4 Ways to Tell if Your Mango Is Ripe

We've all been there – headed home with our bounty, psyched to eat a fresh, juicy slice of mango but are met instead with something a knife can't seem to penetrate obnoxiously stringy, or puckeringly sour.

Mango might be housed in a skin that hides the bright fruit completely, but when you know what to search for and how to employ your senses, shopping for mangoes morphs from intimidating to fun and easy. There's absolutely no reason you should be anything but excited to take home your juicy prizes and dig in.

How to Tell if a Mango Is Ripe

Don't let color cloud your judgment. Mangoes come in many colors (not to mention sizes and shapes), based on their particular varietal, so the hue won't be the most helpful indicator of a ripe fruit. You may hear that a rosy or red spot visible on the skin is a determiner, but it really isn't.

With that said, here are four more accurate ways to tell if your mango is ripe:

Squeeze

Give the mango a gentle squeeze. It should give way slightly. If it's firm and solid, like trying to squeeze a rock, it's unripe. Conversely, if it gives too much, feels soggy in your hand, or has a bunch of overly soft spots, it's gone too far. But keep in mind that mangoes fall off the tree when they're ripe, rather than hanging around (literally) waiting to be picked, so if there's one large bruise or blemish, it is likely from that.

Feel free to utilize whatever experience you may have in choosing a good peach or even an avocado. The same softness you may feel with either of those pitted fruits will be applicable here.

Sniff

Give the fruit a sniff. A ripe mango will have a fruity smell at its stem side, but if it's beautifully ripe, the whole thing will be quite aromatic. Look to detect a hint of sweetness; if it's piney, toss it back on the pile.

Sap

Mango stems create sap when the mangoes are ready, which tends to drip onto the fruit. As a result, the mango may develop something called sap burn, dark spots or lines near the tip of the mango, which is easily mistaken for rot. This sap burn is a sure sign the mango is ready to go.

(Something to note for the deep sufferers of poison ivy – don't touch the sap if you come across it on the outside of the mango. It'll likely give you a painful itchy rash like the ivy will, since mangoes are surprisingly related to that plant.)

Size

Select similar looking mangoes in terms of size and utilize the store's produce scale. The heavier one is more likely to have been picked at a later stage in the growing game and would be a fair assumption that it's more ripe.

Will a Mango Ripen on the Counter?

If you happen to grow mango trees in your yard, you'll know that when the fruit is ripe, the tree drops them like a bad habit. But if you're buying them from a store, that is decidedly not the case. Most grocery store mangos come from Central and South America, are harvested before they're fully grown to stay within importation weight guidelines. This process understandably leads to mounds of unripe mangoes in stores and possibly your kitchen.

Thankfully, mangoes will ripen over time. As long as you leave the mango at room temperature (like on the counter) and not in the fridge, you'll be on your way to ripe fruit in no time. If you'd like to speed up the process even more, wrap the mango in a towel, newspaper, or place it in a paper bag.

Get the recipe: Coconut-Lime Cheesecake with Mango Coulis

Ways to Use Ripe Mango

If you buy a mango that's soft and smells very sweet or is sticky with sap, you'll want to eat it right away. Ripe mangoes are quick to prepare and fun to eat.

Season sliced mango with a spicy seasoning mix or chile sauce for a delightfully sweet and spicy snack. Layer slices into fish tacos, chop them up for a fruity salsa or add them to a chilled fruit salad side dish. Mangoes also make a great addition to desserts like curds, cakes, and ice cream.

Ways to Use Unripe Mangoes

Even if you end up with some unripe mangoes and can't/don't want to wait for them to ripen, mangoes can be enjoyed just how they are. The flavor of ripe mango, with its addicting sweetness, might be the most thought of and sought-after, but unripe mangoes have a sour-tart flavor that can be quite enjoyable, too.

The crispness of an unripe mango would hold up well to citrus juices, salty things like fish sauce, or spicy things like chile sauce and are a lovely complement to dishes that need a bit of a crunch.

Related:

• Mango Chicken Recipes
•  Mango Desserts Make the Best of This Sweet, Fragrant Fruit
• 5 Mango Cheesecakes for Dessert With a Tropical Twist