Mango Lassi Recipe (Indian Mango Drink)
Updated: May 23, 2024, By Swasthi
Make the BEST Mango Lassi at home with my simple tips and tricks! It is a popular dessert drink from the Indian Sub-continent and is a summer special loved by everyone. Mangoes, yogurt, milk/cream, ground cardamoms and a little sweetener will take you to mango heaven! One sip of a well-made Mango Lassi & you will surely fall in love with it for the amazing flavor and a smooth, creamy texture.
I know making this is no rocket science but I kind of felt there is really a thing in getting it right and perfect. You need to strike a balance between the sour and sweet flavors of the mangoes and yogurt.
What is Mango Lassi?
Mango Lassi is a popular lassi variety made with Indian yogurt (dahi/ curd), ripe sweet mangoes and cardamoms. A small amount of milk or fresh cream known as malai is also added for a creamy and rich feel. This also helps balance the sourness of the yogurt. Sometimes ingredients like rose water and saffron are also included for a flavor-twist.
A well-made Mango Lassi is smooth, creamy and thick, yet of pouring consistency. It has a significant mango flavor, tastes sweet with delicate hints of sourness from yogurt. If you are a popsicle lover, simply pour the prepared mango drink in popsicle molds or disposable cups and freeze them.
Fresh Vs Frozen Mangoes
Making a good mango drink starts with choosing the right kind of mangoes. Fresh, ripe sweet mangoes are best here as they are naturally high in flavor. If you live in a country where fresh mangoes are not available you may use frozen mangoes or mango pulp with all the suggested adjustments in my recipe.
Restaurants outside India use canned mango pulp. To cut down the tartness of citric acid, milk/heavy cream and sometimes dried milk (milk powder) is also added. Your mango lassi made with canned mango pulp tastes different from the fresh ingredient lassi due to the citric acid. You may add more sugar and more milk to balance the sour taste. In the end, you may not have enough mango flavors like the real mango lassi. So fresh fully ripe sweet mangoes are the best!
Mango is a seasonal fruit & are harvested during the summers in India. The mango season is short lived and the best naturally ripened mangoes are available from April to June. The mangoes harvested during the peak season have a delicious flavor and are much sweeter. This is why the mango lassi made with these mangoes taste out of this world.
Mangoes from India & neighboring countries are air-flown to many other countries during this season. If you are living outside India, you may easily find fresh mangoes in the Indian stores, markets and even online during these months.
What kind of mangoes are best for lassi?
There are many kinds of mangoes popular in India and everyone has their own favorite depending on where they have grown-up. While you can make a mango lassi with just any kind that are ripe & sweet, alphonso mangoes are considered to be the best for lassi, as these are super delicious, pulpy, less fibrous and flavorsome. Moreover they are deep in color.
Here are some popular Indian drinks
Masala Chai
Badam Milk
Turmeric Milk
Turmeric Tea
Photo Guide
How to make Mango Lassi (Stepwise Photos)
Make it in a mason jar
To make it in a mason jar, simply add chilled mango puree, Greek yogurt, sugar, cardamom powder and milk or cream or ice cubes. Whisk well until smooth. Or secure the jar with a tight lid and shake for 2 mins until well mixed. Your mango lassi is ready under 3 mins.
In a blender
1. You need all the ingredients chilled including mango or you have to use ice while blending to keep the lassi cold. I generally rinse, peel, chop and chill or freeze the mangoes until really cold. Chill the milk as well. If you don’t consume milk with fruits, simply use nut milk or yogurt whey. You will need
- 1½ cups chopped mangoes or 1 cup canned sweetened mango pulp
- ¾ cup yogurt
- ¾ cup milk (or water or 4 to 5 ice cubes or yogurt whey)
- 1½ to 3 tablespoons sugar (use according to your preference or maple syrup)
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1 pinch of saffron & 1 tbsp chopped nuts for garnish – optional
2. Add mangoes, sugar, cardamom powder and milk (or water or ice cubes) to a blender jar. If you are not using a high speed blender, add the yogurt later.
3. Blend until very smooth. Make sure there are no mango fibers left.
4. Add the yogurt.
5. Blend just until smooth, avoid over blending as it can sometimes become slimy.
6. Taste test & adjust the ingredients. If you like it sweeter or prefer more mango flavor, simply add more mangoes. To cut down the sour taste either add milk or cream. If you want it to be slightly runny, pour more milk or ice cubes and blend. It should be thick, yet of pouring and drinking consistency.
Pour mango lassi to serving glasses and garnish with chopped pistas or almonds. If you want it colder, chill it for an hour before serving.
Pro Tips
Chilling ingredients: Mango lassi is always served chilled. So make sure you chilli all the ingredients including chopped mango pieces for a few hours, before blending. The other option is to chill the mango lassi after blending. If you have no time to chill the mangoes you can also add ice cubes while blending in place of the liquid.
Mangoes: All mangoes are not the same. If you are using fresh mangoes that are too fibrous, make sure you blend the mangoes first before adding the yogurt. You can also store the mango puree in a glass container, refrigerate or freeze it. Use it as required. You may also use this to make mango lassi in a mason jar as I shared above.
Liquid: You don’t need any other liquid if you are using runny Homemade Curd as it has plenty of whey. If using Greek yogurt or sour yogurt, add some milk or cream. This is essential to balance the sour flavors and also bring the drink to the right consistency. If you don’t consume yogurt and milk together, you can use nut milk or even ice. But ice won’t add any flavor but helps with the consistency.
Sweetener: The most common sweetener is sugar. But I use maple syrup sometimes. You can also use honey or even refined jaggery. Unrefined jaggery alters the flavor.
Dahi (Indian Yogurt) is the key ingredient in a lassi and it is different from the Greek yogurt. There are 2 main differences between the Indian yogurt and Greek yogurt. Indian yogurt has some whey in it, whereas Greek yogurt has no whey so if you are using it here, adjust the consistency by adding more liquid else you will end up with a super thick drink.
Traditionally, fresh made Indian dahi is used & this has a less sour flavor & taste than the Greek yogurt. So if you use Greek yogurt, you have to use some milk or cream to balance the sour taste.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Mango Lassi Recipe
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1½ cup Mangoes chopped ( sweet ripe mangoes or 1 cup canned pulp)
- ¾ cup curd (plain yogurt)
- ¾ cup milk (or water or 4 ice cubes, refer notes)
- 1½ to 3 tablespoons sugar (adjust to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder (optional)
To Garnish (optional)
- 1 teaspoon chopped nuts
- 1 pinch saffron strands
- 4 tablespoons whipped cream
Instructions
How to Make Mango Lassi in a blender
- Skip this step is using canned mango pulp. Rinse the mangoes and chill them for a few hours. Peel and cube them. This keeps your mango lassi cold after blending.
- To a blender jar, add mangoes, yogurt, milk (or water or ice), cardamom powder and sugar.
- Blend until the mango lassi is super smooth. It should be thick yet of pouring consistency.
- Taste test and add more sugar if you want it sweeter or more milk or ice if you prefer it thinner. If you want more mango flavor, add more mangoes and a splash of water.
- Pour Mango Lassi to serving glasses. If you prefer it colder, refrigerate it for an hour.
- Garnish with sliced pistachios or with saffron.
In a Mason Jar
- Add ½ cup chilled mango pulp (or puree), ⅓ cup cold Greek yogurt, ¼ cup cold milk, 2 tbps sugar, a pinch of cardamom powder and 1 to 2 ice cubes to a mason jar.
- Whisk it very well until mixed. Or Secure the lid tightly and shake the jar for 2 mins just until combined. Serve mango lassi immediately.
Notes
- Mangoes: Alphonso mangoes are the best for making Mango lassi. They are naturally sweeter, more pulpy, less fibrous and have lots of real mango flavor. If you are not accessible to fresh mangoes, use canned alphonso pulp which is easily available in Indian stores.
- Yogurt: If you like the taste of yogurt to be dominant in the lassi add more yogurt. Add more mangoes, if you prefer more mango flavor & taste. Using too much curd or milk will diminish the mango flavor in the lassi.
- Milk: If you don’t consume milk with fruit, replace milk with vegan milk, yogurt whey or even plain water. Yogurt whey is just the liquid you are left with in your homemade yogurt bowl.
- Sweetener: Using sweet mangoes will help you reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. You can also substitute regular sugar with maple syrup, coconut sugar, stevia, monk fruit sweetener and even with refined jaggery. But note that coconut sugar and unrefined jaggery alter the flavor a bit.
- Storage: Mango lassi made with canned mango pulp and milk may split if stored. It is best consumed immediately or refrigerate & consume within 2 hours.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
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About Swasthi
Iโm Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโs Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Great recipes. Both the sweet and salty versions are really good. Freshly ground cumin is a must for the salty version. I use frozen mango for the sweet version. It is less sweet than the Alphonso mango but it still tastes very good!
Great recipe!
This looked good and tasted WAY better! We where having a dinner.
Awesome recipe Swati! It tastes so delicious and exactly the way I was craving it.
What if you buy the regular yogurt in the grocery store that is less thick than Greek yogurt (but unsweetened)?
Yes you may use that. Adjust the consistency to your preference as mentioned in the recipe
Came out way better than the last lassi recipe I tried.
Delicious mango lassi! I cut down the yogurt to half because I was using Greek yogurt and doubled the milk. Perfect consistency and loved it.
So delicious, simple and refreshing!
Pretty straight forward recipe. Turned out great. Used stevia as my sweetener. Also added extra milk to thin the mixture to our preference.
This is amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us.
I was ordering some Indian food and their price for a mango lassi was so high. I had frozen mango, Greek yogurt, low-fat milk, coconut sugar and cardamom on hand so that’s what I used. Added a little more milk to make it pourable, then topped with some finely chopped almonds….best mango lassi ever!!
Great recipe! For anyone who is using canned mango pulp, the added sugar should be left out. There’s already plenty of cane sugar in there. Alphonso is far superior imo (kesar is just the more common, cheaper variety). And real Desi yogurt makes it better!
Yummy oh yummy… Balle balle mast mazaa agaya.. Thank you my family is enjoying this mango lassi. Used Rani kesar mango pulp and it was the best I made after coming to the US.
Hi, I made this with frozen mango and Greek yogurt and it turned out great. The only thing is my version was extremely thick so had to add more milk to
get the blender to blend it. Unfortunately I donโt have any cardamom so Iโm excited to try it with that added. Very tasty though, thanks for the recipe!
Hi,
Yes you can add more milk because that depends on the kind of mangoes. Some are too pulpy so it can turn thick. You should try with cardamom. Thank you!
Hi! Fresh mangoes aren’t available where I live. Can I use frozen mango? Thank you!
Hi,
Yes you can use frozen.
Cardamom optional? I DONโT THINK SO! I used fresh Philippine mangoes and green cardamom, unsweetened soy milk, maple syrup. Wow, thanks!
Glad you like it. Thank you
Perfect! I didn’t have mango and used a can of peaches instead.
Wow! That’s a great idea!
Hi, is there a specific yoghurt you recommend or greek yoghurt is fine?
Hi,
You can use Greek yogurt
Delicious mango lassi! I used kesar mango pulp from Indian stores and was easy to whip up.
Made this mango lassi for a trial before I could make it for a event. We all loved it. Would you suggest any changes if making a large batch. What changes should I make? I’m using canned mango plup. TIA
Leela,
Actually there is nothing to change even if you make a large batch. You only need to balance the sweet and sour taste. If you find the mango flavor is dominating, add a bit of yogurt. If it is too sweet add a bit of yogurt. Taste test and adjust as you blend. IMO you don’t have to be too accurate in following the quantities because every mango or a can of mango pulp tastes and smells different depending on the breed and soil profile. Hope this helps.
Just the color of this mango lassi brings me such joy! Made it with frozen pulp and been loving it.
Thank you Francesca. Glad you like it.