I Tried No-Bake Mango Pie and It’s So Good, I’ll Be Making It Way Beyond Summer

I know that baking pies in the summer isn’t an outrageous idea. Luscious peaches, perfectly ripe berries, and delicious veggies like summer squash and zucchini all scream “BAKE ME WITH A CRUST!” This doesn’t matter to me, as I avoid every recipe in the summer that requires me to turn on my oven. That may simply be because my tiny Brooklyn apartment’s kitchen doesn’t have an air conditioner, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t love pie! 

So, when I happened upon Ivanna Lopez Guajardo’s No-Bake Mango Pie, I was immediately excited to try it. At a quick glance, I saw that the main ingredients were heavy hitters for me when it comes to desserts (mango, cream cheese, and condensed milk) and the best part was it didn’t require an oven! The recipe looked super easy and I could not wait to try it. 

Get the recipe: No-Bake Mango Pie

It’s important to note that because this is technically a summer mango pie, one thing may differ when making this in months outside of the season: your choice of mango. This mango pie uses perfectly ripe mangoes that get puréed together with other ingredients resulting in a smooth, silky, creamy pie. It calls for the Tommy Atkins mango — which is the most popular here in the U.S. — but peak season is March to mid-July. You can, however, find and use the Ataulfo mango if you happen to be a fan of its buttery texture. Just note that Ataulfo mangoes are a little bit smaller so they yield about half of the amount of fruit as the Tommy Atkins (for context, six of the Tommy Atkins mangoes will equal out to about 12 Ataulfo mangoes).

The recipe itself is pretty straightforward. Start with store-bought graham cracker crusts. Then, grab your blender and purée the mangoes, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, and hydrated gelatin powder. Once it’s all smooth, pour it into your crusts and let it set in the fridge for 12 hours. Decorate your pie with sliced mango, whipped topping, and a little mint and voilà! A summer pie with the least amount of effort. 

I absolutely loved the simplicity of this recipe. Removing the fruit from the pit after it was peeled came super easy, as I used my OXO Mango Splitter. The texture was absolutely smooth and perfect. The addition of gelatin was just the right amount to give this pie the sturdiness needed to hold up to being sliced and served. It didn’t take over the pie or make it too firm — you get full flavor of the mango present.

With all that being said, there is one main thing that I would change to make this better suit my tastebuds. While I absolutely loved the creaminess and the slight hint of tartness the cream cheese adds, I found that this recipe could use a bit more zing to cut through the smoothness. The addition of juice and zest from one lime would make this completely perfect, but that’s just my preference. Overall, I totally loved this recipe and I will certainly make it again.  

1. Add some tropical flair with coconut. Mango goes great with coconut, so try substituting the sweetened condensed milk with coconut sweetened condensed milk. Also, if you’re using store-bought whipped topping, try a coconut whipped topping and/or sprinkle some toasted coconut flakes on top, too.
2. Create depth of flavor with salt and spice: Tajin is a Mexican seasoning blend of salt, chili powder, and citric acid. Dust your pie with a bit of this seasoning to add some zip, spice, and salt.
3. Top with different fruit. Instead of using mango for the finishing touch, try a different fruit. Pineapple, banana, and even kiwi would go nicely on top. For texture, try these in their dehydrate form — dried pineapple, banana chips, or dried kiwi would be so fun!