Trim the ends from the cucumber and quarter it lengthwise. Chop it into ¼-inch pieces and add it to the bowl with the mango. Peel and thinly slice the shallot and chop the bell pepper removing the stem and seeds. Add both to the bowl.
3. Chop the mint leaves to yield about ½ cup of loosely packed, chopped leaves. Roll the basil leaves and shred them using a sharp knife (this should also be about ½ cup of loosely packed, chopped leaves). Add the herbs to the bowl with the rest of the salad and toss gently. You can also use herb scissors to cut herbs, they work great!
4. In a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing together until the honey dissolves. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss it again until everything is lightly coated with the dressing and all the ingredients are distributed evenly. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days (toss again before serving).

How to Cut a Mango

Cutting a fresh mango can be kind of intimidating. There are several strategies you will find online, but personally, I think the simplest method is best. For me, that means peeling the fruit first, cutting the flesh away from the pit, and then dicing it.

1. Begin with a ripe mango (overripe mangoes can be hard to peel). Hold the fruit firmly and peel the skin using a veggie peeler away from your body, ideally over a trash can.
2. Once peeled, place the fruit on a cutting board. Cut around the pit by slicing the “cheek” from the mango then rotating the fruit and repeating until you have made four cuts making a rectangle around the pit and removing most of the flesh.
3. Keep in mind that the pit is more narrow on two sides, so the “cheeks” will not be equally thick. You can carefully run the knife along the pit to release a little more flesh if you think you missed some, but you should get most of it with those first 4 cuts.
4. Discard the pit and dice the mango into small pieces or cubes.

How to Pick a Ripe Mango

Color is not always the best indicator of ripeness because this will vary based on the variety of mango you are using. The best indicator is firmness.

A ripe mango will have a little give when you press lightly with your thumb into the skin, an overripe mango will be soft and an underripe mango will be hard. If the mango is hard, it is not quite ready, but mangoes will still ripen after they have been picked.

Selecting a mango is similar to selecting an avocado or a peach, firmness is key.

How Can I Serve Cucumber Mango Salad

This mango salad is a fresh compliment to a variety of meals. Bring this mango salad to a barbeque or potluck for an instant hit!

• It tastes wonderful on top of grilled salmon or shrimp
• Plated with steak or BBQ ribs
• Add a generous portion on top of tacos for a mild mango salsa
• Add it to a green salad or bowl.
• Serve with tortilla chips

How to Store Cucumber Mango Salad

This mango salad can be stored in an airtight container and enjoyed for the next 3 days. After 3 days, it will likely still be safe to eat but the veggies will start to lose their crunch. If you want to make this salad the night before and bring it to a gathering, chop and add the herbs right before servings to keep them from browning while they are stored.

Recipe Tips

• Select the perfect mangoes. Unripe mangoes will be more tart and not as tender. Overripe mangoes will make the salad more watery/juicy and will not hold up as well when stored.
• If your mangoes are not quite ripe but still have a pleasant texture, you can add a little more honey to the dressing to make it perfectly sweet.
• Make this salad your own by adding spicy peppers like jalapenos or chiles, give it a little crunch by throwing in some peanuts or cashews, or toss in some pomegranate arils for a sweet and tangy twist. 

If you enjoy mangoes, try my Pineapple Mango Smoothie or my Dairy Free Strawberry Mango Smoothie.