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Home Recipes Cocktail Recipes

How to Make Homemade Prickly Pear Syrup

Published: Jun 13, 2018 · Modified: Jul 9, 2021 by Sandi Gaertner · 24 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links

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You are going to love how easy it is to make a homemade prickly pear syrup!! The cactus pear fruit is sweet and colorful! I have used this sweet syrup for cocktails, pancake syrup, and even as a natural coloring for frosting!

If you like prickly pears, you will want to try these yummy Prickly Pear Margaritas!!

A jar of prickly pear syrup.
Jump to:
  • What is prickly pear fruit?
  • Recipe step-by-step directions:
  • Tips and Recipe FAQ:
  • More fun sauce recipes to try:
  • Tools:
  • 📖 Recipe
  • 💬 Comments

What is prickly pear fruit?

Prickly pear fruit comes in several colors and varieties. I have found cactus fruit pulp in brilliant orange and vibrant hot pink.

I am lucky our little produce market often has cactus pears so that I can experiment with them!

Different colors of prickly pear on a paper bag.

Have you seen other colors of cactus pear fruit? Check these prickly pears out! They come in some beautiful colors!! I have made a syrup out of both orange and hot pink cactus fruits.

You can read a lot more about prickly pears and find lots of delicious recipes in my guide to prickly pears.

A jar of prickly pear fruit syrup. The jar has a red and white string tied in a bow around it.

You are going to love how easy making this prickly pear syrup is. The hardest part is finding prickly pears. We are lucky to have a small produce market here and they have different varieties of prickly pears most of the year.

Whole prickly pear cactus fruit on a cutting board

This is what cactus fruit looks like when the thorns are removed. I don't recommend buying with the thorns as they are really tough to pull off without hurting yourself.

Hot pink prickly pear fruit, cut in half on a cutting board

This is what the hot pink prickly pear looks like inside.

Prickly pears have a ton of tiny, rock-hard seeds. You definitely do not want these in your syrup!

Here is what the orange prickly pear fruit looks like. I used it to make the margarita I mentioned above.

For this golden prickly pear, I didn't cook the pulp into syrup; I just strained it to mash out the liquid to make margaritas. The strainer is important because it keeps all of the seeds out of the juice.

Recipe step-by-step directions:

Scooped out shell of a prickly pear

Step 1: To get the useable parts, I scoop out the flesh of the prickly pear.

Golden orange prickly pear fruit in a strainer

Step 2: Grab a strainer and run the liquid and prickly pear through it. Use a spoon to press it into the strainer to get all of the juice out. (You can do this step before or after cooking the pear.)

Prickly pear fruit in a pot on the stove.

Step 3: Put the flesh into a pot and simmer with ¼ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. I simmer the syrup for about 30 minutes on really low heat until it thickens. If you didn't put it through the strainer to remove the seeds, do this now.

Step 4: Allow the liquid to cool, and you have your syrup! It tastes amazing with bourbon in this Prickly Pear Cocktail.

Tips and Recipe FAQ:

What color is prickly pear fruit?

Prickly pear cactus fruit can vary from golden orange and green to hot pink.

Can you eat prickly pear seeds?

You could technically swallow the little seeds, but do not bite them. They are rock-hard. It is best to strain the cactus pear fruit to remove all of the seeds.

What if the prickly pears have big spines on them?

Most prickly pears are sold without the spines. If yours has the spines, you definitely want to find these with the spines (aka giant thorns) removed. The thorns are hard to remove, and they hurt if you accidentally prick yourself with one. Wear thick gloves and use tweezers or pliers to remove them.

How long will this syrup keep fresh?

This homemade cactus pear syrup will keep up to a week in the refrigerator.

How do you store this syrup?

I store my prickly pear syrup in an air-tight jar. You can also keep it in an air-tight storage container.

More fun sauce recipes to try:

  • Sparkly Cranberry Cocktail uses homemade cranberry reduction syrup.
  • Homemade Vanilla Sauce
  • Bourbon Butterscotch Sauce

Tools:

  1. A fine mesh strainer to prevent the hard seeds from getting into the syrup.
  2. You will want to use a cutting board that won't stain.

📖 Recipe

Prickly Pear Syrup

Sandi Gaertner
A simple prickly pear syrup that can be used for cocktails, or on desserts.
4.83 from 29 votes
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Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Additional Time 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 40 mins
Course Chef Recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 8
Calories 66 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ cups prickly pear
  • 3 cups water
  • ½ cup sugar

Instructions
 

  • Take your de-thorned prickly pears and cut them in half.
  • Scoop out the middle fruit and add to a pot with the water and sugar.
  • Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.
  • Allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. When the mixture thickens, remove from the heat and allow to cool. 
  • Take a soup ladle and add one scoop of the mixture to a strainer. (Make sure the strainer is over a bowl.)
  • Use a spoon to press the prickly pear mixture into the strainer to get all of the liquid out. Empty the strainer of the seeds and thick pulp and repeat until you do this with all of the prickly pear mixture.
  • Chill for one hour.

Notes

  1. I do not recommend eating the seeds. Use a strainer to press the prickly fruit pulp through it so you can get the juice without the seeds.
  2. Prickly fruit comes in many different colors from golden orange to green and hot pink. Any will work well in this recipe.
  3. This prickly pear syrup will keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.

SPECIAL NOTE

Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn't test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 66kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 1gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 5mgPotassium: 35mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 8IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 6mgIron: 1mg
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Nutrition Disclaimer

Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Ann Simon

    November 16, 2022 at 9:16 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you for the recipe! I did this with my friend and she grilled them and mushed them in the strainer hot and soft. That way you don’t have to mess with the thorns. Can’t wait to try the syrup with bourbon.

    Reply
    • Sandi Gaertner

      November 16, 2022 at 10:12 pm

      I am so glad you had fun with my recipe, Ann. I absolutely love that you grilled the prickly pears. I bet that added great flavor!

      Reply
  2. Nora

    August 16, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    Your recipe calls for 1 and a half pounds of prickly pear. Is that before the fruit is scooped out or do you mean 1 and a half pounds of the fruit that will get cooked. Thanks.
    Nora

    Reply
    • Sandi Gaertner

      August 17, 2022 at 11:27 am

      Hi Nora, that is before the fruit is scooped. The weight when you buy them in the store.

      Reply
      • Elle

        September 01, 2022 at 1:52 pm

        This is confusing - the recipe says 1.5 cups. Do you mean 1.5 cups of pulp or the pulp from 1.5lbs of fruit?

      • Sandi Gaertner

        September 01, 2022 at 4:44 pm

        Hi Elle, this is the pulp.

  3. Sandra

    December 15, 2021 at 7:12 am

    I want to make this as a gift. Will it be fine to freeze the syrup until right before I gift it?

    Reply
    • Sandi Gaertner

      December 15, 2021 at 9:09 pm

      Hi Sandra, I have never frozen this syrup so I do not know how it will turn out when thawed.

      Reply
  4. Brenda

    September 08, 2021 at 10:51 am

    I use a potato masher instead of spoon works a lot faster and a lot easier. I went and picked the fruit myself. I make my on lemonade I use raw honey warmed up with lots of Italian lemons, Meyer lemons a lot.

    Reply
    • Sandi Gaertner

      September 09, 2021 at 8:50 am

      What a great idea! I will try this next Brenda, thank you!

      Reply
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