Trust Us, Your Avocado Toast Absolutely Needs Sliced Mango

What's better than avocado toast? Fruity avocado toast, of course. But forget about dainty little berries when you go to jazz up your avocado toast, we're talking about luxurious and downright delectable mangoes. Although it's not a conventional or common avocado toast topper, the two ingredients actually work together like sunshine and summer breeze.

Without added pizzazz, avocado is surprisingly mild in flavor. Marked by a noticeably green flavor accented by nutty undercurrents, this versatile stone fruit benefits from complementary pairings. With its bright, nectarous, and uniquely tart taste, mangoes are the perfect accompaniment to avocado on toast. The sweet, vibrant flavor of the tropical fruit gives the dish gusto and boldness, providing your quintessentially millennial brunch with some much-needed depth.

It's not just the flavor of avocado toast that's improved by mangoes, it's the texture, too. The fibrous mouthfeel of mango provides a pleasant contrast to the smooth creaminess of avocado, making each bite more dynamic. Mango also mingles well with other common avocado toast toppers, so you don't have to compromise on your favorite fixings. Plus, it's so simple to add a few pieces of mango that we can't help but wonder why we haven't been doing this for years.

Avocado toast is a great entry point for health conscious foodies who are new to cooking, and adding some mango doesn't make the prep that much harder. However, despite its simplicity and ease of preparation, there are a few tips worth keeping in mind to get the most enjoyment out of your mango-kissed avocado toast. For starters, choose fresh, ripe mangoes characterized by an orange-red color, a slight give when gently squeezed, and a sweet, fragrant aroma. Unripe mangoes have a dense, rubbery texture and a spiritless flavor that would disrupt the mouthfeel and taste of your avocado toast.

Next, you'll need to know how to cut a mango, which depends on the shapes you want. Mangoes have a big pit in their mid-section, which can make slicing and dicing them a tedious task. To cut cubes, slice the mango cheeks off the pit, use a knife to score a grid pattern in the flesh, then turn the cheeks inside out to scoop out the cubes. For slices, cut the cheeks off the pit before slicing the flesh into thin strips and scooping them out. To simplify, you can just spoon the mango flesh out of the cheek and blend it with avocado for a fully integrated topping.

There's no right or wrong avocado-to-mango ratio here — it all depends on individual taste. For a brighter, sweeter, and more summery taste, add more mango. For a more traditional take, make sure there's more avocado than mango. We recommend using equal parts for a picture-perfect balance.

Mango is bold enough to jazz up a plain-faced slice of avocado toast without added ingredients. However, if you want to take your mango-topped avocado toast to the next level, there are plenty of options to explore. Add a sprinkle of spicy chili flakes, a drizzle of hot honey, or the creamy punch of siracha for a fiery kick that contrasts like yin and yang with the sweetness of the mango. For something garden-fresh, thinly sliced jalapenos are a tried and true way to turn up the heat.

Need to satisfy a craving for something savory? Add shaved Parmesan for a rush of umami richness — you'll be surprised at just how well this Italian staple complements the dulcet taste of mango. To sweeten things up, toasted nuts, a flurry of coconut flakes, and a drizzle of agave nectar will transport you from the confines of your kitchen to a palm tree-lined beach. For something simple yet impactful, add fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, or mint — easy but extremely effective.

This is just one of many ways to take your avocado toast up a notch, but adding mango is arguably the tastiest. Once you try it, you'll never go back.