How to Cut a Mango—the Hassle-Free Way

Craving a fresh mango is easy, but figuring out how to cut mango slices is another story. These tropical fruits are delicious, juicy, and delightful as a mango smoothie. Unless you want to buy pre-cut mangos at the grocery store, learning to peel, cut, and slice a mango is the easiest way to eat one at home.

The main ingredient is the mango, of course. If yours isn't ripe, this simple guide showing how to ripen a mango will fix that problem. Next gather a sharp knife, a peeler, and a cutting board. As with learning how to cut an avocado, learning to cut a mango requires managing a thick, inedible pit, so you want a good knife that is easy to maneuver. Fortunately, mangos have thinner skins than avocados, so peel them with a vegetable or Y-shaped peeler instead of scooping the fruit out from the skin.

Read on for an easy method of cutting a mango. With this guide, you'll never have to buy pre-cut mango slices.

What You Need

• Mango
• Y-shaped peeler
• Paper towel or dish towel
• Cutting board
• Chef's knife

Follow These Steps

1. Peel the mango from top to bottom. Using the Y-shaped peeler, work around the mango, removing the skin. If the fruit is not quite ripe, keep peeling it away until the pulp is bright yellow. As you expose more pulp, use a paper towel or dish towel to hold the peeled mango so it doesn't slip out of your hand. Peel away the tips.
2. Determine the tallest line of the mango. Place the mango on the cutting board and find the side that seems the tallest—the pit will be sitting along that line.
3. Slice in half, avoiding the pit. Holding the mango with a paper towel, position the chef's knife, aiming it at the center of the fruit; you may need to adjust the knife's angle if you hit the pit. Slice the sides of the mango, careful not to cut into the large seed.
4. Cut around the mango's pit. Holding the fruit vertically, trim the remaining flesh off the pit.
5. Slice the cut halves. Finish cutting the mango by slicing the pieces horizontally into smaller wedges or bite-size pieces.