A mangonada (mahn-go-NAH-dah) is a Mexican frozen mango treat somewhere between a slushie and a sorbet: blended mango in a glass streaked with chamoy, a sweet, sour and salty chili-fruit sauce, with a chili-lime rim and fresh mango piled on top. You eat the first half with a spoon and drink the rest. It is sold at paleterías (Mexican ice pop shops) across Mexico and the US, and at home it takes 15 minutes once you know the one thing that keeps it thick: frozen fruit and barely enough liquid to get the blender going.
What a mangonada tastes like
How do you make a mangonada? Blend 1⅓ lb (600 g) frozen mango with 1 cup (240 ml) mango nectar, 3 tbsp (45 ml) lime juice, 2 tbsp (25 g) sugar and 1 cup ice until thick like sorbet. Rim 4 glasses with chamoy and Tajín, streak chamoy down the inside, layer in the mango slush with more chamoy and top with diced mango. 15 minutes for 4 servings.
Picture a mango sorbet that has met a margarita rim. The mango is cold and sweet, the lime keeps it bright, and every few spoonfuls you hit the chamoy, which tastes like a tangy apricot sauce with a little chili and a lot of salt. The heat is mild; the salt and sourness are what make it so moreish. You may also see it called a mango chamoyada: chamoyada is the general name for any frozen fruit treat with chamoy, and the mangonada is the mango one.
What to buy, and swaps for US and UK shoppers
| You need | Where to find it | Swap, and what changes |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen mango chunks, 1⅓ lb (600 g) | Freezer aisle of any US or UK supermarket | Fresh mango you freeze yourself (see below). Unfrozen fresh mango makes it thin and watery |
| Mango nectar, 1¼ cups (300 ml) | US: juice aisle or Latin aisle (cans or cartons). UK: world-food aisle or Asian grocers | Orange juice makes it sharper and less mango-forward. Water works but tastes paler. Skip milk: that turns it into a smoothie |
| Limes, about 2 | Anywhere | Lemon works, with a different, sharper sourness |
| Chamoy sauce, ½ cup (120 ml) | US: Latin aisle of most large supermarkets and big-box stores, often next to the hot sauces. UK: Mexican food shops and online | Homemade chamoy (recipe below). Without any, use only lime and Tajín: still good, just missing the sweet-sour fruit note |
| Tajín, 3 tbsp | US: produce or spice aisle almost everywhere. UK: often in the produce section of large supermarkets, or online | Mild chili powder mixed with fine salt and grated lime zest |
| Tamarind candy straws | US: Latin groceries and candy aisles | Leave them out. They are a garnish, not part of the drink |
Which mango works best
- Ataulfo, sold in the US as honey or champagne mango. Small, yellow and kidney-shaped, with creamy, fiber-free flesh. The best choice.
- Kent also has very little fiber and works just as well.
- Tommy Atkins, the big red-and-green mango that most US stores carry, is stringier. If that is all you can find, push the slush through a coarse sieve.
- Freezing your own. Peel ripe mangoes, cut them into ¾ in (2 cm) cubes, spread them out on a tray so they do not touch and freeze until hard (I leave them overnight), then bag them. This is the way to use summer mangoes all year.
Equipment. A strong blender helps most; with a small one, blend in two batches. You also need four 12 to 14 oz (350 to 400 ml) glasses (clear plastic cups show off the chamoy), two saucers for the rim, long spoons and wide straws.
How to make a mangonada
Set up the glasses first
Rim and streak the glasses before you touch the blender. Dip each rim in chamoy, let it drip for a second, and twist it through the Tajín. Then spoon 1 tbsp chamoy inside and tilt the glass while you turn it, so red ribbons run down the walls. If your chamoy is too thick to run, loosen what you need with 1 tsp water or lime juice.
Blend thick, not runny
Liquids go in first: 1 cup (240 ml) nectar, the lime and the sugar, then the frozen mango and the ice on top. Start on low for a few seconds and move to high. When an air pocket forms around the blades, stop, stir with a spoon and go again. Add the last ¼ cup (60 ml) of nectar only if it truly stalls, a tablespoon at a time; every extra splash makes it thinner.
You are looking for a smooth slush with no ice crystals that holds a soft peak on a heaped spoon for a few seconds. That takes 1 to 2 minutes. If it went too thin, blend in 4 or 5 more frozen mango cubes or a handful of ice.
Layer and top
Half fill each glass, add 1 tsp chamoy and a pinch of Tajín, then fill to the top so every spoonful gets a bit of everything. Pile on the fresh mango, drizzle the last of the chamoy, sprinkle the remaining Tajín and push in a tamarind straw. After 10 to 15 minutes it softens enough to drink through the straw.
Troubleshooting
- Watery. Unfrozen mango, too much nectar, or extra ice added to compensate. Use frozen fruit and measure the liquid.
- Blender will not move it. Not enough liquid at the bottom, or the mango froze in a block. Bang the bag on the counter to break the chunks apart, and always load liquids first.
- Stringy. A fibrous mango such as Tommy Atkins. Sieve it, or buy Ataulfo or Kent next time.
- Flat and only sweet. It needs lime. 1 more tablespoon makes a big difference.
- Rim falls off. The rim was not wet enough. Let it come out of the chamoy well coated.
- Melted before serving. You blended before rimming. Glasses first, every time.
Versions for kids, grown-ups and crowds
- For kids. Chamoy and Tajín are mild, but they do have a kick. Skip the chamoy, wet the rim with lime and dip it in Tajín mixed half and half with sugar, or plain sugar. It is still a great mango slush.
- Less salt. Nearly all the sodium comes from the Tajín and the chamoy. Tajín makes a reduced-sodium version, and you can rim just half the glass.
- Grown-up mangonada. Add a shot of tequila (about 1½ fl oz / 45 ml) per glass to the blender. Alcohol does not freeze, so the slush comes out a little looser; add a few extra frozen mango cubes to make up for it.
- For a party of 10 or 20. Per glass you need 150 g (5⅓ oz) frozen mango, 75 ml (5 tbsp) nectar, scant 1 tbsp lime juice, ½ tbsp sugar, ¼ cup ice and 2 tbsp chamoy, plus about 50 g (1¾ oz) fresh mango to top. Blend in batches of four glasses, which is what a home blender handles well, and keep the frozen mango in pre-weighed 1⅓ lb (600 g) bags in the freezer until each batch. Rim all the glasses before the first batch. Chamoy and out-of-season fresh mango are what push the cost up; frozen mango and homemade chamoy keep it down.
If you like sour, salty and sweet together, agua de tamarindo with a chili rim is in the same family, and the chamoy-and-Tajín rim is also the street-stall upgrade for a michelada.
Homemade chamoy
Bottled chamoy is a convenience; homemade is thicker and fruitier, and it is the answer if you are in the UK and cannot find a bottle. Makes a generous cup.
- 1 cup dried apricots
- ½ cup dried hibiscus flowers (sold as flor de jamaica or sorrel)
- ½ cup granulated sugar or chopped piloncillo (dark brown sugar works)
- 2 tbsp Tajín or chili-lime seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 2½ cups (600 ml) water
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) lime juice
Put everything except the lime juice in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered on low for 25 to 30 minutes, until the fruit is very soft and the liquid has dropped by about a third. Cool for 10 minutes, then blend with the lime juice for 1 minute until smooth. Taste: more sugar if it is too sour, more salt or lime if it tastes flat. It thickens as it cools, so loosen it with water a tablespoon at a time if it is too thick to run down a glass. The hibiscus gives it the red color; the same flowers make agua de jamaica. Keep it in a clean, sealed jar in the fridge and use it within a couple of weeks.
Make-ahead and leftovers
A built mangonada does not wait: within 15 to 20 minutes it is a thick juice and the rim is soggy. What you can do ahead is freeze the mango in bags days before, make the chamoy and keep it in the fridge, and dice the topping mango a few hours early and keep it covered and chilled. Leftover slush goes into an ice cube tray or a covered container in the freezer. To serve, let the cubes sit 5 minutes and blend again with a splash of nectar, or let a frozen cup soften a few minutes and eat it with a spoon.
Mangonada FAQ
What is chamoy made of? Dried or pickled fruit (usually apricot, plum or mango), chili, lime and salt, simmered for about 30 minutes and blended into a thick sauce. It tastes sweet, sour, salty and mildly spicy at the same time.
Can I make a mangonada without chamoy? Yes. Rim the glass with lime and Tajín and skip the streaks. You lose the sweet-sour fruit note, but it is still a good chili-lime mango slush.
Is a mangonada the same as a mango smoothie? No. A mangonada has no milk or yogurt, it is thicker and icier, and the chamoy and chili make it salty-sour as well as sweet.
Does it contain allergens? None of the major allergens in the base recipe. Some chamoys and tamarind candies contain colorings and preservatives, and some are made in plants that handle nuts, so check the label if allergies are an issue.
Nutrition
Per glass (1 of 4), worked out from the quantities above and counting 2 tbsp bottled chamoy and 1 tsp Tajín per glass:
- Calories: 187 kcal
- Protein: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 48 g
- Fat: 1 g, of which 0 g saturated
- Fiber: 4 g
- Sugars: 44 g
- Sodium: 1426 mg
Most of the calories come from the mango and nectar; most of the sodium from the chamoy and Tajín. With reduced-sodium Tajín and half the chamoy it drops to about 820 mg. For more fruit-forward cold treats, the Colombian cholado piles shaved ice with fruit and condensed milk.
Growing up in Venezuela, green mango with salt and lime was normal to me, so chili on mango did not seem strange the first time I tried a mangonada. What surprised me was how thick it was. It took me a couple of tries at home to stop pouring nectar by eye; now I measure that first cup, freeze summer mangoes in 1⅓ lb bags, and it comes out the same every time. Josnaisis.