How to freeze and enjoy frozen mangoes.

Got a tray of mangoes ripening faster than you can eat them? Freeze them properly and you'll have summer on standby for months.

01Choose ripe fruit

Freeze mangoes when they're fully ripe: fragrant at the stem end, giving slightly when gently pressed. Freezing doesn't ripen fruit further, so a hard, under-ripe mango will stay sour and fibrous. Overripe fruit with bruises is better puréed.

02Cut it up

Slice the two cheeks off either side of the flat seed. Score each cheek in a grid without cutting through the skin, push it inside-out, and slice the cubes off. Trim the remaining flesh from around the seed. That's perfect for purée or smoothies.

03Tray-freeze, then pack

Spread the cubes in a single layer on a lined tray, not touching. Freeze for 2–3 hours until solid, then tip them into zip-lock bags or containers, pressing out excess air. Tray-freezing first stops the pieces fusing into one block, the home version of the IQF method used commercially.

For purée, blend the flesh until smooth and freeze it in ice-cube trays or small containers.

04Store it well

Label each bag with the date. At -18°C or colder, home-frozen mango keeps its best flavour for several months. Keep bags at the back of the freezer rather than in the door, and avoid letting them partly thaw and refreeze.

05How to enjoy it

Straight from frozen: as a cold snack on a hot day, or blended into smoothies, sorbets and bowls. Partly thawed: after 10–15 minutes on the bench, the cubes are soft enough to bite but still icy, a bit like a mango ice block. Fully thawed: overnight in the fridge, in a covered bowl. Use it in salsas, on yoghurt or in baking. It will be softer than fresh, so it's best used where texture isn't the star.

06Thawed means use it

Once mango has fully thawed, keep it in the fridge and use it within a day or two. Don't refreeze it.

No time to cut your own? Our IQF mango chunks are cut, frozen and ready to go. For recipe ideas, see what you can make using frozen mango.