Mamey Sapote substitute

Best substitute

Frozen Mamey Pulp

Use the same amount by weight for fresh pulp, thawed as the mamey sapote you are replacing

Best for batidos and milkshakes

Close match

Frozen mamey pulp is what most cooks should buy, because fresh mamey is seasonal and usually sold only in Latin markets, and the frozen pulp is the same fruit. If you cannot get it, build the flavour: for every cup of mamey pulp, blend two-thirds of a cup of cooked mashed sweet potato with one-third of a cup of apricot puree or canned apricots, plus a tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk and two drops of almond extract. That sounds fussy but it is genuinely close, because mamey's job in a batido, an ice cream or a paleta is to supply thick custardy body, gentle sweetness and a warm orange colour rather than a sharp fruit flavour.

Other mamey sapote substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Cooked Sweet Potato plus Apricot
Close match
Use 2 parts mashed cooked sweet potato to 1 part apricot puree, plus 1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk and 2 drops almond extract for every cup of mamey sapote
Roast or steam an orange-fleshed sweet potato until soft, mash it smooth, and blend with canned apricots or apricot puree, the condensed milk and the almond extract.
What changes
Use it one for one where mamey pulp would go.
Best for
mamey batido, ice cream and paletas, smoothies, mousse, cake and quick breads
The best reconstruction available in an ordinary supermarket, and it works because it attacks each component separately: the sweet potato gives the dense starchy custard texture and the warm colour, the apricot gives the fruity tang, and the almond extract mimics the marzipan note that makes mamey taste like mamey rather than like squash. It comes out slightly more vegetal and less perfumed than the real thing. Use the almond extract sparingly, since more than a couple of drops takes over.
3Canned Pumpkin Puree plus Apricot Nectar
Different taste
Use ¾ cup pumpkin puree plus ¼ cup apricot nectar for every cup of mamey, plus 1 tbsp sugar
The fastest version, using two things that keep in the cupboard.
What changes
Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which is already spiced and sweetened.
Best for
batidos and shakes, smoothies, mousse and flan, cake and quick breads
Convincing on colour and body and noticeably more vegetal on flavour, since pumpkin is less sweet and more savoury than mamey. Fine in a batido with milk, sugar and ice, where the dairy softens everything, and less good in an ice cream where the fruit flavour has to carry the whole thing alone. A drop of almond extract helps here too.
4Very Ripe Hachiya Persimmon
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight of scooped pulp
A fully soft, jelly-ripe Hachiya persimmon has the same dense, sweet, orange, custardy pulp.
What changes
Scoop it out and use it directly, discarding the skin.
Best for
smoothies and batidos, ice cream, mousse, puddings, spread on toast
The closest single fruit on texture, and its natural sweetness means you can skip added sugar. The flavour is honeyed and faintly spicy rather than sweet-potato-like, so a batido made with it tastes brighter and less earthy. Critically, the persimmon must be completely soft; an underripe Hachiya is aggressively astringent and will ruin the dish. Fuyu persimmons are firm and crisp and are not a substitute here.
5Ripe Papaya plus Cooked Sweet Potato
Different taste
1 part papaya to 1 part mashed sweet potato
A good option in Latin American and Caribbean kitchens where papaya is easy to find.
What changes
Blend the two together until smooth before adding to your recipe.
Best for
batidos and licuados, smoothies, paletas, fruit puddings
The papaya brings tropical sweetness and a musky floral note while the sweet potato brings the thick body papaya lacks on its own. It tastes lighter and more perfumed than mamey and a little musky, which some people love and others find soapy. Taste the papaya first, since an overripe one turns unpleasantly funky and will dominate.
6Sapodilla (chicozapote or chikoo)
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight of scooped pulp
A different fruit with a confusingly similar name, sold in the same markets, with soft brown-sugar-flavoured flesh.
What changes
Scoop the pulp and discard the black seeds.
Best for
batidos and shakes, ice cream, smoothies, puddings
Worth knowing about because shoppers regularly buy one thinking it is the other. Sapodilla is granular and tastes strongly of brown sugar and malt, where mamey is smooth and tastes of sweet potato and apricot, so a mamey ice cream made with sapodilla comes out darker and caramel-flavoured. It is delicious in its own right and a poor impersonation. Reduce your recipe's sugar, because sapodilla is very sweet.

What is Mamey Sapote?

Mamey Sapote is Mamey sapote, usually shortened to mamey and also called zapote or sapote, is a large brown-skinned tropical fruit with dense salmon-orange flesh that tastes like a cross between sweet potato, pumpkin pie and apricot with a faint almond note.

Cooking tips

Judging ripeness is the whole game with fresh mamey. Scratch a little of the rough brown skin with a fingernail: if the layer underneath is salmon-pink, the fruit is ripening properly, and if it is green, it was picked too early and will never ripen well. A ripe mamey gives to gentle pressure like a ripe avocado.
Cut it lengthwise around the single large shiny seed, twist the halves apart, and scoop the flesh with a spoon. Trim away any pale flesh next to the skin, which is bitter and slightly latex-like and will spoil a batch of ice cream.
Mamey is dense and low in water, so it thickens whatever it goes into. A batido made with mamey needs noticeably more milk than one made with mango, and an ice cream base made with mamey may need thinning or it will freeze hard as a brick.
The classic pairings exist for a reason: mamey with milk, sweetened condensed milk, a little vanilla and ice makes a batido, and mamey with cream and condensed milk makes ice cream. Whichever substitute you use, keep the dairy, because it is what turns the dense pulp into something drinkable and rounds off any vegetal edge.
Freeze the pulp in one-cup portions when you find good fruit. Mamey has a short season, the flesh freezes very well with no treatment beyond a squeeze of lime, and thawed pulp is fine for every drink and frozen dessert you would make with fresh.

Frequently asked questions

What does mamey taste like?

Like a sweet, custardy blend of baked sweet potato, pumpkin pie and apricot, with a faint almond or marzipan note and none of the sharpness of a citrus or berry. That is why the best substitutes are blends: sweet potato covers the body and earthiness, apricot covers the fruit, and a drop of almond extract covers the aroma.

Is mamey the same as sapote or sapodilla?

Sapote is a loose term used for several unrelated tropical fruits, so mamey sapote, black sapote and white sapote are all different. Sapodilla, also called chicozapote or chikoo, is a separate fruit with granular brown-sugar-flavoured flesh. If a recipe just says sapote and the flesh is described as salmon or orange, it means mamey.

Can I use canned pumpkin instead of mamey?

As part of a blend, yes. Three-quarters of a cup of plain pumpkin puree plus a quarter cup of apricot nectar and a tablespoon of sugar stands in for a cup of mamey pulp reasonably well, especially in a batido where milk and sugar soften it. On its own pumpkin is too savoury and will taste like a squash shake. Use plain puree, never pumpkin pie filling.

Can I leave mamey out of a recipe?

Not in a mamey batido, ice cream or paleta, where it is the entire flavour and also most of the body. If the recipe is a mixed fruit smoothie or a fruit plate, you can replace it with mango or papaya plus a little banana for thickness. What you must not do is drop it and keep the same amount of liquid, since the drink will come out thin and watery.

Where do I buy mamey, and is frozen pulp as good?

Latin American and Caribbean groceries, and large supermarkets in Florida, Texas and southern California. Frozen pulp is stocked far more widely than the fresh fruit and is genuinely as good for drinks and frozen desserts, since it is picked ripe and scooped. Check the label for added sugar and reduce your recipe's sweetener if it is sweetened.

Related substitutes

More fruits substitutes

Mamey Sapote substitute

Other mamey sapote substitutes

2Cooked Sweet Potato plus Apricot

3Canned Pumpkin Puree plus Apricot Nectar

4Very Ripe Hachiya Persimmon

5Ripe Papaya plus Cooked Sweet Potato

6Sapodilla (chicozapote or chikoo)