How to Cut a Mango

Juicy mangos are in season between March through July, which means one thing — it’s time to stock up on this sweet fruit. While you can buy pre-cut or frozen cubed mango, why would you want to when you can enjoy the fresh fruit in its whole form? Once you bring a few mangos home from the grocery store or farmers’ market, you’ll definitely need to know how to cut a mango. Follow our step-by-step guide to make prepping this tropical fruit so much easier. After you learn how to slice and dice mango, there are so many ways to cook and bake with it. Use diced fresh mango to make sweet, creamy Mango Fluff, purée it for a Mango Margarita, chop it for a Mango Avocado Salad, or for a more savory bite, dip mango wedges in a cornmeal batter and deep-fry them with halloumi for this Mango and Halloumi Fritto Misto.

How to cut a mango

Mangos have a tough pit in the center that you need to cut around before eating. Unlike a highly visible avocado pit, the pit in a mango is harder to detect. Ready to cut? Grab a cutting board and place it on top of a damp paper towel on the counter; this will keep the board from sliding around as you work. Trim a thin slice off the top and bottom of the mango to create a flat surface that ensures the mango remains steady on the cutting board as you cut it. Place the mango on the cutting board stem side down and slice two thick pieces from either side of the mango, curving the blade of your knife around the pit. You can score each half and then use the knife to separate the mango cubes from the peel, or use a spoon to scoop the flesh out from both halves, separating it from the peel. From there, you can slice wedges of fresh mango or chop each piece into smaller cubes. 

While a sharp chef’s knife will always do the trick, you can also use a special tool known as a mango splitter to help separate the hard seed from the rest of the edible fruit. This under-$10 one works like a charm, while this popular OXO mango slicer features a serrated blade on one end, which seamlessly slices through the flesh to remove the pit, while a small scoop on the other end allows you to remove the ripe fruit from its skin. 

How do you know if a mango is ripe?

Not only is a perfectly ripe mango more delicious, but it will be easier to cut. An underripe mango will yield firm, less sweet fruit while an overripe mango will be soft and squishy, making it difficult to dice and slice evenly. So how exactly can you tell if a mango is ripe? First, look at the color — if the skin is still green, that’s a sign that it’s underripe. Next, press the skin gently; if it’s slightly soft to the touch, but still provides a little bit of resistance, you’ll know that it’s ripe. Finally, smell it; it should give off a mildly sweet aroma.

Should you peel a mango before cutting it?

Even though mango skin is edible, its tough texture and bitter flavor make it unappealing to bite into. You can peel a mango before cutting it (we recommend our favorite y-shaped vegetable peeler) or you can cut the fruit first and simply remove the flesh from the skin, as you would with an avocado.