Nopalitos Cactus Salad Recipe

Have you ever eaten cactus? Prickly pear cactus paddles, known as nopalitos, are not only edible, but they are darn right delicious! Sort of like a cross between green beans and okra, and good for you too, high in vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and with plenty of fiber.

Perfect for those of us wanting to follow paleo, vegan, gluten-free, or low carb diets. (Note that I said "wanting to follow" rather than "following". I desire to eat more a more healthy diet than I do most days.)

Like okra, there's a bit of a slime factor when you cook them, but that can be easily rinsed away.

The prickly pear cactus grows all over the southwestern United States and the mediterranean and the young, tender paddles are a staple in Mexican cooking.

You can either buy the young paddles whole, and then prep them by wearing thick gloves and gently scraping off the sharp spines, or you can do what most of us do which is to buy them already de-prickled and chopped. You can even buy them already canned.

Find fresh chopped nopalitos already prepped and bagged at any Mexican market.

nopalitos-cactus-salad-method-1 — Elise Bauer

Like green beans and okra, nopalitos love being paired with tomatoes and onions. This classic Mexican salad is sort of like a hefty pico de gallo mixed in with nopalitos.

Serve the salad as a side to steak or any Mexican dish, or delight your vegan friends by using this salad as a filling for tacos!

Nopalitos Cactus Salad

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Servings 6 servings

If using canned nopalitos, just drain them and mix them in with the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients. No need to cook them as they are already cooked.

1 pound (450 g) fresh chopped nopalitos
1 pound cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 3 cups)
1 cup chopped red radishes
1 cup finely chopped red onion
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Blanch and rinse nopalitos:

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the nopalitos, return to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Rinse with water for 1 minute.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer
Toss with remaining ingredients:

Place rinsed and drained nopalitos in a bowl with the chopped tomatoes, radishes, and onion. Toss with lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Fold in cilantro.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer