Why it works: Mango and avocado match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 140 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl.
(Optional) Make 3 hours ahead and refrigerate.
Stir in diced avocado and season to taste with salt and pepper.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Mango + avocadotop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together140 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lime + avocadotop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,117 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Mango + limetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together506 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Tomato + avocadotop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,385 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Mango + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together225 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mango
- Provides sweetness and juicy body that balances the lime and chili.
- Lime juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavours and slows browning of the cut fruit.
- Avocado
- Adds creamy richness and fat that gives the salsa a smooth texture.
- Tomato
- Contributes moisture and mild acidity to the chunky texture.
The step that matters
Stir in the avocado at the end. Avocado browns quickly once cut and turns mushy when stirred too long or chilled for hours. Adding it last keeps its colour and diced texture intact.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mango, tomato, lime, avocado):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Cucumberbetter flavor fit
- Lettucebetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mango, tomato, lime, avocado. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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