This Cucumber Mango Salad is made with just 5 ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes to put together! Add it to grain or rice bowls or serve it alongside your favorite protein. You can also make it ahead to save time at dinner!
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Why You'll Love This Cucumber Mango Salad
Only 5 ingredients - All you need to make this is mango, cucumber, fresh cilantro, toasted sesame oil, and rice vinegar. You can also sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds but that's totally optional.
Quick and easy - The salad is super quick to make and can be made ahead of time! I like making it the night before, along with other ingredients I'll need to make cooking dinner a breeze!
Great with fish or seafood - The flavors of this salad go perfectly with roasted or sauteed salmon, shrimp, or other fish and seafood. Add it to grain or rice bowls like this Teriyaki Salmon Bowl!
Ingredients
- Mango - I highly recommend Ataulfo mangos. They're super smooth every time and have a great sweet flavor.
- Cucumber - I like using small Persian cucumbers here so that I can just cut them into slices. You can also use a regular English cucumber and dice it instead.
- Cilantro - Fresh cilantro is necessary here; dried cilantro won't work. If you don't like cilantro, you can add parsley instead.
- Toasted sesame oil - Make sure you use toasted sesame oil, and know that less is more here. Just a little bit adds a toasted sesame flavor to the salad that goes really well with rice vinegar. You can also use olive oil, but sesame oil is preferred.
- Rice vinegar - I use plain, unflavored rice vinegar. You could use other vinegar if you don't have i,t but rice vinegar really works in this recipe.
Variations and Substitutions
- Salt and pepper - I don't add any salt or pepper to the salad because I find it would water everything down too much, and I also want the sweet mango flavor to stand out on its own. I always serve it with entrees that already have enough saltiness.
- Honey - You can drizzle the salad with a little bit of honey to add more sweetness. This is a great way to balance the flavors if you accidentally add too much vinegar. You could also balance that with a splash of soy sauce.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Slice your cucumbers or dice them if they're bigger. You can either keep the peel on or peel them if you prefer and if they're not organic.
- Peel and dice the mangos and roughly chop the cilantro. You can chop it more finely if you prefer, but I usually keep it in bigger pieces to make it into more of a salad rather than fresh salsa.
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- Into a large bowl, add sliced cucumbers, diced mango, and chopped cilantro.
- Gently toss and drizzle with rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil. Toss again to mix well.
- Serve garnished with toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Serving
- Salmon - Try the salad in this Teriyaki Salmon Bowl or this Salmon Kale Salad!
- Grilled or roasted meat and vegetables - It's delicious with any fish or chicken dish. It's also a delicious side dish for any grilled meats, vegetables, or seafood!
- Salty meals - It goes really well with anything cooked in tamari, sesame oil, oyster sauce, teriyaki sauce, or similar flavors. The sweetness of the salad and the way the cucumbers get slightly pickled in the rice vinegar complement anything salty really well.
Storing
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. The longer you store it, the more the cucumber will lose its crunch because of the rice vinegar. That being said, I actually like the salad the second day when all the flavors marinate together.
FAQs
If you don't like or can't have sesame seeds. You can use extra virgin olive oil instead and skip the sesame sprinkle.
You can use fresh parsley if you don't have cilantro. I don't recommend dried cilantro because it won't have the same amount of flavor.
Other Cucumber Salad Recipes
If you want to see all the latest salads, head over to the salads. Below are three of my favorite cucumber salads (and one tzatziki sauce) that can be served as a side. They all have different flavors, but they're super easy to make and refreshing, just like this mango one!
- Tzatziki Cucumber Salad
- Cucumber Radish Salad with Fresh Herbs
- Greek Cucumber Salad
- Tzatziki Sauce (Not technically a salad, but it can be served as a side the same way as this salad, especially with anything spicy!)
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Have you tried this Cucumber Mango Salad? Please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!
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Print📖 Recipe
Cucumber Mango Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: No-Cook
- Cuisine: Asian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Cucumber Mango Salad is the perfect light side or addition to grain or rice bowls and it's so easy to make.
Ingredients
- 4 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1-2 mangos (I used 2 ataulfo mangos), peeled and diced
- A large handful of fresh cilantro stems removed, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional, see notes)
Instructions
- Into a large bowl, add sliced cucumbers, diced mango, and chopped cilantro.
- Gently toss and drizzle with rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil. Toss again to mix well.
- Serve garnished with toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
Toasted sesame seeds: Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds and toast on medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant and lightly toasted. Be careful not to burn them. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to serve.
Storing: Store any leftover salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
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