Rich and creamy mango lassi! You can make this restaurant favorite in minutes with three ingredients and a blender.
You can find mango lassi, a popular creamy yogurt-based drink, at every Indian restaurant. A menu staple for a good reason – everyone loves it!
Sweet mango lassi is the perfect companion to a plate of spicy Indian food. Every sip is cooling and refreshing.
What is Lassi? What is Mango Lassi?
If you’ve never heard of lassi, it’s an Indian yogurt-based drink. There are several different types of lassi: sweet and plain, salty with masala, and then there’s lassi made with fruit, the most popular being mango lassi.
Mango lassi is essentially a mango smoothie, but with a bit of tang from the yogurt. I hate to call it a smoothie though, because that doesn’t quite capture the excitement that the word lassi brings to mind. The word smoothie has a healthier connotation. Mango lassi is more like a dessert.
I think a lot of Indian kids grow up with fond memories of their families making mango lassi at home. Unlike sweet or salty lassi, mango lassi is a kid favorite. My family always made lassi with the sweetest mangoes we could find and a decent amount of sugar, because after all, mango lassi is meant to be sweet.
How to make mango lassi:
You only need three ingredients to make mango lassi:
- mangoes: use the sweetest you can find. If you can’t get your hands on fresh mangoes, you can always use frozen mangoes. Canned mango pulp works too, but since that’s typically already sweetened, you’ll want to adjust the amount of sugar you add.
- yogurt: this recipe calls for full-fat plain yogurt, but you can always use a different type of yogurt if you prefer. This is an easy recipe to adapt. If you want to use Greek yogurt, you’ll likely need to add more water to the blender to thin it out. If you’re vegan, you can use vegan yogurt.
- sugar: typically white sugar, but you can always use a different sweetener if you’d like, though what you choose may affect the overall sweetness and flavor of the drink.
- water (not milk!): I add water to the lassi to thin it out. There are some recipes that use milk, but to me, milk dilutes the flavor of the mango and yogurt. We’re making lassi, not a milkshake.
You can also add a small amount of rose water, kewra water, ground cardamom, or saffron when making mango lassi. These additions are great – they make for a nice variation, especially if you make mango lassi often. Growing up my family didn’t add these extras, and so most of the time, I don’t either. I love the naturally sweet and tangy flavor of mango lassi.
Can I double the recipe?
Yes! Double it! Triple it! Quadruple it! This recipe makes around two 8 ounce glasses, so if you’re making this for several people, you’ll want to adjust the recipe accordingly. You can never have enough of mango lassi, lol.
Make mango lassi once, and I’m sure you’ll make it again. It’s easy to make, requires very few ingredients, and tastes amazing. You can enjoy it on its own as a snack, with a meal, or for dessert. Tell me what you think if you try this!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped ripe mango approx 1 to 1.25 mangoes or 185 grams
- 1 cup full-fat plain yogurt
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons sugar to taste
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
- Taste and add more sugar if necessary (mangoes vary in sweetness).
- Put the lassi in the fridge for a couple of hours until chilled or if serving immediately, pour over ice.
- Lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
Notes
- You can add rose water, kewra water, ground cardamom, or saffron to mango lassi if you’d like, though it’s not necessary.Â
- If the mango lassi is too thick, you can add more water if needed. You can also adjust the amount of sugar to taste.
Nutrition
Maneesha says
So yummy! Perfect for the hot Florida weather!! Thanks Ashley!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Maneesha, so glad you liked this! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂