After years of mango cookery, here are my best mango recipes

Last updated on June 22nd, 2025 at 09:36 pm

June is mango month for me, and despite the humid 90-degree days, it’s my second favorite month in Florida. (It’s hard to beat the weather in March.)

I’ve had a mango tree in the yard for more than four decades. On each side of my house, neighbors’ trees shower me with more mangoes. I cut up enough mangoes every day to turn my fingers orange. My husband and I eat heaps of them daily. I give them to neighbors and friends. I host my book club at my house in June with a mango-centric menu. And in June I am constantly baking and cooking to make the most of this wonderful fruit.

I’ve made these mango recipes over and over

In my experience, the best use of mangoes are the following recipes you’ll find here, all of which I’ve made.

• Mango coconut bread, which my husband and I eat for breakfast every day during mango season, heaped with fresh mangoes on top.
• Mango chutney. I make one big batch and then freeze small jars for use all year.
• Mango freezer jelly, whose recipe I’ve tweaked with lemon zest so it is lively and also sweet.
• Mango BBQ sauce, an easy-to-make sauce with fresh ginger and garlic that is delicious without tasting much like mangoes.
• Mango bars, which several of my friends swear by, passing the recipe on to others.
• Mango daiquiri, the perfect way to end a day of mango cookery.

Bonnie’s Mango Coconut Bread

Here’s a recipe I use over and over during mango season. The bread is great, but what drew me to the recipe is that it quickly uses up two cups of mangoes! This recipe has no liquid added because of the juicy mangoes. I adapted this from a 1988 mango-recipe contest from the Sun-Sentinel, where I worked for three decades, including a brief stint as food editor. This bread is very moist — so moist you want to be sure to bake this thoroughly. It freezes beautifully.

2 cups flour (I often use half whole wheat flour)

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 cup sugar (Original recipe called for 1 cup; I am happy with the sweetness using 1/2 to 3/4 cup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

2 cups diced ripe mangoes chopped and mashed

3 eggs (I used to make it with two eggs but discovered the structure improves with three and it slices much better as a result)

3/4 cup oil (I’ve had good results cutting the oil to 1/2 cup to make it healthier)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

1/2 cup raisins (optional; dates were used in the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl and create a well into which you will add the wet ingredients.

In other bowl, mash the mangoes so there are still small pieces. Add eggs and use masher to mix them in. Add the oil. Mix all wet ingredients together and pour into well in dry ingredients.

Stir together until well mixed. Add in the coconut, raisins and nuts, if using.

Pour into a 9-by-5 inch greased, floured loaf pan. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in preheated oven, or until cake tester comes out clean. Makes 1 large loaf.

This is a dense, moist bread so make sure to bake it thoroughly; it’s easy for such a moist batter to have a gooey middle. Having had that problem, I now make this bread in three mini-loaf pans or muffin cups to ensure it bakes through and to reduce the baking time. In three mini-loaf pans, it’s about 30 to 35 minutes in the oven — but err on an extra minute or two if you wonder if it’s baked through.

Bonnie’s Mango Chutney recipe

Mango chutney allows me to bring a little mango joy into the rest of the year.

My maternal grandmother, Edna Hamilton, canned everything and my mom and her 12 brothers and sisters enjoyed all of their garden’s goodness all year in the jars and jars Grandma Hamilton “put up.” Her basement pantry, stocked with enough fruits and vegetables to last her huge family all winter was perhaps her greatest pride. (And there is no doubt winters in Ladysmith, Wis., were long.) Despite that tradition and my love of cooking, I have never learned to can. So when it comes to mangoes, I fill my freezer with jars of chutney and plastic bags of frozen mangoes. Over the years, I have gravitated to this method/recipe for mango chutney.

9 to 11 half-ripe mangoes (firm is better so that pieces of mango survive the simmering; I use mangoes that are at least a little green)

1 to 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar (more for green mangoes; less for ripe ones)

1 to 1 and 1 /2 cups cider vinegar (in proportion to sugar)

2 cloves garlic

2 onions (I used Vidalia to good results)

3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced fine in the food processor (a chunk of ginger about 3 inches long)

1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and minced fine in the food processor (quantity depends on how hot you want it; I use one)

2 cups raisins

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 and 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Peel and cut the mangoes into small pieces. Combine everything in a large bowl. Cover and let stand. (It’s fine if you let it stand for 2 hours; the original recipe said to let it stand overnight.)

Cover and cook slowly for 90 minutes to 2 hours, stirring from time to time. When done, chutney will be thick, flavors well-combined and all chunks of mango will be tender.

Pour into sterile jars and freeze any you won’t use in the next week. (Or do whatever you do to can them!)

Makes about 6 pints.

Options: You can add green peppers — lots if you like. Some recipe for chutney with 12 mangoes call for 6 green peppers!  I found the green pepper overpowering. Some people like to add 1 tablespoon of curry powder and 1 tablespoon of turmeric. Some recipes use more cinnamon (1 tablespoon) and cloves (1 teaspoon.)  Some recipes use 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes instead of jalapeno peppers. Others leave out the pepper and go with the milder cinnamon flavors. As you can see, chutney is one of those things you can alter to suit what you have and what you like.

Mango Freezer Jelly

I’ve had some mango jelly failures, when the jelly was too runny. But you know what? It was still delicious and I used it as pancake syrup! This year, I had the best batch ever, so I’m happy to share what I did. This is ridiculously easy, except for sterilizing the jar. (I boil glass jars in water for 10 minutes, which may be overkill for freezer jelly.) My tweak this year that made all the difference: The addition of lemon juice and zest.

4 cups mashed ripe mangoes

3 cups sugar

1 box SURE.JELL® for Less or No Sugar

Juice and zest of a half lemon

1 cup water

These instructions are straight from Surejell:

Rinse clean plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly. (I use glass containers and boil them for 10 minutes; perhaps being overly cautious.)

Crush mangoes and measure 4 cups into large bowl.

Add lemon juice and zest to mangoes. (not in original SureJell recipe, which was actually for strawberries)

Mix sugar and pectin in large saucepan. Stir in water. Bring to boil on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add mangoes; stir 1 minute or until well blended.

Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

Robyn’s Mango BBQ Sauce

Some of my mango recipes have long histories. Thirty years ago I thought I could raise money for the Sun Sentinel Children’s Fund, which was part of my job at the Sun Sentinel at the time, by publishing a mango cookbook since so many people in South Florida have mango trees. I learned the economics didn’t work, but only after I had commissioned home economist Robyn Kalajian, a dear friend, to test a bunch of recipes I had collected. (Here’s Robyn’s wonderful website The Armenian Kitchen.) She highly recommended this mango BBQ sauce, commenting it was delicious but didn’t really taste like mangoes. I make jars and jars of it for my freezer.

2 cups finely chopped or mashed ripe mangoes

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger

salt and pepper to taste

Hot sauce to taste (I used three dashes of Cholula for a very mild heat)

Combine all ingredients and simmer 15 or 20 minutes to blend flavors. Alternately, you can apply the mixture without simmering directly to ribs, chicken or other meats on the grill.

Mango Bars

After developing several go-to recipes for mangoes, I was thrilled to come across something new a few years ago: A recipe for mango bars, adapted from the classic recipe for lemon bars. I’ve tinkered with it a bit to adapt it to my taste, and here’s the recipe I like best. (Thanks to BakingBites.com for the original and InspiredTaste.net for the crust recipe.) The bars are not intensely mango flavored, but they are delicious and a bit mellower than lemon bars. 

For a crisp shortbread crust:

12 tablespoons (3/4 cup) butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

4 large eggs

1  1/4 cups mango puree (2-3 mangoes)

1/3 cup lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, salt, lemon zest, and the vanilla extract. Add flour and melted butter and stir until a crumbly, stiff dough forms.

Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan (it may not look like enough dough at first, but it will cover the bottom nicely.) Place dough in freezer for 5 minutes.

Bake crust until lightly golden brown and set, 25 to 30 minutes.

While the crust bakes, make the filling.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and flour. Beat in the eggs, followed by the mango puree, lemon juice and zest.

When the crust has baked to a golden brown, pour the filling over the hot crust and raise oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake an additional 22-24 minutes, until the filling is set.

Cool completely before slicing. Store bars in the refrigerator.

Makes 16 to 24 bars, depending on what size bar you cut.

Frozen Mango Daiquiri

I adapted this Mango Daiquiri recipe from those all over the internet. My key change: I don’t add ice cubes because I didn’t want to water down the intense mango flavor. You can add crushed ice or ice cubes if you prefer. My book club proclaimed this the best thing ever.

Serves four.

6 ounces rum

3 cups cubed half-frozen mangoes (after about two hours in the freezer)

3  limes,  juice of

1/4 cup triple sec

1/3 cup sugar

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. (If you want, you can add up to 4 cups ice cubes or 2 cups crushed ice to chill or for a thinner consistency.)

Fairchild Tropical Garden’s Mango Festival

If you love mangoes, you may enjoy this mango-extraganza held every year at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami. Last year I attended the festival and came home with several unusual varieties of mangoes for my own personal taste test. Here’s more about attending the Fairchild Tropical Garden Mango Festival.

Fairchild Tropical Garden Mango Festival, Miami , July 12-13, 2025
For more than three decades, this exceptional botanical garden has celebrated all things mango at a ticketed festival. Fairchild grows more than 400 varieties of mangos! There are mango tastings, cooking demos and mango-inspired activities and classes. You can buy tickets for a flight of mango cocktails, a mango brunch or for mango smoothies.