It’s officially the dog days of summer, and where I live, temperatures are reaching well into the nineties. The exuberance and energy of early summer has been replaced with lethargy and thoughts of cooler mornings. Although I love summer and the long days that come with it, I always start getting the autumn itch around mid-August. I’m eagerly anticipating throwing on a sweater in the mornings and going back to craving hot coffee and soup.
But before I get too ahead of myself, I’m going to share with you my secret for getting through those final sweltering days of summer: frozen treats! And this mango lassi pie is one of the best there is. It’s essentially just mango lassi poured into a graham cracker crust and then frozen until completely solid. It’s cool, it’s sweet, and it’s giving me back that early summer exuberance, if only temporarily.
what is mango lassi, you ask?
Lassi is an Indian yogurt-based drink that can be blended with various spices and/or fruits. There are a ton of different recipes for lassis and they can be either savory (including cumin, ginger, or herbs) or sweet (including fruit, honey, or other sweeteners). Mango lassi is one of the most common variations, and I absolutely love it in the summer when the fruit is in season and plentiful.
For my version of the frozen mango lassi, I included fresh mango, Greek yogurt, cream cheese, honey, lime, and cardamom. If you want to skip the frozen portion of this recipe, you can simply blend the ingredients I used minus the cream cheese (which thickens it) and come up with a smooth, sweet summer drink.
freeze where you are and write down these ingredients
This recipe does not take a lot of ingredients, and it’s super quick to whip up. You just need to be patient while it freezes…don’t start the recipe the second you get a craving!
Graham cracker crust You can either make your own or just use a ready-made one like I did
Mango I highly recommend using fresh mangos if you can find good ones. You can alternately use frozen mango and let it defrost a bit before blending
Greek yogurt Definitely use plain yogurt if you don’t want it to be too sweet. You can also use regular yogurt, but it will have a thinner consistency
Honey To further sweeten up this dessert
Lime Use the juice and the zest of a lime to give this dessert a citrusy zing
Cardamom You can also use cinnamon, but I love the earthy flavor of cardamom
⟶ the recipe
frozen mango lassi pie
ingredients
1 graham cracker crust
3 cups chopped fresh mango (about 2 large mangos)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
¾ cup cream cheese
½ cup honey
Zest and juice of 1 lime
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch of sea salt
Prep time
10 minutes
Freeze time
12 hours
Total time
12 hours 45 minutes
8 servings
instructions
Puree mango in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add yogurt, cream cheese, honey, lime zest and juice, cardamom, and sea salt. Puree ingredients until mixture is completely smooth and no chunks remain.
Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust, using a rubber spatula to get any filling that’s stuck to the sides.
Freeze the pie for at least 12 hours. Set the pie out for about 30 minutes to thaw a bit before serving. Garnish with additional mango chunks or whipped cream.
⟶ recipe notes
- Adapted from Eating Well
- I chose to use a pre-made graham cracker crust from the store (I like the ones at Whole Foods), but you can always make your own. The Eating Well recipe linked above has a good recipe for the crust!
- Make sure to allow the pie to thaw a bit before cutting into, or else it’s going to be rock solid! But also don’t leave it on the counter for too long and allow it to melt like Frosty
⟶ modifications
- You can use regular yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, but I love the consistency I get with Greek, plus it adds a little extra tanginess in my opinion
⟶ store it
- The mango lassi pie is best within the first couple days, but you can enjoy up to five days after freezing
