This easy and flavourful mango and avocado salad is the perfect side dish paired with grilled chicken, fish or prawns or can be served on its own as a healthy and delicious lunch. Combining the sweetness of fresh in season mangoes with creamy avocados and a punchy but not overpowering honey mustard dressing, this will be your new favourite salad this summer!
Now that it’s summer here in Queensland, it can only mean one thing – an abundance of delicious sweet mangos! If you love mangos as much as I do, at some point you’re going to end up with a tray because it’s the better value but that does mean looking at ways to use them up.
That combined with how cheap avocados are at the moment, makes this the ultimate seasonal summer recipe.
This salad is all about the textures and the combination of sweet and savoury flavours. In each bite you’ll get some crunch from the lettuce, cucumber and the toasted macadamia nuts, but then you get the soft creaminess from the avocado and the sweet and tangy mango. The addition of the parsley keeps everything fresh and light and the honey mustard dressing gives a burst of flavour bringing everything together.
The dressing thanks to the vinegar helps preserve the avocado meaning this salad will keep in the fridge for about a day but as there is a lot of moisture in the salad, it is still best eaten straight away for the best textures. You really need to give this one a try!
Key Ingredients
You don’t need a huge grocery list to prepare this mango and avocado salad. A few fresh key ingredients and a simple honey mustard vinaigrette that is made with mostly pantry staples.
Note all ingredients and their quantities are laid out in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cos lettuce – I like using the baby cos hearts as the base of the salad giving a little crunch but not taking away from the key flavours of the mango and avocado.
- Mango – your mango should be ripe but not overly as you don’t want it too soft or sweet in this salad.
- Avocados – again you want fairly ripe avocados but not too soft as you want the pieces to still hold their structure.
- Cucumber – missing from the above ingredients photo, but a little cucumber adds extra freshness and crunch and is a great addition to the salad.
- Toasted macadamias – I love the combination of macadamias and mangoes but toasted almonds would also work well here.
- Fresh parsley – adding freshness and a little extra flavour to this salad. You could substitute with coriander (cilantro) if you prefer the flavour.
- Dressing – for the dressing it’s just a very simple vinaigrette using olive oil, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard and honey seasoned with salt and pepper.
Step-By-Step Instructions
To make this avocado and mango salad you don’t need any special tools or equipment, just a cutting board and knife, mixing bowl and a jar to make your dressing will be helpful but also not a requirement.
Start by preparing the salad ingredients. Chop the cos lettuce and place into a large mixing bowl. Dice the mango, avocado and cucumber into small pieces and add to the lettuce with the toasted macadamias and parsley.
Next, in a jar, add all of the dressing ingredients put on the lid and shake it well to combine. If you don’t have a jar, you can simply mix everything well in a bowl and it will be fine, the shaking in the jar just helps to best combine everything and get the olive oil to emulsify making your dressing a little extra creamy.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine. You want to make sure all the salad ingredients are coated as the dressing not only is helping things taste good, but the acid from the vinegar is going to help preserve the avocado and prevent it from browning.
Transfer the salad to your serving bowl and garnish with extra parsley. Store any leftovers covered in the fridge.
I am always on the lookout for delicious salad recipes that are easy to prepare and taste amazing. Bonus points if it’s something I can make first at home and then take to a BBQ or lunch with friends and not have to assemble in their kitchen.
That’s why this mango and avocado salad is going to be my go to this summer. It’s fresh, it’s vibrant, it tastes amazing, and it ticks all of the above criteria. Serve it with grilled prawns, chicken or fish for a full meal or just enjoy as it is!
More salad recipes:
The BEST Dairy Free Potato Salad
Roasted Vegetable Salad
Pear and Prosciutto Salad
Roasted Broccoli Salad
Mango and Avocado Salad
Ingredients
- 1 baby cos lettuce
- 2 small or 1 large mango
- 2 avocados
- ½ cucumber
- ⅓ cup toasted macadamias
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
For the dressing:
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start by preparing the salad ingredients. Chop the cos lettuce and place into a large mixing bowl. Dice the mango, avocado and cucumber into small pieces and add to the lettuce with the toasted macadamias and parsley.
- In a jar, add all of the dressing ingredients and shake well to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine.
- Transfer the salad to your serving bowl and garnish with extra parsley. Keep any leftovers refrigerated for 1-2 days.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
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