How to Ripen and Store Mangoes at Home (The Right Way)

How to ripen mangoes at home

Keep mangoes at room temperature, never in the fridge, until they are fully ripe. Spread them out in a single layer in a bowl or basket, out of direct sunlight.

To speed it up, place the mangoes in a paper bag or wrap them in newspaper — the trapped natural ethylene gas ripens them faster. Adding a banana or apple to the bag speeds it up further. Most mangoes ripen in two to four days this way.

Avoid calcium carbide and other chemical ripeners. They ripen the skin while leaving the inside uneven, and they are unhealthy. Naturally ripened fruit always tastes better.

How to tell when a mango is ripe

Go by smell and feel, not colour — colour varies by variety. A ripe mango gives a little when gently pressed, like a ripe peach, and smells sweet and fragrant at the stem end. A rock-hard mango with no aroma needs more time.

How to store ripe mangoes

Once a mango is fully ripe, move it to the fridge to stop it over-ripening — it will keep for another four to five days. Take it out and let it come back to room temperature before eating, because cold mango loses much of its aroma and sweetness.

Peeled or cut mango can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a couple of days, or frozen in chunks for months — perfect for milkshakes and lassi later in the year.

Getting the freshest mangoes to begin with

Ripening only works well if the fruit was picked at the right maturity and reached you quickly. Mangoes that sat in cold storage or passed through several middlemen never ripen as well. Ordering direct from the orchard, packed the same day, gives you fruit that ripens evenly and tastes the way it should.