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Nopalitos are the edible young paddles of the prickly pear cactus, grown throughout their native Mexico, the southwestern United States, and the Mediterranean (brought back by the conquistadores).
The paddles are widely available in Mexican markets in the US, either whole (with spines) or prepared (cleaned, spines removed, chopped).
They are tasty cooked, and are used in many traditional Mexican dishes. Here is a quick, easy, and delisioso nopalitos recipe prepared for me by my Mexican friend and caterer Arturo Vargas.
Do you have a favorite nopalitos recipe? Please let us know about it in the comments.
Nopalitos with Tomatoes and Onions Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound nopalitos, nopales prickly pear cactus paddles that have been stripped of spines, cleaned, and chopped
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper, stem and seeds removed, chopped
- 1 medium tomato, roughly chopped
- Salt and pepper
Method
1 Sauté onions, garlic, jalapeño: Heat a tablespoon of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) in a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Add red onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Cook for a minute, stirring occasionally.
2 Add the nopalitos, then the tomatoes: Add the nopalitos. Cook for several more minutes. Then add the chopped tomato.
Continue to cook until all vegetables are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
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Links:
Cactus and Corn Salsa here on Simply Recipes
How to Cut and Prepare Prickly Pears from Garrett
Cactus and Corn Salsa from Amber here on Simply Recipes
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Nopalitos with Tomatoes and Onions
“You will need a pair of tongs, a sharp knife, and a glove for one hand. Holding the nopal firmly in the tongs, shave off the tiny bumps that contain the thorns, but do not remove the whole green outer layer of the nopal. Rinse them well. Cut off the thick, fleshy base and discard. Then cut into 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch squares. They are now ready to cook.” ~Elise
Hi Elise, your recipe brought back memories of 3 generations ago and each one did boil the nopalitos after the rinse to get rid of the slime. After they boil get a strainer and rinse the slime off… now you can begin to prepare your dish from that point. If you want an extra spicy kick you can also use Serrano pepper(s).
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Hi Mona, yes! I use the boil and rinse technique sometimes with nopalitos, for example in this nopalitos salad recipe.
Hi Elise…In Antigua..British West Indies we call Nopalitos “Cassi” ( local word for Cactus) and it is served sauteed with onions, garlic, tomatoes. It is a part of a popular and traditional dish of Fungee(cooked cornmeal and okra and similar to Polenta) and dried Salted fish ( bacalao) that has been boiled and stewed. I will be trying them in other recipes. Thank you.
Sounds fantastic Inge, thank you for sharing!
I made a guiso with cut up pieces of Milanesa meat then I boiled the cactus with a half onion then I drained the cactus threw out the onion rinsed it and put it in the guiso and served it with a side or refined beans with queso ranchero on corn tortillas , it was a big hit even with picky kids , note boiling the cactus with onion then draining it and rinsing it got rid of a lot of slime
I made it! I rinsed the pound of nopalitos it before I sautéed it because I’m not a fan of all that slime. I sautéed the garlic and onions as directed, added the nopalitos and let them cook for 5 minutes and added the tomatoes after and cooked them for another 5 minutes. I browned ground beef separately and seasoned it to my liking and finally warmed up corn tortillas to make tacos-beef went first, topped with the nopalitos and garnished it with queso fresco- it was soooo .
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Are they supposed to be slimy and the end result watery? Help!
Hi Roz, yes, nopalitos are a bit like okra, they cook up slimy. Instead of sautéing them, you can boil them and then rinse them to rinse away the slime factor as we do in this our nopalitos cactus salad. Or you can just think of them like okra.
That is an amazing tip! I made them and had the same result. I remember having them as a kid and them tasting good. Maybe they did that???
cut the outside quarter inch off and boil fifteen minutes towel dry this will eliminate 80 percent of the slime A teaspoon of shoyu while boiling pulls the bitterness found in the pads where soil has a heavy mineral content. The mucelage of the plant is an amazing relief go to during bouts of pancreatic pain. dont know why it works . But I suffer greatly from chronic pancreatitis. and the anti inflam properties are fantastic! More so the fruit