Fun Ways to Cut a Mango for Eating as a Flower or a Hedgehog

Mangoes are one of those healthy treats that with a bit of creative slicing can be turned into fun to eat treat. As an excellent source of Vitamins C (anti-oxidants), Vitamin A (Beta-carotene) and copper and a good source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, along with potassium, magnesium and fiber mangoes make very healthy snacks with about 100 calories in a cup.

Finding fun ways to serve this orange tropical treat can encourage children and adults to eat more of this very popular fruit enjoyed around the world.

Three fun ways to make mangoes more tasty are eating them cut into flower-like shapes or wedges and served on a stick, or cutting them up like little hedgehogs or turtles which are fun finger foods for kids. The hedgehogs are a very easy way to make diced mangoes.

Of course if cutting mangoes in flower shapes is too much, I have also included basic information on cutting mangoes in sliced chunks and diced which also make fun healthy treats. For those who need extra convincing, I've included information on the health benefits of mangoes near the end.

This lens was inspired by the IMMINENT Quest to write about something orange, so I've included a lot of pictures of this orange tropical delight. Mangoes are one of the more popular orange fruits eaten around the world.

Mangoes on a Stick by eric molina. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Healthy Fruit Treats and Mangoes on a Stick by eric molina.

Used under a Creative Commons License.

Mango flowers are a fun treat sold in different amusement parks. We discovered them on a recent trip to Santa Barbara.

These edible flowers are such a visually appealing, bright orange sweet treat on a stick, who wouldn't want to eat one.

The good news for parents is that they are way to get their children to eat a treat that is filled with all kinds of great nutrition.

See how a Mango flower is made by watching these street vendors at work.

These are some of the extras that you might want to try on your sliced mango. Personally, I'd probably want mine with melted chocolate.

Enjoying a tropical treat at Coney Island Treat by edenpictures.

Used under a Creative Commons License.

With a few tips, slicing up a mango can be a lot faster and a lot less work.

Probably the most challenging part is getting the pit or the giant seed out of the center without wasting too much of the yummy fleshy part.

The key to slicing a mango, it to make your cuts slightly off center ~ 1/4 to 1/2 inch depending on the type of mango. In the picture to the right you can see the mango has been cut so just a bit of the pit is showing.

Make two clean slices on either side of the center of the mango, so you are left with two mango slices and one slice that holds the pit.

Trim off the peel from the slice with the pit and then cut the mango fruit away from the seed.

For the other two sections, use a knife to slice them in one direction to make sliced mangoes or in two directions (cross hatching) to make diced mangoes. Once these pieces of the mango have been cut, just scoop out the slices or the diced mangoes with a large serving spoon.

After reading how to slice up a mango, watch the videos below to see how easy it is to cut a mango.

Sliced Mango by W.A. Djatmiko. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Learn all about this amazing fruit and and how to cut a mango from Megan McKenna of the National Mango Board, Chef Marcus Guiliano and very simple instructions from howardnstone.

Use a clean cutting surface, clean utensils to cut your mango and a large spoon to scoop out the fleshy parts.

If cutting a mango into a flower shape seems to difficult or if you are like me and don't like using large sharp knives with children in the house, you can do a simiplier version of mango on a stick.

Easier Version of Mango on a Stick

For the easier version of Mango on a Stick all you have to do is to cut the out the pit of the mango creating three parts (as seen above), then slice up the mango half sections into long mango segments.

Once you have the mango segments, you can skewer the segments on bamboo sticks and top with your favorite extras salt, lemon or lime juice, chili powder or ground cinnamon and serve them up on a plate or in a cup.

Easiest Version of Mango on a Stick

For the easiest version of mango on a stick, omit the stick or use it as an eating utensil. Just put a bunch of mango slices into a cup (like the one to the right) and top with your favorite extras and eat with a fork.

According to the photographer, this tasty mango treat in a cup only cost him $1.50 in Mexico City.

Mangoes in a Cup by Tristan Higbee. Used under a Creative Commons License.

The inspiration behind our Easier Version of Mango on a Stick.

Cutting up a mango like a hedgehog* as seen in the image to the right makes it a fun finger food for kids, or a nearly irresistible treat for tweens and teens. When I slice up our mangoes this way, I can barely get them away from my kids to use them for smoothies.

If you can get them away from your kids, the hedgehogs are an easy way to make diced mangoes or square mango chunks. The hedgehog is the style of mango cutting that I do every morning when we slice up mangoes into chunks for a smoothie.

To cut the hedgehog pattern take a piece of mango that the pit has been cut off from and use a small knife to make even slices first in one direction and then at 90 degrees in a second direction creating a cross hatching pattern. The trick is to just cut into the fleshy part of the mango, but not cut through the skin.

Once these pieces of the mango have been cut, open up the mango into a hedgehog for immediate eating, or scoop out the diced mango chunks with a large serving spoon to use in your favorite recipe.

* In doing the research for this page, I also came across a reference to this way of cutting mangoes as a turtle.

Diced Hedgehog-style Mango by Zantastik. Used under a Creative Commons License

Watch Bridget Davis, the Internet Chef, Chef Allen Sussner with the Mango Board and Dani Spies show how easy it is to turn mango hedgehogs into diced mangoes.

Mango Hedgehog on a Plate by little_yiye. Used under a Creative Commons License

If you eat a lot of mangoes and eat a lot of the larger versions of mangoes, getting a mango slicer or splicer can be very helpful in making it way easier to quickly get the pit or the large seed out of the mango.

As you can see in watching the video using the Oxo mango splitter below or in the image to the right, the mango pit can be easily cut out of the center of a mango with a single motion. This tool is better for larger mangoes, since there is a fixed chunk that is taken out of the mango with the slicer.

The Amco mango tool makes it easier to get the pit out of any sized mango as seen in the video below. This requires making two curved slices on either side of the pit, but this too works better with my favorite type of mango, the Champagne mango.

The Champagne mangoes tend to be smaller, so work better with the tool and don't work as well with the mango splitters, since more of the flesh stays behind in the pit slice.

Oxo Mango Splitter available on Amazon

Watch how to cut a mango using a special mango slicer and a 2-in-1 mango tool.

Mangoes for Sale by zeafonso. Royalty Free Use.

In compiling the information on the nutrient benefits of mangoes, I looked at three sources: the National Nutrient Database on Mangoes, Supertracker Food-a-Pedia information on mangoes and National Mango Board. Where there were differences I went with the information from the National Nutrient Database and Supertracker. The Nutrition Facts label to the right is based on this information.

As you can see a one cup serving of mango has about 100 calories. Mangoes are also naturally fat free, sodium free and cholesterol free. Mangoes have a very small contribution to calories from fat.

• Mangoes are an excellent source of Vitamins C (anti-oxidants), Vitamin A (Beta-carotene) and copper. To qualify as "excellent" the food needs to provide 20% or more of the daily value in a serving.
• They also are good sources (10 to 19%) of Vitamin B6, Vitamin E and fiber. To qualify as a "good" source the food needs to provide between 10% and 19% of the daily value in a serving.
• Mangoes also contain more than 5% of the daily value for Vitamin K, folate, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, potassium and magnesium.

With over 20 different vitamins and minerals mangos are definitely a much better snack choice than some of the nutrient poor snack foods.

Mango Nutrition Facts Label created by Kirsti A. Dyer using information on Mangoes from National Nutrient Database on Mangoes, Supertracker Food-a-Pedia and National Mango Board.

Mangoes are an excellent source of many vitamins, a good source of several minerals as well as a good source of dietary fiber. Antioxidants, such as in Vitamin C and beta-carotene in Vitamin A have been show to have numerous health benefits.

Research is underway to see if mangoes may be helpful in managing diabetes, decreasing inflammation and if the polyphenols in mangoes may help in combating cancer cells.

1. Vitamin C
2. Vitamin A
3. Vitamin B6
4. Copper
5. Potassium
6. Magnesium
7. Fiber

Some of the recent research on mangoes have been investigating the effect of mangoes on blood sugar and that mangiferin, a compound occurs naturally in mango, might have an antitumor effect in breast cancer cells.

The research team at Oklahoma State observed in their study on mice that mangoes affected several factors involved in fat metabolism. Mangoes helped in reducing the circulating level of the hormone leptin (one of the hormones produced by fat cells that promotes fat storage). Reducing the levels of leptin may help in decreasing the amount of fat store.

They are currently doing a human study looking at whether incorporating mangoes into the diet of overweight people may help in reducing blood sugar and in reducing body fat. Be watching for the results of this new study.

How do you like to eat your mangoes?