Cinco de Mayo is less than a week away and I’m feeling the vibe. The sun is shining, spring is in the air, and we have an excellent excuse to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas.
Mexican food doesn’t always have to be heavy, cheesy, and high in fat and calories. Sometimes it’s nice to lighten it up and this is a great way to do it. A mango avocado salsa adds a ton of freshness and flavor to an otherwise basic chicken taco. These tacos are quick and easy, fresh and flavorful and far less guilt provoking than typical Mexican fare. Except, you’ll want to eat five – try not to eat five.
The grocery list – A mango,  a couple of Roma type tomatoes, avocado, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, fresh lime, sea salt, vegetable oil, chicken breasts, taco seasoning mix, black beans, and corn tortillas
You will also want to have some sour cream, cheese, and shredded cabbage on hand
You can make this salsa in nothing flat. Just dice up the mango, tomato, red onion, cilantro, avocado, and jalapeno and place them in a bowl. Squeeze the juice of a lime over the top, add a little salt and toss it all together.
Just a few notes on some of the ingredients…
Have you discovered the joy of these lovely, golden yellow mangos yet? They are called Ataulfo mangos and I’ve also seen them labeled at the store as Champagne mangos. Ever since we discovered these babies, we anxiously await mango season each year. The flesh is super sweet and not fibrous at all like the flesh of the red mango. We are totally and completely hooked.
If you remove all of the seeds and membranes from the inside of the jalapeno, you will have no heat at all. I recommend leaving some behind, depending on your taste. I left about half of what is here. A little heat is good in this salsa to balance out the sweetness of the fruit.
Here’s a quick tip for a clean and easy way to dice an avocado. Cut it in half and remove the pit. Hold one of the halves in the palm of your hand and using a sharp knife, carefully (no emergency room visits please!) slice the flesh lengthwise and crosswise, give it a little squeeze, and then use the knife or a spoon to scoop the pieces out from the shell and into your bowl. Works like a charm!
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator while we work on the tacos.
A funny thing happens when I slice into a mango. No matter where he is, or what he’s doing, Bruno appears at my feet. It’s like he has some kind of mango radar.
Who can resist this face? He’s crazy about mango. Okay, off to wash my hands.
It’s time to get the tacos going. Drain off most of the liquid from the black beans and place them in a small saucepan over medium heat. When they are nice and warm, turn down the heat and let them simmer while preparing the chicken.
Cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces.
Coat a large pan with vegetable oil and place over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Add the taco seasoning and continue to cook and stir until chicken is cooked through, another 3 or 4 minutes. I always use my own taco seasoning mix (find recipe here) that I keep in a small mason jar in my pantry at all times. You can sub the store bought, packaged variety if you like but the homemade mixture is good stuff!
Time to assemble your tacos. Warm a corn tortilla in the microwave for 25 seconds, and layer away! Beans, chicken, shredded cheese, shredded cabbage, some mango avocado salsa, and a little sour cream.
Add a little extra salsa on the side and serve it up with tortilla chips.
And, since Cinco De Mayo is on a Saturday night this year, how about a cerveza or two; or did I hear someone say tequila? Oh, that’s right, I think it was me.
Enjoy!
Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado SalsaServings: 6
Ingredients:
For the salsa:
- 1 mango, peeled and chopped
- 2 Roma type tomatoes, chopped
- 1 avocado, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded as desired and finely chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 fresh lime
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
For the tacos:
- Vegetable oil
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
- Corn tortillas
Additional toppings:
- Light or regular sour cream
- Shredded cheddar/jack cheese blend
- Shredded green cabbage
Directions:
Prepare the salsa by mixing together the mango, avocado, tomato, red onion, jalapeno, and cilantro in a small bowl. Mix to combine. Squeeze the juice from the lime over the mixture, add the salt, and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate while preparing tacos.
Place black beans in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Heat through. Turn heat down to low and simmer until ready to assemble tacos.
Coat the bottom of a large saute pan with vegetable oil. Place over medium high heat. When oil is hot, carefully add chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally until almost no pink remains. Add taco seasoning and continue to cook and stir until no pink remains. Remove from heat.
To assemble tacos, warm a corn tortilla for about 25 seconds in the microwave, top with a small amount of black beans and chicken. Top with some of the mango salsa, sour cream, cheese, and cabbage.
I love love love tacos and agree, they don’t have to be heavy. These look just amazing. Love that salsa – I’ve never seen those avocados before!
They are big aren’t they? They are really delicious too. We get them at a little produce market near us. We are blessed to live near great farmers’ markets and lots of little independent produce markets. Fresh fruits and veggies are abundant in Northern CA!
this is screaming spring! lovely choice of ingredients and what a fabulous looking taco! This is just perfect Val.
This looks great! I will definitely have to make this sometime soon!! The flavor combos seem perfect for a warm day 🙂
Haha! I love the image of Bruno at your feet, he’s so cute! No wonder he likes to hang around the kitchen with your good cooking! These tacos look fabulous, Valerie, and I love that mango salsa. Great recipe!
He’s very smart and knows just when to appear at my feet. Thanks Georgia 🙂
Hi Valerie,
Just hopped over from Nami’s blog. So glad to have stumbled upon your blog. These tacos look amazing. I cannot wait to try this.
Welcome Asmita. I’m so glad you stopped by. Nami is the best!
Mmm, this looks fantastic. I love chicken tacos, but I never had mango salsa with them 🙂
That salsa looks incredible! Mango, jalapenos and avocado is an incredible combo. I have to make this!
This looks absolutely delicious! I could eat that breakfast lunch and dinner.
Love the photo with your dog. SO cute 🙂
These look so good! I absolutely love tacos and your salsa looks killer.
Cute your dog likes mango haha… mine east carrots and apples. I should try mango for a healthy treat! These tacos look awesome… I’m loving all the Mexican recipes floating around right now with Cinco De Mayo coming up!
He doesn’t just love them, he is completely obsessed! Thanks for stopping by Carrie 🙂
Oh, yum! This looks super good, and a little bit like the dinner I’m planning tonight, in fact. Making fish tacos with mango-pineaple salsa – we must be feeling the same Cinco de Mayo vibes, haha! Beautiful post, as always. 🙂
I love fish tacos Willow. Sounds great!
I love the flavor profile. I could eat about 5 of them.
Oh my gosh, drooling. These tacos sound fabulous. Perfect for Cinco de Mayo…well, really perfect any time. 😉 Your pup is adorable!
Fantastic tacos and that mango salsa is fabulous! Great combination of flavors! Looks like a perfect cinco de mayo meal!
What lovely looking tacos! They look delicious. Your dog is so sweet. Love that photo of him eating the mango!
You have a Boston Terrier! I love them! My in-laws have two of them and we just go ga-ga over them, they are wonderful companions! And, onto the food…these tacos, and especially the salsa, are the perfect light spring meal. We adore tacos in our household and this salsa would be something new and an instant hit!
Bruno is such a cutie pie!
I’ll keep an eye out for those mangos. Haven’t seen them here :o(
That looks AMAZINGLY good! Great recipe AND photo!!!
I’m stuffing my face with these tacos as we speak. Oh my!! These are so yummy!! Will post my pic and a link on Facebook. Thanks, Valerie!
I love this picture. Looks so delicious and I REALLY wish that I can have this – and it’s 12:30am! I’ll make it another time..but Champagne mangoes, oh boy they are my favorite. I pretty much buy these as long as they are in store. Their season is not as long as other mangoes so we must enjoy while these last… and I eat like 4 of them at once. I can’t help it – so good! I bet this salsa is perfect…
Yum! I love how packed these babies are! And that salsa looks AH-MAZING. Mango and avocado were made for each other.
What great sounding tacos. Love the salsa your created.
Okay – where to even start….First, I have not seen Champagne mangos yet, but I will be on the lookout. We all love mangos in this house, especially my daughter! Second, love how you diced the avocado. I will definitely be trying that technique. Third, love your little Boston terrier!!! Too cute! And last, but not least, the food looks absolutely amazing. I’m particularly drawn to that delicious salsa!
these sound terrific! so full of fresh flavor! definitely bookmarking this!
Yummy, these look amazing Val, definitely going to try the mango salsa. We eat so much Mexican food at our house, its great to find a new recipe. Keep up the good work, I love ready your blog. 🙂
I will definitely be making these, they look amazing. I get so frustrated with corn tortillas because they always seem to tear apart. Do you have any tricks to stop this from happening? I love your blog by the way.
Hi Amanda! I haven’t had an issue with my tortillas tearing. I’d suggest trying another brand. You could always fry them to make them more substantial (and yummy). Best of luck and I hope you enjoy them!