Homemade Mango Lassi, made with just a few ingredients, is so creamy and refreshing. This Mango Lassi is a favorite to enjoy at Indian restaurants and can be easily made at home in no time!
What is your favorite fruit? For me, it is, hands down, MANGO! And this love is not a recent one; I grew up enjoying mangoes all summer, so much so that my mom had to actually stop me from eating a fruit. Aren’t fruits healthy, I would ask 😉
I am glad this love has slowly transferred to my daughter. She has started to enjoy mangoes, and Mango Lassi is her favorite drink to order whenever we are at an Indian restaurant.
And it is not just her; Mango Lassi is the favorite for everyone to order at Indian restaurants, similar to Masala Chai. This sweet drink perfectly complements the spices in Indian food.
Mango Lassi has become so popular that it is now available as a ready drink at big stores such as Costco too. However, the good news is that Costco and so many stores also carry fresh mangoes. So now we can make fresh homemade Mango Lassi in no time.
Another fruit we love to get from Costco is figs, and we love to make this Fig Date Smoothie.
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Mango Lassi
What is Lassi?
Lassi is basically a yogurt-based drink that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is typically a blend of yogurt, water or milk, spices, and sometimes fruit.
Lassi can be made sweet or salty. Another popular type of lassi all over the world is Mango Lassi.
What is Mango Lassi?
Mango lassi is a yogurt-based drink made from yogurt, milk, and mango pulp. You could call this a Mango Yogurt Smoothie.
It can be made with fresh, frozen, or canned mangoes. You can add spices, such as cardamom or cinnamon.
Fresh Mango Lassi is often garnished with saffron (kesar), pistachios or even mint.
Ingredients
Let’s see the main ingredients to make traditional Mango Lassi:
- Mango: You can use fresh, frozen, or canned mango pulp in this recipe. If available, Alphonso mangoes are the best and most sweet to make lassi. However, it is totally fine to use other varieties of mangoes. Look for very ripe mangoes. If using mango pulp, use 1 cup in place of the mango chunks in this recipe.
- Yogurt: Traditionally, plain whole-milk yogurt is used to make mango lassi. However, you can make it low-fat yogurt, too. Plain Greek yogurt will also work, but you would need some extra milk to get the right consistency. You can also use almond milk yogurt to make this lassi vegan.
- Milk: Adding milk will give this mango lassi the right consistency. You can use your favorite whole, low-fat, or 2% milk. Almond milk can be used to make this vegan. Or you can also use water if you prefer.
- Sweetener: Traditionally, sugar is used to sweeten mango lassi. However, you can use honey, maple syrup, or agave too.
- Spices: Optionally add a pinch of ground cardamom or cinnamon to the lassi.
How to make Mango Lassi?
Now, the easiest part is to make the Lassi.
- Put mango chunks, yogurt, milk, sugar, and cardamom into a blender and blend until smooth. I used my Vitamix to make this lassi. If you have planned ahead, you can also freeze the mango chunks before using them in this recipe.
- Adjust the consistency to your taste by adding water or blending in some ice cubes.
- Pour mango lassi into serving glasses. Keep it chilled before serving.
Garnish with saffron and/or pistachios. Other garnishes that can be used are mint leaves, sliced almonds, or even some mango chunks.
You can also serve this mango lassi topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make it a dessert.
This fresh mango lassi can be refrigerated for up to a day. I prefer to make it just before serving. It takes only a minute to get ready once you have the ingredients prepared.
Common Questions
Yes, use 3/4 cup of Greek yogurt and add more milk or water to adjust consistency to your taste.
By definition, lassi is made with yogurt (dahi), so if you make it without yogurt, it would technically not be lassi anymore. You can make a milkshake or smoothie with mangoes.
Use almond milk yogurt and almond milk to make the mango lassi vegan.
Expert tips to make the best Mango Lassi
- Use sweet, ripe mangoes to make lassi. They will give the best-tasting Mango Lassi flavor. If fresh mango is not available, then only opt for frozen mango chunks or canned mango puree.
- If you are planning ahead, put mangoes in the refrigerator so they are cold for the lassi.
- You can add a few ice cubes to this to cool it down even more,
- I prefer to use whole milk yogurt and whole milk when making lassi.
Enjoy this delicious Mango Lassi with Chicken Tikka Masala, Chana Masala or Palak Paneer Saag.
You might also like this delicious Strawberry Lassi, Fig & Date Smoothie, also called Anjeer Milkshake, or this authentic Masala Chai.
Mango Lassi Recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup Mango , cubes (fresh mango peeled and chopped, choose very ripe mango or frozen mango or 1 cup of canned mango pulp)
- 1 cup Plain Yogurt, whole milk yogurt, cold
- 1/2 cup Milk , of choice or water to adjust consistency, cold
- 4 teaspoon Sugar, adjust to taste
- 1 pinch Cardamom powder (Elaichi), optional
- Saffron (Kesar), to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Adjust the consistency to your taste by adding water or blend in some ice cubes.
- Pour mango lassi in serving glasses. Keep it chilled before serving. Garnish with saffron and/or pistachios (see notes for more garnish options).
Please do not suggest recipes where you mix milk and yogurt. Ayurveda says that they have opposite properties and will create havoc on your digestion leading to toxins and disease
Hi Nikky – I have mentioned that if you prefer you can use almond milk or water in the recipe. Hope you enjoy the lassi!
I made this with frozen mango pulp. Delicious! Thanks for an excellent recipe!
Hi Lisa – Glad you enjoyed the lassi!
This was my first time making mango lassi and I will say that using canned pulp works as good as fresh but given the time it is always best to use fresh fruit. Given that, I used whole milk fat and organic milk and yogurt. The mix was easy using 1 can of pulp, 2 cups yogurt, 1 cup milk, and 1cup water to thin for better texture as without water its almost milkshake consistency. I didnt know cardamom was used so I wasn’t sure if I should include it. I took a chance and added 1 tablespoon to the entire mixture and didn’t really notice a difference in taste. Granted it was powdered cardamom, but I didn’t really think it made any change in taste. I am diabetic so adding table sugar is not an option. I tested the mix without any sweetener and it was okay as is, but I added a diabetic sugar substitute called Swerve. It is a powder made of sugar alcohol and Splenda. I added 1/4 cup to the blend and now its refrigerating . I will test once its had a chance to ” marinate” . If it doesn’t taste that different, I may need to add more. At any rate, I could live without any sweetener added, but it would be less enjoyable.
Thank you for sharing, Gerry. Hope you enjoyed the lassi.
I made this recipe with only one change, I used 1/4th cup of unsweetened coconut milk to thin it out a bit. This was the perfect recipe to use up the last few mangos I had.
Hi Kat – Happy to hear you enjoyed the lassi!
I can’t believe how easy this is , and delicious. I no longer need to drive across town to buy this at my local Indian market. I found canned mango pulp at Costco (Fremont) of all places.
Hi Trinh – So happy to hear you enjoyed the lassi. It is so much better when it is homemade too 🙂
I used frozen mango cubes, because I had no fresh mangoes. It was quite lovely.
Hi – So good to hear that 🙂
I love mango lassi. I once had two glasses before a meal in a restaurant then was too full to eat, it’s very filling. If I made it I don’t think it even needs sweetening, mangoes are very sweet. But if I sweeten it now I would use stevia. I didn’t realise cardamom was the missing ingredient, I have it and I love it. Just need some mangoes now!
Hi- So good to hear that 🙂
Mango lassi is my all-time favorite beverage from India. I cannot drink it slowly–I slurp it down in 2 seconds flat! I used your recipe as a guide for making a small batch with 2 champagne mangoes that were starting to look a little Suspect. I used 2% vanilla bean Greek yogurt and a fair amount of lowfat milk to get it to a good drinking consistency. It was delicious, and while I’m sure the vanilla muted the mango flavor a little, I’m really happy to have made my first ever mango lassi using what I had on hand. Thank you!
Hi Jenni – So glad to hear you enjoyed the mango lassi. Thanks for sharing the changes you made. It is always great to adjust based on the ingredients you have on hand!
I would NOT use honey. It didn’t blend because the drink is so cold and my toddler reorient drink it. Maple syrup is a much better alternative and also safe for children under 1.
Great point. Thanks for sharing!
thank you pipingpotcurry for giving me wonderful information