Mangonada

A mangonada is a vibrant and delicious drink made with juicy mangoes, chamoy, and chile-lime seasoning. It's the perfect balance between sweet, sour, spicy, salty, and umami. Try making your very own version at home!

Table of Contents

• 📖 What is a mangonada?
• 🥭 Mangonada vs chamoyada
• 📜 History
• 🌱 Are mangonadas vegan?
• 🛒 Ingredients & substitutions
• 📝 Instructions
• 🥗 Serving suggestions
• 🥤 How to eat a mangonada
• 🌡️ Storage
• ♻️ Variations
• 🧑‍🍳 Top tips
• 💬 FAQ
• 🍹 More drink recipes
• 📋 Recipe

📖 What is a mangonada?

A mangonada is one of those treats that walks the line between a refreshing drink and a satisfying dessert.

Mixing all of these colors, flavors, and textures into one cup seems like a lot, but it just works.

Typically, a mangonada is made up of four main components — mangoes, chile-lime salt, chamoy, and lime juice.

Mango sorbet or mangoes make up the base, chamoy is drizzled in layers throughout, and the top is full of fresh mangoes, chile-lime salt (Tajin), and more chamoy.

🥭 Mangonada vs chamoyada

A mangonada is a type of chamoyada, which can be made with different fruits. So in this case, we're making a mango chamoyada!

You may also hear mangonadas called by other names like mangoneadas or chamangos.

Fun fact: Chamoyadas come in various forms — drinks, raspados, popsicles, or fully loaded meal replacements. The drinks are typically served in clear cups, revealing layers of bright colors.

📜 History

The inception of the first true mangonada recipe is largely unknown, but it likely stemmed from experimentation with different shaved ice (raspado) combinations.

Having roots in both Rome and East Asia, raspados grew in popularity in Mexico after new ingredients like umeboshi and tamarind were introduced.

In the last few decades, mangonadas and other chamoyadas have become more well-known in the US too. Some speculate it's due to the uptick in paleterías (Mexican-style popsicle stores) starting up.

Regardless of when or where mangonadas originated, all we know is more of the world needs to try this golden-red beverage.

🌱 Are mangonadas vegan?

You'll be happy to know mangonadas are a very vegan-friendly beverage! If you are ordering one out, make sure the candy they use is gelatin-free.

🛒 Ingredients & substitutions

Mango — Use fresh or frozen mangoes, and set some aside to garnish your drink. For our mangonadas, we use the Ataulfo variety, but Tommy Atkins or Kent work too.

Chamoy — We love homemade chamoy for drizzling and chamoy rim dip for coating the glass. Feel free to use pre-made chamoy to save time. For more information, check out our guide on what exactly chamoy is and how to use it.

Lime — Use fresh lime juice and adjust it up or down depending on how tangy you like your drink. Lemon juice is a good alternative.

Chile-lime salt — We typically use Tajin, but you can make your own by combining chile powder, salt, and citric acid.

Tamarind candy straws — Also known as tarugos or banderillas, they are made from spicy tamarind candy paste wrapped around straws. If you live outside of Mexico, it's easiest to order tarugos online or check at a Mexican food market.

For a complete ingredient list and step-by-step guide, scroll down to our recipe card.

📝 Instructions

Step 1 — Prepare all of your garnishes by peeling and cubing the fresh mangoes, adding chile-lime salt to one shallow bowl, and chamoy rim dip to another.

Note — If you have a squirt bottle, add some chamoy into it as well to make drizzling the inside of your cups easier!

Step 2 — Squeeze both limes into a blender. Then, add in frozen mango chunks, water, cane sugar, and ice. Blend on high until you have a smooth consistency, adding in small amounts of water if you need to.

Step 3 — Rim your glasses by dipping them in the bowl of chamoy paste followed by chile-lime salt. Add a drizzle of chamoy to the bottom of your cups and around the sides.

Step 4 — Divide the frozen mango mixture between cups, then add more chamoy on top. Continue layering until all the cups are full.

Step 5 — Once the cups are almost full, add a handful of fresh or frozen mango cubes to the top (optional, but totally worth it).

Step 6 — Garnish your mangonadas with an extra drizzle of chamoy, a sprinkle of Tajin, and a tamarind candy straw. Happy drinking!

If you have questions about how to make a mango chamoyada, check out our FAQs or leave a comment down below!

🥗 Serving suggestions

Try pairing your frozen chamoyada treat with a warm and crispy antojito:

• Picaditas — Tender masa cakes topped with green and red salsa, fresh onion, and creamy queso.
• Garnachas — Fried corn discs topped with salsa, jackfruit, and cabbage slaw.
• Sopitos — A crispy masa base loaded with toppings like beans, chorizo, queso, salsa, and cabbage.
• Corundas — Triangular-shaped tamales from Michoacán served with spicy red salsa and crema.

🥤 How to eat a mangonada

Since mangonadas are generally quite thick, you can drink them with a tarugo (tamarind straw), a regular straw, or a spoon. The choice is yours!

🌡️ Storage

Although mangonadas are best served right away, there are a few clever ways to use up the remaining recipe:

Paletas — Add the leftover mangonada mix to popsicle molds to make paletas. Store them covered in your freezer.

Ice cubes — Freeze the rest of the recipe in ice cube trays and blend them with your next mangonada recipe.

Mangoes — If you only have fresh mangoes, peel, cube, and freeze them in a single layer on a lined baking pan. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container for storage.

♻️ Variations

Spicy — Add in hot sauce or more chile-lime seasoning to liven things up.

Sugar-free — If your mangoes are extra ripe, leave the cane sugar out for a healthier alternative.

Chamoyada flavor — Replace the mangoes with strawberries, guava, or pineapple to make a different type of chamoyada.

Boozy — Try adding your favorite spirit to make it a spiked mangonada. Some of our favorites include mezcal, tequila, rum, or vodka.

🧑‍🍳 Top tips

Use ripe mangoes — The difference between ripe and unripe mangoes is serious business. Your drink will be way sweeter if you time it right!

Make the chamoy — We promise your chamoyada will taste much better (and be healthier) if you make your own chamoy.

Prep before blending — Get your cups ready, mangoes chopped, and Tajin opened so you don't have a melted drink by the time you're ready to enjoy it.

Layer the chamoy — To achieve an even flavor throughout, layer the chamoy in every few tablespoons of the mangonada mix.

Add more ice — To make a lower-calorie chamoyada and save money on mangoes, swap out some fruit for ice.

💬 FAQ

🍹 More drink recipes

If you enjoyed this mangonada recipe, check out some of these other fruity, tropical, and flavor-packed recipes:

• Raspados: Cool and refreshing shaved ice topped with fresh mango syrup.
• Cantarito: A tequila-based cocktail packed with citrus, grapefruit soda, salt, and a chamoy-Tajin rim.
• Agua de tamarindo: Agua fresca made from tamarind pulp and piloncillo.
• Agua de guayaba: Another type of agua fresca made with creamy and tropical guavas.
• Watermelon water: A refreshing mix of watermelon, sweetener, and mint.

📋 Recipe

Note: We've updated this post to include new information and helpful tips about the recipe.