Can You Freeze Mangoes?

Mangoes are the most popular tropical fruit in production across the planet. Mangoes are used to make juice, smoothies, fruit salads, cereal, various food recipes, and more. Lots of people love mangoes for their sweet and refreshing taste. 

In addition to being so delicious, mangoes are also filled with nutrients that benefit our body. Eating mangoes is actually good for the eyes and our digestion. Mangoes have a large amount of antioxidants and they boost our immunity. 

Considering how sweet and beneficial mangoes are, it makes a lot of sense to add them to your diet plan. 

However, mangoes aren’t in season all year round, and the best mangoes are gotten when the fruit is in season. If you want to stock up on mangoes, it makes sense to buy them in-season because prices will be lower than when they are out of season. The peak season for mangoes is from May to September. Mangoes purchased during the peak season will be fresh and great for long-term preservation. 

Anyone who desires to stock up on fresh mangoes may be wondering: how do I preserve them? 

Can you freeze mangoes? Yes, you can freeze mangoes. If you follow the correct steps, you can freeze a batch of fresh mangoes for up to 12 months – giving you enough supply of the fruit till they’re back in season. Usually, the taste and texture of the mangoes will be altered after 10 – 12 months of freezing. And even though that doesn’t render the mangoes inedible, it is best to consume them in the earlier months of freezing for the best results. 

There are certain things to consider when you want to freeze mangoes. For instance, do you freeze the mangoes in slices, chunks, or in puree form? Whichever way you prefer, just make sure the packaging is done correctly. 

Freezing Mangoes 

Usually mangoes can be left to sit at room temperature for about a week or two. Unripe mangoes will last longer than ripe ones because they still have some time to get ripened before they begin to spoil.  Listas y rankings

However, if you want to preserve your mangoes for long, you’ll need an effective method like freezing. You should know that after being frozen for a while, mangoes would have experienced a little change in texture. Frozen mangoes become less solid and get mushier after being defrosted. 

Regardless of that change, the mangoes will still be delicious and perfectly safe to eat. Frozen mangoes don’t need to be defrosted if you’ll be using them in a smoothie – just toss them in with the other ingredients and blend. The only time you can have slight issue with frozen and thawed mangoes is when you want to eat them directly. If you don’t mind a mushier texture, you won’t have any problem.   

How to Freeze Mangoes  

With the right steps, you mangoes will keep in the freezer for a long time. Here are some easy steps for freezing your fresh batch of mangoes: 

Step 1: Start by Selecting the Freshest Mangoes in the Batch  

For the best freezing results, it makes sense to hand pick the freshest mangoes that will go in the freezer. Once the mangoes are in season, go to your favorite farmer’s market or store and start selecting worthy mangoes. If you have mango trees growing in your backyard, you’ll have a lot of the fruit to choose from. 

You shouldn’t choose unripe mangoes for freezing. Go for the ones that are already ripe, but not overripe. Ripe mangoes don’t usually have a single color spread evenly across them. 

Instead of focusing on color to determine which mangoes are ripe, check their texture. Press gently into the ticker areas of the mangoes to see if they’re ripe – there should be a balanced softness.  

Step 2: Peel the Mangoes and Cut into Chunks or Slices   

After hand-picking the freshest ripe mangoes, go ahead to peel all of them. Slicing the mangoes to smaller bits actually makes freezing easier and more effective. Also, it helps you to select just the amount of mangoes that you actually need at a time. 

Based on personal preference, you can cut the peeled mangoes into large, medium, or small chunks and slices. The size of the chunks or slices may be determined b what you intend to do with the frozen mangoes – whether they’re to be eaten directly, made into a smoothie, used in a fruit salad, or whatever.  

Step 3: Pre-Freeze the Mango Slices  

Before finally packaging the mangoes for the freezer, you’ll need to pre-freeze the slices first. Get hold of a baking sheet and line it with waxed paper. Place the chunks or slices of mangoes on the baking sheet and space them out. It is important that the mango slices aren’t stacked on top of each other, or touching each other, so that there won’t be problems when you defrosting later. 

Place the baking sheet with the neatly spread mango slices in the freezer for some hours. Leave them in till they’re totally frozen.  

Step 4: Transfer into Freezer-safe Bag and Seal Properly   

Get a resealable freezer-safe bag to keep the mangoes in. After transferring all the mango slices or chunks into the bag, you’ll need to remove as much air from it as possible. You can make use of a machine to vacuum air out of the bag and seal it. 

If you do not have a vacuum sealing machine at home, you can push a straw through a small opening in the bag and suck out as much air as possible. 

Use a marker to write the current date on the freezer bag before placing in the freezer.   

How to Thaw Frozen Mangoes

You can easily thaw frozen mangoes by leaving them to sit in the refrigerator for some hours. Thawing frozen mangoes in the fridge is a safe and effective method. However, because it takes so many hours, it is best done overnight. 

You can alternatively thaw you frozen mangoes by submerging the sealed freezer-safe bag in a bowl of cold tap water; it should take about 3 hours for the mangoes to defrost.

You don’t have to defrost frozen mangoes if you’ll be using them in a smoothie or cooked meal.