Mango, avocado and arugula salad
Easy recipe for a delicious and refreshing mango, avocado and arugula salad drizzled with a spicy orange vinaigrette.

I love the colors in this refreshing mango, avocado, and arugula salad with a spicy orange vinaigrette. The mix of arugula, mango, avocado, red onions, cilantro, and red chili peppers make it a fun and bright salad. I’ve always enjoyed salads and am fortunate that my kids also love salads.

Especially the younger one, on those days that he decides to be a picky eater (and refuses to eat the main dish), he will still eat his salad and ask for more. For some odd reason he really likes the onions and can’t get enough of them, then he goes for the avocado, next the mango and finally the arugula. To make this salad a more complete meal, you can also add grilled shrimp, grilled salmon, or grilled chicken.

I used a red Fresno chili pepper for this salad to give it spice and color. You can also use a milder hot pepper or a red bell pepper if you find chili peppers too hot. Though once you remove the seeds and membranes they lose a lot of the heat. I debated using some crushed garlic instead, but I feel like I’ve been adding garlic to everything (seriously sometimes I feel like I can’t cook unless I use garlic, cumin or cilantro) so I’m taking a garlic break for this salad.

I like to use a little bit of creativity to keep salads interesting. A salad should be more than just a bowl of greens. Ok, greens are good, and my husband makes an amazing simple salad with a great mustard dressing. However, there are so many other additional ingredients and flavors that can be added to really make a salad stand out and have its own character.


Mango, avocado and arugula salad
Ingredients
- 6 cups arugula leaves
- 1 mango peeled and cut into long slices
- 1 avocado peeled and sliced
- ½ red onion sliced
- 1 tbs lime juice
For the spicy orange vinaigrette
- 1 tbs champagne vinegar can also use cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 4 tbs orange juice about ½ orange
- 2 tbs lime juice about ½ lime
- 4 tbs olive oil
- ½ tsp cumin
- 2 tbs finely chopped cilantro
- 1 red chili or hot pepper sliced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the salad dressing in a jar, close it tight and shake until the ingredients are well mixed.
- Soak the onion slices in warm water with a dash of salt and 1 tbs lime juice for about 10 minutes.
- Rinse and drain the onions slices.
- Toss the arugula leaves with half of the vinaigrette.
- Add the avocado slices, mango slices and onion slices to the arugula mix, drizzle the remaining vinaigrette on top.
- Serve immediately.
This is really good, particularly the dressing.
I just tried this today and it was delicious. I liked the contrast of the fruit and vegetable.
Amazing! How do you get such lovely photos? Yum. This would be perfect for mango season in MIA, where I live. I am going to try it!
Every single one of my favorite flavors in the world is in this salad. I see it as a big part of my verano! Gracias!
Probably one of the most beautiful salads I have ever seen. I would use pickled red onions here instead of fresh ones though.
Delish! A wonderful salad. I served it with cilantro-tequila grilled chicken (grilled by husband). Thank you for sharing so many wonderful recipes. This is the first of many I hope to try (and make my husband so very happy). Your pictures are beautiful. Thank you so much.
Happy cooking,
Linda
from NJ
This is absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks for the recipe. I’ll have to give it a try – even though I’m not a big mango fan – it’s just too pretty to pass up!
P.S. I love how you included “preparation” pictures as well – very cool.
Looks beautiful!
What a fresh and tasty looking salad…perfect for summertime!
Another gorgeous photo spread! This salad looks delicious. I bet the contrast of the mango and avocado are intense. I am in awe.