The Easiest and Fastest Way to Peel a Mango (Video Tutorial)
Watch the video demonstration below!
Mango season has begun and boy am I happy. Mangos have been a favourite fruit of mine for as long as I can remember. I have very vivid memories of devouring them when I was a little girl in Mexico. I recall how I would peel the skin off and as soon as that juicy flesh met my eyes, my teeth ripped chunks off. Of course, the juices would be all over my hands and usually run down the side of my mouth and chin. Not a pretty sight at all, but hey you can get away with this when you’re a child.
As much as I love mangos, there are two negatives when eating them: first is that it’s messy and if you’re not careful you can end up nicking your fingers. The second thing (or is it third) is that when you peel the skin off and just take bites off of the flesh, that fibrous hair-like texture right next to the pit gets caught between your teeth — and you better get ready to floss right afterward, which can be a problem if your out and about and come across a mango that begs to be eaten at that moment. (In Mexico fresh mangos on a stick are sold in many places and you usually have to just take bites off.)
Some years back I came across a demonstration of this super awesome way to peel mangos. Unfortunately, I didn’t save the link of where I found this, thank you whoever you are that changed my life. For many years now I have been using this method and let me tell you it works every single time. It is less messy, safer, and best of all is that you really waste hardly any of the mango flesh. Check out the video for a visual guide and print out the instructions if you like. Enjoy!
The Easiest and Fastest Way to Peel a Mango
Equipment
- a sturdy cutting board
- a sharp long knife
- a tall and thick glass that is sturdy and easy for you to firmly hold on to
Ingredients
- 4 fresh mango this method works with all varieties but smaller ones can be easier to handle
Instructions
Instructions
- First make sure that you have very clean hands in order to handle the clean mango. If you’re cutting board tends to slide around place a damp and clean kitchen towel underneath to hold it in place. Also do watch the video along with these instructions for a visual guide.
- Begin by firmly holding the mango on its side so the chunky parts (called cheeks) are on either side of your hand. Basically you’ll be slicing the mango into three parts, think of it like the centre section with the pit is about 1/4 of the size of your mango. So now use your knife to slice off one side of the “cheek”, the slice off the other. You’ll now have the 2 larger parts where most of the mango flesh is, and the centre part with a little flesh and the pit.
- Set the two cheeks aside and grab the pit section. Hold it up to make a small slit on the top so that you can easily peel off the outer skin. Now use your knife to cut around the pit and remove as much of the flesh as possible. Be careful not to cut yourself and do hold that pit firmly in your hands and always cut/slice away from your body.
- Once your done with the pit move on to the cheeks. First grab your sturdy glass then one of the cheeks. Now with the thicker end against the rim of the glass, try to work the glass in between the flesh and the outer skin. Just go slowly and steadily put pressure on it to work it through. You’ll notice the the rim will cause little ridges or wrinkling along the outer skin as you work your way up the cheek. The mango flesh will slide right into the glass. Continue with the second mango cheek.
- It takes practice getting all of the flesh off the skin, so if you end up with a little bit of flesh still on the skin simply use a spoon and scoop out those little bits. That’s it, you’re done and now you are ready to slice or cut up the mango flesh as you’d like!
Video
Nutrition
Nancy Lopez is a food blogger and author of the cookbook Mexican Tamales Made Meatless. Born in Mexico, raised in the US, and currently living in Southern Mexico, she has followed a meatless diet for almost 10 years. It is her passion and mission to share all she has learned about vegan Mexican cooking and vegetarian Mexican recipes. Mexican Made Meatless is a blog dedicated to preserving the authentic flavors of Mexican cuisine just without the meat. It’s a place to celebrate Mexican culture and all it’s delightfully delicious traditional foods. Read more…
What a wonderful video Nancy! Mangos are exotic and rarely used in Greek households, but we do love’em ourselves!:) Beautiful work, thank you!
Have an amazing week ahead!
xoxoxo
That’s too bad! But I know what you mean because when I lived in Prague they weren’t too often available and I missed them horribly. Thanks so much & you too have a fantastic week! xoxo
Cool tip and video! Thanks.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa! 🙂
That was a great video and very much needed. I have a fancy smancy mango peeler and still end up with a mess especially with very ripe mangoes.
I’ve seen those mango peelers and did wonder how well they work. I hope you have better luck with this technique. Thank you Sandra!
Now this really is a game changer! I’ve never figured out a satisfactory way to peel a mango.. until now! Definitely on my to do list.
My pleasure, Frank — now enjoy all those mangos.
Great post! Peeling mangoes and cutting them up can be such a pain. Thanks for the solution. 🙂
Thank you John, glad you enjoyed it.
this is an amazing way to peel a mango! I love eating mangoes in the pool, where mess doesn’t matter 🙂
You’re way of eating mangos sounds heavenly, Tandy. Thank you!
Great video, thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you Linda, glad you enjoyed it!
Um, how pretty are your nails with that mango color?
Aw, thanks so much Lynn! 🙂
Much needed tutorial… Thank you sok much for sharinggg
Thank you Priya, glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing this great tip!
My pleasure Katerina!